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I could not find the original thread at all, maybe it was deleted in the transition...

So I am starting a new one, check it out:

The Philippines' taste for civet coffee
By Sarah Toms
BBC News, Manila

The Philippines has recently discovered it produces one of the world's most expensive and coveted kinds of coffee.




But it comes from an unusual source - the droppings of a nocturnal, cat-like animal called the palm civet.

Civets, related to the mongoose, are usually seen as pests in the Philippines and hunted for their meat.

But their droppings are worth their weight in gold.

Known locally as alamid, civets are carnivorous but they also have a taste for the sweet, red coffee cherries that contain the beans.

The beans pass through the civet whole after fermenting in the stomach and that's what gives the coffee its unique taste and aroma.

'Best-kept secret'

A group of professional coffee lovers followed the trail of the civet droppings high into the Malarayat mountain range, south of Manila, in search of the exotic beans.



One of them, Antonio Reyes of the Philippine coffee certifying board, said civet coffee was one of the Philippines' best-kept secrets.

"I heard the old folks in the coffee farming areas have been gathering this coffee for their own consumption. They never told people they had this kind of coffee," he said.

"It goes through some kind of natural processing which you can see from the roasted beans. It's more oily, there's more aroma and it's such a good taste that you can get value for money even if the cost is so high."

Civet coffee is one of the world's most expensive. In the Philippines, only 500 kg are produced a year and the roasted beans sell for more than $115 a kilogram.

Bean hunt

Lusina Montenegro, who collects the beans for a living, led the coffee experts to the civet droppings.



he climbs the mountain in her flip-flops, hunting for the beans in the thick undergrowth.

"Sometimes it's a big civet and then the droppings are also big, but sometimes it's a small one and then the droppings are small," she said.

Ms Montenegro puts the droppings in two containers - for the old ones, which resemble chalky beans, and for the fresh ones, which look like yellow beans in gravy.

She rinses the beans in forest streams and dries them on her patio before they are sold on to Bote Central, a company that exports the beans to Japan.

Niche market

The developers of the brand are a husband and wife team, Vie and Basil Reyes.

The couple was involved in conservation work for the sugar palm and the civets that live among the trees. They made organic vinegar from the palms and started selling the civet coffee alongside it in small bazaars.

Now the coffee has become so successful they are hoping to start brewing up profits in Taiwan and North America.

Mr Reyes of the coffee certifying agency also hopes the struggling local coffee industry can mirror the success Indonesia and Vietnam have enjoyed with their brands of civet coffee.

"I never thought it was also available in the Philippines, so when I first heard of it I thought this is one kind of coffee that we can look at and develop," he said. "If we have the volume then it's good for the niche market."

'Dark chocolate'

Andrew Gross, an Australian roast master, climbed the mountain to find out for himself what the attraction is of coffee that passes through the backside of a furry mammal.



Just like a wine connoisseur, he slowly slurped the brewed coffee, letting it travel across his tongue for the first time.

Mr Gross said he was surprised at how much he liked it, comparing the taste to fermented plum and dark chocolate with hazelnuts.

"There's obviously some substance to this in terms of what waves I am getting, but beyond the difference in flavours a lot of it has to do with hype and a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's fairly rare," he said.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea. But experts here hope coffee lovers will want to treat themselves to something special that might just help perk up the Philippine coffee industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4896230.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Very cool Mr. GG!

Check for your state at the following address...
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/7474/ohlaws.html

