December 29, 2007

Man blames car wreck on prehistoric winged reptile: A 29-year-old Wenatchee, Washington, man told police a pterodactyl caused him to drive his car into a light pole about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

Wenatchee police cited the man with first-degree negligent driving. A breathalyzer test showed "a minimal amount of alcohol," said Wenatchee police Sgt. Cherie Smith....full story from HeraldNet

December 23, 2007

Baby Jesus statue gets GPS for Christmas: A baby Jesus statue here is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.

"I don't anticipate this will ever happen again," said Dina Cellini, who oversees the display, "but we may need to rely on technology to save our savior....full story from TCV

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Wild boar killed in French shop: French police have riddled a wild boar with bullets after it got into a clothes shop in the city of Poitiers, forcing customers to flee.

The boar, weighing 90kg (198lb), was shot after it began charging at police, the French news agency AFP reported....full story from the BBC

December 22, 2007

Trial Delayed Due To LSU-Ohio St. Game: Justice can wait until after the LSU game. A state judge near the home of the Tigers has agreed to postpone a trial scheduled to start on the same day LSU plays Ohio State in the BCS national championship football game.

Stephen Babcock, an attorney defending Imperial Casualty Insurance Co. in a lawsuit over a car crash, requested the delay because he has tickets to the Jan. 7 game at the Superdome in New Orleans. He and other LSU fans have rented out the second floor of a Bourbon Street bar for a pre-game tailgate party....full story from CBS News

December 21, 2007

UFO debate invades Japanese politicians' space: A debate over flying saucers has kept Japanese politicians occupied for much of this week, ensnaring top officials and drawing a promise from the defence minister to send out the army if Godzilla goes on a rampage.

"There are debates over what makes UFOs fly, but it would be difficult to say it's an encroachment of air space," Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference on Thursday.

"If Godzilla were to show up, it would be a dispatch for disaster relief.....full story from theReuters UK

December 19, 2007

Woman "gropes" Santa at mall: She's definitely on Santa's naughty list.

Sandrama Lamy, 33, didn't need any mistletoe for what she allegedly did to one stunned shopping mall Santa Claus - plopping down in his lap and groping his jollies.

Police said the 5-foot-4 Connecticut woman took the spirit of Christmas too far when "she had contact with his genitals through his Santa suit" Saturday night, one of the busiest times of the year at the Danbury Fair Mall.....full story from theNew York Post

December 17, 2007

US woman launches 'Taserware' parties: An enterprising Arizona woman has redefined the Tupperware party paradigm for the 21st century, and is hosting girlie get-togethers where security-conscious women can get to grips with the US's fave non-lethal lethal weapon - the Taser.

According to the Arizona Republic, Dana Shafman, founder of Shieldher Inc, has already hosted Taserware bashes in Phoenix and Scottsdale, offering hands-on experience of the Taser C2, which can then be bought for $300, or $350 with the optional laser sight....full story from The Register

December 8, 2007

Man in Guinness for getting hit by car: Matthew McKnight hopes nobody manages to top his feat in the Guinness Book of World Records. That's because McKnight holds the record for "Greatest Distance Thrown in a Car Accident" in the book's 2008 edition.

The 29-year-old record-holder lived to tell about being thrown 118 feet by a car that hit him while traveling about 70 mph. He was struck on Oct. 26, 2001, while trying to help accident victims along Interstate 376 in Monroeville, about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....full story from TCV

December 7, 2007

Hanging man sculpture mistaken for real deal: The notion of life imitating art struck a little too close to home in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Emergency officials there received numerous calls from concerned residents who mistook a sculpture of a hanging man for the real thing....full story from the New York Post

December 3, 2007

Dear customer: you owe us $211 trillion: Most of us know what it's like to receive one of those "your account is $X overdrawn and unless we get the cash by noon tomorrow we're going to sell your kids for scientific experiments and break your mother's arms and legs" letters, so spare a thought for Joe Martins of Cobb County, Georgia, who was rather surprised to learn that he owed Wachovia Bank a cool $211 trillion - 70 times the entire US federal budget.

Martins had apparently closed an account with Wachovia and "made good on an outstanding check", as Atlanta's WSBTV explains. However, a swift letter from the bank insisted the closing balance was $211,010,028,257,303 in the red - with "no cents", as Wachovia kindly pointed out....full story from The Register

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Gibson plugs in self-tuning roboguitar: Legendary guitar manufacturer Gibson is reporting plenty of interest in its self-tuning Robot Guitar.

Gibson's self-tuning roboguitarThe technical details of how the axe keeps the strings nicely in tune - via pitch-monitoring bridge, CPU, and servo-motored machine heads - is available here....full story from The Register

December 1, 2007

Bracelet found in chicken gizzard: More than two decades after Minnesotan Aaron Giles lost his identity bracelet, he's finding the story of how it was found tough to swallow.

A butcher in Fairmont came across the shiny object in a chicken gizzard and saw a name, address and phone number engraved on it....full story from the New York Post