What Caught My Eye Today

Germany - Last time I checked there was no shortage of candidates for Darwin Awards (click here) but it would appear that there is a television games show where the contestants seem hell bent on winning this coveted prize. A contestant on Germany's most popular game show, "Wanna Bet?" was hit by a car and broke his back as 10 million viewers watched live. The show features celebrities betting on whether a contestant can complete difficult stunts. Like say, oh...I don't know...getting broadsided by a car and living to talk about it afterwards? In recent years, the stunts have grown ever more dangerous. I stunned. Phil Collins, Cameron Dian, Justin Bieber and Cher were among the guests who saw a contestant bounce on spring-loaded stilts and somersault over moving cars. Seriously? Man, that Justin Bieber is just everywhere these days He cleared 3 cars but slammed into the fourth and smashed to the ground. Not surprisingly, there are dozens of film clips posted to YouTube. What few editorial restraints I place on myself, prevent me for including any such links.

China - Recent survey results published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that Shanghai students ranked first in the world in reading, science and math. The survey ranks 15 year old students in some 60 countries and this was the first year that Chinese locations were assessed. The U.S. ranked 17th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math. Hold on. Before you get your knickers in a bunch, let's put this survey into proper context. Let us not forget that only 43% of Chinese students receive more than compulsory education (yes, I checked). I'm not saying that the U.S. educational system is the envy of the world (far from it, sadly), but it is accessible to a far greater percentage of the population. And as anyone with a passing interest in statistics would acknowledge, the greater the sample size, the greater degree of variation.

Egypt - Not exactly the first place that comes to mind when you see a headline about shark attacks. A tourist was killed and four others mauled by sharks at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Days earlier after four more tourists were attacked authorities closed the beaches, found and killed two sharks-a mako and a whitetip-and declared the area safe. Right. A few days later a snorkeler was killed when a shark ripped her arm off. Honestly, can you think of a worse way to go? Experts are investigating what could be causing sharks in the area to turn on humans. Two words: fresh meat.

Art - I've always considered myself as having an open mind when it comes to art; freedom of expression, creative, imagination and all that. I also think I do a pretty good job of keeping an open mind when it comes to other people's definitions of art. There are times, however, when my open mindedness is tested. I submit to you Exhibit 1. An artist commissioned to decorate the Christmas tree at the Tate Britain gallery in London, chose to leave the tree bare. In explaining his actions, he said,"When you see a tree in the forest you don't think, 'That tree is naked, it needs a bit of tinsel.' " Point taken, but consider this. The tree dude was commissioned to decorate wasn't in a forest was it? One wonders how much this guy was paid to basically do nothing.

But wait, there is more. I give you Exhibit 2. A Polish artist was granted a $2,338 grant from the British government (around 1,500 pounds) for an art show that consists of "a painting that hasn't been painted yet', an "invisible sculpture" and "a movie shot with no film in the camera. Let me guess, the inspiration for this "art" (for lack of a better term) was the classic fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes".