Positioned in the heart of London, Trafalgar Square is the place where two opposites met to publicize the release of the new “Guinness World Records 2009.” He Pingping, the world’s shortest man who can walk met Svetlana Pankratova, the woman with the longest legs.

He Pingping, of China, was born with a type of dwarfism. He, 20, stands precisely 2 feet 5.37 inches tall.

He called Svetlana Pankratova’s legs “very beautiful.”

Pankratova, 36, who is Russian but lives in Spain, has legs that are nearly 52 inches long, or more than 4 feet long. Her upper body has nearly typical proportions, giving her a giraffe-like appearance.

He Pingping perched between Svetlana Pankratova\'s leggy legs

Dressed in a bright-blue mini-dress and low-heeled pumps, Pankratova, 36, said she liked her legs, though they can complicate things. “It’s hard to find clothes, especially pants,” she said.

I think every girl has trouble finding pants, and mostly I think that is due to the fact that designers think women come in height sizes of short, regular and tall. The waist of our pants is also decided on what number you are, 00, 0, 1, 3 and so on it’s disgusting, oh and each designer is different on their sizes. Men don’t have half the trouble because their pant size is determined by waist inches and inseam.

At just over 6-foot-4, Pankratova isn’t the tallest woman on record. Sandy Allen, of Shelbyville, Indiana, who died recently, held that title at 7 feet, 7 inches, according to the book. The book said He is the shortest man who can walk.

The latest edition also includes Britney Spears, did you know she is the most-searched person on the internet?

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With the Lehman Brothers hitting bankruptcy, and all the live coverage of the happenings on Wall Street, there is bound to be a few pranksters. Check these two out, they are “consoling each other.” Yeah… Consoling.

I just read an article about an elderly British woman, 78, who has won the ability to sue a serial rapist after he won the lottery.  The newly millionaire rapist, Iorworth Hoare, assaulted the woman known only as Mrs. A in 1989, won the lottery in 2004 and collected the money in 2005 when he was released from prison after 16 years.  Hoare won just about $12.8 million when he bought a winning lottery ticket in 2004 when he spent a few hours outside of prison under supervision.

Mrs. A sought to sue Hoare when she learned about his winnings. But she was initially told the time limit for compensation claims had run out, with such claims allowed only up to six years after a crime.

Is that justice?  I think so!  That elderly woman has spent the last 19 years a different woman because of that sexual assault.  Why didn’t she sue before her six year limit was up?  Well, when the rapist doesn’t have the funds, it sort of seems pointless right?  Personally I think that all the money he won while in prison should go to his victims, he owes them that, and a lot more.  Comments?  I’m curious on other views.

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One over priced watermelon was bought by a marine products dealers in Japan for $6,125 Friday.  The black Densuke watermelon, grown only on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, was one of a few thousand available each year.

Evidently these watermelons are pretty good because three years ago some other crazy person threw down $3,000 for one.

What would you do with $6,000?  Spend it on the sky rocketing gas prices?

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I read this story a day or two ago about a French skydiver who planned to break four world records at once as he leapt from a balloon in the Earth’s stratosphere.

The former paratrooper had hoped to set new marks for the highest jump, fastest free fall, longest free fall and the highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon.

Michel Fournier, a 64 year old and current French record holder for highest parachute jump at 40,000 feet, was hoping to break the highest jump, fastest free fall, longest free fall and highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon records on Tuesday.

Still clad in his bright yellow pressure suit, the visibly frustrated Fournier waved away cameras after his ride slipped away shortly after 5 a.m. (7 a.m. ET). There was no immediate word on how the effort was botched, but his flight crew was attempting to recover the balloon, according to his official Web site

Apparently Fournier has spent the last twenty years and nearly $20 million on this adventure, how disappointing would that be to witness your extremely expensive stratospheric balloon float off into the skies without you?  What’s even more sad is that, according to his website, he has sold just about all of his possessions to finance the launch.  

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Thanks to DS, I downloaded the program WorldWide Telescope.  This is similar to the idea of Google Sky, but a little better put together.  For those taking Astronomy in college, like I did, then this program is just like that one you had to buy, you know, Starry Night.  Starry Night is $150 and lacks real Hubble images, so that is how they are set apart.

The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a rich visualization environment that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space telescopes in the world for a seamless, guided exploration of the universe.

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Obviously I played with the program for a little before I wrote this, so I’ll tell you a bit about it.  It has every constellation that you could ever think of.  It also has images of all the planets and moons in case that’s all you fancy.  Their easy tab system makes it so even an inexperienced astronomer can maneuver around this program and learn a thing or two.

There is a Guided Tours tab that takes you through a tour of nebulae, galaxies, planets, black holes, star clusters and tons of other good stuff.  You can search by name if you want or just wander the skies with your mouse.

Go check it out for yourself and you might just learn something.

What an incredible young man. I have read a few stories of remarkable youngsters, but this one is especially awesome.  I have heard cases like this a few times before, but not of a boy with such confiden

Pruthviraj Patil has suffered from hypertrichosis, a rare genetic condition also known as Werewolf Syndrome, since birth. He is believed to be one of only 50 people in the world with the condition.

Patil rarely leaves his home town in India for fear of strangers reactions.  Children at his school used to tease him, but now they accept him as if he didn’t suffer from hypertrichosis, aka werewolf syndrome.

Sad thing is, not even laser hair removal will work for him.  So now he appealing to doctors to seek out a permanent cure.

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What a story to wake up to, this mother from Germany is being held by police after one of her three grown children tipped them off about three dead infants. Autopsies are being done to figure out how the children had died. The infants were found Sunday night in the town of Wenden, near Olpe.

The 44-year-old woman, who name was not released, was taken into custody on suspicion that she killed the children.

The woman, her 47-year-old husband, and three grown children — two sons, aged 18 and 22 and a 24-year-old daughter — have lived for years in the town.

Sadly this isn’t uncommon, a number of similar stories come out of Germany.

In February, police were called to a home in northern Germany where a dead infant was discovered in the cellar.

In January, a 28-year-old German woman was charged with manslaughter after the remains of three babies were discovered in her house and the home of a relative. That woman has denied killing the three babies.

Another woman was convicted of manslaughter in 2006 for killing eight of her newborn babies and burying them in flower pots and a fish tank in the garden of her parents’ home near the German-Polish border.

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News of Suleman Mirza and his dance partner Madhu Singh danced for the judges of Britain’s Got Talent, just like Kate Nicholas and Gin her dancing dog.  Suleman’s nickname is the Michael Jackson Dancing Machine, so check out his YouTube channel of him dancing in a ton of videos like Wacko Jacko.  Speaking of Wacko Jacko, shouldn’t Suleman get that mask for his performances?

Suleman is pretty impressive, and his partner Madhu surprised me when he barged up on stage.  Good show, good show.

How much would you pay for wine? A Chinese entrepreneur purchased a mix of vintage wines for $500,000, his previous large purchase was only $59,880. The mix of vintages of Romanee Conti, is considered to be among the world’s most exclusive wines with only 450 cases made each year. The Beijing-based billionaire purchased “12 bottles of Romanee Conti 1978, two bottles of the 1961, 1966, 1996 and 2003 and single bottles of the 1981, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2002.”

Interesting record making tid-bit:

Malcolm Forbes, the late publisher of Forbes’ magazine, set a record in December 1985 when he paid 105,000 pounds, then about $162,750, for a 1787 bottle of red wine made by Bordeaux’s prestigious Chateau Lafitte.

In 2006 the Antique Wine Company sold the world’s most expensive bottle of white wine, a regular-sized bottle of Chateau d’Yquem 1787 for just under $100,000.

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