Kim sings military’s praises, oungum-style
In North Korea, the army sing their leader’s praises with a chorus of We Will Defend General Kim Jong-un at the Cost of Our lives. But this time it was the turn of the leader to sing praises. Kim, the third of his line to rule North Korea, praised musical instruments made by the North’s 1.2 million-strong army recently, state news agency KCNA reported.
Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula since new UN sanctions were imposed after the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.
Putting aside rising rhetoric, Kim inspected guitars and drums made by the army and said it was important to make quality instruments so soldiers could “spend their worthwhile days in the army full of militant optimism and joy”, KCNA said.
Kim’s field guidance follows the example set by his late father, Kim Jong-il, who gave advice to factories and farmers as well as the army. His father’s feats, according to KCNA, included inventing the oungum, a banjo-like musical instrument that is “widely popular” in North Korea, and scoring 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf. (Reuters)
Man Fakes Knife Attack To Impress Date
One man in Jonesboro, Arkansas, thought that heroically saving his date from a knife-wielding attacker would earn him major romantic brownie points — so long as she didn’t find out he staged the entire thing himself.
Jeffery Tyler Siegel, 26, and a woman told police that a man wearing all black approached them one night and told Siegel, “You can go, but your girlfriend stays,” according to ABC News. The woman ran away, but Siegel said he stayed to fight. The attacker “slashed” Siegel twice with a large knife before running off into nearby woods, KAIT-TV reported.
Suspicions rose when police found no trace of the suspect, even after a two-hour search. Siegel was also initially “reluctant” to come in for questioning. When he did show up, he eventually confessed to planning the whole attack in hopes that it would improve his chances with his date. (Huffington Post)
More people have access to cellphones than toilets
A UN study has found that more people around the world have access to a cellphone than to a working toilet. The study’s numbers claim that of the world’s estimated seven billion people, six billion have access to mobile phones. However, only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet.
At a press conference announcing the report, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson announced the organisation is launching an effort to halve the number of those without access by the end of 2015. Interestingly, the report states that India alone is responsible for 60 per cent of the world’s population that does not use a toilet, an estimated 626 million individuals. Yet, at the same time, there are an estimated 1 billion cellphones in India. Conversely, in the world’s most highly populated country, China, only 14 million people do not have access to a toilet. However, there are also fewer cellphones in China, 986 million, according to the Daily Mail. (Yahoo News)
Coach Uses Sex Toys To Help Singers Reach Higher Octaves
A vocal coach in Canada is creating a lot of buzz with his titillating technique for improving his students’ singing skills: He puts sex toys on their throats.
University of Alberta drama professor David ley swears by the sex toys and uses them to massage the throats of actors and singers. “I know it’s a bit different... I know there’s a giggle factor, but it works. It relaxes tension in the larynx... it improves range and projection,” ley said, according to MetroNews.ca.
Speech pathologists massage the larynx to loosen up tension, but some people hate the feeling of fingers on their throat so ley began to search for a new method that would help performers increase their vocal power. That search led him to a sex shop where he found some hand-held vibrators that had a frequency around 100 and 120 hertz, the range of the human voice.
“What I’m trying to do is to help the person hit that high note or harness their emotional energy,” he told the Toronto Star. (Huffington Post)
Mussolini’s secret bunker beneath Roman structure
Workers in Rome have stumbled across a top-secret bunker once belonging to former Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, hidden underneath the historic Palazzo Venezia.
The discovery is the 12th such bunker as is said to have been the “most secret” of the former strongman’s hideouts, according to the Italian publication la Stampa.
The nine-room compound was unearthed by city superintendent Anna Imponente and architect Carlo Serafini, who were busy inspecting a restoration project on the 15th century building that sits atop the bunker. During their inspection, they noticed a tiny wooden hatch, which led down to the bunker nearly 50 feet beneath the earth. (Yahoo News)
