Cheek with swords in Phuket island

A Thai devotee pierces his cheek with swords , Guns , during the vegetarian festival in Phuket island,ThaiLand, 17 October 2007. The participants are devotees who feel the gods take over their bodies during the festival, manifesting supernatural powers and then perform self torture in order to shiftly remove any evil brought upon themselves and to bring the community good luck and more.

Fashionable Amsterdam Racing

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Like a herd of antelope, jockeying and shoving for position, 150 young women raced down Amsterdam's most famed fashion street in stiletto heels Thursday, racing for a $15,000 prize.
The race on the P.C. Hooft street called the "Stiletto Run" is only three years old but has quickly grown in popularity and spawned imitation races in Germany, Sweden, Poland and Russia.
The race's motto is "Shopping is a Sport" and friendly competition is encouraged — though not always observed.



















"At the start there was a lot of pushing, you really get elbowed over," said Fauve Stukje, 18, who came with a small entourage and a big pink sign — but failed to win, show or place.
She said she slightly regretted her choice of shoes, which were nearly 4 inches high —a little higher than the 3 1/2 inch minimum.
Tamara Ruben, 25, from the town of Veenendaal, claimed first prize in the 380-yard race, running so smoothly you might think she was wearing sneakers.
Asked how she would spend the money, she said: "Anything but high heels."

Paradox :Runners and Matador

From the file AP:Paul Haven,the first running of the bulls ,Ray Ducharme, a Bank of America employee, was seriously injured following in Pamplona Spain.From the file Carolina's New Connection, a North Carolina man was partially paralyzed after a mock bullfight following the first running of the bulls Friday in Pamplona, and seven other people were hospitalized after being gored or trampled by the massive beasts. Ray Ducharme, a 31-year-old bond trader for Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C., was injured in what is known as a vaquilla, in which hundreds of people chase five cows around the bull ring, pulling their ears and tail. The cows are smaller than fighting bulls and have less imposing horns, but they still weigh hundreds of pounds and can be threatening.Thousands of runners, most wearing traditional white shirts and pants and sporting red handkerchiefs, dashed in front of them. Each pack ran with the bulls for a short distance before darting out of harm's way.The rampage ends in minutes. The bulls rush into the Plaza de Toros, where some of Spain's better-known bullfighters awaited them in the afternoon. The Crazy Festival lasts nine days. Before Ducharme's injuries became known, runners said their brush with death was everything they had hoped for."It was total emotion. It was absolutely crazy. The bull was right next to me and I touched him," said Norman Rilling, 25, from Bakersfield, Calif.Bulls are surprisingly fast animals, and many of the runners had been up all night drinking. Police are instructed not to let anybody who looks too inebriated take part in an effort to cut down on injuries.That is easier said than done, and many participants had clearly had long nights.Julio Bernavides Alvaran, 65, who came to the festival from Valencia in southeastern Spain, said he wandered the streets for hours looking for a place to sleep before deciding to use his credit card to get into an empty bank machine cubicle.Still, he only had a couple of hours of rest before the run, which he described as the thrill of a lifetime."Life disappears, and you feel your blood moving in your veins," he said. "Either that, or it's all the whiskey."The San Fermin festival dates back to the late 16th century, but it was Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" that made it famous. A bronze bust of the writer stands outside the bullring where the runs end.

Since record-keeping began in 1924, 13 people have been killed during the runs. The last death was in 1995. No Pamplona runner of the bulls had to kill the running bulls.I think they can kill the running bulls but they did not. It showed the world that it's the bravery festival. Matador is like that!

Naked Festival, Japan

Inazawa City Japan, thousands of young men, with nothing but a loincloth protecting their nether regions from the biting Japanese winter, throng a symbolic naked man who is paraded through the streets on a journey towards a particular shrine. The "Shin-Otoko", must be completely shaved of hair and can expect to be bruised, battered and generally manhandled as the followers try to grab hold of any bit of him they can reach.Tradition held that the Naked Man absorbs the bad luck and past indiscretions of those who touch him For hundreds of years, followers have strived to transfer their evil spirits to him and harry him out of town. Japan is a place that's nearly always polite, civilised and ordered; here's a chance to see a bit of its slightly creepy side in action.

