life, etc
CHINA Chinese officials have decided that musical talent shows are not suitable viewing for the populace. The hugely popular “Super Girl” TV show, which is the Chinese equivalent of Idols, has been scrapped by the state broadcasting watchdog. It's thought that the reasons behind the show's dismissal are twofold: firstly, it's too popular for a show that doesn't air on the state broadcaster; and secondly, the public's voting for the winners sets a dangerous democratic precedent. It has ordered the network which screens the show to replace it with "programmes that promote moral ethics and public safety, and provide practical information for housework". Makes all those “Style by Jury” repeats on e.tv look quite thrilling. USA A Tennessee vegetarian has learned the hard way that there is no place for ambiguous vanity number-plates in her state. Whitney Calk ordered a number-plate which reads “ILVTOFU”, to express her love of tofu. I-LV-TOFU, in other words. But those perverts at the Tennessee number-plate authority chose to read it as I-LV-TO-FU, and thus rejected it on the basis of "vulgarity". Now the perennial
briefs
Super Girl China (Reuters)
attention-seekers and animal rights organisation Peta has climbed on board, defending Whitney's right to express her vegetarian fervour. ISRAEL Spencer Tunick, a photographer who is known for taking naked pictures of people at famous landmarks (nice work if you can get it), has photographed over a thousand nude Israelis bobbing in the Dead Sea. The aim of the piece (other than giving media outlets around the world a semi-legitimate reason to print a picture of nude people) was to draw attention to the fact the water levels in the Red Sea are dropping at the rate of four feet a year. The group of naked floaters was aged from 18 to 77.
CHINA It is not often that you get to use the phrase "heroic pig", unless you are a screenwriter pitching the “Babe: Pig in the City” plot. But in this case it seems apt. Scientists in China have cloned a pig which survived more than a month buried under rubble after the 2008 earthquake, and produced six heroic little piglets. Actually, it's unclear if they have inherited the hero gene, but they do have DNA identical to their dad, so here's hoping. USA Disney has re-released “The Lion King” in three glorious dimensions. “The Lion King 3D” is proving a roaring success so far, devouring $29.3 million at the box office in its opening
tuesdAY - 20 september 2011