California
In California, it is illegal to posses bear gall bladders.
In California, it is illegal to trip horses for entertainment.
In Blythe, California, a person must own two cows in order to legally wear cowboy boots in public.
In Los Angeles, a man is legally entitled to beat his wife with a leather belt or strap, but the belt can't be wider than 2 inches, unless he has his wife's consent to beat her with a wider strap. (Loony Laws" by Robert Pelton)
It is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license.
Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water.
In L.A. it is against the law to complain through the mail that a hotel has cockroaches, even if it is true.
It is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Blvd. at one time.
It is illegal to whistle for a lost canary before 7 am in Berkeley, CA.
San Francisco is said to be the only city in the nation to have ordinances guaranteeing sunshine to the masses.
In Cupertino, California, it is illegal to count backwards audibly in hexadecimal.
The good burghers of Redwood City have outlawed the frying of gravy.
In Santa Clara, it is forbidden to dedicate parking spaces to the patron saint of television.
Prostitutes in San Francisco are not obliged to make change for bills larger than $50.
The city of Mountain View proscribes calling pet fish by "names of aggressive content, e.g. 'Biter', 'Killer', 'Sugar-Ray'"
Bicycles may not be ridden without "appropriate fashion accessories" anywhere in Santa Clara County (de facto law).
It is illegal to skateboard on walls "or other vertical surfaces" in Palo Alto.
Wearing a sweatshirt inside-out is deemed a "threatening misdemeanor" in Half-Moon Bay.
In 1930, the City Council of Ontario (California) passed an ordinance forbidding roosters to crow within the city limits.
In Los Angeles, you cannot bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time. (Loony Laws" by Robert Pelton)
In California, animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship. (Loony Laws" by Robert Pelton)
Peeling an orange in your hotel room is banned in California (Legal Lunacy)
Los Angeles "Daily News": Have you ever had the urge to rip the tag from a pillow or mattress, despite the warning of dire penalties? Well, it's perfectly legal now, if you live in Colorado. Governor Roy Romer formalized the law by gleefully tearing a label from a pillow at his office. "I've been worrying about the mattress inspector jumping through the window for years," he said.

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You have just destroyed one model XQJ-37 nuclear powered pansexual roto-plooker....and you're gonna have to pay for it.

The Philippines' taste for civet coffee

That win's first prize weird for me!

_________________
"You can fly like a Penguin when you're dealing with Turkeys."

I'll still take that civet coffee over Starfucks' varied liquids based on Camel Piss & Battery Acid lattes under any conditions!

--Bat

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<--Photo ArtWerk by Debutante Daisy

From BBC news

Woman's body in bedsit for years
A woman's remains were found surrounded by unopened Christmas presents in a London bedsit two years after she is thought to have died, an inquest heard.
The TV and heating were still on when housing officers discovered the body of Joyce Vincent, 40, in her living room.

They had gone to the flat - a refuge for victims of domestic violence - to investigate thousands in rent arrears.

Police believe she died of natural causes probably in December 2003 and an inquest recorded an open verdict.

Some of Ms Vincent's relatives, including her sisters, attended the inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court, held by Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker.

Dental records

Ms Vincent's body, found in January this year at the flat in Wood Green, north London, was so decomposed that the only way to identify her was to compare dental records with a holiday photograph.

A spokesman for the coroner said she had apparently been placed in the women's refuge accommodation as a victim of domestic violence.

When staff from the Metropolitan Housing Trust (MHT) arrived at the flat on 25 January they drilled the door open and discovered piles of mail - some marked February 2003 - plus medication and food with February 2003 expiry dates, the spokesman said.

Pathologist Dr Simon Poole told the inquest he had been unable to establish the cause of death because the remains were "largely skeletal", but police did not regard the circumstances as suspicious.

MHT issued a statement which read: "Ms Vincent moved into the property, which is general needs rented accommodation, in February 2003.

"Housing benefit was in part paying Ms Vincent's rent, therefore, given her age, there was no reason to suspect anything unusual had happened.

"During this period our records show MHT were not contacted by neighbours or family to raise any concerns and so we were only alerted when significant arrears built up and we tried to gain access."

The flat is part of a complex build above a shopping complex in Wood Green. Neighbours told the Guardian newspaper whenever they knocked at the door, no-one answered, so they assumed it was unoccupied.

No family shock
Michael Dobbs, who moved in in summer 2004 said: "I always thought it was an empty house. It's a shock to think that she had family and nobody came.
"It's also a puzzle how her electricity was not cut off because her TV was on all this time.

He told the paper it was a noisy building frequented by drug addicts, which could explain why no-one noticed the noise from the TV.
He said he had discovered someone dead, clutching a bottle of drink, in the lift weeks ago.
"I did notice a kind of rotten smell but the bins downstairs are strong and the stairwells smell with junkies.
"I did get a few bugs coming into my house so I had to keep the windows closed."

