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She is the first woman in the Middle East to enter the Guinness World Records book. And she’s just 25.
Meet Emirati Reem Al Gurg, who made it to the record books by creating what has been officially declared as the world’s largest bead mosaic.
Called Sahara Vision, the 3.75 square-metre artwork is made of a staggering 18,231 wooden beads and represents the confluence of Dubai’s reality and mysticism.
“I chose wooden beads because they reflect the colour of the desert,” said Reem, who took four months to complete the unique piece of art in 2007. By a strange coincidence, November 8 – the day she submitted her entry, was also Guinness World Records Day. But it could not make it to the 2008 edition as it had already gone into print.
But now her record-breaking feat, depicting high-rise buildings facing the desert under three moons, has found its rightful place in the 2009 Arabic edition of the Guinness World Records book. The colossal artwork was also displayed at the recent Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2009 where Reem had a book-signing session. Childhood prophecy
A nutrition teacher at Zayed University, Reem said she always wanted to do something special in life. “Years ago when I was in school, I used to tell my friends that I would break a world record some day,” she recalled. Reem said an animated picture designed by her husband for his company’s home page was what stirred her imagination and helped her conceive an image of the artwork.
It comes as no surprise therefore that she has named it after the company Sahara Vision, which deals in 3-D animation services, architectural visualisation and special effects.
Dubai, the city where Reem grew up, is however the biggest source of her inspiration. “I’m really proud to be living here. It’s amazing how much the city has changed and accomplished in such a short span of time,” she said. Inspiration
Reem loves challenges and, sure enough, has already taken up a new one – her daughter’s birthday gift.
Her daughter turns one on December 1. By then Reem hopes to write and publish a series of books in Arabic for two-year-olds and under, involving two Emirati characters, with an emphasis on local traditions.
Reem wants to exhibit her record-breaking work and said she wouldn’t mind selling it if she gets the right price.
As you probably know next weekend Tommy Tiernan is attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the longest solo stand up show ever from 3pm on Good Friday until Dawn on Easter Sunday all in aid of the GYDS resource centre “Number 4” in Galway City . As you also may know the charity have recently been forced into a turnaround by the board of directors to refuse the money they were promised based on the diocesan feeling “uncomfortable” about the event beginning on Good Friday.
Tommy and everyone involved is more determined then ever to raise these funds and make sure they go to the marginalised young people. This is no ordinary Tommy Tiernan show. He needs to stay awake and keep managing to talk for 37 hours. He may not even be funny at times, he may even just be whispering, he may be talking rubbish. Hopefully he won’t loose his voice. But as long as he keeps going and makes it to dawn the world record will be set. Tommy needs you keep him going, feed him ideas for material, bring something with you that he can talk about.
We need all you Tommy fans to get behind him with your support. There are shows in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning, middle of the afternoon and we want some of you lunatic folks on board. Make it an Easter event with pals, your Lenten offering, or your way of helping the homeless this Easter.
We are setting aside a number of tickets for groups of 10 or more at the concession rate of €15 per ticket. Whatever your group is friends, family, students, nurses, doctors, hairdressers, shift workers, taxi drivers, teachers, messers.
Be part of this Guinness World Record attempt by an Irishman and in the process help raise these much needed funds for the homeless.
Chip Bowlin and Kristine Gould are both lieutenant colonels serving at Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, but the mission they're on right now at Skydive City in Zephyrhills is a personal one.
They're setting the Guinness record for the most tandem jumps in 24 hours.
"We're going to do at least 150," Lt. Col. Bowlin said, "that's one every ten minutes on average."
But they'll try and make better time than that. To do it, they'll basically freefall down, pulling their canopy in close and spiraling down as fast as they can.
"The fastest we've done it is five and a half minutes," Lt. Col. Bowlin told FOX 13.
That's wheels up, to wheels up again.
"We are so ready to set this record!" Lt. Col. Gould said laughing, "We've been training for about nine months now."
Some people think they're crazy.
"First of all everyone knows we're crazy!" Lt. Col. Gould said.
It's just something they had to do.
"We have talked for a long time about our love of parachuting," she said. "We both really enjoy skydiving, working at SOCOM, in the military, we love being on the parachute team, when you combine all those things, doing a world record was pretty natural."
"We both said, 'I wonder what the record for tandem skydiving is,' " Bowlin said. "Guinness has a record for everything. So we got on the internet and started researching and found there is no record. So we said, 'Let's set one.'"
24 hours will be tough. Weather pushed them back more than a few hours. After that, it's endurance, stamina that will carry them and plenty of adrenaline.
