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Phyllis Diller once said, "When I go to the beauty parlor, I always use the emergency entrance. Sometimes I just go for an estimate." This sort of honest appraisal of oneself is something the winner of the 2010 Miss Cornwall beauty pageant has yet to learn.

The rules of the annual Miss Cornwall beauty pageant are simple: entrants must be aged 17 to 24 and must live or work in Cornwall, the picturesque county in England's south-west.

Laura Anness, this year's winner, is 27, and she lives and works in Devon.

Laura managed to win the title - at her fifth attempt - by claiming she was a Cornwall resident and that she was aged 22. Her deceit was discovered when one of the pageant administrators noticed, while cleaning old files out of her office, that Laura's age was given as 22 on the entry forms for each of the five years she had entered the contest.

Now Laura has been stripped of the title she tried so long to win. She has also lost the chance to compete for the title of Miss England and forfeits a 12-month modelling contract.

When Laura looks back on her beauty pageant career, she can take satisfaction at least from making the final of the 2009 Miss Universe competition. It is believed there were no questions over geographical qualification for that one.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Europe, UK, Human nature

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Bride misses her own wedding

April 3rd 2010 02:47

A drink with a friend before your wedding is a tradition Siobahn Watson was determined to follow. Now she wishes she hadn't.

Watson, 24, of Manchester, England, a telesales assistant, was engaged to Aaron Todd, also 24, a bricklayer. A white Rolls-Royce had been hired, the bridal party's gowns had been designed, fitted and paid for, guests had been invited and a lot of money had been spent on the function at which everyone would celebrate the happy day.

Unfortunately, Watson's final drink as a single woman turned into something of a final fling as a single woman. Not all the details have been released, but we can read between the sheets.

Some hours before her wedding, Watson went out for that fateful drink with the unnamed "friend". They drank. They drank some more. At some point Watson lost her mobile phone. At some other point, the two stopped drinking and went to a motel.

We know only two things for certain that went on in that motel room. One is that Siobahn Watson went to sleep. We know that because we have been told the other thing that happened: she woke up.

She woke at about the same time that she was supposed to be saying, "I do."

Later, Watson was quoted as saying, "When I realised I had missed my own wedding, I started shaking. I could not believe I had been so stupid."

Aaron Todd, who had spent longer than expected standing, alone, by the altar, while friends and family tried continuously to ring Siobahn on her lost mobile phone, was quoted as saying, "She won't get a second chance.''

dailystar.co.uk; image: firstpersonsingular.org

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Dating, Europe, UK, Human nature, Odd Spot, Romance, Sex

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Are women vain? The eyes have it

April 2nd 2010 01:32

For women confident enough to see it, glasses can be an elegant statement of self-assurance.

Scientists have produced evidence that just under 50 per cent of women are vain.

A British survey of 3,000 women found that nearly half of them believe wearing glasses makes them look unattractive and would not wear them under any circumstances. The study found that short-sighted women who do need glasses often prefer to squint or just exist in a blurry world.

Opticians connected to the study say the result is a serious concern. It indicates that in the UK alone there are 7.5 million women living with imperfect eyesight and refusing to do anything about it.

Researcher Paul Surridge said, "What seems ridiculous is that girls would much rather damage their eyesight permanently than visit their ... optician for a quick check. Deteriorating eyesight can have a terrible effect on quality of life, causing symptoms such as headaches, a squint or pain behind the eyes. Without regular check-ups, these can lead to much more serious conditions such as glaucoma.

"Unfortunately, vanity seems to be one of the main reasons why girls don't want to go for an eye test, or wear glasses."

The research also revealed women who do have prescription glasses don't wear them as often as they should. Two-thirds said they leave them at home when going for a night on the town, 50 per cent wouldn't wear them on the date, 15 per cent won't wear them on public transport and 16 per cent take them off before meeting their boyfriend.

Of those who do wear their spectacles, half claim to feel ugly when wearing them, and 48 per cent say they over-compensate with the rest of their outfit and appearance to make themselves feel more attractive.

When Paul Surridge talks about "girls", he means women, but there is no denying the seriousness of his point. Arguably, it is indeed girls — teenagers — who are potentially the greatest victims of the social and peer-group pressure which is behind this.

The incidence of myopia, or short-sightedness, varies between races, but affects roughly half the world's population. A recent study of first-year university students in Britain found that 50.0 per cent of caucasian background and 53.4 of Asian background were myopic.

It is something which commonly develops in the early teenage years, when the need to see the class whiteboard is greatest, and when confidence to resist peer pressure is at its lowest.
dailymail.co.uk; image: theage.com.au

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: UK, Fashion, Health, Human nature

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The archbishop's take on social media

August 6th 2009 23:28

Internet social networking sites which promote themselves as communities are in fact undermining community life. So are texting and emails.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: UK, Human nature, Religion, Social media, Technology

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Money isn't everything

April 15th 2009 11:47

They were a young couple determined to live a better life than the tough rural existence their parents had known. It was January 2007 and Cristina Simoes, then 20, and Luis Ribeiro, then 23, of Portugal, were planning a good life together.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Europe, Portugal, Human nature

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