Wednesday 28 December 2011

Australian crocodile Elvis steals lawnmower

Crocodile handler at the Australian Reptile Park, Tim Faulkner, explained how they would make the enclosure safe again
An Australian crocodile reacted badly when a noisy lawnmower invaded his space - he stole it, forcing keepers to make a daring rescue.
Elvis, who lives at the Australian Reptile Park, lunged at the mower, grabbing it from operations manager Tim Faulkner and keeper Billy Collett.
Pulling it under water, the five-metre saltwater crocodile "drowned" the machine at the park near Sydney.
He then sat and watched his catch for more than an hour in his enclosure.
''Once he got it, he just sat there and guarded it,'' said Mr Faulkner. ''It was his prize, his trophy. If it moved, then he would attack it again.''
That, he said, was fairly typical crocodile behaviour.
But Elvis, who is one of the largest crocodiles in New South Wales, is also ''a big territorial male'' who likes his meat.
While the keeper lured Elvis to the other end of the enclosure with an offering of kangaroo meat, Mr Faulkner was able to jump in, retrieve the badly chewed up mower and two teeth that Elvis had lost in the process.
''He has extraordinarily large teeth - much bigger than most crocodiles,'' added Mr Faulkner. ''He punched his teeth through the top casing of the mower.''
'Ate his girlfriend' Elvis, who was captured in the wild and is thought to be around 50 years old, has always been a cranky croc. He was attacking fishing boats in Darwin harbour when he was caught, his keeper said.

Elvis the cranky croc grabbed a mower from Australian Reptile Park keepers. Elvis guarded his lawnmower for more than an hour
At the crocodile farm he was first brought to after being caught, he ate two of his girlfriends.
''He is so full of testosterone that he views everything as a threat,'' explained Mr Faulkner. ''Even potential mates.''
The mower was fortunate to have escaped then. But it will never work another day.
As for Mr Faulkner, it was all in a day's work.
''I've handled a lot of animals,'' he said. ''There is a moment when your breath is gone and your adrenalin rushes in.''
But, he stressed, there is difference between a crocodile getting a mower and getting a human.
''That has never happened. We treat the crocodiles with a lot of respect,'' he added.

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Classic road trip dented in Sainsbury's

A couple who completed a 33,000-mile trip around the world in a rare classic car came back to England to find a ''large dent'' in the side after leaving it in a supermarket car park.

Classic road trip dented in Sainsbury's
Geoffrey and Hilary Herdman, who are both retired, took 16 months to complete the trip that they described as a ''wrinkly gap year''.
Their drive around the world was made in a 1956 Bristol 405 Drophead Coupe, of which only 42 were made.
Despite encountering some of the toughest roads in the world without any problems, it was when they got home and parked the Bristol in a Sainsbury's car park that they ran into trouble.
Having popped into the supermarket they returned to their prized car and found that another motorist had dented it.
Mr Herdman, a retired chartered accountant, said while they were travelling they were constantly warned about the dangers - from theft of the vehicle to kidnap and worse - but other than a few minor repairs, including a couple of punctures, they did not have any problems.
''It was very nice reflection on human nature. The bad thing is when we got back I leave the car in Sainsbury's car park and find there is a large dent in the front wing,'' he said.
''A car is for using, it's not a work of art ... well, it is a work of art, but it is to be used rather than put in a glass cage and admire. And so these are things you have to face up to.''
During the couple's first 24,000 miles they only had to spend 125 US dollars (£79.50) on repairs. But the dent in the car could cost them around £300.
''I was just walking back towards the car and I thought 'gosh, that doesn't look right' and there was a large dent in the near-side front wing, someone had obviously overly crocked it parking next to me and put a dent in,'' Mr Herdman, 68, said.
He lovingly finished off the restoration of the car - started by its previous owner - after buying it in 1999.
In April 2001 Mr Herdman, a member of the Royal Automobile Club and president of the Bristol Owners Club, finally got the classic car back on the road.
The car - registration 10 DPG and the 29th to roll off the production line - is now believed to be worth around £90,000.
Mr Herdman has travelled 135,000 miles in the car since 2001 and believes it would have completed around 500,000 miles in total.
''We love driving it to bits, it's a very, very comfortable car, both of us can fall asleep when the other one is driving,'' he said.
''It's just a lovely car to drive.''
Mr Herdman and his wife, 70, a retired lawyer, started the incredible journey in July 2010 from Miami, driving up the east coast of North America to Halifax before crossing Canada and then heading south down the west coast.
After a couple of months in South America, they headed across to Australia before the car was shipped back via Turkey for the drive home through Europe.
The couple, who are from London, and currently living in Sussex, eventually returned to the UK in November.

