Dog in Germany gives birth to 17 puppies

(AP)

BERLIN (AP) — A dog in Germany has given birth to 17 puppies, leaving their owner thrilled but fatigued after having to feed them with a bottle for several weeks because their mother couldn't cope with the demand.

Owner Ramona Wegemann said Monday she barely slept for more than a couple of minutes without interruption during about four weeks in an "exhausting" struggle to make sure all of the purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies would survive.

She said when she was "finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again."

Wegemann's dog Etana gave birth to eight female and nine male puppies on Sept. 28 in Ebereschenhof, which is near Berlin.

At least five times a day, Wegemann gave the dogs a bottle with special milk because their mother's nipples could have never coped with the demand, and when the puppies were not hungry, they wanted to be entertained, she said.

Wegemann said when dogs give birth to so many puppies several of them die within the first week. "But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful," the 32-year-old added.

It was the second time that Etana gave birth. She gave birth to eight puppies in her first pregnancy, not uncommon for the dog's breed, Wegemann said.

"The birth of the puppies was very special. All puppies were born naturally, no cesarean was necessary," she added. It took Etana a full 26 hours to give birth to all of the puppies — and Wegemann was as baffled as amazed.

But caring for 17 puppies turned out to be a full-time job: Wegemann put her work as an independent animal psychiatrist on a hold and her husband took as much vacation as he could.

Their lives have been turned upside down by the puppies, and their living room is now occupied by a giant box that houses the puppies.

But even Wegemann still struggles to recognize them: The females puppies are called Bahati, Binta, Bahya, Bashima, Batouuli, Binki, Bora, Bisa and the male ones are Baakir, Banjoku, Belay, Bruk, Bundu, Bayo, Bukekayo, Biton and Bulus.

Wegemann gave them all African names because the Rhodesian Ridgeback is an African hunting dog. Wegeman and her husband now plan to give most of the puppies away.

A price of ?800 ($1,050) per puppy would only cover the expenses for the veterinary, vaccinations, food and the mandatory paperwork, Wegemann said. She hopes to get about ?1,000 ($1,315) per dog, but said they would only give them to families with children, not breeders.

Four of the puppies have been sold, two more are already paid for and will leave their siblings shortly.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Mark Wahlberg &Will Smith Offered $1 Million ToFight In Celebrity Boxing Match

From: http://www.radaronline.com/

Mark Wahlberg and Will Smith will be offered a cool $1 million each to fight in a celebrity boxing match on February 26, 2011, in Las Vegas, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.
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Damon Feldman, CEO of Hollywood Boxing Federation, formerly known as Celebrity Boxing Federation, is putting the offer out to the two superstars Monday.
He told RadarOnline.com: "This will be a great opportunity for both stars to fight in the Superbowl of Hollywood boxing and to donate millions to their favorite charities."
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"It would be a great event too. Can you imagine?
"Both guys have trained with professional boxers. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in Ali and was phenomenal. Wahlberg is currently playing Mickey Ward in The Fighter.
"Come on, I really think that this would be a huge event and great way for them to donate to their favorite charities."
Feldman said the concept is for Smith and Wahlberg to fight three, one minute rounds.
"We don't think these two are going to rip each others heads off," Feldman said. "We're just hoping they get into the ring and have a little fun duking it out."
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While the date has been set, the exact location has not yet been determined.
Other celebs who have fought in the Hollywood Boxing Federation include Jose Canseco, Rodney King, Michael Lohan and Danny Bonaduce.
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We're all waiting to see whether Smith and Wahlberg say yes to the deal.

Periodic table gets a makeover

From: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/

Remember memorizing the periodic table in high school? Well, forget it. Some information on the table is about to be reset. The world's top chemists and physicists have determined that the atomic weights of 10 elements - ones you've actually heard of - need to be expressed as an interval (or range) rather than a static number, Science Daily reports. The new atomic weights of hydrogen, lithium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, silicon, sulfur, chlorine and thallium will more accurately reflect how those elements occur in nature. "For example, sulfur is commonly known to have a standard atomic weight of 32.065. However, its actual atomic weight can be anywhere between 32.059 and 32.076, depending on where the element is found," the article explains. The change will take effect in 2011, designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Chemistry, according to Science Daily. No word yet from CBS on whether the changes will require major rewrites of upcoming episodes of "The Big Bang Theory."

The Top 10 Best Albums of 2010

By Joseph Oliveto
from http://beatcrave.com/2010-12-16/the-top-10-best-albums-of-2010/

It’s often said about any popular art form, be it music or movies or literature, that what’s being produced today pales in comparison to the classics. Well, while we here at BeatCrave certainly reserve a high degree of reverence for what’s come before, we also know it’s foolish to make a blanket statement like that when there’s so much good music being released these days. Say what you want about the commercial hype machine forsaking quality in favor of sales; that’s been a part of the business since the days of Elvis, and although it’s true that record companies would probably rather find the next N’Syncbefore the next Pixies, that doesn’t stop good albums from slipping through the system.

