Features | Online edition of Daily News

Canines and their masters took part in the 17th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade on October 28 in New York City. The event is the largest dog Halloween party in the United States with an annual attendance of over 400 costumed dogs.

Dog Chiquita poses as Queen Elizabeth.	A dog named Bob wears a pumpkin outfit during a doggy costume contest in West Hollywood, California.	Jasmin is dressed like singer Britney Spears during a doggy costume contest in West Hollywood.
A dog named Tom is dressed with a mask during a doggy costume contest in West Hollywood.	Beluga the dog poses as Britney Spears.	A dog named Yoyo wears a fairy costume during a doggy costume contest in West Hollywood.

Dog named Rudy (L) poses as Michael Jackson and Parker poses as his girlfriend in the “Thriller” video.

Men aren’t as tough as they think they are

Shanghai - Frailty, thy name is man. So said China’s doctors Sunday on the eighth “Men’s Health Day”. Men in China are widely affected by bad living habits, a lack of awareness about mental and physical health issues, and a lack of exercise.

Shan Li, a psychologist with the DRM Professional Counselling, said men are more heavily burdened with “social responsibilities”.

“They live in poorer ‘mental circumstances’ and have poorer life quality than women in general, often frustrated but don’t feel free to vent their emotions,” Shan said.

Zhang Kan, a psychologist, said: “Men have shorter life expectancy than women, an undeniable part of the reason lies in the psychology”.

Professor Gu Jun from the Shanghai University said men frequently are burdened with the pressure of changing social circumstances with work, marriage troubles, and at times difficulties with children.

Shanghai Women’s Federation (SWF) found that some 20 percent of complaints it received were from men. This has sparked calls from some quarters that there was a need for a federation for men.

An unidentified man at a free consultation for women at SWF said he was a victim of domestic violence, and needed help. “There is no such a thing as a men’s federation,” he said. “So I am here.”

Other statistics show men have a general laxsidasical attitude towards health issues.

Figures from the 411 Hospital in Shanghai showed that 90 percent of men don’t know they should or believe they should have an annual health check. Twenty percent of men never do any kind of physical exercise.

Many claimed they did not want to exercise because they were busy, tired, or focused too much on other “more important” matters.

Huang Qiming, a urologist with 411 Hospital said occurrences of male diseases such as prostate problems, tumours on the genitals, and male sterility, were rising.

Common diseases like cardiovascular problems kill more men than women, Huang said.

Man, 106, marries woman, 81, in Wenzhou

With the promise of “Yes, I do,” a 106-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman got married in east China’s Zhejiang province, setting a new record of the oldest groom and bride in the province.

Pan Xiting, the groom and Chen Adi, the bride registered for marriage on Friday at the civil affairs bureau of the Lucheng District in Wenzhou City with the blessing of families and local government officials.

“Now, we are a family and we will never separate from each other till death,” said Pan.

Zheng Guangliang, deputy director of the district’s civil affairs bureau, confirmed that Pan and Chen are the oldest registered couple in Zhejiang.

“The eldest couple to marry before were in their seventies,” said Zheng. According to the Guinness Book of World Record, the oldest groom is Harry Stevens, an American.

He was 103 when he married 84-year-old Thelma Lucas in Wisconsin in 1984. Pan’s first wife passed away more than 20 year ago and Chen’s ex-husband died of illness 11 years ago.

The couple, both native of Yongjia County, got to know each other eight years ago and Chen has been taking care of Pan ever since.

Pan denied that their romance began with love at the first sight, but said that his bride was taking good care of him and knowing him well.

The pair decided to get married in April and their decision won support of the two families.

“We were told that we needed to show our residence cards to get married, but Chen’s has been lost for a long time,” said Pan.

Local civil affairs bureau made a concession to the couple after getting to know their story.

“We believe that Madam Chen means more than a companion to Mr. Pan and we hope they will have a happy marriage life,” said Zheng.

Women really do prefer chocolate over

When it comes to making women happy, chocolate really does take precedence over sex a new poll has revealed.

However, even chocolate had to take a back seat for the poll for Princes Quay Shopping Centre in Hull, found that nothing makes the fairer sex happier than being with their families.