The jump itself? They say it's no big deal, that part they can handle.
"It feels like you're flying," Lt. Col. Bowlin said, "People think, who've never jumped before, that it's going to be this big dip in your stomach like you get when you do a roller coaster ride.Nothing whatsoever like that, it's very loud, you feel the wind in your face. Actually in freefall you feel like you're floating."
And for them it never gets old.
"It's always a great ride down," Lt. Col. Gould said, "Chip and I have a great partnership a great friendship and we just enjoy the heck out of doing this."
Bowlin and Gould are raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
"It has supported the Special Operations community for the last 20 years," she said. "It's a security blanket that makes our job so much easier it is such a comfort knowing they're there."
THE Batley woman who won the Gawthorpe Coal Carrying Championships has broken the World Record. Catherine Foley, of White Lee Road, battled to victory in the time-honoured village tradition, carrying 20kgs of coal on her back in an uphill slog.
And Catherine, a physical training instructor for West Yorkshire Police, has smashed the world coal carrying record and will go into the Guinness Book of Records with her time of 4 minutes 45 seconds – on her first attempt at the race.
She said: "I fancied a different challenge and it's completely unique. A work colleague and a friend of mine's step-dad take part so I got involved through them."
Catherine, 27, was confident she could carry the weight of the coal after a few attempts training with a bag of gravel which was 5kgs heavier, but she found the hardest thing about the race was getting a handle on the bag.
She said: "The bag of coal was smaller than I thought it was going to be and it hung down my back quite a lot so I had to lean over more when I was running than I did in training.
"I was quite nervous before the race so I think I burned a lot of nervous energy. I got out in front from the start. I thought it was best to attack it from the beginning. I knew once I got to the top of the hill if I was in the lead I could pick up the pace for the finish.
"I was relieved to see the finish line and really happy I did it in my first go."
Not satisfied with her record-breaking in the coal race, Catherine is putting herself through a number of other challenges this year, including the Tough Guy in July, which will see her run 10kms followed by a two-mile assault course.
And in September she is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Jordan Ramos, from Sheffield, managed to break the Guinness world record by bouncing from a trampoline, flying seven metres through the air and slam dunking a ball into a basketball net that stood 10ft high.
The previous title-holder is a Japanese sportsman who is twice Jordan's age who managed a slam dunk from 6.30 metres.
Although Jordan spends a lot of time training, he still works hard at school, according to his mum, who told Sky News: "I am so proud of Jordan - he's a grounded kid and keeps on top of his homework as well as all his training."
In fact, Jordan's whole family eats healthily and is extremely sporty. Dad Marcelo is a stuntman, his mum Anita is an acrobat and his six-year-old brother Samuel is being touted as a future Olympian.
Jordan is also an Elite tumbling gymnast who represents Great Britain and trains at the prestigious Wakefield Gymnastic Club.
Jordan's amazing world record was featuring on "Guinness World Records Smashed" on Sky 1 on Sunday.
Sky originally approached Jordan's father to take up the challenge but once Jordan caught wind of the competition he begged his dad to let him have a go until Marcelo yielded.
University of Maryland, College Park junior Cody Waldron was excited at the opportunity to be a part of a Guinness world record and came – pillow in hand – to McKeldin Mall at the UM campus Friday to do his part.
Waldron was one of 1,780 people to participate in the UM Senior Council's attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Record's record for largest pillow fight.
"That's something everyone reads and something everyone knows about so it's pretty cool," said Waldron, a physical education major. "It's good, clean, safe fun."
While the pillow fight fell short of the world record of 3,706 set in November 2008 by the British Broadcast Corp., event coordinators called the pillow fight a success, as the council raised funds for Dream Village Inc., a New York-based nonprofit organization which publishes children's books.
"I thought it went great," said Bronwyn Glynn, a member of the UM Senior Council in charge of marketing the event. "I was very happy. It would have been awesome to break the record but it was a lot of fun."
Glynn said the event raised $6,000.
The event was the brainchild of Shawn Malhotra, an economics major and co-chairman of the senior council. The senior council paid for the $5,000 event through grants and donations from the Student Government Association, UM fraternities and sororities, Dream Village, Pepsi and Warner Brothers Entertainment.
The council raffled off tickets to Warner Brothers' premiere of "The Ghost of Girlfriends Past" in Washington, D.C., VIP passes to the 18th Street Lounge donated by Pepsi and the grand prize winner of the raffle got to be a character in a Dream Village book.