Don’t believe us? Give these 2010 releases a listen and see if you haven’t changed your mind…

10.) American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem

After grabbing some mainstream exposure with their previous album, The 59 Sound, these working class Jersey boys fulfilled the potential it implied by releasing the strongest disc of their career. Full of Motown melodies, classic rock’n roll guitar, and heartfelt lyrics, it’s perhaps the best piece of Americana since The River.

• How High Was the Anticipation Level? 5/10
• How Well Did it Pay Off? 7/10
• How Well Did it Improve on Past Work? 6/10
• Combined Score: 18

Buy it on Amazon.com!

9.) Speak Now by Taylor Swift

She may sing about the kind of idealized adolescent love that isn’t of interest to anyone outside of theTwilight crowd, but love her, hate her, or only know about her because you have a teenage daughter, Taylor Swift is undeniably talented. And she’s only twenty!

• Anticipation Level: 8/10
• Pay-Off: 7/10
• Improvement: 4/10
• Score: 19

Buy it on Amazon.com!

8.) Congratulations by MGMT

You could be forgiven for being disappointed with this follow-up to Oracular Spectacular. Not a single track on the album was as immediately accessible as “Kids.” Still, gotta give the band credit for going the In Utero route and trying to do their own thing. However, they may be trying too hard; they wrote a song called “Brian Eno” to appeal to hipsters and prove they’re not sell-outs, whether they’ll admit it or not.

• Anticipation Level: 8/10
• Pay-Off: 7/10
• Improvement: 5/10
• Score: 20

Buy it on Amazon.com!

7.) Brothers by The Black Keys

If you even once tuned your radio to an alt-rock station during 2010, you heard this band’s “Tighten Up.” They’ve been around for nearly a decade and it was about time they hit it big. We doubt they’ll change their blues-drenched style now that they’ve had a taste of success. Look at that picture. That is not what sell-outs look like.

• Anticipation Level: 4/10
• Pay-Off: 9/10
• Improvement: 9/10
• Score: 22

Buy it on Amazon.com!

6.) Recovery by Eminem

When he’s wasn’t calling out any other musical artist who isn’t him in remarkably juvenile ways–he’s never been as clever or insightful as his fans claim–Eminem’s early career involved endless self-analysis and claims that he was a changed man. This is basically more of the same, but his rhymes are as catchy as ever and the track “Love the Way You Lie” expresses a genuine sensitivity that his earlier work only hinted at.

• Anticipation Level: 9/10
• Pay-Off: 8/10
• Improvement: 7/10
• Score: 24

Buy it on Amazon.com!

5.) This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem

We might as well call it revolutionary simply because this is the first time in a long time that “dance music” has also been “good music.” Rumors abound that this is the last release for LCD Soundsystem, and seeing as it may be the best, it’s as good a place to stop as any.

• Anticipation Level: 8/10
• Pay-Off: 10/10
• Improvement: 7/10
• Score: 25

Buy it on Amazon.com!

4.) The Suburbs by The Arcade Fire

It doesn’t have any of the “we’re not sure if music can change lives but we’ll sure as hell try” urgency that made the song “Wake Up” an instant classic, but the melodies are memorable and the band sounds like they’re still willing to explore. It’s hard to go wrong with this group.

• Anticipation Level: 10/10
• Pay-Off: 8/10
• Improvement: 8/10
• Score: 26

Buy it on Amazon.com!

3.) Contra by Vampire Weekend

This unclassifiable band of Columbia-educated music geeks may dablle in just about every obscure genre imaginable, but it all comes down to one thing: pop. And we’re not talking about bland, cookie-cutter teeny-bopper pop. We’re talking about “you’ll be humming along to these tunes even if it’s the first time you’ve ever heard them” pop. Few bands can craft hooks as skillfully and consistently as theseguys.

• Anticipation Level: 10/10
• Pay-Off: 9/10
• Improvement: 8/10
• Score: 27

Buy it on Amazon.com!

2.) High Violet by The National

The worth of a band can often be measured in whether or not another band could take their place. Based on that principle, The National proves to one of the best bands in years. Baritone vocals and layered arrangements blend together resulting in an album of pure musical bliss, the best yet from this band. They’re finally getting the attention they deserve and left Letterman grasping for the right words when they performed on his show earlier this year.

• Anticipation Level: 7/10
• Pay-Off: 10/10
• Improvement: 10/10
• Score: 27

Buy it on Amazon.com!

1.) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West

Kanye West seems absolutely incapable of keeping his mouth shut. Luckily for us, half of the time that is because he’s delivering unparalled songs to the masses. He’s got massive ambition and the talent to match. Few artists aim this high and far fewer hit their target. Readers, will let you have your comments, but we just want to say that Kanye West had one of the best albums of all time.

Or at least the year.

• Anticipation Level: 10/10
• Pay-Off: 10/10
• Improvement: 8/10
• Score: 28

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Time lapse video of Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse on December 21, 2010 from 1:10 AM EST (6:10 GMT) to 5:03 AM EST (10:03 GMT) from Gainesville Florida. Music is Claude Debussy Nocturnes: Sirènes.