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Dont know much about dancin'....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4902432.stm

Hahaha not so much weird, more funny.

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"Listen to that noise! It's like Barry White eating wasps."

Maldives fishermen in drugs haul





Maldives beach

Locals are said to have been concerned by the size of the cache
A group of fishermen in The Maldives got more than they bargained for when they reeled in the country's largest ever drugs haul, local media reports.

The lobster catchers found 1,697 plastic bags packed with cannabis in a lagoon, Haveeru news agency reported.

The drugs on the ocean floor weighed in at over 1.6 tons in total.

Police are investigating the incident. Drug smuggling in the island paradise is punishable by death, although no-one has ever been executed for the crime.

According to the Haveeru Daily newspaper the scale of the drugs haul has caused tension among local people who are insisting that police must destroy it in a transparent manner.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4936686.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Experts make flatulence-free bean

A method of creating super-nutritious but flatulence-free beans has been developed by scientists.



Beans are a cheap and key source of nutrition especially in the developing world, but many people are thought to be put off by anti-social side-effects.

A Venezuelan team says fermenting beans with certain friendly bacteria can cut the amount of wind-causing compounds, and boost beans' nutritional value.

The research appears in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Flatulence is caused by bacteria that live in the large intestine breaking down parts of food - such as soluble fibre - that have not been digested higher in the gut

Beans, such as the black bean commonly eaten across Central and Southern America and tested by the team, contain many of these compounds.

Researchers from the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas found that by boosting the natural fermentation process by adding a particular type of bacteria , called Lactobacillus casei (L casei), the amount of these indigestible wind-causing compounds were reduced.

Soluble fibre was reduced by two thirds and the amount of raffinose, another flatulence-causing substance, by 88.6%.

But the amount of insoluble fibre, which is thought to have a beneficial effect on the gut and help the digestive system get rid of toxins, increased by 97.5%.

The team concludes that fermentation involving L casei could decrease flatulence compounds and increase nutritional quality.

They suggest the bacteria is used by the food industry to create better bean products.

The team led by Marisela Granito said: "Given that flatulence is one of the main limiting factors for the consumption of this important foodstuff, the implementation of processes which allow for nutritious and non-flatulence-producing beans to be obtained would be interesting."

'Social concerns'

Dr Frankie Phillips, a nutrition expert and spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, said: "This study provides an interesting lead in helping us to overcome some of the less desirable aspects of eating legumes - i.e. flatulence - whilst ensuring that the nutritional benefits from eating them remain.

"On a practical note, some people find that gradually increasing consumption levels of legumes helps, as the body adapts, and others have no symptoms at all.

"I'd suggest trying small portions of legumes as part of a meal and gradually eating larger portions as they can be tolerated."

She said that products existed, mainly in the US, which can help reduce flatulence.

She added: "Despite the obvious social concerns, there is no physiological harm from the flatulence caused by eating beans and other legumes, and considerable nutritional benefits from eating them owing to fibre content as well as a wide range of other nutrients and phytonutrients."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4943486.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Madison County, Ill., lawyer Gary Peel, 62, who was battling an ex-wife over alimony, filed for bankruptcy to reduce her chances of getting anything, and then when she challenged his filing, he allegedly tried to blackmail her into silence. According to federal charges against him in March, he told his ex-wife that, unless she relented, he would shock her elderly parents by giving them decades-old nude photos of him with the ex-wife's younger sister. However, Peel perhaps forgot that the sister was allegedly only 16 when the photos were taken, and he has been charged with possessing child pornography.

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You have just destroyed one model XQJ-37 nuclear powered pansexual roto-plooker....and you're gonna have to pay for it.

70-year-old women held for LA kill and claim scam
By Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles
Published: 21 May 2006

The crimes were six years apart, but the circumstances behind them were too chillingly similar for investigators to overlook: two homeless men run down by a car in dark alleys, no witnesses, and two elderly women coming forward, claiming to be relatives of the victims.

Helen Golay, 75, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 72, were arrested last week after they allegedly collected more than $2m (£1.1m) in life insurance from policies issued in the names of two homeless men killed in hit-and-run crashes in 1999 and 2005, authorities said.

Police not only believe the women were befriending other men to set up more insurance policies but may have driven the killer car themselves. "Anyone would think they would leave the actual dirty work to someone else or hire someone," said Detective Dennis Kilcoyne. "We're not so sure about that any more ... We're focusing directly at Helen and Olga for the murder investigation."

The women allegedly provided the men with apartments in exchange for signing a life insurance policy. According to investigators, the women duplicated their victims' signatures on rubber stamps and used them to secure more than a dozen other policies.

They appeared in court on Thursday for making false insurance claims, and were held without bail. Each faces up to 160 years in prison if convicted.

Investigators discovered the alleged scam while looking into a fatal hit-and-run accident. One investigator had mentioned the case of two women who had taken out large life insurance policies on 50-year-old Kenneth McDavid, when another recalled working on a similar case in 1999, in which 73-year-old Paul Vados was killed.

The crimes were six years apart, but the circumstances behind them were too chillingly similar for investigators to overlook: two homeless men run down by a car in dark alleys, no witnesses, and two elderly women coming forward, claiming to be relatives of the victims.

Helen Golay, 75, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 72, were arrested last week after they allegedly collected more than $2m (£1.1m) in life insurance from policies issued in the names of two homeless men killed in hit-and-run crashes in 1999 and 2005, authorities said.

Police not only believe the women were befriending other men to set up more insurance policies but may have driven the killer car themselves. "Anyone would think they would leave the actual dirty work to someone else or hire someone," said Detective Dennis Kilcoyne. "We're not so sure about that any more ... We're focusing directly at Helen and Olga for the murder investigation."

The women allegedly provided the men with apartments in exchange for signing a life insurance policy. According to investigators, the women duplicated their victims' signatures on rubber stamps and used them to secure more than a dozen other policies.

They appeared in court on Thursday for making false insurance claims, and were held without bail. Each faces up to 160 years in prison if convicted.

Investigators discovered the alleged scam while looking into a fatal hit-and-run accident. One investigator had mentioned the case of two women who had taken out large life insurance policies on 50-year-old Kenneth McDavid, when another recalled working on a similar case in 1999, in which 73-year-old Paul Vados was killed.
---

They even look evil:

_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Eric Dolphy

http://www.frappr.com/frankzappaforum - FZ Forum World Map

Judge: Man Is Too Short for Prison
May 25 7:22 AM US/Eastern
Email this story

SIDNEY, Neb.

A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.

His crimes deserved a long sentence, District Judge Kristine Cecava said, but she worried that Richard W. Thompson, 50, would be especially imperiled by prison dangers.

"You are a sex offender, and you did it to a child," she said.

But, she said, "That doesn't make you a hunter. You do not fit in that category."

Thompson will be electronically monitored the first four months of his probation, and he was told to never be alone with someone under age 18 or date or live with a woman whose children were under 18. Cecava also ordered Thompson to get rid of his pornography.

He faces 30 days of jail each year of his probation unless he follows its conditions closely.

"I want control of you until I know you have integrated change into your life," the judge told Thompson. "I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced."

So hey, if you are 5'1" or shorter, commit all the crimes you want! The case is being appealed by the attorney general and he'll probably go to jail.

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You gotta give the people something good to read, on a Sunday

A completely different nature:
The police in Eindhoven is looking for a man to APOLOGIZE to him. A policecar was driving at high speed to an accident, when they run through a large puddle, soaking the man standing next to it. The police hope the man will report to the police station.

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See, in B'more, that would never happen.

The B'more police would find the man, beat him senseless, then arrest him for interfering with a police call.

_________________
caress me Aunt Jemima

Court case over tailed trousers.


From Volkskrant, June 1st 2006


Teletekst today:

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I think they should simply ban all that orange coloured crap...

Guess the 'Leeuwenhosen' aren't as bad as that orange coloured nazi helmet.

_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Eric Dolphy

http://www.frappr.com/frankzappaforum - FZ Forum World Map

I don't know... kinda like the orange Al Capone gangster hats they'reselling at 89 cents round the corner... Dutch team is playing in my home town tonight...so lots of orange stuff near the station. And yes, I saw some Lederhosen and nearly burst into tears of hilarity. Good grief they look stupid.

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Tabby cat terror for black bear

A black bear got more than it bargained for after straying into a family garden in the US state of New Jersey.


Jack the cat is possessive about his territory, his owners say

The unwelcome intruder was forced up a tree - twice - by the family pet, a tabby cat called Jack.

The terrified bear was only able to make its escape when owner Donna Dickey called the hissing cat into the house.

Ms Dickey said Jack liked to keep a close watch on his territory and often chased away small animals, but one of this size was a first.

"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty', never knowing he'd go after a bear," Donna Dickey told local newspaper The Star-Ledger.

"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," she added.

The bear was first spotted in the tree by neighbours who thought the 15lb (7kg) cat was just looking up at it.

They then realised the bear was afraid of the cat.

After some 15 minutes, the bear descended, but was chased up another tree, before finally making its escape when Jack was called indoors.

Bear sightings are not unusual in the area of West Milford in New Jersey, which experts say is one of the state's most bear-populated areas.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5067912.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Australian boys' highway escapade

Two Australian brothers aged 10 and six drove 100km (62 miles) along a busy New South Wales highway in a bid to make a surprise visit to their grandfather.

Startled motorists called the police after seeing the boys alone in the car.

They had travelled over two-thirds of the way towards their destination, near Moree, when police pulled them over.

"They appeared to be driving normally, certainly better than probably some other people on that road," Sgt Matt Clifford of the Moree police said.

The two boys took their grandmother's car and set off up the Newell Highway, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

When police stopped them, the two boys did not seem to think they had done anything wrong. "They weren't upset or crying or anything like that," Sgt Clifford said.

He said he was amazed that the older brother managed to see over the dashboard of the car, an automatic station wagon.

"He wasn't an overly tall kid," he said.

Police gave the 10 year-old a warning, but further punishment was left to the family.

"I'm sure granddad and grandma, if not mum and dad, might have their own little chastisement for them," Sgt Clifford told the newspaper.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5071300.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Dog praised for life-saving call


Dogs such as beagles can be trained to perform complex tasks

A US dog has won an award for saving her owner's life by dialling a phone number that alerted emergency services to her owner's diabetic seizure.

Belle the beagle triggered a call to an ambulance crew by biting on her owner, Kevin Weaver's, mobile phone.

The dog was trained to detect potential diabetic attacks by licking and sniffing Mr Weaver's nose to check his blood sugar levels and pawing him.

Belle resorted to dialling for help when Mr Weaver fell unconscious.

The dog used her teeth to press the number nine key, which the phone was programmed to interpret as a "911" call to emergency services.

Ambulance workers answered the phone and, hearing nothing but barking at the end of the line, rushed to the caller's house in the city of Ocoee in Florida state.

The dog is the first animal to receive the Vita Wireless Samaritan Award.

"I am convinced that if Belle wasn't with me that morning, I wouldn't be alive today," Mr Weaver said.

"Belle is more than just a life-saver. She's my best friend."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5099190.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

The Leeuwenhosen are also banned from the soccer stadiums at World Cup matches.

After the Cameroon-incident where people were forced to attend the match in their underwear because their Leeuwenhosen were taken from them, Bavaria came up with another ludicrous action. At the camping sites in Germany near Frankfurt, the beer brand is handing out orange UNDERPANTS to the Dutch soccer supporters.

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'Cash in air' police urge payback

Police have appealed to people to return thousands of pounds which was thrown into the air on a pedestrian crossing in Aberystwyth.



Passers-by and motorists rushed to pick up around £5,000 in cash on Monday, seconds after a man was heard to shout: "Who wants free money?"

Urging people to hand in the cash, Dyfed-Powys Police said inquiries were continuing to establish its source.

After the incident, police arrested a 40-year-old man for driving offences.