Sapporo Snow Festival

The first snow crazy festival was held on February, 1950 at Odori Park. The aim of it was to present citizens outdoor pleasures during the long winter in Hokkaido,Nippon(in the of Japan).

They enjoyed folk dancing, outdoor movies, dog races, nake show activities and other showcase. Some high school students made several sculptures with snow and ice.Since then, the festival has been liked by citizens and it has developed into a large-scaled winter activity. Since 1995, the 6th festival, the Self Defence Army of Japan's government has joined and made some large sculptures and opened its base at Makomanai for children's enjoyment with many sculptures from fairy tales, ice slides, tunnels, in snow, so on.Now it has become well-known not only in Japan but in the whole world and crazyfest web site.

Kiss in the Tomato Fighting

- La Tomatina (Tomato Festival). The world's biggest tomato fight takes place on the last Wednesday of August at Bunyol near Valencia. Some of the lover is .......... Look at the pictures.

La Tomatina Girls

Hard to take the photo

Hard to take the photo in La Tomatina and hard to see the bikini girls.
Eastern village of Bunol — population 10,000 — said some 36,000 people waged the hour-long food fight, bathing themselves, the walls and streets with 120 tons of fruit projectiles. Some warriors were shown on the archives of http://crazyfest.blogspot.com/ literally swimming in the fresh(expired) tomatina puree, only their heads peeking out of the sea of red pulp. It all started with a pistol shot at high noon, after which six trucks unloaded fruit ammunition for Spaniards and tourists from as far away as Japan who had gathered for two hours to paste each other in the decades-old battle called "La Tomatina."
Residents preferring to watch from balconies — but get their licks in, too — poured water on the crowd. Town hall set up 500 makeshift showers for the revelers to clean up. Others bathed in a river. The festival, held every year on the last Wednesday of August, is said to have started in the 1940s when a clutch of youths began throwing their lunch at each other one day in a downtown square. They met again the following year, this time pelting passers-by as well and giving birth to the now legendary food fight.

Some of the Japanese people play La Tomatino

THE LEGEND OF LA TOMATINA

THE LEGEND OF LA TOMATINA
:Pilot Guide.com
The first Tomatina took place in 1945, but no-one seems to know exactly howit all started. Some say it began as a fracas between a group of friends, others claim the tradition was started at an anti-Franco rally. One of the most likely accounts is that brawling bystanders at a carnival parade seized the contents of a nearby vegetable stall, and began throwing tomatoes at their opponents. Initially the authorities did their best to ban what quickly became an annual battle, but in 1959 they eventually entered into the spirit of the event and it became an institution.Whatever the real reason for the first tomato war, one things for sure: these days participants need no excuse to pelt each other with squished tomatoes, they do it just for the heck of it!
Be Prepared
Visitors from within the European Community don't need a visa to travel to Spain. Americans and Australians can stay in Spain for up to three months without a visa. If you're planning to stay longer or are in any doubt contact the Spanish Consulate or Embassy in your home country before you leave.
Getting There
The nearest airport to Buñol is 30 miles away in Valencia. To get to the festival you'll need to take a local bus or hire a car to drive there. It is also possible to get to Buñol by train, either from Valencia or from Madrid.
Where to Stay
Accommodation in Buñol is limited. There are places to stay to suit all budgets in nearby Valencia, but it¹s still advisable to book ahead. For information on places to stay contact the tourist information at Valencia