The event also featured performances by The UM Juggling Group, student a capella group "Treblemakers" and hip-hop dance group "Phunctions."
"It's been a lot of fun and it's been about a year and a half of my brainchild developing," Malhotra said. "It's cool to see something we've been working on for so long actually happening."
Glynn said the council spent a lot of time securing the mall, notifying Guinness, getting UM police on board, securing funding and donations and publicizing.
Glynn said she enjoyed watching over the pillow fight from the stage.
"It was really neat to look out over the mall to see everyone out there with their pillows," she said. "In the end, when we all threw our pillows in the air, it was really cool."
Waldron said he was glad they tied the event into a fundraiser.
"I'll make sure to give something back," he said. "They're putting this on and it's the least we can do."
However, some students were out there just for the pillow fight.
"I'm just here to swing a pillow," freshman Nicole Beck said. "I was kind of hoping [UM President Dan] Mote would be out here."
It was the ultimate bromance: Two Pennsylvania men spent most of March sending each other constant text messages. In the end, more than 217,000 messages were sent and one of the friends ended up with a $26,300 bill.
"It pretty much started as a joke. I don't personally really like texting all that much," said Nick Andes, 29, who lives in Lancaster.
Andes and his friend Doug Klinger, 30, thought nothing of the messages. They both have unlimited text plans as part of their cell phone package. Who says you can't have too much technology?
"He would text me in the morning, sometimes I wouldn't respond. So he would just send over a whole bunch of text messages and I would get irritated with it so I would send back as many as I felt like sending, just to try and irritate him," said Andes, a messenger and title clerk who loads trucks for UPS in the morning.
Then the two friends wondered what the world record for texting was and if they could beat it. A quick Internet search found a record of 182,000 messages sent in 2005 Deepak Sharma in India.
During a few test days in February, Andes and Klinger got up to 6,000 or 7,000 messages a day. That's when they knew it was possible to break the record. Once Andes' new billing cycle started on March 7, they started typing away.
"It was all legitimate words and stuff but it was all nonsense," Klinger said. "A lot of times it was 'hey what's up,' 'how are you doing,' 'what's up,' 'hahaha,' 'lol,' over and over again."
On a typical day, the two men would exchange 8,000 to 10,000 messages. The count would have been higher if they hadn't taken off a few days.
"We went over 12,000 a couple of days. I'm pretty sure we could do 15,000 a day and we may have," Andes said, noting that he wasn't about to count all the messages sent on a particular day.
The finally tally on his bill from T-Mobile: 217,033 text messages. He sent 142,000 and received 75,000 from Klinger, who works as a screen printer.
A demure 26-year-old mother of one in Assam is all set to have her name entered in record books after having munched 51 of the world's hottest chillies in two minutes in front of celebrity British chef Gordon Ramsay.
Anandita Dutta Tamuly performed the bizarre feat Thursday night before hundreds of people at the tea growing town of Jorhat, 300 km east of Assam's main city Guwahati, for a Channel Four Television show on global food being anchored by Ramsay.
"In two minutes, Anandita gobbled 51 red-hot chillies (locally known as Bhut Jolokia) without batting an eyelid or shedding a tear and also smeared seeds of 25 chillies in her eyes in one minute with the crowd simply awestruck," Atul Lahkar, a local chef who coordinated the show, said.
"The Guinness authorities had earlier asked us to provide them with a recording of the feat supervised by someone responsible. We asked Ramsay to be the adjudicator for Guinness and he agreed to pursue Anandita's claim as the world's 'hottest woman' by submitting video clippings of the record-breaking feat," said Diganta Saikia, another event coordinator.
Bhut Jolokia (capsicum frutescens), a chilli native to Assam, is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's hottest chilli pepper.
The discovery by Paul Bosland, a Regents Professor in horticulture at New Mexico State University, was recognised by the Guinness World Records in a testimony saying Bhut Jolokia, belonging to the Capsicum Chinese family and native to Assam, was the hottest of all spices.
The hotness of the Bhut Jolokia, measured in Scoville heat units at two independent laboratories by Bosland, was 1,001,304. It's nearly twice as hot as Red Savina (577,000), the variety that is second-hottest. By comparison, a New Mexico green chilli contains about 1,500 Scoville units, while an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000.
The reigning chilli champ is South Africa's Anita Crafford, who in 2002 gobbled eight jalapenos in a minute.
"I am very happy to have broken the record. They (Channel Four crew members and Ramsay) praised me for my world record breaking feat," said Anandita.
The event coordinators said a formal acknowledgement from the Guinness World Records would take some time as there were several formalities before Anandita's name is etched in the book.
