Dogs in swimsuits at fashion show

Dogs wearing designer clothes strutted their stuff on the catwalk during a fashion show with a canine twist.Accompanied by two-legged models, the pooches paraded a series of fetching outfits from swimsuits to evening wear.
The Taipie-based company which launched the collection hope to catch the eye of dog lovers who treat their pets as family members.
"I want my dog to dress up like me, just like mother and daughter in the same style dress," said one owner.The dog-wear company plans to open markets in China, Japan and Australia.

Amazing Daredevil motorcyclist jumps London's Tower Bridge while doing a no-handed backflip

Motocross star Robbie Maddison found an unusual way to cross the Thames this morning - when he used his motorbike to leap an open Tower Bridge.

The 27-year-old Australian performed a no-handed backflip as he jumped the gap between the north and south side of the historic London landmark at 2.55am.

‘The whole experience was awesome,’ he said.


‘We had a matter of minutes on the bridge and had to time everything to the second - there were so many factors to get right, but we pulled it off.

‘It was an incredible feeling to fly between the two towers and over the Thames.’

Maddison said he had been planning a stunt in London since his last feat - leaping off a ramp on to a life-size replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve last year.


‘People say I’m crazy, but I just want to push the boundaries of my sport and my body to the limit and I love taking on these huge challenges,’ he said.

Maddison, who also holds the record for the world’s longest ever motorbike jump (350.7ft) will perform at Battersea Power Station on August 22 as part of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2009.

His stunts are reminiscent of Evel Knievel, the American motorcycle daredevil whose jumps including his 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

His achievements and failures, including his record 37 broken bones, earned him several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records before his death in 2007.

Top 10 Craziest and Beautiful Artworks

Rotating Wall Art

Richard Wilson, one of Britain's best known sculptures is drawing inspiration for the world of construction and engineering with his latest art called Turning the Place Over. The art is a section cut out from a building and rotates itself on a pivot with a cost of £450,000. It is described as one of the most daring piece of public art ever commissioned in the UK. It will be launched on June 20th 2007 and will run till the end of the year.

House Tunnel Art

This extraordinary structure on Montrose Boulevard took motorists by surprise. A pair of artists, Dan Havel and Dean Ruck was responsible for this house installation. The two wooden buildings were to be replaced by a new built project so the few months before the demolition, they made this into an architectonic installation.

Elevator Art

Going into this elevator would certainly makes one nervous. A sign at the entrance cautions the people that goes in about work in progress. A more detailed look shows that the floor has been painted with an illusion that there is no floor.

Photo Realistic Painting

Alright, what's so interesting about 3 guys standing beside a photo? Except that the photo is actually a painting! This is a photo realistic painting of Tica by Dru Blair, the guy in the center.

£50m Diamond Studded Skull

The skull which is covered with 8,601 flawless diamonds and a £50 million price tag, this piece of expensive artwork is made by Damien Hirst. Critics dismissed it as a publicity stunt by the multi-millionaire artist who took 18 months to make this skull studded with diamonds worth £12 million. He dreams of seeing the skull on display among the ancient treasures at the British Museum.

Driftwood Horse Art

These are driftwood horse sculptures by Heather Jansch who live and work in Westcountry of England. Its amazing how she managed to put those branches together to form such an art.

3D Perspective Street Drawings

A set of 3D perspective street drawings similar to the ones by Julian Beever, an Englsh artist famous for his virtual 3D street art. These drawings gives out a three dimensional effect when viewed at the right angle.

Latte Art

Latte art are designs created on top of espresso based drinks. The popularity has also spawned competitions all around the world to enable practitioners to show off their skills. Taste is still the most important thing though since the art is just the visual presentation.

Beer Can Art

These amazing beer can sculptures includes airplane, bike, trumpet, cello, truck, castle and others. Great for home decorations and showing off to your friends.

Words Art

The artist behind it is Thomas Broom.

