14th July 2012
What a Wick: the last 7 days in 17 (7th to 13th July, 2012)

If you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobics (fear of Friday the 13th), you would be relieved to know that 2012 has run out of Black Fridays –- yesterday was the last. There are some weird phobias out there and new ones are being discovered as we go on. Can you imagine being panophobic? In that case you would fear everything! I know a young lady who believes that fear is our main motivator. Let’s put this to the test…

1. In the US, an old man barricaded himself inside a hotel room and threatened a shoot out with police unless his demands were met. His demands: he wanted pizza and wanted to marry Paris Hilton.

2. A 12-year-old Swedish girl died from drinking too much water.

3. In the US, a 600-pound woman lost 100 lbs just from having sex. According to her, “I can’t move much in bed, but I burn 500 calories a session - it’s great exercise just jiggling around.”

4. A survey found that the well-off don’t clean their cars as often as the less fortunate.

5. Russia just hosted its annual stilettos competition. Women run 50m in heels of at least 3.54 inches.

6. A member of the Jordanian parliament got so upset during a debate on live TV, that he pulled out his gun and threatened his debate opponent.

7. Brazilian inmates can reduce their jail time by pedaling stationary bicycles to generate electricity.

8. In Germany, a pregnant woman flipped her car when her unborn baby kicked.

9. Soccer legend Ronaldinho, who is sponsored by Coca Cola, sipped a Pepsi on camera causing Coke to cancel $1.5M in sponsorship.

10. A woman kept her dead companion’s body in a chair in her home for two years so that she would have company while watching NASCAR. “It’s not that I’m heartless. ... I didn’t want to be alone. He was the only guy who was ever nice to me…”