A Glorious Friday Morning, Mt Roskill, Auckland, new Zealand

Picture by David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand, 2009.

Weird and Funny Law: Poland 'can jail drunk cyclists'

(Source: BBC News) Poland's Constitutional Court upheld a ruling this week that drunken cyclists should be treated like drunken motorists and face prison if caught.

Two thousand Poles are currently in prison for riding a bicycle whilst under the influence of alcohol.

The ruling has sparked a lively debate about whether cyclists should face such strict punishment.

The Constitutional Court ruled that drunken cyclists should be tried as criminals just as drink drivers are.

'Absurd, draconian'

Under a law passed in 2000, anyone riding a bike under the influence of alcohol faces a fine or up to two years in prison, depending on the level of their intoxication.

Many courts here apply the stricter penalty and the average sentence is 11.5 months imprisonment.

Such a state of affairs has been criticised by both the prison service and some judges.

Jaroslaw Sielecki, a 37-year-old judge from western Poland, called it absurd and draconian, adding that it can drag whole families into poverty.

He argued that intoxicated cyclists should be treated like drunken pedestrians, who face a fine rather than jail, as both use their own muscles to achieve motion.

The Constitutional Court, however, ruled that cyclists use public roads and are considerably more dangerous because of the speed they can travel.

NOT your hot sexy barely legal teenage girls's pictures....

These are the not those "sweet young things" that you might be hunting for!

Wonder what is going in the mind of these girls? Self-esteem issues?

Why disfigure themselves, destroy the beautiful faces they were born with?

It is because of the childhood, fantasies, personal choice or fashiong statement?

Posted by: David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand.

Excellent Memory: The man who remembers everything!

A Los Angeles man can recall almost everything he's ever done since the age of five.

TV producer Bob Petrella, 58, remembers up to half the days of his own life in shockingly vivid detail.

He was diagnosed with hyperthymestia, meaning overdeveloped memory, after putting himself forward for a study about memory at the University of California last year.

The rare condition, also known as Super Autobiographical Memory, has been discovered in just four people around the world.

Scientists are still baffled as to how and why it happens and no cases have yet been recorded in the UK.

Mr Petrella recalls the day and date he first met a good friend, and all the conversations he's had on most days throughout the last 53 years.

He first discovered his amazing talent at primary school, when he could pass every test easily without even revising.

Mr Petrella, said: "I always had this amazing memory but I never liked to advertise it or boast to strangers.

"I remember things best when they interest me, whether that's sporting events, or historical or political dates, or just good days I've had in the past."

He added: "I remember everyone's telephone number. I lost my cell phone on September 24, 2006. A lot of people would panic... But I didn't have any numbers in my cell phone because I have them stored in my head."

A world Record: World's biggest train set

Housed in a previously empty Hamburg building, it covers 1,150 square metres and features almost six miles of track, but is still not complete.

Frederick and Gerrit Braun, 41, have spent 500,000 hours and the equivalent of more than £8million working on it.

Their creation is on display to the public and is so vast they have to employ more than 160 people just to show visitors around.

Their 'Miniatur Wunderland' is split into six regions, including America, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Germany and the Austrian Alps.

Each region boasts detailed models of some of the world's most famous landmarks.

The American section is home to giant models of the Rocky Mountains and Mount Rushmore; the Swiss section has a mini-Matterhorn; and the Scandinavian part has a 4ft long passenger ship floating in a 'fjord'.

The brothers estimate the enormous track will be completed in 2014, when it will cover more than 1,800 square metres and feature almost 13 miles of track.

Today, their model railway comprises 700 trains with 10,000 carriages, 900 signals, 2,800 buildings and 160,000 individually designed figures.

The scenery took 700kg of fake grass and 4,000kg of steel to build. Night and day is even replicated thanks to 250,000 lights.

Speed Demon: Woman, 106, does 108mph at Brands Hatch1

Dulcibella King-Hall notched up a top speed of 108mph in a BMW M3 to celebrate her upcoming 107th birthday.

Miss King-Hall, of Tunbridge Wells, declared: "It could have been faster", as she was helped back into her wheelchair after completing four laps as a passenger.

Asked why she loved the thrill of speed, she replied: "Why shouldn't I? Don't you like it? I like the feeling of the vehicle going vroom."

Born in Devon in 1902, Miss King-Hall has loved cars since she tested vehicles commandeered from civilian use during the Second World War.

Pulling into the pit stop after three laps, Miss King-Hall sped off for a final loop of the circuit watched by a crowd of awestruck well-wishers.

Driver, chief instructor Gary Palmer, 39, said: "I said: 'Shall we do another lap?' and she said 'yes'. It's incredible. We don't normally see people of that age on the track."

Lena Akers, social events coordinator at the Halliwell nursing home where she lives, organised a trip in a Porsche for Miss King-Hall's 100th birthday, then a drive in a Rolls-Royce when she turned 105.

She said she felt she had to "up the ante" this year, adding: "Cars are an abiding passion of Dulcibella's. Her love of speed has her constantly asking our minibus driver 'to go a little faster please'.

"If you have a lady who loves speed, I couldn't think of anywhere else better to come than Brands Hatch."

'Ghost' photo spooks experts (True Ghost Story with real picture)

The picture, taken in May 2008, appears to show a man or woman in a ruff peering out of a barred window at Tantallon Castle.

No mannequins or costumed guides are employed at the castle, and three photographic experts have confirmed that no digital trickery was used on the photo.

Confirmed ghost sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman, who led the study, said: "It is certainly very curious. We ran it by three photographic experts and they said it hadn't been Photoshopped at all.

"The figure appears to be in period costume, but we know 100% that Tantallon Castle is not the sort of place that has dummies or costumed guides - they just don't go in for that sort of thing."

Tantallon Castle, a ruined fortress dating back to the 14th Century, stands on a remote rocky headland near North Berwick on the Scottish east coast.

Christopher Aitchison, who took the photo, said: "I was not aware of anyone, or anything, being present in my picture, only noticing the anomaly when I got home."

Psychologist Prof Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, who has made many studies of the supernatural, launched the investigation a month ago.

Members of the public were asked to submit ghostly images for experts to analyse, the best of which were posted on the website www.scienceofhauntings.com.

More than 250 pictures were received and more than a quarter of a million people voted for what they considered the most convincing. The Ghost in the Castle took first place, with 39% of the vote.

Unreal but true news: Mother-in-law survives rocket attack

A desperate husband tried to kill his mother-in-law with an anti-tank missile launcher after claiming she'd turned his wife against him. Bosnian Miroslav Miljici wanted revenge after blaming his wife's mum for the break-up of his marriage. And when his mother-in-law survived the rocket attack on her home, he tried to finish her off with a machine gun, a court in Doboj, Bosnia, was told. Amazingly, she survived both attacks with barely a scratch, judges heard. In defence Miljici - jailed for six years for attempted murder - told the court he could no longer take his mother-in-law's nagging.

This is True: Winston Churchill's Breakfast Menu.

Winston Churchill wrote his own breakfast menu - including whisky and a cigar - on his last official flight to the US. The breakfast menu on the 1954 BOAC flight was not to the Prime Minister's liking so he wrote one out himself. He requested a two-course meal to be brought on two trays, reports the Daily Telegraph. In his own hand, Churchill ordered: "1st Tray. Poached egg, Toast, Jam, Butter, Coffee and milk, Jug of cold milk, Cold Chicken or Meat. "2nd Tray. Grapefruit, Sugar Bowl, Glass orange squash (ice), Whisky soda." He then added: "Wash hands, cigar." The menu was kept by the air steward and the item is now being sold along with press cuttings from the trip. The menu is expected to fetch up to £1,500 when it is sold at Mullock's auctioneers in Ludlow, Shropshire, on St George's Day. Auctioneer Richard Westwood-Brookes said: "This is one of the most remarkable pieces of Churchill memorabilia we have seen. "It shows what a hearty breakfast he ate and it was all washed down with a whisky, after which he smoked a cigar. "It is the type of indulgence we've come to associate with Churchill and it reassuring to know he ate so well in his 80th year."