Odds and Ends

Funded by underwear

The Darkness has sold enough official band thongs to pay for its new album. According to a new report, the band has sold so much official merchandise – including black G-strings emblazoned with the band’s name – that they can afford to make another album and go on tour without having to sell any albums. Russell Coulthart, who runs a pop merchandise Web site, said that bands ultimately want to reach fans and maximize revenue without giving a large chunk to labels.

No more smooching in St. Petersburg

Russian politicians have recently been handed orders to stop using the traditional greeting of a kiss and just stick with handshakes from now on. They’ve been told the kissing takes too long and that by banning the greeting extra time will be freed up for dozens of other meetings. Officials in the Moscow regional government are also said to be annoyed at local media using pictures of them kissing to make fun of them and entertain readers.

Homeless boy finds prize

Evans Kamande, a homeless Kenyan 17-year-old was urinating in a Nairobi park when he noticed a box wedged in the forks of a cactus. He removed it and looked at a piece of paper inside, eventually getting a student to read it for him. The paper was a voucher for a $5,040 prize being given away by a local radio station. The station has promised to give the money to Kamande, whose first thoughts upon hearing the news were of his mother. He said his mother works as a housemaid in Nairobi and he wants to use the money to buy a piece of land and build rental houses for her.

Meat lovers diet

A Berlin chef has developed a German version of the Atkins diet based on pork knuckles, sauerkraut and beer. The diet centers around the schweinshaxe, a large knuckle of pork that comes from traditional Bavarian style of cooking. Schweinshaxe is usually associated with big-bellied Bavarians, but chef Gero Winiarski claims he has developed a special way of roasting the knuckle to get most of the fat out and that his dish can help people shed pounds. Winiarksi said the dish is similar to the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet in that by ditching the dumplings usually served with the meal restaurant patrons can eat with a clear conscience. Guests at his restaurant can get the diet pork knuckle, a side of sauerkraut and a half-liter of Starkbier beer for about $20.

Sweet smell of champions?

The Chilean champions were forced to leave a practice session without showering because their club’s water supply was cut off for non-payment of bills. This followed last week’s deduction of three points for Universidad de Chile because of failure to pay the players’ wages on time. Defender Nelson Pinto said nothing like this has happened to him before, even when playing for a neighborhood team. He added that he hoped the directors get their act together.
Lunches of love

A Chinese restaurant manager is offering a free meal to dining couples if they come back, still together, a year later. Chen Guang’en said lots of young people fall in love, but do not take the relationship seriously and this offer rewards couples searching for lasting love. He runs the promotion by taking two pictures of the couple – one for him and one for them – and then in a year if the couple returns, still together, they get a free meal. To date, 100 couples have participated.

Corporate censorship

Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, will not be selling George Carlin’s newest book in stores. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Karen Burk said the book was not being stocked in stores because the company did not think it would appeal to a majority of Wal-Mart customers, but that the book will be sold on the company’s Web site. Jeff Abraham, a spokesman for Carlin, said he thinks the reason the book won’t hit shelves is because the cover parodies Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper.”