"I have been eating Bhut Jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth," she said.
She got hooked on to the hot pepper when she was just five years old.
"I had a sore tongue and my mother applied a chilli paste to cure the infection when I was five. Since then I developed a penchant for chillies," Anandita said.
The local variety of the chilli is grown mostly in hilly terrain and is considered a staple menu in every meal among many people in northeastern India.
SHOPPERS in Blackburn have created a new world record — for most kisses in one minute.
DJ Paul Winstanley, 28, said he was “all kissed-out” after he was smooched 110 times in just 60 seconds outside The Mall in Blackburn.
He enlisted the help of 20 women and girls in the bid which saw him kissed on average more than three times per second.
Paul, who lives in Mellor, stepped in at the last minute after his colleague at The Bee radio station Andy Cook had to pull out after developing a throat ulcer.
He said: “It was great fun and I actually can’t believe that we got the record.
"My girlfriend Liz was here watching and I would like to apologise to her for kissing so many girls.
"I think I owe her a box of chocolates!”
The event, which took place yesterday afternoon in King William Street, was filmed and will be sent off to the official adjudicators at Guinness World Records for the record to be confirmed.
The record attempt saw a line of women give Paul a peck on the cheek before rejoining the end of the queue for another kiss.
After starting the weekend without holding an individual world record, American speedskater Shani Davis finished it owning his two favorite races.
Davis set a world record for the second straight day when he won the 1,000 meters on Saturday in the speedskating World Cup, solidifying his place as the fastest mid-distance skater in the sport entering next weekend's world championships.
"Now I have both of my world records back," Davis said.
Davis also won the 1,500 on Friday in world record time and knew he had a shot at the 1,000 on Saturday at the Utah Olympic Oval, one of the fastest tracks in the world. But he didn't know he would be trying to take the record away from American teammate Trevor Marsicano.
Marsicano, a 19-year-old from Ballston Spa, N.Y., became the first skater to go faster than 1:07 with a 1:06.88 — more than 2 seconds faster than his personal best — early in the 1,000 pairings on Saturday.
"I didn't know what to think. I was scared," Davis said. "He didn't skate 1:07 ever. He went straight to 1:06. I knew I had a lot of work to do."
Davis let Marsicano enjoy his time at the top for about 20 minutes, then set the new world record with a time of 1:06.42 — 0.46 seconds faster.
Davis knew he had the record as he glided around the ice in front of the U.S. fans, who had barely stopped cheering Marsicano's mark.
"I had it for a short matter of time. I'm the first guy to go under 1:07. I'm still very happy with it," Marsicano said. "It feels great. It's just a big confidence builder for me knowing I can be right there with these guys next week."
Marsicano nearly crashed on his final lap, but dropped his hand to regain his balance and pushed his way through the rest of the race. He saw he had the record, but knew Davis was still scheduled to go in the final pairing.
Marsicano finished second to Davis for the second day in a row. He also knocked almost 3 seconds off his time in the 1,500 on Friday.
In the women's 500 meters, China's Wang Beixing upset Jenny Wolf of Germany, winning with a time of 37.25. Wolf was 0.14 seconds behind and failed to win the 500 for just the third time in the World Cup season. Canada's Kristina Groves wrapped up the World Cup title in the 1,500 by winning Saturday with a time of 1:54.08.
Sven Kramer of the Netherlands, the top distance skater in the world, won the 5,000 in 6:06.64. Havard Bokko of Norway was second (6:09.94), followed by Carl Verheijen of the Netherlands (6:13.17).
Marsicano finished the weekend with another personal best in the 5,000 by more than 8 seconds, finishing in 6:16.56.
Saturday was the end of the World Cup season. The skaters head to Vancouver next week for the world championships.
"Next week is the real test because it's going to be on the same ice the 2010 Olympics are going to be on and it's going to be slow ice," Davis said.
Guinness World Records Names Route 66 Rocking Chair "World's Largest" Released February 2009
CUBA, MO The steel 42'1" rocking chair that took its place on Route 66 on April 1, 2008, celebrates its 2009 birthday with the Guinness World Records designation of Largest Rocking Chair. The Guinness designated Largest Rocking Chair adds one more Route 66 attraction to the Show-Me State, which bills itself as "Close to Home, Far From Ordinary."
Owners of the rocker, Dan and Carolyn Sanazaro, who grew up in Cuba, built the chair adjacent to The Fanning Outpost General Store to prompt travelers to stop and visit their complex of businesses: an archery range, a taxidermy shop, and a general store with lodge style décor, convenience items, and Route 66 mementos. The businesses center around a renovated Fanning, MO community building with a history as both a bar and a voting center at different times.
