i'm not going to switch my blog to just covering things that amuse me, although i realize that it's all i've written this week. however, i do have to add a few more fun news items, and i really don't have any accompanying personal rants...

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A Nevada couple devoured their competition in the first watermelon-eating contest sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Rich LeFevre put down 11.22 pounds of watermelon at the Swellin' with Melon contest over the weekend in Brookville, Ohio. LeFevre's wife, Carlene, took second with 9.78 pounds.
yipes.
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Andre Tolme, a 35 year old civil engineer from New Hampshire, divided up the Mongolian countryside into 18 holes of golf and has been making his way across the 1,234 mile route (which apparently has a par of 11,880). You can see details of his ridiculous quest by visiting his website.
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Researchers at Kyoto University studied Japanese chimps and found out that yawning appears to be contagious. (There are tons of links about this, so go ahead and make a quick search if you want to know more)
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Cable network TVLand will launch a regular 30-minute talk show, "Alf's Hit Talk Show" in October. This will mark the first time that Alf has been a prime-time regular since his NBC series went off the air in 1990.