Odd news... November 08

[Bungleau]

From Yahoo Odd News...

Alleged drunk driver thinks he's driving his car FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A North Pole man was surprised when police accused him of stealing a car from a gentleman club in Fairbanks. The man, 27, explained to officers that he was in his Chevy Cavalier. The only problem, police said, was that he was behind the wheel of a Ford Escort. Police charged the man with auto theft, felony driving under the influence and misdemeanor drugs misconduct Police said his blood-alcohol content was .166, more than twice the legal limit. According to court documents, the man swore he had no memory of taking a vehicle that didn't belong to him. ___ Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com

Cavalier, Escort... hey, you're not getting lucky in either one

Guess he won't have to worry about that little mixup happening again for a while, will he?

[Bungleau]

From Yahoo Odd News...

Jogger runs mile with rabid fox locked on her arm PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot. She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm. The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital. The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies vaccinations.

Makes note.... don't p!$$ off women in Arizona...

Don't @#$@# with foxes, either...

[Bungleau]

From long ago on the Newlywed Game...

I think this was the precursor to those Snickers "Need a moment?" commercials...

Glad to see they made their way through it.

Oh, cube-safe BTW...

[Bungleau]

From Yahoo Odd News...

"Little House on Prairie," adults-only version! HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland has rated the DVD release of the much-loved children's television series "Little House on the Prairie" suitable for adult viewing only. To save money, Universal Pictures decided not to submit the series to state inspection, the company's Finland marketing manager Meri Suomela told Reuters on Wednesday. Finnish authorities charge 2 euros ($2.57) per minute for assessing the correct age limit on films and television series. Distributors who forego this can only sell their shows with a sticker saying "Banned for under-18s." "Long series can get quite expensive to check, and some use this exemption in the law to their advantage," said Matti Paloheimo, Director at the Finnish Board of Film Classification. "Such unchecked material should not be shown to children publicly," he added. Little House on the Prairie, which ran from 1974 to 1983, portrayed life in the U.S. West in the late 1800s and was based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder's children's book of the same name. It remains popular in Finland, and is still shown weekly on Sunday mornings on state-owned broadcaster YLE. (Reporting by Sakari Suoninen; Editing by Louise Ireland)

I guess kids will be hanging outside video stores hoping to get a grown-up to pick up a little something for them...

[Bungleau]

From Yahoo Odd News...

Pilot blinded by stroke is guided safely to ground By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press Writer LONDON – A British pilot who was suddenly blinded by a stroke during a solo flight was talked safely down by a military pilot, the Royal Air Force said Friday. Jim O'Neill asked for help after he was went blind 40 minutes into a flight from Scotland to southeastern England last week. The BBC reported that O'Neill, flying a small Cessna aircraft, lost his sight 5,500 feet in the air. "It was terrifying," O'Neill said. "Suddenly, I couldn't see the dials in front of me." The air force said in a news release that O'Neill initially believed he'd been "dazzled" by bright sunlight, and made an emergency call for help. He then realized that something more serious was happening, and said, "I want to land, ASAP." RAF Wing Commander Paul Gerrard was just finishing a training flight nearby and was drafted in to help the stricken pilot. Gerrard located the plane, began flying close to it and radioed directions. "For me, I was just glad to help a fellow aviator in distress," he said. "Landing an aircraft literally blind needs someone to be right there to say 'Left a bit, right a bit, stop, down,'" Gerrard said. "On the crucial final approach, even with radar assistance, you need to take over visually. That's when having a fellow pilot there was so important. O'Neill's son, Douglas, said his father is an experienced pilot who has flown for nearly two decades. The 65-year-old is recovering in hospital where he is beginning to regain his sight. "The doctors have confirmed that he suffered a stroke from a blood clot, but he doesn't seem to have suffered any other ill-effects apart from losing his sight," Douglas O'Neill said. "He says he went blind very suddenly and then, once he'd got over the shock, was able to distinguish a bit of darkness and light." In a recording posted to the BBC's news Web site, Gerrard gives O'Neill instructions — "a gentle right hand turn, please," is called for at one point — and he can be heard apologizing. "You could hear the apprehension in his voice over the radio and the frustration he was experiencing," said radar controller Richard Eggleton. "I kept saying 'Are you visual?' and he would reply 'No sir, negative, I'm sorry sir.' He kept on apologizing. With Gerrard talking him down, O'Neill's plane hit the runway and bounced up again, the RAF said. It did the same on the second touchdown. On the third, O'Neill was able to keep his plane on the ground. "It's one of those things you might hear about happening in some sort of all-action film but it's hard to believe what they did," Douglas O'Neill said of the RAF. "They were just tremendous."