Sunday 18 December 2011

Spanish village painted blue for Smurfs film votes on keeping theme

The inhabitants of a Spanish village which was painted entirely blue for the filming of a Smurfs movie voted on Sunday on whether they want their houses to remain a vivid shade of azure or to return to traditional white.

Spanish village painted blue for Smurfs film votes on keeping theme
Since filming the hillside village has become a huge tourist attraction 
Juzcar, inland from Malaga, was transformed six months ago when it was chosen as the set for The Smurfs 3D, becoming the world's first official Smurf Village.
Sony, which made the film, had promised to return the village to its original state, with homes painted in dazzling white, as is typical of southern Spain.
But the 250 locals are expected to vote for the unusual look to be retained, because since filming the hillside village has become a huge tourist attraction, pulling in more than 80,000 visitors.
They embraced the makeover with such gusto that some dressed up as giant Smurfs and held a Smurf fair in the village square.
David Fernandez Tirado, the mayor, who has been nicknamed 'Papa Smurf', said there were "many benefits" to the village being blue. The makeover distinguishes Juzcar from all the other 'pueblo blanco' white villages that dot the landscape of southern Spain.
"It's given a boost to the local economy, it's increased our happiness, our dreams and our levels of employment," the mayor told the Spanish media.
"Thanks to being painted blue we are known throughout the world."
The transformation of the village involved more than a dozen painters and 1,000 gallons of bright blue paint.
Special permission had to be sought from the regional government of Andalusia as well as the local bishop – even the church was painted blue.
The film, which opened in the UK in August, revolved around a plot in which the Smurfs were chased out of their home village by an evil wizard and forced to flee to a new life in New York.
The movie starred the singer Katy Perry as Smurfette, while the wizard was played by Hank Azaria, who provides many of the voices in The Simpsons, including Moe the barman and police chief Wiggum.
Villagers voted in a referendum on Sunday, with the result expected to be announced on Friday.
The Smurfs were created as a comic strips by a Belgian cartoonist, Pierre Culliford, in 1958.

Monday 12 December 2011

US man published fake obit of mother to get bereavement pay

Scott Bennett, a US man, published a fake obituary for his living mother in a ploy to get paid bereavement time off work, police have alleged.

Relatives called The Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper in Pennsylvania after the obituary appeared to say the woman was actually alive and well.
The woman herself then visited the paper.
Police charged 45-year-old Bennett on Tuesday with disorderly conduct.
Newspaper editor Randy Bartley said he accepted the obituary in good faith after being unable to confirm the funeral arrangements at press time.
He told The Derrick newspaper on Friday that the woman was very understanding.
Police Chief Ken Dworek said Bennett wrote up the memorial notice because he did not want to get sacked for taking time off.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Cat with 26 toes rescues US animal shelter

A once-unwanted cat with 26 toes has come to the rescue of an animal shelter in need of a new home.

Cat with 26 toes rescues US animal shelter
Normal cats have 18 toes, but Daniel has two extra on each foot due to a genetic mutation called polydactylism
However, this orange-and-white tabby named Daniel is no typical cat. He has a 26 toes – a phenomenon that is helping the non-profit Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center raise money to relocate to a new building.
Normal cats have 18 toes, but Daniel has two extra on each foot due to a genetic mutation called polydactylism.
Officials at the centre found out their rent at a Milwaukee-area mall was being doubled on Jan 1. So, the shelter is buying a new building and is seeking small donations of $26 – or $1 per toe.
They've collected enough so far to secure the financing with about $80,000 raised since Oct. 24, but they hope to raise $120,000 by Dec. 23 so they can become even more financially stable. About $50,000 of the money raised has come from $26 donations.
"I've always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and this is definitely the case," said Amy Rowell, owner of Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center.
She found Daniel in October at animal control when she went to pick up another cat. As she bent down to that cat's cage, Daniel stuck his paw out and poked her head.
"He was very clearly saying, 'I need to be rescued, I'd like to be your friend, please pay attention to me,'" she said. "And when a sign is that obvious, we tend to not ignore it."
The shelter takes in animals that might otherwise be euthanised.
Daniel was originally going to be adopted out, but Rowell has decided to keep him as a shelter mascot.
Daniel's 26 toes – two shy of the Guinness World Records number- don't seem to affect his cat activities.
"He runs and he plays and he climbs, he uses a scratching post. He seems to be not bothered by it at all," Rowell said.

