Weird origins of some wedding customs

All of our society's gender issues stem from the fact that fathers once used their daughters as currency to a) pay off a debt to a wealthier land owner, b) symbolize a sacrificial, monetary peace offering to an opposing tribe or c) buy their way into a higher social strata.

So next time your tears well up watching a beaming father walk his little girl down the aisle, remember that it's just a tiny, barbaric little custom over from the days when daughters were nothing but commodity for dad to trade with. (he had to make sure she reached the aisle)

And that veil she's wearing? Yeah, that was so the groom wouldn't know what he was getting until it was time to kiss the bride and too late to back out on the transaction. (There is also some superstitious B.S. about warding off evil spirits, but we think you'll agree that hiding a busted grill from the husband-to-be is a more practical purpose.)

The white wedding dress

Technically, today's wedding gowns aren't white. They are "Candlelight," "Warm Ivory," "Ecru" or "Frost." But there was a time when a bride's wedding attire was simply the best thing in her closet (talk about "off the rack"), and could be any color, even black.

To convince her groom that she came from a wealthy family, brides would also pile on layers of fur, silk and velvet, as apparently grooms didn't care if his wife-to-be reeked of sweaty body odor as long as she was loaded.

It was Queen Victoria (whose reign lasted from 1837-1901) who made white fashionable. She wore a pale gown trimmed in orange blossoms for her 1840 wedding to her first cousin, Prince Albert.

Hordes of royal-crazed commoners immediately began to copy her.

The wedding party

The orignal duty of a "Best Man" was to serve as armed backup for the groom in case he had to resort to kidnapping his intended bride away from disapproving parents. The "best" part of that title refers to his skill with a sword, should the need arise.

The best man stands guard next to the groom right up through the exchange of vows (and later, outside the newlyweds' bedroom door), just in case anyone should attack or if a non-acquiescent bride should try to make a run for it.

It's said that feisty groups like the Huns, Goths and Visigoths took so many brides by force that they kept a cache of weapons stored beneath the floorboards of churches for convenience. Modern-day best men are more likely to store an emergency six-pack at the ceremony for convenience, but the title remains an apt one.

Ladies -- believe it or not -- the concept of the bridesmaid's gown was not invented to inflict painful dowdiness upon the bride's friends and female relatives thus making the bride look hotter by comparison.

Historically, that dress you'll never wear again was actually selected with the purpose of tricking the eye of evil spirits and jealous ex-lovers (spicy!). Brides' faithful attendants were instructed to wear a dress similar to that of the bride so that during their group stroll to the church it would be hard for any ill-willed spirits or former lovers to spot the bride and curse/kidnap/throw rocks at her. (Ditto for the boys in matching penguin suits, saving the groom from a similar fate.)

Garter and bouquet toss

This pair of rituals has long been the scourge of the modern wedding guest. What could possibly be more humiliating than being forced out to the center of a parquet dance floor and being expected to demonstrate your desperation by diving for flying flowers?

How about grasping in the air for a lacy piece of undergarment that until moments ago resided uncomfortably close to the crotch of your buddy's wife? At any other point in time, that would make you seem wildly creepy. So why is it acceptable at a wedding?

It used to be that after the bride and groom said, "I do," they were to go immediately into a nearby room and consummate the marriage. Obviously, to really make it official, there would need to be witnesses, which basically led to hordes of wedding guests crowding around the bed, pushing and shoving to get a good view and hopefully to get their hands on a lucky piece of the bride's dress as it was ripped from her body.

Sometimes the greedy guests helped get the process going by grabbing at the bride's dress as she walked by, hoping for a few threads of good fortune. In time, it seems, people realized that this was all a bit, well... creepy, and it was decided that for modesty's sake the bride could toss her bouquet as a diversion as she made her getaway and the groom could simply remove an item of the bride's undergarments and then toss it back outside to the waiting throngs to prove that he was about to, uh, seal the deal.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue (and a sixpence in my shoe?)

A common theme that you've no doubt noticed throughout this post: humans used to be a superstitious bunch. This rhyming phrase neatly lists a number of English customs dating back to the Victorian age which, when worn in combination, should bring the bride oodles of fabulous good luck.

The something old was meant to tie the bride to her family and her past, while the something new represented her new life as the property of a new family. The item borrowed was supposed to be taken from someone who was already a successfully married wife, so as to pass on a bit of her good fortune to the new bride. The color blue stood for all sorts of super fun things like faithfulness, loyalty, and purity. The sixpence, of course, was meant to bring the bride and her new groom actual, cold, hard fortune.

Just in case that wasn't enough, brides of yore also carried bunches of herbs (which most brides now replace with expensive, out-of-season peonies) to ward off evil spirits. Mental Floss: More bizarre customs

Saving the wedding cake

Why do couples eat freezer-burned wedding cake on their one-year anniversary? To answer this, we must look to the lyrics of a schoolyard classic: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage! It used to be assumed that when there was a wedding, a christening would follow shortly. So, rather than bake two cakes for the occasions, they'd just bake one big one and save a part of it to be eaten at a later date when the squealing bundle of joy arrived.

Eventually folks warmed to the idea of giving the poor kid his own, newly baked cake, but the custom of saving a portion of the wedding cake far longer than it should be saved and then eating it and deluding oneself to believe that it actually tastes good is one that persists to this day.