Funny Movement of top Italian swimmer in tears after being disqualified when her hi-tech skinsuit bursts open at the rear

It's the wardrobe malfunction to end them all.

Italian Olympic swimmer Flavia Zoccari was forced to sit out a championship race at the Mediterranean Games yesterday after her bathing costume burst open in a very unfortunate place.

Flavia, 22, was wearing the controversial £318 top-of-the-line Jaked J01 swimsuit when disaster struck at the Games in Pescara, Italy..


She burst into tears as she was forced to stand down from her race.

Jaked boasts that the full-body swimsuit - complete with back hinge - is 'more than skin'.

However the aerodynamic costume has been the subject of controversy after it was banned by FINA (the International Swimming Federation) earlier this year because it gave swimmers wearing it an unfair advantage.

FINA lifted the ban on the swimsuit a month later, in June of this year, after Jaked, which sponsors the Italian national swim team, protested the ban.

Zoccari - who is nearly six feet tall - later apologised for the embarrassing incident.

Strangest moments Diver's close encounter with enormous shark

Looming from the depths, this huge creature looks as if it is about to swallow diver Sam Bester whole.

Luckily for her, it is actually a whale shark, which only eats plankton.

The picture was taken by Miss Bester's friend Fiona Ayerst off the coast of Durban in South Africa.
The diver had been completely oblivious to the shark's presence until Miss Bester pointed it out.

Whale sharks are the largest living fish species and can grow up to 65ft (20m) in length. Some experts believe they can live to the age of 100.

They are found in tropical and warm seas, typically with temperatures ranging between 18 and 30C.

And though the gaping mouth may look terrifying, it has a very practical purpose.

Whales sharks are able to gobble up huge amounts of plankton, sieving out the water swallowed with each mouthful through the gills.

Although they are so big, they are one of the world's more elusive creatures and little is known about them.

Marine scientists dubbed them whale sharks because of their size. They have the skeleton of a shark and are therefore fish, not mammals.

Black Eyed Peas Fergie wows Glastonbury in hip-baring playsuit with daring cutouts

Forget about the wellies and practical clothing.

It seems Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie didn't get the brief for famously laid-back Glastonbury as she rocked up in an eye-catching cut-out playsuit and high heels.

The singer, who performed with her band on the last night of the festival, looked every inch the hip hop diva as she belted out her tunes in the ensemble, which included a black leather corseted top with a revealing bottom half.


Fergie, who is known for having one of the most toned body's in pop, was clearly intent not to be be upstaged by her band's elaborate stage, which was decked out with a giant TV screen doubling as a staircase, DJ booth and bandstand.

As the band came onstage, a series of green lasers shone out over the audience.

They then launched into their hit Let's Get It Started, to huge cheers from excited fans.



However, some of the crowd booed when Black Eyed Peas member Will.I.Am asked, 'What's up, London?' several times.

The band, who performed on the Jazz World Stage at the festival, also paid lengthy tribute to Michael Jackson, who died on June 25, during their headline set.

Also rounding off the festival yesterday, its final day, was Blur frontman Damon Albarn.

He and his Brit pop band brought down the curtain as the final headline act.

They played a set of hits at their first Glastonbury gig since they topped the bill at the Somerset show in 1998.

'It seems like there's been a really, really positive atmosphere here,' Albarn told the crowd.

This year's other headliners included Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

Miss Ellie wins title of World's Ugliest Pedigree Dog

There was shampoo, backcombing and enough diva antics to scare the steeliest of postmen but as beauty pageants go not every canine would have been quite so happy to participate.

But for those who did take part in the World's Ugliest Dog Competition at Sonoma-Marin Fair in California it was a question of ugly being the new beautiful.

In the dog-eat-dog, claw-biting contest a truly 'unique' looking creature beat off other hideous hounds to claim the crown for being the world's ugliest pedigree dog.


Miss Ellie, a pure breed Chinese crested hairless from Tennessee, is reported to be around 15 years old, has only a couple of back teeth, cataracts in both her eyes, several moles and pimples and limited hair - with such credentials the other mutts surely could not have stood a chance.

