Wednesday 30 June 2010

A Cup Of Tea??

I've plotted my life with 32,000 teabags

So, while others have drawers full of written reminiscences, this 44-year-old has old suitcases stuffed with more than 32,000 used bags.

‘I love drinking tea and I save the teabags because it’s a way of marking the days – it’s better than a diary,’ she said.

The mother of three has perfected her tea-related logging technique over the past 11 years. First, she has her cuppa then dabs the used bag on some paper.

She then numbers the bag and sometimes notes down who she drank the tea with and anything interesting they discussed.

She then dries the tea bag in the sunshine or on a radiator before storing it in one of her three large suitcases.

‘They do smell a bit but I find it quite comforting. Sometimes friends think it’s a bit weird or eccentric and my kids just say, “It’s mum and her tea”,’ said the PhD student from Portsmouth.

She even fishes teabags out of the bin to put in a special box she carries if she is enjoying a cup with a friend who is unaware of her craving.

Ms Gaal-Holmes said she sees tea-drinking as a ritual and usually drinks between six and ten cups a day.

‘Sometimes at night I can’t wait to get up in the morning because I am so looking forward to that first cup of tea,’ she said.

‘I like good strong tea with milk – like English Breakfast or Assam and occasionally Earl Grey. Ideally I will make it in a pot, have it in my special cup and dip chocolate in it,’ she added.

Ms Gaal-Holmes – whose favourite quote is by T’ien Yiheng and reads: ‘Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world’ – has put a case of her bags on display at Portsmouth’s Eldon Gallery.

Tuesday 29 June 2010

Suck It Up!!

NY vacuum salesmen charged with damaging mattress

Two vacuum salesmen didn't exactly close the deal at a recent home demonstration in central New York. State police charged the Syracuse men with a misdemeanor after a $1,300 Sealy latex foam mattress was damaged. Trooper Andy Davis said the damage occurred during a demonstration Monday at a home in Richfield Springs. Davis wouldn't elaborate on what was done to the mattress.

Davis said the men were both at the home when police arrived and were trying to save the situation. They were charged with reckless endangerment of property.

The mattress owner is looking for reimbursement.

Monday 28 June 2010

Lonely ???

91-Year-old Woman Digs Up Dead Husband And Sister

AT the Wyalusing Township, Pennsylvania, 91-year-old Jean Stevens is accused of digging up two relatives (both dead) and putting them in her house.

One body, believed to be Stevens’ late husband, Jimmy Stevens, was in the spare bedroom. The other body, believed to that of her twin sister, June, was in the garage rolled up in a rug.

Jimmy died on May 21, 1999. He was buried in cemetery. June died on Oct. 3, 2009, and buried on Steven’s estate.

That’s right – a 90-year-old woman dug up a body, schlepped it to her home and rolled it up in a rug. Whatever she’s on might not be good for the brain but the muscles… You should see the muscles.

Sunday 27 June 2010

Chewy!!!

Chewed-up letters stick dog's jaws together

Toby the Jack Russell loves tearing open the post – but bit off more than he could chew when the mashed paper and glue sealed his jaws shut.

His owner, Gill Bird, returned home to find her mischievous pet could not open his mouth to eat.

‘He was drooling. I thought it was strange. All this paper was mashed around his teeth. It was absolutely stuck,’ she said.

She tried to prise open his jaws without luck and ended up taking Toby to the vet, who had to sedate him before picking away at the sticky mess.

The saga began when Ms Bird was out when the post arrived, leaving Toby to chew away to his heart’s delight.

‘Toby likes to attack the post. When we hear the letter box go we have to run,’ said Ms Bird, 41.

But this time things were different. ‘I came home with some fish and chips for lunch. I went to give him a chip and wondered why he wouldn’t take it,’ added Ms Bird, from Lee-on-the- Solent, Hampshire.

‘He had bubbles and saliva coming out of his mouth and he had a strange look on his face. It’s just really bizarre. I can’t help but laugh.’

Before long, the clamped dog was taken to vet Ian Wooding in nearby Stubbington. He described it as a ‘very unusual case’.

He said: ‘At first I thought I’d get his mouth open without a problem – but I soon realised it wasn’t budging.

‘We tried to scrape some of it out but the dog was getting quite worked up. He was growling and I think he would have bitten me if he’d been able to.

‘We decided to sedate him but even then it took the nurse and I a good ten minutes to scrape all the paper out of his teeth.’

Toby returned home a few hours after the sedation wore off, fit and well.

Saturday 26 June 2010

19th Hole??

Golfer crashes cart, fails breathalyzer

Police have charged a golfer who failed a breathalyzer test after a golf cart crashed through a bridge railing and into a creek.

Lambton OPP said they were called to the Bonnie Doone Golf Course to investigate the crash Saturday around 4:30 p.m.

An officer said the driver and a passenger suffered minor injuries but the cart was destroyed.

The officer demanded a roadside breathalyzer test which registered a "fail."

Subsequent breath test confirmed the 26-year-old golfer had more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system while driving the cart.

He is to appear in court in September.

Friday 25 June 2010

A Merit Badge?

Thief steals items from trailer, but cleans up

Whoever stole an Ohio trailer filled with scouting equipment deserves a merit badge for neatness. A tip to police near Canton led officers to the trailer on Thursday. Less than $300 worth of equipment was missing from inside, and otherwise things were shipshape, with items neatly stacked and organized.

Scoutmaster James Martens of Boy Scout Troop 10 calls it "the neatest-looking, rifled-through trailer" he's ever seen.

The stolen items included paper towels, toilet paper, aluminum foil, a First Aid kit and a tool kit. The scouts have gotten offers of help to replace the stuff.

Thursday 24 June 2010

Intellect????

Man jumps onto semi as bet, then calls 911

Police say a man called 911 from the back of a moving tractor-trailer after he jumped onto the truck on a dare from friends, then traveled about 10 miles on an Ohio highway. In the call early Friday, 24-year-old Brandon Farmer tells a Fayette County dispatcher that it was a stupid idea and that he's "holding on for dear life" on U.S. route 22 near Sabina, about 50 miles southwest of Columbus.

The Washington Court House man says he jumped onto the semitrailer as "kind of a joke" when it was stopped at a red light.

A Sabina police officer pulled over the truck and spotted Farmer still clinging to the back. The driver was unaware of the extra cargo onboard.

Sheriff Vernon Stanforth says Farmer had been drinking at the time and was charged with disorderly conduct.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Americans Doh!!!!!

Mannequin mistaken for mummy in abandoned boat

A reported "mummified" body on an abandoned boat in the Florida Keys turned out to be a mannequin. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office says a young couple spotted what they thought was a dead body in an abandoned boat off Sugarloaf Key on Saturday night. They said it appeared to be mummified.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent a boat to take deputies to the scene. They found only a mannequin on the boat - no human remains were on board.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Always Has To Be One Bigger!!

Giant vuvuzela waits for council go-ahead to toot

A giant vuvuzela on an unfinished fly-over in Cape Town fitted with a lorry horn has yet to sound a note during the World Cup after its operators clashed with city authorities over noise levels.

Motor company Hyundai, which installed the 35-metre-long blue vuvuzela whose horn mechanism is activated by SMS, said authorities considered the sound so loud during tests it could disrupt passing traffic.

"At first we were hoping to sound it at the start of every match but now we've made a new application for approval for more limited use," said Francois Marais, a spokesman for Hyundai.

The vuvuzela could be used at least to celebrate any goals scored by South Africa during their last Group A game against France on June 22, he added.

Cape Town city authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Monday 21 June 2010

Woof Woof

Dog painting

A craze for painting dogs as other animals has begun in China.

A number of painted pooches were on display at a zoo in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou in the Henan Province, including a stripy tiger and a number of cute baby pandas.

It is not the first time a craze for painted and decorated dogs has emerged - in the US, the animals have previously been turned into action heroes the Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Sunday 20 June 2010

It Can Make You Go Blind!!

Chance to play with yourself

A US toy company is offering the chance to play with yourself - thanks to its personalised action figures.

Oregon-based That's My Face offer to create dolls with life-like mini heads based on photos provided by customers.

The firm uses advanced software to map out a 3D map of your features which they can apply to a scale version of your head.

It is then a matter of choosing a body from the range available - from soldier to photographer - or just buying a head and attaching it to an action figure or doll of your choice.

There is even an option to provide details of an outfit of your choice for your figure.

The company have used famous faces such as Twilight's Robert Pattinson and Colin Farrell to showcase their work.

Spokesman John Keaton says: "I've always been a fan of action figures and thought it would be a great idea to personalise them so you can, in essence, play with yourself."

Prices range from £27 for a head to more than £100 for a custom-made doll.

Saturday 19 June 2010

Bottom’s Up???

Guards 'impressed by smuggler's bottom'

A police spokesman has admitted to being impressed with how much contraband a prisoner was able to smuggle up his bottom.

Gavin Stanger, 24, of East Wenatchee had been booked into Chelan County Regional Justice Center on a charge of disorderly conduct, The Wenatchee World reports.

He surrendered the items to guards after they found a plastic bag and duct tape in his toilet. Guards had previously found no items on Stanger during a pat down and strip search.

The contraband included a bottle of tattoo ink, eight tattoo needles, a cigarette lighter, rolling papers, a one-inch smoking pipe, a small bag of suspected marijuana and a bag of tobacco the size of a golf ball

Wenatchee Police Department spokesman Sgt John Kruse said: "We were all wondering, 'How do you put all that up there?'. The tobacco was pretty impressive; it was a good ounce."

Stanger, who was due to serve three days for his original offence, has now been charged with introduction of contraband into the jail.

Friday 18 June 2010

Get Down & Dirty!!

Athletes get dirty at the German Mud Olympics

More than 400 competitors have battled it out in a range of sports at the Wattoluempiade (Mud Olympics) in Hamburg, Germany.

Events included football and volleyball matches as well as bicycle races… all on mud.

The Mud Olympics are held each year on the mudflats of the river Elbe and organisers say the weather this year was a good combination of warm and wet.

Other events included skiing competitions, where, you guessed it, dirty racers competed on mud rather than snow.

After the events were finished mud-caked participants where hosed off with industrial hoses… though we are sure some didn't clean behind their ears.

Thursday 17 June 2010

Phone Home??

Dial M for muddle as Germans suffer phone foul-up

They can call their wives and families back home but German players have no way of reaching team mates with their fancy new cell phones issued for the World Cup in South Africa, players said Tuesday.

Each of the 23 players has been given a cell phone with the corresponding numbers of their team mates already entered in them -- but so far they are unable to talk to each other.

"We each got a cell phone but they don't work at all," said central defender Arne Friedrich. "I can call my girlfriend in Berlin but cannot talk to other players."

His team mate Per Mertesacker said he already found a way around it, calling them on their room phones in their five-star luxury hotel near Pretoria.

"Calling within the group has not been possible," he said. "It is the first time we have been given a cell phone with all the numbers in. So I just call room number to room number."

Germany kick off their World Cup campaign against Australia Sunday and also play Serbia and Australia in Group D of the June 11-July 11 tournament.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Phone Me!!

Man lives in telephone box

A man has been living in a telephone box for the last two years in China.

The man, who refuses to give his name or even talk to anyone, lives in a phone booth in Dalian city, Liaoning province.

He sleeps during the day then comes out at night to beg for food, reports the Bandao Morning Post.

The man sleeps by curling up into a ball on top of cushions - but he has tried to add a few home comforts to the booth.

By his side are a neatly stacked pile of food boxes and mineral water bottles while his spare clothes hang from the roof.

The janitor of the neighbouring building said the man had good personal hygiene and washed in public facilities.

"He wears old and patched clothes, but he looks very clean. Quite often he checks his appearance in a mirror to tidy his moustache," said the janitor.

"He talks to himself in the mirror, but he never speaks to anyone else. Sometimes we offer him some food but he won't accept, and he won't speak a word."

The phone booth is in busy Zhongshan Square in the heart of downtown Dalian city but the man has got used to ignoring curious passers-by.

A community worker said: "We want to find his family and send him home. But he never talks to anybody. It's hard for us to know how to help him."

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Wipe Your Feet Please!!!

Business offers $1,000 for stolen doormat

A Washington state business is offering a $1,000 reward to catch a thief who took a doormat worth about $20. KREM-TV reported that the owners of Advanced Metal Technologies in Spokane are angry at the ripoff and want to catch the man who may be looking to break into the metal building business.

Surveillance video shows that the thief drove up about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, looked in the window and then grabbed the doormat.

Monday 14 June 2010

Bricked Up

Lego tower

The town of Limmen in the Netherlands is trying to beat the world record for the highest Lego tower.

Locals planned to use more than one million Lego bricks to construct the tower, which is believed to have reached 100 feet tall.

However, a Guinness World Records' spokesperson has confirmed final measurements have yet to be taken to confirm it has beaten the record held by the Germany city of Munich - which built a tower at a height of 98 feet and four inches.

Also due is the final height of a tower build in Oslo, Norway, which it has been suggested reached 99 feet and two inches.

…………..GET A LIFE!!!!!!

Sunday 13 June 2010

Boob Job!

Ex-Hooters employee: I was told to drop weight

Hooters is being served with a lawsuit by a former Detroit-area employee who says she was told to agree to lose weight or lose her job. Cassandra Smith said Hooters violated Michigan law when it placed her on 30-day weight probation earlier this month. She resigned as a result.

Smith's lawsuit, filed Monday in Macomb County Circuit Court, says she received good reviews while working at the Roseville restaurant. But on May 14, she says she was told to lose weight to improve her looks.

Smith said she weighs 132 pounds, 13 pounds less than when she was recruited in 2008.

Hooters' servers wear tank tops and tight shorts. Atlanta-based Hooters of America says it has not seen the lawsuit but insists it doesn't enforce a weight requirement.

Saturday 12 June 2010

Wedded Bliss!!!

Polish woman 'used as human cart horse'

A Polish woman was allegedly tied to a plough by her husband and whipped into pulling it for years, a court has heard.

Irena Buzniak, 34, claims that she was used as a cart horse and subjected to 15 years of beatings at the hands of her husband and his immediate family, the New Poland Express reports.

Buzniak eventually sought assistance from authorities and is now living in safety with her 8-year-old daughter. As well as being forced to carry the plough across fields, Buzniak claims that she was imprisoned in a garage and was regularly beaten and threatened.

Her husband Antoni, 42, his two brothers, 45-year-old Kazimierz and 39-year-old Jozef, and their 81-year-old mother Emilia now face up to ten years behind bars if convicted. The trial continues.

Friday 11 June 2010

Another Greek Problem!

Horde of frogs keeps Greek highway traffic slow

Thousands of frogs are still slowing traffic on a busy Greek highway, a day after a horde of them forced officials to close the road altogether.

Police said Thursday they were directing traffic around frogs on the Egnatia Highway about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) outside Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki.

The frogs, leaving a nearby lake to look for food, were expected to disrupt traffic through the weekend.

Police closed a section of the road Wednesday after three cars skidded off the road when the drivers tried to dodge the frogs.

Thursday 10 June 2010

What’s In A Sausage?

Man sucked into sausage machine

A cleaner was taken to hospital last week after being sucked into a sausage seasoning machine, reports have revealed.

The male worker was pulled head-first into the vacuum device after it was somehow activated while he was cleaning it, according to The Salem News.
The incident occurred on Thursday as the man was completing a shift at DiLigui Sausage in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Police have said that the man's head and shoulders became stuck in the machine, but he showed no signs of trauma after being freed. He was later given a hospital check-up as a precaution.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now expected to investigate the matter.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

It Makes You Go Blind!!

Chance to play with yourself

A US toy company is offering the chance to play with yourself - thanks to its personalised action figures.

Oregon-based That's My Face offer to create dolls with life-like mini heads based on photos provided by customers.

The firm uses advanced software to map out a 3D map of your features which they can apply to a scale version of your head.

It is then a matter of choosing a body from the range available - from soldier to photographer - or just buying a head and attaching it to an action figure or doll of your choice.

There is even an option to provide details of an outfit of your choice for your figure.

The company have used famous faces such as Twilight's Robert Pattinson and Colin Farrell to showcase their work.

Spokesman John Keaton says: "I've always been a fan of action figures and thought it would be a great idea to personalise them so you can, in essence, play with yourself."

Prices range from £27 for a head to more than £100 for a custom-made doll.

They’re Here….Again???

Crop circles in rapeseed fields

A crop circle measuring some 300 feet diameter has appeared in a field of oil seed rape near Wilton Windmill in Wiltshire. Lucy Pringle, crop circle researcher and author said: "I believe it contains binary. Working from the centre outwards, people are suggesting it has a connection to Leonhard Eulers theorem e^(i)pi+1=0 which is thought to be one of the most beautiful theorems in mathematics. Historically over the years, crop circles have been associated with diatonic scales (white notes on the piano). These diatonic scale frequencies are encoded in each segment of the crop circle and can be played on the piano. This is a unique formation incorporating both music and mathematics and is similar in importance to the famous 2008 Barbury Castle Pi event"

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Pancaked!!!

Bomb squad robots make pancakes

Bomb squads from around New Mexico got a chance to sharpen their skills by using a remote-controlled robot — not to blow things up, but to make pancakes.

The Robot Rodeo was held last week at a tech site at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The three-day event offered hours of hands-on training at the controls of $225,000 robots used for bomb and hazardous waste detection and disposal.

Chris Ory, a member of Los Alamos’ hazardous devices team, says six teams guided robots through 10 challenges, including an obstacle course, simulated attacks, cooperation exercises and activities to test their ability to minutely control the robot.

The control challenge was where pancake-making came into play.

Monday 7 June 2010

Bite Marks!!!

Man bites man in fight over dogs

It wasn't quite man-bites-dog, but there were men and there were dogs and there was biting. A sheriff's office said Monday that one man bit another during a fight over a couple of dogs at a park in suburban New York City. Rockland County sheriff's Capt. William Barbera said two dog owners got into it Sunday night. One didn't like the way their pets were playing at a dog park in New City, about 30 miles north of New York.

Barbera said that a third man tried to break up the fight and that one of the combatants bit him on the wrist. He said that no one has been arrested but that the case is still being investigated.

Sunday 6 June 2010

Breathalysed??

NY man seeking help for stray dog arrested for DWI

A man who went to a New York village police station seeking help for a stray dog found trouble instead after police say he drove there drunk.

Monroe police say 38-year-old Oleksandr Nayda found a stray Rottweiler and drove to their headquarters around 10 a.m. Saturday to ask for directions to an animal shelter.

But authorities in the Orange County village say the Monroe resident smelled like alcohol and had a 0.17 blood-alcohol content. That's more than twice the legal limit. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

An officer took the dog to the shelter.

Nayda is being held in the county jail on $1,000 bail. Jail officials said Sunday they don't know if he has an attorney.

Saturday 5 June 2010

Ruffled Feathers

'Frequent flyers' outsmart airport officials

A Detroit Metropolitan Airport official said some frequent-flyers holed-up inside the McNamara Terminal are ruffling his feathers and admits "the darn birds keep outsmarting us."

Wayne County Airport Authority spokesman Scott Wintner told the Detroit Free Press that he doesn't know how the birds got into the mile-long, 1 million-square-foot terminal. But getting them to exchange a carefree existence for an out-of-town flight has not been easy.

The terminal offers an Eden-esque existence that includes no predators, nesting niches, splash fountains, window perches, fake trees and Starbucks crumbs.

The birds don't bother passengers or pose an immediate safety risk. Still, officials are using 10 machines that broadcast scary bird calls aimed at frightening the sparrows and starlings away.

Friday 4 June 2010

The Ultimate Car Alarm??

Driver forced to pay £150 after police remove his car 'to stop it being stolen'

Marcus Morris was told that police they had taken his VW Polo because the open window - which he had accidentally left down - meant the vehicle was at risk of theft.

Mr Morris, 25, had parked the car near to Leeds city centre as he went for a job interview but returned an hour-and-a-half later to find it had gone.

He contacted West Yorkshire Police believing it had been stolen but was told they had removed it to protect it from thieves.

Mr Morris, said: "I couldn't believe it. It seems outrageous.

"So what if I had left my window open? If anything had been taken then it'd have been my own fault."

Police told him a window had been left open and a CD wallet was in the back of the car. The vehicle had been taken to a storage facility.

When Mr Morris collected his car the next morning he was handed a bill for £150. "I'm not working at the moment and that's a lot of money for me. It's money I don't think I should have had to pay," he said.

West Yorkshire Police said it made no apology for taking action. Chief Insp Elizabeth Belton said: "Officers regularly patrol our communities looking for opportunities to prevent crime, which is exactly what has happened on this occasion.

"The vehicle was left insecure with valuables on show in an area with significant levels of car crime and we were unable to locate the owner.

"We make absolutely no apology whatsoever for the officer's actions, which have prevented this vehicle becoming a target for thieves. Had a thief got there first it would have been a very different story.

"We need people to take responsibility for their own property and take any valuables with them when they park up. We hope Mr Morris's story will serve as a reminder."

The charges made for the recovery and storage of vehicles are set nationally by the Government. Mr Morris confirmed he is taking legal advice in an attempt to recover the cost.

Thursday 3 June 2010

Free Ride

Man makes up robbery to get ride home

The Charles County sheriff's office said a man called 911 and made up a story about being robbed so that he could get a ride home. Authorities said they were called to Hawthorne Road near Manor Drive in Ripley for a reported armed robbery on Thursday. The man told officers that he had been walking on Route 225 when a car stopped and a someone put a gun to his head and demanded money. The man claimed to have complied and the suspects fled.

But as officers searched the area and noticed inconsistencies in his account, the man admitted fabricating the robbery story because he wanted a ride home.

He said his cell phone was out of minutes and 911 was the only number he could still call.

Officials say charges against the man are pending.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Nunned!!!!!

Nun defeats thief

A would-be thief got away with nothing after being confronted by an angry nun with a commanding voice.

Sister Lynn Rettinger, of Pittsburgh, spotted the man reaching into an opened car window and stealing a wallet on Tuesday.

Putting the tone of voice she's used for nearly 50 years teaching in Catholic schools, the principal of Sacred Heart Elementary School went outside and firmly told the man: 'You need to give me what you have.'

The thief promptly handed over the wallet, apologized and walked away.

Rettinger said she just talked to him as she would do with a student when she knew they had something they shouldn't. Police are still looking for the man.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Driving Food!

Michigan inmates get work picking up roadkill

Saginaw County inmates are being asked to volunteer for work picking up roadkill. Sheriff William L. Federspiel told The Saginaw News that he got the idea to put inmates to work on the "Dead Carcasses Patrol Unit" after seeing a slew of dead skunks, deer and raccoons while driving to the office.

Federspiel said it's "not real pleasant" to see animal carcasses rotting on the side of the road. A two- or three-person crew, wearing goggles and latex gloves, is expected to pick up animals on Mondays starting May 17.

The Saginaw County Animal Care Center's four road officers currently pick up most dead animals, but not deer because of their size or skunks because of their smell. The agency welcomes the help, saying there's enough work to go around.