2008 CRYING SUMO BABY CONTEST

Cry me a river...

The annual baby crying contest was held at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo this year.

Aproximately 80 babies participated in this traditional contest. The contest determines which of two babies cries first as they are held in the air by two sumo wrestlers who persuade them to cry. If both babies begin bawling at the same time, the one who cries the loudest is declared the winner. The ritual, the Japanese believe, is good for the babies because each wail is a prayer for good health.

Read more:

www.asianoffbeat.com
www.vagabondish.com

THE WORLD'S UGLIEST DOGS

iThe world's ugliest dog contest is an annual contest held at the colleseum in Petaluma, California, U.S. The aim of the contest is to crown the world's ugliest dog.

Here is a look at the proud winners of the last few years:

SAM


Sam is a pure-bred Chinese Crested Chihuahua. His most notable achievements are winning the ugliest animal contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in California in 2003, 2004 and 2005. He made appearances on TV in Japan, on radio in New Zealand and featured in Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid. He also stayed in luxury hotels and met Trump on a talk show set. At the time of his death, Sam was scheduled to be filmed for a Discovery Channel series on the world's ugliest species.

ELWOOD




The winner of the 2007 World's Ugliest Dog was Elwood, also a Chinese Crested Chihuahua

GUS



A three-legged, one-eyed, cancer-afflicted dog named Gus was crowned as the World's Ugliest Dog for 2008.

Read more:
http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/uglydogcontest.shtml