Dan Sanazaro, thought the Route 66 location, four miles west of Cuba, MO (pop.3500), in Fanning, MO, needed something special to attract folks to his fledgling businesses that opened in what some might call an out-of-the-way rural setting.
With this in mind, Dan asked his friend artist/designer John Bland to design a large rocking chair reminiscent of the roadside attractions of the 30s-50s along Route 66. Bland, with no formal engineering training, drew the plans for the rocker. When the plans were tested on engineering software, they were almost dead-on. With a little adjustment, the plans were ready for building.
For this phase, Sanazaro turned to another friend welder Joe Medwick. Using American ingenuity and the love of a challenge, Medwick built the 31' chair rockers in his shop and then trucked them to the store. Medwick fabricated the rest of the rocker on site with the chair lying on its side.
On April Fool's Day, Sanazaro contracted two cranes to lift the chair into place on its concrete pad. Medwick then cut and welded steel to make the chair stationary for safety purposes. During this process the chair went from its original 46' to a little over 42 feet.
The Route 66 Rocking Chair is a focal point for travelers and locals alike and appears in the photographs of car clubs, motorcycles groups, family photos, and brings smiles to the faces of those who tilt their heads to take in its height. Its coordinates bring geocachers using their GPS devices.
As part of his plans for the rocker Sanazaro began the process to have the chair certified by The Guinness World Records organization. Cuba's Mayor Kenny Killeen and family priest Father James Finder certified the official measurements and details of the rocker. Cuba Fire Department personnel measured the chair.
Officially, the chair measures 42'1" tall and 20'3" wide although heat and cold cause the chair to expand and contract. Sanazaro estimates that the rocker weighs about 27,500 pounds.
One more detail that Guinness requested was that the chair actually had to rock while it was videotaped. Joe Medwick cut the welds so that Sanazaro and some of his workers could push the chair to rock it. Medwick then re-welded the chair in place.
With the documentation mailed to the Guinness corporate offices in England, it was a waiting game for official notification. There was one setback when Guinness officials told Sanazaro that his documentation never arrived and appeared to be lost. However, it surfaced and the Guinness Certification arrived in February.
The World's Largest Rocker has taken its place not only in the photo albums of both American and world travelers who have journeyed to the Sanazaros' businesses next to the rocker.
"Have you seen our guest book?" asks Carolyn Sanazaro. Signatures from Norway, Japan, Germany, and Italy are interspersed with those from Boston, New York, California, and other points.
"One thing that surprised me this year, is the travelers from all over the world that travel Route 66," states Dan Sanazaro. "It's amazing."
Local residents have also embraced The World's Largest Rocking Chair. On April 4, 2009, a JOG, Inc., a local running club plans a 4-mile Race to The Rocker to benefit the local high school track program.
Old timers from the Fanning area drop by to tell about the old days in the area when the postmaster retrieved mail that was dropped off trackside on a hook. Farm fields and subdivisions alike still surround the rural setting and bring customers to the general store. Picnic tables and rockers on the front porch welcome customers to have a snack and rest a while. During the Christmas season, the rocker made a striking light display and was an area "must see."
Last year, the local fire department used their bucket lift to raise groups of people high in the air to the chair for pictures. The daylong event saw grandparents, babies, and families, sometimes with the family pet, take their place on the rocker for their once of a lifetime photos. In 2009, the fundraiser will be August 1 and promises to be even more popular.
In December, a Route 66 mural by John Bland took its place on the side of the store building to add to the setting. A civil war canon replica sits near the rocker. Sanazaro is trying to figure out how to fire it once a week to create even more interest.
The businesses are expanding. To complement the outdoor 3-D archery range, Sanazaro is building a computer generated Techno Hunt indoor archery range to add to his full service archery business. The second annual archery tournament is Sept. 26. New taxidermy customers arrive weekly. This spring the General Store adds Mother Road Red Wine to its current offerings of Rt. 66 Red and Fanning Outpost White wines. The store has its own World's Largest Rocking Chair candy bar. Soon an old fashioned "penny press" will create Route 66 mementos that celebrate the rocker's new designation.
In a time of economic uncertainty, The Outpost General Store has fulfilled a niche and created a branded identity in its family friendly offerings. The staff is all about customer service and friendliness, whether it is passing the time of day with the locals or helping a traveler find a mechanic.
