Natalie Wood, truth drowned

I finally heard a few days ago news that I longed to hear ever since reading about the weird circumstances of Natalie Wood’s death.

arson and nerd laughs

One of my favourite cartoon sites, xkcd.com has recently sent me on a trip down memory lane. First, let’s look at the cartoon:

Sauna Champ Dies in Heat of Battle

I participated once in an improptu sauna contest, but I had the wisdom and instinct of self-preservation to give up before sublimating. Some people don't, and you can see them in a very graphic video.

Personally, I think you need an (un)healthy dose of sadomasochism to “win” in such a competition. Here are the rules, courtesy of wikipedia:

• The starting temperature is 110 degrees Centigrade. Half a liter of water will be poured on the stove every 30 seconds.
• Use of alcohol is prohibited prior to and during the competition.
• Competitors must wash themselves beforehand, and remove any creams and lotions.
• Competitor must sit erect, their buttocks and thighs on the bench.
• Ordinary swimsuits must be used. Pant legs in men's swimsuits may be up to 20 centimeters long, and women's shoulder straps may be up to 5 centimeters wide.
• Hair that reaches the shoulders must be tied into a ponytail.
• Touching the skin and brushing is prohibited.
• Competitors must not disturb each other.
• When the Judges ask, competitors must show that they are in their senses with a thumbs up.
• Competitors must be able to leave the sauna unaided to qualify.
• A breach of the rules results in a warning. Another one results in disqualification.
• The last person in the sauna is the winner.

The sad events:

On 7 August 2010, Russian finalist and former third-place finisher Vladimir Ladyzhensky and Finnish five-time champion Timo Kaukonen, passed out after six minutes in the sauna, both suffering from terrible burns and trauma. They were both rushed to the hospital but Ladyzhensky died en route. Kaukonen was reported to suffer from extreme burn injuries, and his condition was described as critical, but stable. Just a few minutes before the finals, Kaukonen told the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang that the saunas used for the 2010 championship were a lot more extreme than the saunas used for previous competitions.

Sources / More info: guardian, wiki-sauna, yt-sauna

VerbaVolant, sauna, banya, contest, heat, heat exhaustion

Johnny Depp will never die

Recently voted the world's most stylish man and with numerous other awards under his belt, the rumour has it that Johnny Depp was recently involved in a car crash. As our "designated rebel", the connection to James Dean and his tragic end seemed too attractive for the rumour mill.

So if the rumour is not true, who would start it and why?

As it turns out, the February issue of GQ hits the stands on January 26, and sales may have been lacklustre in the recession. The press needs money to stay afloat, and just like Presidents’ approval ratings soar when they declare war or bomb some hapless country, so do sales of magazines explode when the cover-person was just involved in a controversy.

Killing your main man is a bit extreme, but is still better than dying of hunger..

Here’s what Times Live had to say:

Search engines have registered over 13million searches on this issue with  CNN.com reporting that Depp’s car was found wrecked “along side a road outside Bordeaux, France, with the guard rail embedded deep inside the car and police have pulled out the body of the former actor, Depp.”

In the story titled Johnny Depp dies after fatal car crash, CNN claim that the Depp was discovered by a tourist who was driving on the same road when he spotted the wrecked car that was allegedly lying amongst liquor bottles. He then contacted the police who rushed to the scene of the accident to find Depp in the car.

“The police suspect that alcohol was the cause of the accident,” CNN wrote.

But according to Associated Press writer Ryan Christopher DeVault these rumours could be false because Depp’s camp haven’t confirmed the allegations.

“As far as we know, Johnny Depp is doing just fine, and has not been in any type of car crash. At this time we feel it is pretty safe to say that Johnny Depp is doing fine right now, and probably getting ready to get back into character for Pirates of the Caribbean 4,” he wrote.

The “story” appeared on a fake CNN site hosted on free hosting – Angelfire:

SFGate writes:

This is a terrible hoax on Johnny Depp and CNN. Johnny Depp was very much alive and about to film Pirates of The Caribbean Dead Man's Chest, which was released in 2006. Angelfire is a web hosting service. It's hard to tell just who made the fake CNN page, which is so detailed that if you click on the CNN logo, it takes you to the CNN home page, just as a regular CNN webpage would do. (..)

Regardless, Crispin Glover reportedly ended the talk by calling Johnny Depp via cell. Depp responded: Nope. In France, according to NBC Chicago's Courtney Hazlett, who issued the news last Monday.

Buying the magazine, when it comes out, will not confirm or infirm rumours. But your curiosity, awakened the day before, will be satisfied.

Sources / More info: twitter-depp, wiki-depp, gq-most-stylish, people-depp, sf-no, time-not-dead, angelfire-fake-CNN, Glover-interview, nbc-courtney, yt-depp

VerbaVolant, Johnny Depp, rebel, stylish, sexy, sex symbol, pirate, pir8