Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle

The thought of winning all this money absolutely terrifies me.

Lotto winner goes back to old job

A lottery winner has spent his £2.8million fortune and gone back to the job he quit when he won the jackpot 12 years ago.

Michael Antonucci, 58, became one of Britain's first lotto winners after borrowing a tenner from his mum to buy tickets.

He spent the cash on a boat, a nightclub, luxury properties, dabbling in different businesses and a 12 week marriage to a topless model.

But now Michael's back at his old trade - buying junk furniture and exporting it to the United States from a lock-up in Plymouth, reports the Daily MIrror.

He said: "It was an experience I would never have had if I had not won the lottery.

"You don't want to die as the richest man in the graveyard, do you. You have to spend some and enjoy it."

He still owns a £300,000 waterfront apartment in Plymouth. Michael said: "I am stock rich and cash poor. But as long as I've got my health and a good bottle of wine I am all right.

"If I had kept everything I bought it would be worth £8 or 9million now but I'm OK with what I've got. It did not feel to me as if I was living a millionaire lifestyle but I did a few things when I had a bit of money like holidays and all that."

He spent £750,000 on a former convent, £300,000 opening a furniture store which failed, £40,000 on launching a pop band, and also tried running a pub and a massage parlour.

His wedding to glamour girl Kelly Arkins, 22, on a beach in the Bahamas, cost £10,000.

Man Sues Over Long-Lasting Erection

NEW YORK (AP) - A man has sued the maker of the health drink Boost Plus, claiming the vitamin-enriched beverage gave him an erection that would not subside and caused him to be hospitalized.

The lawsuit filed by Christopher Woods of New York said he bought the nutrition beverage made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG (NVS) at a drugstore on June 5, 2004, and drank it.

Woods' court papers say he woke up the next morning "with an erection that would not subside" and sought treatment that day for the condition, called severe priapism.

They say Woods, 29, underwent surgery for implantation of a Winter shunt, which moves blood from one area to another.

The lawsuit, filed late Monday, says Woods later had problems that required a hospital visit and penile artery embolization, a way of closing blood vessels. Closing off some blood flow prevents engorgement and lessens the likelihood of an erection.

Woods' lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names Novartis Consumer Health Inc. as a defendant. A spokeswoman for the company, Brandi Robinson, said Tuesday the company was aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation.

Woods' lawyer did not return telephone calls for comment Tuesday.

Novartis' Boost Plus Web site describes the drink as "a great tasting, high calorie, nutritionally complete oral supplement for people who require extra energy and protein in a limited volume," in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

The house next door to me has been empty now for nearly three weeks. At first the landlady put up a sign reading 'House To Let', but she must not have been successful in securing a tenant.

Last week though I could hear workmen inside the house, and now there's a sign on the window announcing 'Rooms To Let.'

A sign of the times in England, no doubt.

A Chinese farmer has made his own solar-powered water heater out of beer bottles and hosepipes.

"I invented this for my mother. I wanted her to shower comfortably," says Ma Yanjun, of Qiqiao village, Shaanxi province.

Ma's invention features 66 beer bottles attached to a board. The bottles are connected to each other so that water flows through them.

Sunlight heats the water as is passes slowly through the bottles before flowing into the bathroom as hot water, reports China Economy Network.

Ma says it provides enough hot water for all three members of his family to have a shower every day.

And more than 10 families in the village have already followed suit and installed their own versions of Ma's invention.