The latest designation by Guinness World Records confirms what others have known for some months, "that's one big rocker," and the Sanazaros plan to keep rocking along in their second year of business, proving a little Ozark know-how can take you a long way.
Bettina Dorfmann from Dusseldorf, Germany, has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for her collection of more than 6000 Barbie dolls.
Dorfmann, 48, has as many as 6,025 of the iconic dolls.
The obsessed Barbie fan has accommodated the dolls in a bedroom, her cellar and half the kitchen in her house.
She plans a collection of at least 10,000 dolls.
`There`s probably nothing I don`t know about Barbie,` the Mirror quoted her as saying.
`It drives my husband crazy every time I come home with a new doll. When I tell him it`s getting harder and harder to get the rare ones he laughs and says, ``That’s because they are all here in the house!```
`I guess I`m obsessive but I have just liked them since I was a little girl. People say I look like Barbie - although I don`t go out of my way to look like her. My hair is naturally blonde,` she added.
As the Barbie turns 50 next month, Dorfmann has decided to move her own birthday two days further so that they can celebrate on the same day.
`Barbie`s birthday is on March 9 and mine`s on March 7, but I thought we might as well have a party on the same day. Barbie`s got a better figure than me but I think we`ve both aged well,` she said.
`There`s nothing I would change about Barbie. I know her legs are too long and her feet too small, but that makes her Barbie,` she added.
For 15 minutes Tuesday, Heather Barrett joined 459 of her classmates for a spirited game called four square.
"I was so excited that we're going to be in a world record book," said the Hammond Hill Elementary School fifth-grader. 'It's amazing to be a part of that."
The children really will get themselves in the Guiness Book of World Records. In a National Recess Week celebration, sponsor The Cartoon Network created an activity never before attempted - school kids throughout the country participating in four square games simultaneously.
Hammond Hill is also in the running for one of 10 $10,000 prizes for its physical education department. Those awards will be announced Thursday, said Allison Ritter, a senior account manager for Hope-Beckham Inc. of Atlanta.
Corine Esposito, Hammond Hill's physical education teacher for the last 16 years, registered for the game and received a number of large playground balls.
"In my class, we always do brain food in the morning with a lot of reading and thinking," Esposito said. "I use the Guinness Book a lot. When the kids learned we had a chance to get into the book, they were all on board."
She used to teach four square in the past until the state standards were introduced. So Esposito and Buddy Satcher, who divides his time between Hammond Hill and North Augusta Elementary School, gave the kids an introductory lesson last week. Principal Janet Vaughan said Esposito also showed the faculty members how to play.
"It's a great game for the children to learn," said Vaughan.
The simple rules call for a single square divided into four. A kid in each square hits a ball to an opponent, who must let it bounce once before hitting it to one of the other players.
Ruth McGhee, mom of third-grader Zach and first-grader Nathan, was just as wired as the kids during the four square session.
"Physical activities are very important," she said. "Children need to be active to burn off that energy, get back into the classroom and focus on what's important. Our boys were so excited Saturday that they wanted to practice in the rain. We had to explain that wasn't going to happen."
Fourth-grader Baron Radcliff said he used to play four square a lot at another school and really enjoys it.
"It's the largest simultaneous game ever," he said. "They're playing all over the country, and we're lucky to be one of them."
The Guinness World Records' "Largest Book in the World" was unveilled on Friday night at the UNESCO Palace in a ceremony sponsored by Culture Minister Tammam Salam. The book is an enlarged replica of Ayman Trawi's national best selling photography book "Beirut's Memory," which depicts the changing face of the capital between 1991 and 2002 through a collection of "before and after" photos of key downtown reconstruction sites.
As the personal photographer of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Trawi felt a strong attachment to the reconstruction project, and wanted to ensure that recognition of Hariri's contribution to the city lives on. "When he died I was thinking about how I could do something in his memory, and about how he rebuilt Beirut," Trawi said.
The oversized book certainly magnifies the results of Hariri's project, with 304 pages that are 3.85 meters wide and 2.77 meters tall. Weighing in at 1,060 kilograms, it took three and a half months to print.
"Ayman came to us with his idea and we sent him our guidelines for creating a book large enough to break the world record," said Talal Omar, London-based Adjudication Executive of the Guinness World Records. "He loved his book and like this he made sure that it will live on forever," Omar added.
The last book to break the Guinness World Record was published in 1976 in Denver, Colorado, in the United States, under the title of "The Super Book," which measured 3.07 meters wide and 2.74 meters tall with 252.6 kilograms of weight spread over 300 pages.
