NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The more a man ejaculates each week, the lower his sperm levels fall, new research shows. However, this ejaculatory frequency only partly explains why a man's sperm count varies widely each time it's checked.


The findings, which appear in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility, are based on a study of 27 healthy men who provided monthly semen samples and responded to questionnaires regarding ejaculatory frequency, duration of abstinence, and episodes of fever. The subjects were followed for 16 months.


No seasonal variations in sperm levels, movement, or shape were seen, lead author Dr. Elisabeth Carlsen and colleagues, from Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, note. However, ejaculation frequency was higher in spring months than in the winter months.


As noted, sperm levels fell as weekly ejaculatory frequency increased. Compared with one ejaculation, sperm level fell 29 percent with two ejaculations and by 41 percent with three ejaculations. In contrast, ejaculatory frequency seemed to have no effect on sperm movement or shape.


The sperm characteristics noted in one sample often differed greatly from those observed in a subsequent sample from the same subject. This wide variation dropped markedly when three semen samples were used instead of two. Ejaculation frequency, duration of abstinence, and the presence of a fever episode were small contributors to this variation.


"The majority of the (this) variation remained unexplained," the authors note.


The findings also suggest that "at least three semen samples should be recommended to estimate an individual's semen profile," they add.


SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, August 2004.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A pair of young lovers so annoyed their neighbors with a noisy sex session that police had to go and ask them to lower the volume, police said on Tuesday.



Officers in the western city of Essen interrupted the couple shortly after midnight after neighbors, listening to the sounds through an open window, called to complain.


"Gradually more and more neighbors gathered in front of the house to investigate the noise," said a police spokesman.


The embarrassed couple were asked to close the window and continue at a lower volume, he said.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A man whose genitals were bitten off by a pit bull remained in serious condition Tuesday, and the dog remained on the loose.



The man, who has not been identified, was attacked Monday while walking the dog. When police arrived to help, the man appeared disoriented and fled on foot but police tracked him to a nearby park, said Detective Jeff Arbogast of the Albuquerque Police Department.


The man was naked when found at the park, but it was unclear at what point he had taken off his clothes. Neighbors had seen him playing with the dog earlier in the day.


Arbogast said investigators do not know why the man was naked, and remain uncertain about some circumstances surrounding the attack.


The brown pit bull remained missing Tuesday, and police warned people who see it to stay away and call animal control.


A nearby elementary school was locked down following the incident and parents were called to pick up students who usually walk home.


Shortly after the attack Monday, Gov. Bill Richardson released a statement saying he would proposed legislation next year aimed at holding owners of dangerous dogs accountable for their pets.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A Georgia man who drove home with a friend's headless body after a truck accident then went to bed while the remains dangled out the window faces charges including vehicular homicide and drunk driving, police said on Monday.



John Hutcherson, covered in blood and visibly inebriated, was arrested in bed on Sunday morning after a local resident out on a stroll observed a headless, bloody body hanging out of the 21-year-old man's truck, Cobb County police said.


Hutcherson was due to make an initial court appearance on Monday.


Police said that Hutcherson and his friend, identified as Francis Brohm, 23, were returning from a bar outside Atlanta early Sunday morning when their black 1992 Chevrolet Z-71 pickup hit a curb near a telephone pole.


Brohm, partially outside the window at the time, was decapitated by a guide wire on the telephone pole, according to police, who recovered his head at the crash site. "Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor," police said.

Thanks, you're a true "Make-my-day-happy" man...

I think he was bored......

Naw just trying to kick start this place. Give people something to talk about besides how bored their office is.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - At first glance it looked like the real thing, so store clerk Kathryn Miller was happy to accept the $200 bill as payment -- and even make change.



The bill did carry a picture of President Bush (news - web sites), but he is not one of the presidents who appear on the U.S. currency and in any case there is no such thing as a $200 bill.


That did not stop Miller, who works at Fashion Bug, a women's clothing store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, from taking the bill in payment for an item costing $99.


She also gave change to Deborah Trautwine, a resident of nearby Jeanette, said Jeanne Martin, a spokeswoman for the state police in Greensburg.


"Anyone with any bit of knowledge should have recognized that it wasn't the real thing," Martin said.


Trautwine, who was located by police on the basis of information from the clothing store, was charged on Wednesday with forgery, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property.


The bill was probably a joke rather than a forgery, said Martin. "It was some sort of gag money," she said.


She didn't know whether Miller still works at Fashion Bug

What a dumb *****....

My sperm count must be exceedingly low....

Two Munchkins Won't Be at Annual Festival

CHESTERTON, Ind. - Two top Munchkins won't be taking the Yellow Brick Road to Chesterton's annual Oz Festival this month because of a contract dispute.



Jerry Maren, who played the Lollipop Kid in "The Wizard of Oz," and Karl Slover, who played the First Trumpeter in the 1939 musical, have been regular attendees at past festivals in the town about 15 miles east of Gary.


But the two former Munchkins were "disinvited" this year following a flap over their agent's request that organizers pay his travel expenses, said Karen Spallina, president of Lakeshore Festival and Events.


Two other former Munchkins — Margaret Pellegrini and Clarence Swensen — still are scheduled to attend the Sept. 17-19 festival.


In the past, organizers have dealt directly with the former Munchkins, Spallina said. But this year Maren and Slover referred her to their agent, Ralph Zellem.


Former Munchkins receive $750 for their weekend visit, plus paid airfare, hotel and meals, Spallina said.


However, Zellem wanted organizers to pay his expenses as Slover's traveling companion and allow him to set up a booth to sell Munchkin merchandise, said Spallina, who refused both requests.


The festival traditionally has paid for Munchkins' traveling companions, but has a policy against including promoters, she said.


"This is a festival for the Munchkins," Spallina said. "We want to keep our focus on that."

BERLIN (Reuters) - A man caught having sex with a blow-up doll in a busy public shopping arcade had to be physically parted from his rubber lover and escorted away, said police in Stuttgart Wednesday.



The 38-year-old man was caught with his trousers down early Monday evening after alarmed witnesses alerted the police.


"It was real, he was caught in mid-action with the doll," said a press spokeswoman. Police said that they had considerable difficulty separating the drunken man from his partner.

Securitas, the company responsible for airport security at Flesland Airport, took no unnecessary chances when a suitcase started to vibrate.

The security personnel had of course no way of knowing that the suitcase contained nothing more than a dildo that had accidentally turned itself on.

As the owner of the sex toy shop «Voksne Leker» (Adult toys) at Straume, Katrine Solberg, 29, has been traveling across the entire country with her rather delicate products in her suitcase. However, when she was traveling to the Oslo area for a home party a week and a half ago, one of the dildos turned itself on and created somewhat of a mess, reported the local paper Bergensavisen.

Securitas personnel, who are responsible for checking the luggage at Flesland Airport, became suspicious of the out of the ordinary behavior of the suitcase.

«I can confirm that the suitcase was removed for control, and that one passenger was called,» said Karl Magne Bakke, operations consultant at Securitas, to the paper. «When the passenger did not report, the suitcase was confiscated. This is routine.»

At Gardermoen Oslo Airport, Solberg was informed that because of an odd vibration her suitcase was not sent on the plane. After the 29-year-old had explained the content of the suitcase, Securitas inspected it. The suitcase was sent on the next plane.

«I’ll take out the batteries next time before I travel,» Solberg said.