Friday 9 December 2011

Search is on for new metaphor as painters complete Forth Bridge

The painting of the Forth Bridge, a job that is famously never finished, has finally been completed, it has been announced.

The Forth Rail Bridge
The Forth Rail Bridge 
Network Rail said that its 10-year, £130m programme of refurbishment had ended and that the crossing would not now need another full paint job for at least 20 years.
The project, delivered by Network Rail and main contractor Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, involved encasing the bridge in up to 4,000 tonnes of scaffolding and painting more than 230,000 square meters of steel.
A triple layer of new glass flake epoxy paint was applied to the bridge, similar to that used by the offshore oil industry, to create a virtually impenetrable layer.
The projects completion sparked immediate calls to find a new metaphor which adequately described a seemingly never ending process.
Twitter users suggested “upgrading the M1 near Luton” would be a suitable replacement or “shaving a wookiee” - a famously furry character in the Star Wars trilogy.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Cannonball hits house after TV experiment goes wrong

A cannonball crashed through a home in California on Wednesday after an experiment for MythBusters, a US TV show, went awry.

Cannonball hits house after TV experiment goes wrong
The Discovery Channel’s MythBusters were filming an episode in which they tested projectiles shot from a cannon and whether they would pick up the same speed and have the same impact as the ball.
The show’s hosts had been shooting the cannon at a rock quarry in northern California.
Instead of hitting water-filled bins however, the cannonball went about 650 yards, bounced in front of the home and crashed through the front door before exiting through a cinderblock wall at the back of the house. It then bounced at least once more before smash the window and dashboard of a minivan.
“It missed the target and took kind of an oddball bounce,” said Alameda County Sheriff’s Department spokesman JD Nelson. “It was almost like skipping a rock on a lake. Instead of burying it into the hill it just went skyward.”
Fortunately nobody was injured, and the home’s residents did not even wake up until the broken drywall settled on top of them, Mr Nelson added.
“We are really, really grateful and glad that no one was hurt,” co-host and executive producer Adam Savage said in an interview. “Discovery is committed to making this right and making sure that everything that has been damaged is as good or better as before this started.”
MythBusters is a science show that stars special effects experts Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who conduct unusual and occasionally explosive experiments to test the validity of urban myths, such as whether shooting fish in a barrel is as easy as it sounds.
“All proper safety protocol was observed” prior to the incident, a spokesman for the cable TV network added.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Christmas rebranded 'Winter Festival' by Liberal Democrats

Marilyn Sharland, a vicar, is furious after Liberal Democrats called Christmas 'the winter festive season' in a local newsletter.


Rev Marilyn Sharland said she was annoyed that the "banal" headline in the Lib Dem flyer showed disrespect to Christians by failing to give Christmas its proper name.
"I was really, really put out," said Rev Sharland, who is a canon of Gloucester cathedral as well as a parish vicar in the city.
"I'm fed up with people trying to sideline the Christian faith and as a consequence they are sidelining the festival of Christmas.
"People of all faiths and those who have none all celebrate Christmas because it's a lovely time and a great thing to do."
She said it seemed banal to call it something else out of political correctness.
"Lots of people have spoken to me who are really peeved that the Liberal Democrats can't just accept Christmas as Christmas and enjoy it instead of just calling it the winter festive season."
She added: "We have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because we are celebrating the birth of Christ.
"Those who stay away from church send Christmas cards and buy Christmas presents, Christmas crackers and Christmas trees. They do not buy winter season cards or winter season trees.
"I have just returned from Dubai where the shops are full of Christmas tinsel and Christmas presents.
"The Muslims, the Jews and people of all other faiths all celebrate at this time of year. "They may not follow Jesus but they appreciate joyous festivals and are not the slightest bit threatened."
But Gloucestershire County Councillor Bill Crowther (Lib Dem, Hucclecote) said he did not understand why anyone would take offence.
He said: "We decided on the headline because it was an article about all the great things going on in December in Hucclecote, including things at the churches, and praising the people involved in them.
"It makes me very sad that anyone has gone on to take offence, despite the fact none was ever intended and despite the fact they seemed to accept our explanation."
He said they had been contacted and accused of 'trying to be PC'.
But he added: "We did have an e-mail, which was responded to, and we thought this was sorted out."