Spain wins Euro cup 2008 Final

Their last significant title came in the 1964 Euros at home and it took Spain 44 years to claim their first major football title as they beat Germany 1-0 in Sunday's European Championship final in Vienna.

Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game, sliding the ball past German keeper Jens Lehmann after 33 minutes to win the Euro cup 2008 Final.

Germany started the second half strongly as they went in search of an equalizer with German captain Michael Ballack firing a shot narrowly wide on 58 minutes.

But Spain had a series of chances to double their lead midway through the half as Sergio Ramos headed straight at Lehmann and Andres Iniesta forced two more saves in quick succession from the German keeper.

Marcos Senna also went close for Spain with nine minutes left, failing to connect with the ball at full stretch in front of an open goal after substitute Dani Guiza's clever headed pass.
Spaniards swept their first-round games, eliminated World Cup champion Italy in a penalty-kicks shootout in the quarterfinals, then routed Russia 3-0 in the semifinals.

Torres, who had 33 goals for Liverpool this season but has been invisible in Euros, came through off a brilliant feed from Xavi Hernandez.

This was the last game for 69-year-old Aragones, the oldest coach to win the Euros.

"The most important thing about our team, perhaps, is the manager," Torres said. "He has confidence in us and he lets us play. We have brought him the championship in his last game for Spain and we are very happy we could make this history for him and for us."

The three-week Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland had already delivered plenty of drama, excitement and hugely entertaining football, raising expectations that the title showdown would serve up a suitably thrilling finale.

The match also offered an intriguing contest between two football-obsessed nations with contrasting records of success.

Germany were chasing a record fourth European Championship title to go with those they won in 1996, 1980 and 1972. With three World Cups to their name as well, the German national side have a reputation as pragmatic and perennial challengers for major honors, most recently reaching the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.

The Spanish, by contrast, had long been considered the sport's biggest underachievers. Home to two of the world's greatest clubs in Real Madrid and Barcelona and one of Europe's strongest leagues, it had been 24 years since Spain last reached a major final, losing to France in the 1984 European Championships.

The country's sole previous international success came in the same competition as hosts in 1964 and the current squad's run to the final had captured the nation's imagination, Goodman said.

With two of the world's top clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the nation has tons of talent. Now with the With two of the world's top clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the nation has tons of talent. What it has lacked is fortitude.

No one can say that anymore as they have put their critics to rest and emerged as the European football champions in an exciting and thrilling tournament.

Who wears Parda, Devil or the Pope!

We have all heard about the movie and we know who wears Parda. Question bothering skeptics was: Does the pope wears it too? Does it really matter to you what your soul saver is wearing!!!

Setting years of speculation at rest the Vatican's official newspaper denied such talk as "frivolous".

Esquire magazine last year named the 81-year-old pontiff "accessorizer of the year" for his red leather loafers that fashionistas had said were probably made by the Italian fashion house.

While the Vatican had never confirmed or denied if the shoes were Prada, continued chatter about the pope's dress sense led the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano to print a condemnation of media stories it said trivialized the head of the church.

Esquire's inclusion of the pope on its best-dressed men list was, it said, "of a frivolity that is very characteristic of an era that tends to trivialize and does not understand".

The article explained that the pope's shoes, like his range of flamboyant hats, are nothing to do with vanity but all to do with tradition.( In other words the Previous popes were fashion conscious and wore some real snazzy stuff) "The pope, in summary, does not wear Prada, but Christ," it said. (...errr....does thie mean Christ wears Prada? )

The article did not say who did make the shoes. ( does he wear shoes at all?)

Benedict's choice of garments has often been striking.( thats putting it lightly) On recent drives through St. Peter's Square he shaded himself from the fierce June sun under a wide-rimmed bright red hat known as a "Saturn" after the planet with the rings.

Around Christmas 2005 he delighted pilgrims by appearing in a red velvet cap trimmed with white fur which, together with a scarlet cape, gave him the look of Santa Claus.

The Osservatore noted that both hats, far from being fashion items, are in fact traditional papal accessories that have been worn at various points in history by previous popes.

Dance to Recharge your cell phone battery

How many times have you hopped from one foot to another and shouted in the cell phone, " My battery is almost dead!" Next time you do the hop scotch you could actully be recharging your cell phone battery.

Many feel handicapped and helpless when there is no recharging outlet handy and the mobile phone's battery is about to run out.

Thanks to a new gizmo, all you need to do now is face the music and dance.

Mobile phone operator Orange said on Tuesday it had teamed up with GotWind, a firm specialising in renewable energy, to produce a recharger powered by dance energy alone.

The portable kinetic energy chargers will be given a test run at this year's Glastonbury Festival, the world's biggest greenfield music and arts celebration that begins on a farm in Somerset on Friday.

Orange said the prototype chargers weigh the same as a phone and are about the size of a pack of cards.

Attached to the user's arm, they employ a system of weights and magnets which provide an electric current to top up charge in a storage battery. This can then later be used to recharge the phone.

"We wanted to create a fun, engaging and interactive product which would encourage users to have a laugh while charging their mobile phone and at the same time test out a new energy-efficient prototype," said Hattie Magee, Head of Partnerships at Orange UK.

Just break into a dance next time your battery is low and have fun while your phone charges up to fix the party.