redllama.net

Today in Weird News:

Typically, I’d only pick one story to share, bu these were all too good:

[quote]

Woman charged with hitting police horse

AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) — A Texas woman has been charged with assaulting a police officer and his horse during a scuffle outside an Austin bar.

Corsha Beasley, 21, was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Police responding to a 911 call were trying to break up a crowd outside the Bayou Lounge early Sunday. Beasley allegedly refused to move and instead took off a shoe and used it to hit Dusty, the police horse, near his left eye.

When the officer tried to grab the shoe to keep Beasley from hitting the horse, she allegedly hit him in the face as well.

Beasley faces a second-degree felony charge, interfering with a police service animal, and a third-degree felony, assault on a police officer.[/quote]

[quote]

Air guitarists jam in Seattle
SEATTLE (UPI) — Costumed performers, including an undercover Microsoft employee, gathered sans instruments in Seattle to compete in the U.S. Air Guitar Championships tour.

The Jose Cuervo-sponsored event at Chop Suey involved air guitar devotees strumming along to music without actual guitars as part of the 24-stop tour aimed at creating a Team USA air guitar team to compete in Finland in August, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday.

“Some people have football season — I have air guitar season,” said Garth Donald, a youth-shelter worker and air guitar veteran. He said the skill requires “years and years, and beers and beers” to perfect.

However, some performers said they had less pride in their chosen performance art.

One performer, “Red Hot,” identified himself as a Microsoft employee. He said he did not want to give his real name because he feared what coworkers might think of his hobby.

“I’ve only been here two weeks — I want to have a career or something,” he said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
[/quote]

So that’s why John and Crystal bought those plane tickets to Seattle!

[quote]‘WTF’ plate on N.C. DMV Web site
RALEIGH, N.C. (UPI) — The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles says it did not realize a sample license plate on its Web site bore letters that stand for a vulgar phrase.

State officials offered free replacement license plates in 2007 to nearly 10,000 people whose plates bore the letter combination “WTF,” which is common text messaging shorthand for a phrase that includes a four-letter profanity beginning with the letter “F,” The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported Tuesday.

However, the DMV discovered this week that a plate bearing the letters appears on its Web site as an example of a personalized plate.

“I can’t believe it,” DMV Commissioner Bill Gore said. “Obviously, I didn’t know it was there.”

Officials said Monday the image should be replaced on the Web site within the next day.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International[/quote]

This Is For All My Ninjas

[quote]June 26, 2008

In a town near Atlantic City, schools went into lock down after the report
of a ninja in the woods… near an elementary school. The ninja had been
spotted running, carrying a sword like they were on some kind of mission,
like a ninja. Turned out to be a camp counselor… on the way to a
costume party. When police caught up with him, the ninja said he
was going through the woods as a short cut because he was late
for the party.[/quote]

Wait a second! The police actually caught a ninja?! What am I thinking, they arrest ninjas every day. Usually have an APB out on them too. “The suspect is between 5′2″ and 6′11″, nearly 150 to 275 lbs, most likely brandishing a weapon, and allllll black.

Don Imus, Again? Geez.

First off this is just stupid. Talking about “Pacman” Jones, Imus asked, “What color is he?” “He’s African-American,” the host is informed by one of his on-air sidekicks, Warren Wolf. “Well, there you go,” Imus said. “Now we know.”

Are you kidding me? This is offensive? Maybe he’s just stupid but, that’s his own fault.

My first question is, “Why is he on the radio?” He sucks, he got fired, everyone was happy or didn’t care either way, and then they felt bad and rehired him. This old fuck just needs to retire already. “Who the hell listens to him?” It seems that if any one does listen to him, it’s just to wait until he screws up. Or hang him out to dry, pun intended. Radio shows have a dump button. Just in cause someone cusses or talks in detail about a subject matters that shouldn’t be over the air waves. Why don’t his “racial” comments get dumped?

Peak Fuel Efficiency

Here it goes one more time… mainly for the ladies.

1) [b]Fill Up Smart[/b]
[i]Fill up your vehicle during the coolest part of the day. With older pumps that don’t have a temperature-compensating flow meter, fuel is denser when it’s cool, so you actually get more for your money when you pump gas in the early AM instead of filling up at 5:30PM on your way home from work.[/i]

2) [b]Keep Your Car Clean[/b]
[i]It doesn’t just look good, it actually lowers the wind resistance of your vehicle. No, not by much, but every little bit helps, remember? More importantly, clean out the inside of your vehicle, particularly any unnecessary boxes of heavy junk you have in the hatch/trunk/backseat. By removing weight, you can improve fuel economy.[/i]

3) [b]Check Your Tire Pressure[/b]
[i]Underinflated tires take more energy to push down the road so check your tire pressure often. Invest a few dollars in a good dial-type tire pressure gauge and use it to check your tire pressure once a week. Even if the pressure is only a couple PSI low, you’re burning a lot more fuel than you need to.[/i]

4) [b]Change The Air Filter[/b]
[i]If your engine’s wheezing and has to work harder bringing in the air it needs to burn fuel efficiently, it doesn’t complain to you. It simply burns more fuel. By replacing your air filter annually, or biannually if you live in a dusty area, you’ll ensure the engine can breathe freely. Consult your owner’s manual for filter changing instructions — it’s usually a straightforward process. While it won’t save you dollars per fill-up, it could save you at least the price of an air filter each year depending on your mileage.[/i]

5) [b]Replace Your Spark Plugs[/b]
[i]Worn spark plugs can’t ignite the air/fuel mixture in your engine as effectively, resulting in more fuel used for a given amount of power produced. Depending upon the vehicle you drive, your spark plugs may need to be changed as often as yearly or as rarely as once a decade or so. Again, consult your owner’s manual for details. Note that we’re now getting into “real work.” If you drive an older vehicle with an inline engine, changing plugs can be done in as little as an hour. A transverse V6, like that commonly found on minivans and domestic sedans, can be an entirely different story involving bloody knuckles, part removal, flex sockets, and extensive cursing. If your car is due for plug replacement and you’re not up to the task, a competent shop should be able to do the work for a reasonable fee.[/i]

Beware of "Light Show"

I received confirmation from a friend with ABC that there is to be a red and blue themed light show tonight in the west Springfield area between 12 and 3 am. I’m guessing they’ll hit up the usual spot in front of St. Bernadette’s.

