Storm rolling

Japanese sewer system makes an excellent place to stage a Quake match

That's a normal-sized person on the floor of the place. The storm sewer system underground in Saitama, Japan, is one of the largest in the world and a steady tourist attraction.

Saitama has a population of about 1.2 million, making it the most populous cities in the prefecture. And situated where it is on the coast and Japan being prone to the sea-related disasters as it is, the storm control system is no joke.

Get hit by lightning seven times; kill yourself at age 71 by gunshot

Roy Sullivan got into the Guinness Book of World Records as having been struck by lightning seven times - and survived them all! This was seven separate incidents, mind you, over a period of years from 1942 to 1977. He also claimed an eighth strike which happened to him as a child, but never bothered to record it.

Perhaps bothered too much by the way God seemed to have it in for him, he committed suicide by gunshot at age 71. His experience, however, form an important contribution to the specialized medical field of Keraunopathy - the study of the effects of lightning strikes on the human body.

Think your winter's bad? Be glad you're not in Verkhoyansk!

Verkhoyansk, in the Sakha Republic of Russia, is within the Arctic circle and considered close to the coldest pace on planet Earth, being one of the "cold poles", with temps running below freezing October through April and as low as -49-degree F in January.

Here's the town, competing with the other "cold pole" ( Oymyakon ) for title of "coldest place on Earth. The lowest temperature in Oymyakon recorded was -67.7 degrees, but Verkhoyansk citizens say that's nothing, their lowest temperature was -67.8 degrees. I'll bet the citizens of Verkhoyansk like to poke fun at Oymyakon by going over there and unzipping their parkas going "It's so hot here, how can you stand it?"