It's a Silly World

Via MiddleEastTimes -

Aussie beef cattle enjoy a relaxing bottle of red

SYDNEY: A glass of red wine traditionally goes well with a steak, so at the behest of a top Japanese chef an Australian company is adding wine to beef - while it is still on the hoof.

Each animal gets about a liter of a fruity cabernet shiraz merlot mixed in with its feed each day for 60 days, company director John McLeod told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The idea was proposed by Japanese celebrity chef Akio Yamamoto, who suggested that Margaret River Premium Meat Exports followed the example of the Japanese producers of famed Wagyu beef, who pamper their cattle with beer, massages, and music.

"It's quite a good drop actually and they tend to eat more than they should so I guess they like the taste.

"The antioxidant properties that we associate with red wine appear to have an effect on the meat's color and shelf life, and from the tests we carried out the meat also tastes sweeter."

Keeping up with the Joneses

LONDON: More than 1,000 people called Jones gathered under one roof to break the world record for the biggest get-together of people with the same name.

Some 1,224 Joneses packed into the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, smashing the previous record gathering of 583, set by the Norbergs of Sweden.

Guinness World Record officials had the task of keeping up with the Joneses and validated the attempt, after people with the Welsh surname descended from as far afield as Australia and the United States to take part.

Grace Jones, the flamboyant Jamaican-born 1980s pop star and former Bond girl, was among the famous Joneses entertaining their namesakes at the theatre.

Designer naff is the new cool, says 'Vogue'

LONDON: Designer naff, from kebabs, diamante, and fluffy slippers, will be all the rage in the New Year, said the British edition of style bible Vogue in its December issue.

Package holidays, jelly shoes - a 1980s favorite of little girls - and even hamburgers have been redesigned to become chic, it said.

"Cheap and cheerful favorites are going up in the world. The buzz phrase is 'upmarket-downmarket'," Vogue explained.

Designers have turned their talents to tacky items, reviving the fortunes of all things tasteless.

Kebabs, often a late-night staple food for vomiting British drunks, need to be salmon shish to cut it with fashionistas, while hamburgers get the nod if they are made using ultra-pricey Wagyu beef from Japanese cattle fed on grain and beer and regularly massaged.

Fluffy slippers can be cool, as long as they're sheepskin.

And Louis Vuitton has created jelly shoes for £160 ($300) per pair as "the naff seaside staple hits new fashion heights."

Eunuchs an effective weapon against India tax evasion

NEW DELHI: Eunuchs in eastern India were drafted by authorities to sing outside the homes of tax evaders to embarrass them into paying up, a report said.

Sari-clad eunuchs turned out in force alongside local tax collectors this week in Patna, capital of Bihar, India's most lawless state, the Indian Express reported.

"Pay the tax, pay the Patna Municipal Corporation tax," chorused the eunuchs on the doorstep of their first target, Ram Sagar Singh, who owed Rs100,000 ($2,240).

A mortified Singh promised to pay within a week, the report said.

Toronto wine cellar in the sky creates a buzz with new world record

TORONTO: A Toronto restaurant in the CN Tower claimed a new world record this week for the highest wine cellar. It prides itself on having 9,000 bottles stored 351 meters (1,151 feet) above ground in the world's tallest structure.

"It's pretty high," said Guinness World Record keeper Carey Low, who was sent to verify the claim to fame.

"I don't think this record will ever be broken," he said. There are taller buildings now being constructed elsewhere but I don't think they have plans for a top-floor restaurant or wine cellar."

The European-style wine cellar at 360 Restaurant was built in May 1997.

It resembles a typical underground wine cellar, with cedar racks and cherry doors. It features more than 550 labels from around the world that sell for anywhere from C$40 ($35) to C$3,000 for a 1993 French Burgundy.