That is impressive on so many levels.... I stand in awe.

[VulcanRider]

From News of the Weird:

Wrestling in Turkey (II): ...but the summers are (and have been for 650 years) for Kirkpinar, the country's oil-wrestling celebration and tournament, during which a thousand men, slathering on two tons of olive oil, fight matches until one man earns the solid-gold title belt. Several months of regional tournaments lead up to Kirkpinar, which, incidentally, has recently experienced the same doping controversies as mainstream world sports. [Spiegel, 7-14-08]

Do they have a women's tournament, or is that just a pay-per-view show?

[Arvon]

Thinning the Herd
A burglary suspect, running from police on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill in September, jumped over a 3-foot wall, apparently not realizing that on the other side was a 200-foot drop. He died at the scene. [San Francisco Chronicle, 9-11-08]

A 22-year-old woman was fatally hit by a car in Dallas in June when she stopped on the busy LBJ Freeway to take pictures of an accident scene. She was apparently just an overly curious rubbernecker. [Dallas Morning News, 6-15-08]

A 54-year-old road-raging woman burned up in her car in London in September after ramming the back of another car, bringing both to a stop, and then failing to realize that a fluid from her car had ignited the underside. [Daily Mail (London), 9-22-08]

[Arvon]

Testing Your Abilities

This is a cool trick. Try it and see! This will also drive you crazy trying...

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction and there's nothing you can do about it.

[Bungleau]

I'd like to claim that as a drummer, I'm used to limb independence. Not a big deal... although since I'm not a math magician, my circles weren't overly round. They remained clockwise, though.

[Bungleau]

Party at Wellard's!!!!

From Yahoo Odd News

Resort plans nude "anything goes" party CANBERRA (Reuters) – An Australian holiday resort will hold a month-long, nude "anything goes" party to combat an expected economic downturn, media reports said on Thursday. "Tough economic times call for stiff measures," Tony Fox, the owner of the White Cockatoo resort in Mossman, in tropical Queensland state, told the Courier-Mail newspaper. "It will be a hedonism resort, where anything goes for a month. It doesn't take rocket science to work out what it means," Fox said, naming March as the risque party month. The controversial "clothes optional" resort made headlines three years ago when police were called to end partner-swapping parties after a swathe of public complaints. "You've got to wonder what sort of people go and why. Where is the moral code of behavior and how do you stop jealousies and fights?" Cairns Catholic Bishop James Foley said after Fox's announcement. But local regional Mayor Val Schier said she was not opposed to the event as long as no laws were broken. "People in tropical north Queensland are extraordinarily creative," Schier said. "It is tough economic times and as long as it is with consenting adults, then there is no problem." Australia's tourism in industry is being hit hard by global economic turmoil with official figures showing a 7.6 percent decline in overseas visitors in September. Industry leaders expect holiday bookings may drop by up to a third in early 2009 and are planning a new international advertising campaign to coincide with the movie "Australia" starring Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman. Fox said his resort was almost fully booked for the month-long rainforest party. (Reporting by Rob Taylor, editing by Miral Fahmy)

So.... they're doing their best to bring a rise to the local economy, showing the best sides of local flora and fauna to peek interest in what Australia has to off 'er