Trawi and his landmark book are set to travel to multiple destinations around the world in the upcoming year, with one of the first stops being at the Louvre museum in Paris, France. "This book is a cultural window [into Lebanon] ... like when you elect an ambassador to the world, it's something relative to that," stated Guinness World Records account manager Chantal Tohme.
Tourism Ministry General Director Nada Sardouk saw the value of the book not so much in its size, but in its ability to spark interest in Lebanon by generating positive publicity for the country. "It's not only about the world's largest book, it's also about the reconstruction, and if that gets people talking about Beirut, that's good for us," she said.
Holding onto one end of the measuring tape for a symbolic photo shoot with Omar, Trawi beamed with satisfaction at the level of local media interest in his accomplishment.
Asked how he felt after breaking the world record, he proudly replied, "I feel I did my job for Lebanon ... and for Rafik Hariri."
The book will be included in the 2010 Arabic edition of the Guinness World Records.
American grandmother Linda Wolfe has become "the most married woman in the world" after walking down the aisle 23 times, and is now "on the lookout for number 24".
Mrs Wolfe, 68, is included in the Guinness Book of World Records for the dubious honour of being wed more times than anyone else alive.
She has said that she is "addicted to the romance" of getting married.
Born Linda Lou Taylor, the American first married in 1957 aged 16, to a 31-year-old called George Scott.
The union lasted for seven years, the longest and happiest of any of her marriages.
Since then things have tended to go downhill.
Over the subsequent decades she married a one-eyed convict, a preacher, barmen, plumbers and musicians.
Two turned out to be homosexual, two were homeless and one beat her. Another put a padlock on her fridge.
One marriage lasted just 36 hours because "the love wasn't there".
But Linda, from Indiana, once married the same man, Jack Gourley, three times.
She has had seven children by her different husbands and been a stepmother to many more.
Her last marriage, a decade ago, was a publicity stunt.
It was to Glynn Wolfe, who in taking Linda as his bride meant he was the world's most married man, at 29 times.
He died a year later aged 88.
Consequently she said that she was "on the lookout for number 24".
She told The Sun: "It's been years since I walked down the aisle. I miss it."
The serial bride, who now lives in a retirement home, said she had never cheated on a husband. She said if she had her life over again she would "never, ever" marry so many men.
THIS could be the biggest chocolate eclair ever made in the world – and it was all done in a small baker's kitchen in Chichester. The specially-ordered sweet is a whopping 11ft 10in long, containing eight pints of double cream, and a kilogram of chocolate.
Made by ambitious bakers at The Swallow Bakery in North Street, Chichester, it could be the world's biggest, as the Guinness World Records organisation said no-one had achieved such a feat.
Manager at the bakery Alisha de Lacey was left with sore arms after helping to carry the monster eclair to a minibus parked up the road in North Street.
She said: "I think it is brilliant – I am really pleased we were asked. I'm quite competitive – we just want to be the best.
"I was trying to work out how many calories are in it, but I don't think I want to know.
"I know the average cup cake has 230 calories, but the actual eclair pastry doesn't have any sugar, it is more about the fat content.
"I would quite like to make the world's biggest cup cake now. If anyone has any other interesting ideas, let us know."
Bakers Lou Allen and Michaela Heard took four hours to carefully construct the pastry in the small kitchen, and then took more than an hour filling it with cream, and spreading the chocolate on top.
The order was placed by Rotherlea Care Home in Petworth as part of its Pick a Wish campaign, when residents write down their wishes and put them in a wish tin, with a winner being picked out each week.
Fred Beer (68) asked for the world's biggest eclair and was lucky enough to have his name drawn out.
Activities co-ordinator at Rotherlea, Ian-James Delves, said: "I contacted the Swallow Bakery and manager Alisha de Lacey was more than happy to help.
"Thanks to their generous support and the support of the team at Rotherlea, we have managed to make Fred's dream come true.
"According to the Guinness Book of Records there is no record for the biggest chocolate eclair, so we are hoping to set one."
Dorothy Dale Kloss, at 85, is billed in the Guinness Book of Records as the “Oldest ‘Still Performing’ Showgirl in the World.” She began dancing when she was three years old. As a precocious Chicago teenager, she taught a young Bob Fosse how to tap dance, won a tap contest herself at the renowned Miss Abbott’s Dance School and catapulted to stardom at the age of 15 with her own act in the Empire Room of the Palmer House.