And like every good beauty queen Miss Ellie also had a heartfelt message for her adoring fans. According to her owner come spokesperson, Dawn Goehring, Miss Ellie really hopes to be a 'spokesmodel for rescue dogs of the 'not so cute' kind''.

'Her dream is to travel around to prove that ugly is just a word, and says nothing about how wonderful she is,' she said.

Ellie has come a long way from being kept in a kennel area for much of her life with an owner that saw no purpose for her.

When she was rescued she knew no commands and was not house trained but now rules the roost among her other rescue pals and even attended her owner's wedding in rival white dress and veil.

'Miss Ellie hopes that people get the message that there are plenty of wonderful rescue dogs out there just waiting for a chance,' added her proud owner.

As well as winning a modeling contract from House Of Dog lucky Ellie will also pick up a cheque for $1,000, a trophy to put in her kennel and even a professional photo shoot.

But it was Pabst the boxer who came through as the surprise overall winner of the contest.

His victory was an upset - the first place usually goes to a Chinese crested, like Miss Ellie.


The fabulously toothy four-year-old Boxer, who is also a rescue dog, has a 2in underbite, a large burn scar on his stomach and his nails grow in any direction they feel like.

While looking absolutely ferocious Pabst's bark is worse than his bite and in fact the loveable mutt is reportedly a pussy cat who likes nothing more than to take lots of naps in the sun.

11 Strange and Impossibly Loaded Bicycles

Awesome and Stunning pictures of hole in the clouds' from volcano eruption

A chance recording by astronauts on the International Space Station has captured the moment a volcano explosively erupted, sending massive shockwaves through the atmosphere.

Sarychev Peak, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, had been sitting quietly in the Kuril Island chain near Japan for 20 years, when it suddenly sprang to life on June 12.

Fortuitously, the International Space Station was flying overhead at the time, and managed to capture this spectacular image of the ash-cloud tearing through the atmosphere, sending clouds scattering in its wake in a perfect circle.

The station, which orbits the earth from a height of 220 miles, makes nearly 16 orbits of our planet every 24 hours, and happened to be in the perfect spot to see the dramatic eruption.

The unique images have provided a wealth of new information about the eruption process, and volcanologists are now excitedly poring over the data.

Most unique is the mist-like 'roof' to the cloud, believed to be either steam or condensing water pushed ahead of the advancing cloud of ash. Known as a 'pileus cloud', it lasts just moments, making this a rare snapshot.


Also visible, far below on the hillside, is the thunderous pyroclastic flow of super-heated rock as it cascades down the mountainside. When most people picture volcanoes, they imagine red-hot lava flows. Pyrochastic flows are their deadlier older brother. Appearing at the start of an explosive eruption, they can travel at 130mph, meaning there's nearly no escape for anyone or anything caught in its path.

But the most stunning aspect of the picture is the effect on the clouds: As the ash column punches its way towards the top of the atmosphere, the shockwave causes the clouds to scatter.

An alternative theory, one which these pictures is helping to test, is that as the ash rises, the surrounding air is pushed down, where it warms, and the increased heat causes the clouds to evaporate.

As the ISS continued its orbits over the next days, the astronauts could follow the plume as it drifted away from the island, incidentally causing disruption on nearby flight paths.




The volcano is part of a seismically active cluster of islands running North East from Japan's Hokkaido Island, and up towards Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

There are disputes between Russia and Japan over who owns which islands, but Matua Island, where the volcano is located, is generally agreed to be Russian territory. The Japanese call it Matsuwa Island.

The last explosive eruption from Sarychev happened in 1989, with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows.

Ash from the eruptions has been recorded to reach more than 1,500miles from the volcano and commercial airline flights have been disrupted.

The height of the plume was measured at five miles high - a huge distance into the sky, although not enough to worry the astronauts peering down from above.

The International Space Station was first constructed in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed in 2011.