Coming in second on the list for the ‘Things That Make Women Happiest’ list was being in love, followed by holidays in third place, reports the Mirror.

Chocolate came in at the fourth spot, but showed that women still preferred the sweet to a frolic in the bedroom which came in at number five.

The list for the top ten ‘Things That Make Women Happiest’ as per Princes Quay Shopping Centre is:

Sweet-smelling shirts could hit Italian fashion

Forget having to change your top when it gets too ripe — an Italian textile maker is readying shirts with strawberry or mint scents as the ultimate wardrobe item.

Tessitura Tainia, which has been weaving since 1933, hopes to launch a collection of blouses and shirts early next year permeated with various smells — orange, lemon, strawberry, mint and even coffee.

“The concept is to make a shirt that is not only an element for dressing but also of distinction,” Matteo Taiana, a manager of one of the company’s collections, told Reuters.

“The effect lasts several washes,” he said. “We still can’t give an exact number as it’s still in the testing period, but it’s definitely more than 10 washes.”

Woman in wheelchair takes highway shortcut

BERLIN - An 81-year-old German woman driving to a cemetery in her electric wheelchair decided to take a shortcut and drove the wrong way down a highway.

Vehicles on German motorways must clock at least 37 miles per hour, and there is no upper speed limit on some sections.

Motorists spotted the woman and notified authorities, who escorted her to safety. “She told us she got lost and wanted to avoid taking a big detour,” a police spokesman in the southern city of Nuremberg said.

Newlyweds thankful for lost keys

A pair of newlyweds in Qingdao, Shandong Province, paraded through the city in a locksmith’s car on Monday, to commemorate the role lock-picking played in their relationship.

The groom, surnamed Zheng, works for a local lock-picking company. Last October Zheng received a call from a woman surnamed Li who needed help opening a locked door.

Li was impressed by Zheng’s intelligence, kindness and patience. They developed a serious relationship shortly after that.

Father and son to share wedding ceremony

Chai Qingfeng, 55, and his son Chai Tao are planning to organise a joint wedding ceremony to express their “double happiness” in the city of Pingdingshan, Henan Province. Chai Qingfeng and his son were both granted marriage certificates on Tuesday.

With the encouragement and help of his son, Chai Qingfeng, whose wife died of illness several years ago, fell in love with a local woman last year.

Both Chai Qingfeng and his new wife Huang Liping are excited about their upcoming wedding ceremony.

Chai Tao, who has been dating his girlfriend for more than two years, plans to hold a wedding ceremony together with his father.

Music-loving geese a morning highlight

Wild geese at Yanhu Park in Kunming, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, have been attracting a lot of attention.

Every morning local citizens do their morning exercises to the sound of music. Whenever they turn on the stereo, 28 wild geese living in the park leave the lake and surround the morning dancers.

The geese clean their leathers or peck at the trousers of passers-by, much to everyone’s delight. Park employees said many people now come to the park just to watch the geese.

Teenager in go-kart leaves police standing

BERLIN - A teen-ager speeding through a German town in a go-kart with seven squad cars in hot pursuit managed to give the frustrated officers the slip, police said on Friday.

After leading the convoy on a 5-km (3-mile) chase through the winding streets of Moenchengladbach, the 18-year-old driver spotted a private garage with an open door, where he decided to lie low, police said.

“We were chasing him across town, but the squad cars couldn’t keep up because the go-kart was able to take the corners faster and he was able to get away,” police spokesman Willy Thevissen said.

However, police later discovered his hiding place. He was questioned and charged with driving without a license and driving a go-kart on a public street, which is not permitted in Germany.

“He told us he knew driving a go-cart on the street is illegal,” the spokesman said. “But he had purchased the vehicle from a friend and said he had no other way of getting it home.”

Street name changed over Viagra jibe

The Dutch town of Breda has decided to rename a new street that was to have been called St. Fiacrius court after people started calling it Viagra court.

The town council changed the street’s name to “Hofhage” after people about to move into a planned housing development there complained about the negative associations of living in a street with a name that sounds like the popular impotence drug.

Halloween gone to the dogs