If your planning a Friday night happy hour, better cab it home.

Telectroscope

An artist’s vivid imagination turned reality by use of fiberoptic communication. On display until June 15th.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357307,00.html

Point Well Taken?

[quote][b]Man cuts car in half to make a point [/b]

TREDWORTH, England (UPI) — An outraged British man said he sawed his son’s car in half after local authorities clamped it for no reason.

Ian Taylor, 40 of Tredworth, England, said he was so upset to find his son’s Ford Fiesta was impounded, he was prompted to use a power disc cutter to chop it in half to stand up for his beliefs, the Sun reported Monday.

Taylor said the car was registered to be parked off the street, but the clamper nailed him because two inches of the back end was sticking out of the driveway.

“I had to make a point. The vehicle was totally legal where it was. It was a drastic step but I stand by my decision,” Taylor said.

Taylor said he told the clampers they could take the back end of the car because it was the section that violated the rules.[/quote]

That aughta show ‘em.

And the Winner is….

[quote]Man who lost homes in Katrina claims $97M Powerball prize By MELINDA DESLATTE, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 53 minutes ago

A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.

When he turned in the winning ticket, Carl Hunter became the largest Powerball winner in Louisiana’s history. He won the jackpot in January, but the 73-year-old small businessman waited nearly four months to claim the prize.

An avid lottery player, Hunter said he already had bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 16 at the gas station less than two blocks from his home in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. But he stopped at the station again that day to buy milk — at the request of his wife, Dianne — and got a second “quick pick” ticket.

“I had some change, and one dollar was used to buy this ticket,” Hunter said Thursday at the Louisiana Lottery Corp. headquarters in Baton Rouge, where he claimed his prize.

“It’s all about milk,” his wife said, smiling.

The couple, surrounded by cameras, was decidedly low-key about the multimillion dollar win, saying they didn’t have specific plans for the money — besides retirement and the rebuilding of a camp lost to Katrina.

“I’m retiring, you know, naturally,” Carl Hunter said.

Hunter took a lump sum payment that will give him $33.9 million after taxes, according to lottery officials. Asked why he waited so long to turn in the winning ticket, Hunter said he wanted to wrap up some of his construction work and finish his outstanding contracts. In fact, Hunter’s wife Dianne said he was still at work this week.

“I don’t think about buying elaborate cars or homes,” Carl Hunter said.

Hunter said he owned two homes that were destroyed in 2005 by Katrina, and he and his wife moved into a Metairie home she owned after the storm, the home that was near the gas station where he bought his winning ticket.

The multimillion dollar win wasn’t Hunter’s first winning lottery ticket. He said he won $5,000 off a ticket a few years ago.

West Metairie Shell, the gas station where Hunter bought his ticket, will get $25,000 for selling the winning ticket. The station, tucked among brick ranch homes and raised wooden houses in a middle-class neighborhood, lost its roof during Katrina, and the store was looted.[/quote]

So, the problem isn’t that the guy is old or that he and his wife already had enough money to own three houses or that they’ll probably die before they even get to send half of the money. The problem isn’t that this guy’s already one the lotto once ( c’mon, a measley $5K?)…. THEY WON $97 MILLION DOLLARS!!! After taxes? $33 million.

Taxes suck.

Where's Waldo? On Earth!

So this chick got the great idea of painting a giant Waldo on the roof so it’ll show up on Google Maps. It’s not on there yet. I don’t know how long it’ll take from an update. My Civic is still parked in front of Grantham and the Trans Am is still on Bronte. Maybe Google Earth updates more often.

Here’s the address. It took me 45 seconds to find it. Because I’m not stupid and know how to used a search engine. And also, use my brain for at least 30 seconds. 1972 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 1M5, Canada.

I didn’t spoil it! you don’t HAVE to look up the address. You’re supposed to know to start in Vancouver.

[url=http://whereonearthiswaldo.wordpress.com/]Where On Earth Is Waldo?[/url]

Too Much Time on His Hands.

[quote]Company impressed with proposal hack

SEATTLE (UPI) — Officials with a Seattle video game company said they were delighted rather than irked to hear of a man who reprogrammed their game for a wedding proposal.

Bernie Peng, of Jersey City, N.J., said he spent one month reprogramming his girlfriend’s favorite game, “Bejeweled,” to display a wedding ring and a marriage proposal when she achieved a high enough score, the (Newark) New Jersey Star-Ledger reported Tuesday. His girlfriend, Tammy Li, reached the high score and subsequently accepted the proposal.

Officials with PopCap, the company that created the game, said they usually take issue with their games being reprogrammed, but they were so impressed by Peng’s story that they offered to pay for part of his wedding and offered to supply free copies of “Bejeweled 2 Deluxe” to guests at the August wedding.

“Most video game companies would frown on people manipulating their games,” said PopCap spokesman Garth Chouteau.

“But it won him a woman,” Chouteau said. “As a bunch of geeks we have to say, ‘Bernie, hats off to you.’”
[/quote]