She performed with the famed Eddy Duchin orchestra until his band members were drafted during World War II and then danced for the USO. Touring the United States and Mexico, she was on stage at various times with Liberace, the Mills Brothers, Mel Torme, Cantinflas, Howard Keel, Kay Starr, Frankie Laine and Chico Marx and was accompanied in her routines by such noted big bands as those of Ray Noble, Skinnay Ennis, Les Brown and Shep Fields (and his Rippling Rhythm).
In 1946, Dorothy became the hostess and dance instructress on television for Chicago’s WBKB and did the first tap numbers on the little screen.
She still does tap solos in her 14th season with the Fabulous Follies. Doting Dorothy has an admiring son and two granddaughters.
What is your favorite Route 66 recollection? “Driving with my mom, dad and two brothers on the historic road from Chicago to St. Louis, singing from a song sheet.”
MORE FUN FACTS:
She was paid $35 for the first week of the Empire Room gig and still has the canceled check. She used the money to buy a dress for her mother, who created her costumes.
Miss Abbott, who booked her, changed her name to Dorothy Dale (from Hunn).
She isn’t shy about what inspired her to audition at 70 for the Follies. “Money, success and fame,” she says and adds with a laugh, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”
And she doesn’t worry about her feet and body aching after a performance. “I soak them,” she quips mischievously, “in vodka.”
On a serious note, the most challenging experience of her life was being diagnosed with colon cancer two decades ago and making a full recovery after surgery. “I just never thought about it,” she says. “I just changed my thinking and my eating habits.”
Personable Dorothy has also put on shows for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and was director of guest services for the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
In 1975, at the Flint Hill School in Oakton, Va., a student gave Al Goddard a stuffed moose toy as a gift. The next week another student brought in a moose for Goddard, now a teacher at Bethesda's Landon School.
And so was born a 33-year tradition of moose for the 58-year-old, fourth grade teacher from Takoma Park. If he's lucky, that one random moose in 1975 may soon land him in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Goddard's classroom is now covered floor to ceiling with what he believes to be more than 1,000 pieces of moose paraphernalia, a Guinness record.
The Guinness goal began innocently enough: Landon student Alex Kimiavi, 10, of Great Falls, Va., was flipping through the record book when he came across the information for applying for recognition.
He brought the idea to Goddard, who thought it could be used as a learning opportunity. Since Kimiavi's discovery in September, Goddard has been crafting lessons around the many moose, teaching students to make the Powerpoint presentations and digital photographs necessary for the Guinness application.
In the coming weeks, the students will help Goddard take a full inventory of all the moose, one of the final steps in the application process.
Despite the classroom's small size, the inventory may be more difficult than it looks. There are stuffed moose, moose posters, and metal moose. A bumper stick that reads "Moose Springsteen: Born to Rut," with a cartoon moose standing in for the Boss in a version of Bruce Springsteen's famous album cover adorns one wall, while a sign welcoming students to "Moose Hall" hangs over the classroom's doorway.
Goddard estimated that he receives about 50 to 60 pieces a year from students.
The Guinness Book doesn't have a category for "most moose memorabilia," Goddard said, so the class isn't trying to take the crown from another moose-a-phile. As long as the class documents the moose accurately and provides the required paperwork, they will likely be accepted into the Book, Goddard said.
Inquiries to the Guinness Book of World Records were not answered.
Goddard is retiring this spring, so he couldn't wait to accumulate more moose items before applying for the record.
"It will be pretty sad, and I'll miss coming in here," Kimiavi said. "I was a fan of moose before kind of, but now I've learned a lot about them and I like them a lot more."
After retiring, Goddard will take many of the items with him, and he'll also auction some to raise money for the school.
Record collections
As Landon School teacher Al Goddard attempts to set a Guinness World Record for most moose memorabilia, some other record-setters from around the world have also found their collectable niche:
Largest collection of keychains: 41,418, by Brent Dixon of Valdosta, Ga.
Model cars: 8,128, by Michael Zarnock of Deerfield, N.Y.
Airplane sick bags: 5,468, by Niek K. Vermeulen of The Netherlands
Penguins (not live): 5,098, by Birgit Berends of Germany
US woman Lee Redmond is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails, which have not been cut since 1979.
Ms Redmond, from Salt Lake City, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident, reports said.
The nails, which were broken as a result of the crash, measured a total of more than 28ft long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2ft 11in, according to the Guinness website.
Her nails were "damaged beyond repair", according to the Guiness World Records website.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lieutenant Don Hutson said Ms Redmond was ejected from a four-wheel drive vehicle in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.
She has made a number of television appearances, including in episodes of Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not.
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She is the first woman in the Middle East to enter the Guinness World Records book. And she’s just 25.