Other Expenses
La Tomatina is the ultimate free for all. You don¹t need to a ticket to take part, just turn up and muck in. Because most people who take part in the Tomatina come to Buñol on a day trip from Valencia, all you'll need is money for your train or bus fare and perhaps for a bite to eat after the battle. As you'd expect, many of the participants are alcohol fuelled, even in the morning so you might want to bring some beer (or rose wine) money with you too. A return ticket from Valencia by train costs around US$3, or US$2 by bus one way (there are no return bus tickets). See below for contact details for train and bus timetables.
Once You're There
Don't wear your holiday best and beware that anything white wont stay clean and bright for very long. It¹s usually boys versus girls, and it rapidly becomes something of a wet t-short contest. People wearing baseball caps or carrying cameras are considered prime targets for everyone, so if you¹re determined to take pictures bring a see-though waterproof bag.
There aren't many rules to tomato warfare, but those that so exist are in the interests of safety and public decency:
l) You can throw tomatoes and tomatoes only.
2) They must be squashed before you throw them, otherwise they can cause a nasty bruise.
3) Although the locals tend to rip each others clothing, it is officially forbidden and as a visitor, you will be expected to behave.
Local Attractions
Apart from La Tomatina, there isn't much in Buñol to keep the visitor out of mischief. It is worth spending time in nearby Valencia, which is renowned for its lively nightlife and as the birthplace of paella.The fantastic Las Fallas festival is held in Valencia in March, when the people parade through the streets with 50ft high papier-mâché sculptures (known as fallas) which are constructed by local artisans and made to look like politicians or celebrities. These grotesque structures are set alight on the last night of the festival, amid much jollity and celebration.
Other highlights of the province of Valencia include a visit to the medieval fortress town of Morello, the Roman ruins at Sagunto and the historic palm gardens at Elx.
Similar Events
Food is an integral part of many festivals around the world, but people are usually more interested in eating it, rather than throwing it at each other. There is another famous food fight which takes place three days before the beginning of lent in the town of Ivrea, in the Piedmont area of Italy - but here oranges are used as ammo.
The Spanish seem to have more festivals than any other country - certainly in Europe - and Tomatina is by no means the most bizarre. Each village will have at least one fiesta during the year. Becasue of the position of el toro (the bull) is Spanish culture, many of them will have some degree of tormenting dumb animals. Contact the Spanish Tourist Office for more details.

Tomatina Legend

La Tomatina, that funny-crazy festival that is the ultimate in mucky food splash-fights – biggest in the world – happened in the tiny, otherwise unexciting town of Bunyol, near Valencia in Spain. Swimming in tomato-tomatina pool.Thousands of Spaniards hurled 120 tons of plums tomatoes at each other this week in Bunol, Spain's annual food fight.The event, held each year on the last Wednesday in August, has its origins in a food fight between childhood friends and has become a calling card for the town, which is 25 miles north of Valencia. Legend holds that the event began in the mid-1940's after a group of children started a food fight near a vegetable stand on the town square. They met again the following year and threw at each other and passers-by -- to begin the tradition.The festival draws thousands of participants from around Spain and abroad. An estimated 40,000 people took part this year. The Tomatina Legend is like festival in ThaiLand,SongKran Festival http://song-kran.blogspot.com/

Fun and Protest-Spain's bull

When the race starts people look out from their apartments that you see in this picture. People hang out their windows wile the run is going on to see the people running by. Here is a picture of the race through the streets of Spain. As you can see most everyone's outfits are the same,white shirt and a red bandana.

**Many people protest agenst the bull running because they say the bulls are mis-treated and shouldn't be used for human parties and fun. Animal rights activists, including some from the organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) stripped naked in the town on Saturday to protest at both bull running and bull fighting. The demonstrators were hoping to run naked down the bull run. Most were prevented by police, but some breached security lines to complete the course, flanked by hundreds of clothed demonstrators along the way.

PAMPLONA Spain (Bull no blood,Bravery runner have )

PAMPLONA, Spain - Spain’s largest fighting bulls lived up to their fearsome reputation, goring two and crushing at least seven people as thousands of daredevils sprinted down narrow streets Sunday in Pamplona’s annual running of the bulls. The second of eight bull runs in the weeklong San Fermin festival involved the black and reddish-colored Miura bulls, renowned as the largest fighting bulls in Spain. As they charged down the 800-yard route, two of them fell and, appearing to lose their way, turned on the crowd of runners. Two people were gored.
PiCture below,I ................................................no comment

Annual bull run held in Spain

At least one person has been injured during this Crazy Festival.

One person was gored in the buttocks and another runner suffered a shoulder injuryAccording to an emergency worker on the scene, injuries have been relatively light this year, with most people just suffering cuts and bruises. The last fatality during the annual event was in 1995, when a 22-year-old American was gored to death. Since records began in 1924, 13 people have died. The bulls are run daily during the San Fermin Festival down the narrow streets to the central bullring in Pamplona. The event dates back to the late 16th century but gained worldwide fame in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises".