Much Ado about

NothingVain Attempts for Significance

When men turn their God-given energy and passion toward pursuits of no lasting value, the results

can be disastrous, comical…and downright sad. Here are a handful of accomplishments by the male

version of the species that might best be categorized as “head scratchers.” And as absurd as they may be, in

comparison to more socially accepted pursuits, they may all end up leading to the same place—a dead end.

• Irish artist Frank Buckley built an actual house out of 1.4 billion shredded, decommissioned euros (US $2.3 billion). The three-room house, comprised of a living room, bedroom, and a bathroom, was intended as a statement about the madness of the global economic collapse. Says Buckley: "Whatever you say about the euro, it's a great insulator"(billioneurohouse.com)

• Glynn Wolfe, a California resident, set the world record for most monogamous marriages by being married to 29 different women. The longest of his marriages lasted eleven years; the shortest was 19 days. Twenty-four of his marriages ended in divorce; four ended because of the death of his wife. The 29th marriage ended with his own death at age 89.

• Niek Vermeulen of the Netherlands has collected 6,016 unique airline sickness bags from 1,142 different airlines from more than 160 coun tries. Niek began collecting the bags—all unused—in the 1970s after making a bet with a friend to see who could collect the most of one item (Niek won). His favorite is an airsickness bag from NASA’s space shuttle Columbia.

• Takeru Kobayashi set his first eating world record in his rookie appear ance at the Nathan's Coney Island hot dog-eating contest, consuming 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He would top that record three more times. Kobayashi also holds the record for eating 17.7 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes; 58 bratwurst sausages in ten minutes; 14 Twinkies in one minute; and 337 hot wings in one sitting. Kobayashi weighs only 128 pounds.

• Okan Kaya played the video game Call of Duty for 135 straight hours, setting the world record for marathon gaming. Kaya was allowed only brief, periodic breaks each hour to rest or catch a moment of sleep. "My hands were cramping up and I went through a lot of bandages," Kaya explains. Kaya also occasionally used a small Stair Master while he was playing to prevent potentially fatal blood clots.

• Upon retiring from a 30-year teaching career, Dave Moffitt embarked on an epic road trip that allowed him to see every NFL, AFL, NHL, MLB, MLS, NBA, WNBA, CBA and NBDL team play at its home sta dium or arena (including baseball spring training sites), as well as NASCAR races, pro golf tournaments, hundreds of horse races, high school, college and even Little League games. Moffitt sleeps in his car and travels alone. "I like being by myself," he says. "I taught kids