Chief Inspector Huw Meredith, based in Aberystwyth, said the man was thought to have thrown away about £5,000, although police said on Tuesday that a proportion had been handed in.

"Inquiries are continuing to establish where the money came from," said Chief Insp Meredith.


Inquiries are continuing to establish where the money came from
Chief Inspector Huw Meredith

"If people picked up the money we would ask them to hand it to the police."

Police said no action would be taken against people who returned the money.

The incident, which happened in Alexandra Road at 1100 BST, caused chaos as drivers and pedestrians, some on their hands and knees, picked up the money.

John Morris saw what happened from outside his shop in nearby Terrace Road.

He also caught the act on his CCTV system which scans the area near the town's railway station.

"I just couldn't believe my eyes," said Mr Morris. "All the money was in £20 notes and I've heard rumours that the man threw about £20,000 away.

"People were shocked and just couldn't believe it.

'It caused bedlam'

"It was like something out of the movies. It caused bedlam - people were on their hands and knees eagerly picking the money up.

"I heard that one person picked up about £800, and another banked about £150 this morning so it wasn't fake money."

On Tuesday, Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed a man from Aberystwyth had thrown a sum of money in the air in Alexandra Road before driving away.

The police added that some of the cash had been retrieved, and said that a man was later arrested in Aberaeron for driving offences.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/5101794.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

"Awkward moments abound in penis pump trial"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060628/ap_ ... NlYwM5NjQ-

Frank would have written a song about it...

_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Eric Dolphy

http://www.frappr.com/frankzappaforum - FZ Forum World Map

Oh! Yeah! He would have loved this one...
The Born Agains down them parts must be agast !

_________________
"You can fly like a Penguin when you're dealing with Turkeys."

Jayzus!

_________________

India skull man pulls huge crowds

Hundreds of people have flocked to a hospital in the Indian city of Calcutta to see a man holding a sizeable chunk of his head in his hands.


Mr Roy says his skull has made him famous (picture by Palash Debnath)

Doctors say a section of electrician Sambhu Roy's skull fell off on Sunday, months after he suffered severe burns.

He has now become the centre of public attention as the man who literally "holds his head in his hands".

However some medics have questioned whether he has been left holding part of his skull or part of his scalp.

'Extremely rare'

Mr Roy was electrocuted while repairing a high voltage wire last October.

The doctor who treated him insists that his patient underwent an extremely rare medical phenomenon.

"When he came to us late last year, his scalp was completely burnt and within months it came off, exposing the skull," surgeon Ratan Lal Bandyopadhyay told Reuters on Wednesday.

"Later, we noticed that the part of his skull was loosening due to lack of blood supply to the affected area, which can happen in such extensive burn cases."


Mr Roy says he is determined to keep his trophy (picture by Palash Debnath)

The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says that hundreds of people have now gathered around Mr Roy's hospital bed to see him holding his extraordinary trophy.

Dr Bandyopadhyay said the skull's inner covering and the membrane which helps produce bone were "miraculously unaffected", allowing fresh bone to grow.

"When the skull came off, I thought he will die," the doctor told Reuters, "but we noticed a new covering on his head forming and that might have pushed the 'dead skull' out."

Doctors say that 80% of the outer part of Mr Roy's skull has now hardened, and they expect him to be completely cured in around three months' time.

Scalp or skull?

But some experts say that while such a development is possible, cases are extremely rare.

"It's most likely that the hard outer portion of the scalp came off," a senior orthopaedic surgeon in Calcutta - who does not want to be named - told the BBC.

"If the skull itself came off with the brain of the patient being exposed, the patient wouldn't have survived."

Another surgeon, Mrinal Kanti Biswas, pointed out that no X-rays had yet been carried out on the patient.

"Before scientific tests are conducted, it wouldn't be proper to comment what exactly came off - whether it is the skull or the outer portion of the scalp," he said.

Prized possession

Mr Roy is in no doubt that his is a fantastic tale of survival.

"Doctors say a new skull covering has replaced the old one, but I am not letting go of this one," he told Reuters.

He said that he intended to keep his prized possession for life and not hand it over to the hospital when he left.

"My skull has made me famous," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5151612.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein