News So Weird, you will tell your friends! #2

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Dog saved by canine pal




LONDON (AP) - It was one of those heartwarming Lassie moments.

Lacey, a golden Labrador, survived a 30-metre fall down a cliff when her friend Sheena, a black Labrador, raised the alarm, coast guard officials in Wales said Tuesday.

Lacey became trapped after slipping down a rocky slope near South Stack, in Holyhead, north Wales, on Monday afternoon.

Twelve-year-old Sheena spotted her lying in a pool of water at the bottom of a gully and raced to fetch Lacey's owner, barking to gain attention and directing her to the stricken animal. Coast guard officials were called.

"The whole rescue operation took around 40 minutes," said one official, who was not identified.

"One of our rescue team climbed down to the dog and set up a harness and rope system to winch her back to the top.

"The dog was shivering from the cold and a bit shocked and nervous, but she did not seem to be hurt and was wagging her tail.

"She would not have been able to get out herself, so she is very lucky that the other dog found her."

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Human-shaped robot going on sale




TOKYO (AP) - A small walking man-shaped robot for home security and entertainment is going on sale in Japan for the equivalent of about $5,450 US.

The 39-centimetre-tall, 2.5-kilogram robot called nuvo from ZMP Inc. can walk, get up and respond to voice commands such as "turn right." It links to mobile phones so that people can check on images of their homes taken on a digital camera inside the robot's head. It can be controlled by a remote and is programmed to do a dance. It also makes musical sounds.

The creators are billing the machine as an eye-pleasing addition to fashionable homes, the collaboration of a designer and a choreographer as well as a computer chip maker.

Tokyo-based ZMP is planning to sell 2,300 robots, and shipments are set for late April. Orders are being taken through the Internet and robots will also be sold at a Tokyo shop. The robots are being sold only in Japan, the company said.

Japan leads the world in robotics, and Japanese companies, including automakers Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., have produced experimental human-shaped robots.

Sony Corp. has sold the Aibo dog-shaped entertainment robots, but ZMP says it's the first to mass-produce humanoids for the home.

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Residents drawn to Pig Olympics




SHANGHAI, China (AP) - These pigs run, jump, and swim - almost anything but fly.

Thousands of Shanghai residents have turned out to a city park to watch a herd of pigs compete in what organizers are calling the "Pig Olympics," the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. They run over hurdles, jump through hoops, dive, and swim in shows twice a day, it said. The pigs, a midget species from Thailand, begin training soon after birth and can begin performing professionally from about one year of age, Yang Ying, a manager with promoters Bluesea Broadway Co. Ltd. was quoted as saying.

"These lovely pigs are of a special species that is good at sports by nature," Yang said.

Pig races are common in many places, but heavily urban Shanghai offered few opportunities to see farm animals in action.

The report quoted primary students who visited the show a saying they were reconsidering their preconceptions of pigs as lazy and dull.

"It's incredible," said eight-year-old, Tan Yizhou, who had the honour of presenting a gold medal to one of the winning pigs. "I never thought that a pig could be so clever, dexterous and versatile."

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Running group stops traffic





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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - About 50 people gave new meaning to the term "runaway bride" when they donned matrimonial regalia and ran through town, sometimes stopping traffic.

Everyone from pretend priests to brides and grooms of both genders took part in the first Running of the Brides on Saturday.

Liz Zelandais found the run difficult, and not just because of the champagne she drank.

"Pulling a train is one thing," she said, tugging the $2 thrift-store gown over her tennis shoes. "But having to run with a train is unbelievable."

The run was put on by the Madison branch of the Hash House Harriers, an internationally known "drinking group with a running problem."

"This way we can have the party without a pre-nup or divorce," said Zelandais, who organized the event. "It's sort of a no-fault wedding experience."

The hashers have previously held pirate-themed runs, and all members - male and female - don red dresses for an annual evening run. Even on their relatively "normal" weekly Saturday afternoon runs they always stop for beers and run maze-like courses.

"It's very important to revert to infantile behaviour for one day a week if you're forced to be an adult for the other six," said veteran hasher Marc Brand, who wore a veil and tutu. "It's therapeutic."

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City smells like a barnyard




VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Vienna stank Wednesday, after unusual weather patterns and the spread of fertilizer in nearby vineyards combined to make the city smell like a barnyard.

Although cow manure is used on nearby fields every year, a lack of wind this spring has prompted the smell to hang over the city, said Peter Riess, an air quality management official. City officials say they've had dozens of complaints.

"It's not dangerous - no more than being anywhere out in the countryside," Riess said. "When the wind changes ... (the situation) will change immediately."

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New Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin crowned




MILWAUKEE (AP) - A new Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin has been crowned after pageant leaders stripped the original winner of the title when she appeared in a newspaper photograph standing up.

The announcement of the new winner Tuesday came amid a storm of protest over pageant officials' decision last week to take the crown away from Janeal Lee, a high school teacher and muscular dystrophy sufferer who uses a scooter as her main way to move around but said she can walk up to 15 metres on a good day and stand while teaching.

During the furore, the runner-up refused to accept the crown out of protest. Lee's sister, who also has muscular dystrophy and was named Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota, dropped out of the competition in that state. And the co-ordinator for the organization's Minnesota program stepped down from her job to "stand up for Janeal Lee."

"I no longer feel comfortable supporting an organization that instead of working towards creating a positive change, chooses to perpetuate stereotypes and requests its participants to hide their abilities while in public," said the sister, 26-year-old Sharon Spring of Rochester, Minn.

Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin officials stripped Lee of the crown after the 30-year-old was shown standing in her classroom in a photograph carried in a supplement to the Post-Crescent newspaper of Appleton, Wis.

The organization said candidates for the crown have to "mostly be seen in the public using their wheelchairs or scooters."

The eventual winner was second runner-up Kim Jerman of Waukesha. She did not immediately return a call Tuesday.

Pat O'Bryant, the national program's executive director, confirmed Jerman had accepted the Wisconsin crown but refused additional comment.

"We are not getting into a he-said, she-said, situation. I think we've said enough," she said.

"I'm very sorry all of this is happening."

The crown went to Jerman after first runner-up Michelle Kearney of West Allis refused to accept it.

"Who is to say who is more disabled and less disabled than another person?" Kearney told the Post-Crescent.

"Had I accepted, it's as if I had been saying I'm OK with the decision. I thought they educated and advocated about disabilities."

The co-ordinator for the group's Minnesota program, Jen Onsum, also quit her job in protest.

"I feel I must now stand up for Janeal Lee and against an organization that has discriminated against the very people they strive to advocate for," Onsum said, in a statement included in a link on the national program's website.

The winners of state Ms. Wheelchair contests go on to the national competition July 19-24 in Albany, N.Y. The program is designed to spotlight the accomplishments of women who use wheelchairs.

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[totalmotorcycle]

Pat Buchanan doused with salad dressing
Friday, April 1, 2005 Posted: 1448 GMT (2248 HKT)




KALAMAZOO, Michigan (AP) -- Commentator and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan cut short an appearance after an opponent of his conservative views doused him with salad dressing.

"Stop the bigotry!" the demonstrator shouted as he hurled the liquid Thursday night during the program at Western Michigan University. The incident came just two days after another noted conservative, William Kristol, was struck by a pie during an appearance at a college in Indiana.

After he was hit, Buchanan cut short his question-and-answer session with the audience, saying, "Thank you all for coming, but I'm going to have to get my hair washed."

The demonstrator, identified by authorities as a 24-year-old student at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, was arrested and faces a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace. He was released on a $100 cash bond, pending his April 14 arraignment.

"He could have faced a felony assault charge, but Pat Buchanan decided to not press that charge," university spokesman Matt Kurz said.

Buchanan's visit had evoked controversy on campus because it fell on the birthday of the late Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez. Buchanan favors tighter controls on immigration.

Kristol, editor of the influential conservative magazine The Weekly Standard and former chief of staff to Vice President Quayle, was splattered by a student during a speech Tuesday at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.

Members of the audience at the Quaker college jeered the student, then applauded as Kristol wiped the pie from his face and said, "Just let me finish this point." Kristol then completed his speech and took questions from the audience.

The student, who was not immediately identified, was suspended and could face expulsion following a disciplinary review, Earlham Provost Len Clark said Wednesday.

Clark also issued a written apology complimenting Kristol for his "graciousness."

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Indiana man dubbed 'Village Idiot'
Monday, April 11, 2005







STORY, Indiana (AP) -- The competition was fierce and foolish, but a man who accidentally sawed through a live electrical wire and topped that by wrecking his truck only hours after buying it earned the honorary title "Village Idiot."

Mark Carmichael's blunders won him the good-natured award that's been handed out for years in the tiny Brown County town of Story. The winner is whoever gets the most votes from regulars at the Story Inn's saloon.

Carmichael, the inn's maintenance man, won in part for an incident in which he cut through a live wire while using a circular saw to replace the inn's galvanized steel roof. But he also damaged his just-purchased 1998 Dodge truck -- the day after he got it.

His foolishness earned the 27-year-old a $100 bar tab.

Rick Hofstetter, who owns the inn about 40 miles south of Indianapolis, said the competition for this year's award was fierce.

For example, two Story Inn regulars were nominated for knocking themselves unconscious while opening their car doors. Another was nominated for burning down his front porch after not fully extinguishing a cigarette in a full ashtray.

Bartender Evan McMahon was nominated for opening an $80 bottle of Chalk Hill Chardonnay to make a $6.50 wine spritzer for a bar patron.

Not to be outdone, Story Inn housekeeper Kathy Newhall earned her nomination for using French truffle oil from the kitchen, which costs $50 for a 3-ounce bottle, to quiet a squeaky toilet seat.

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Man auctioning middle name on eBay
Monday, April 4, 2005






UINTAH HIGHLANDS, Utah (AP) -- Matthew Jean Rouse doesn't like his middle name and he's letting you pick a new one.

The 31-year-old father of two is selling the naming right on eBay. The "Buy It Now" price is $8,000. As of early Monday, there had been a total of 30 bids, with the high bid $2,175.

The winning bidder gets to choose a new middle name for Rouse, a software engineer.

Rouse also agrees to use his middle name "whenever plausible and not hide it."

"If he wants to walk around with 'Fool' as his middle name, that's his problem," said Rouse's wife, Corinna Rouse. "If someone changes his name to 'Poophead,' he may decide it's a little more important than he thought."

Rouse's middle name was taken from his late grandfather, Jean Stelter, with whom he didn't get along.

His older brother, Bill Rouse, 46, of Mesa, Arizona, bid $1,500 for the name. "Basically, he's trying to dump our grandfather's name, and I'm trying to buy it and make it stay as it is," Bill Rouse said.

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Children brave rain for White House egg roll
Monday, March 28, 2005 Posted: 1621 GMT (0021 HKT)





WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid a sea of umbrellas, hundreds of children in brightly colored raincoats rolled Easter eggs Monday on the soggy South Lawn of the White House in a rainy version of the annual celebration that dates to the 19th century.

Standing in for President Bush, who was traveling to Washington from his Texas ranch, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt co-hosted the event, which was closed four hours early because of the weather.

Besides the egg roll -- in which children use big spoons to push colored eggs through the grass in a race -- there was face painting, music, magicians and storytelling by various authors and Bush administration officials.

People dressed up as storybook characters, including an Easter bunny and "Patchy Panda," strolled around the South Lawn.

The activities were open to the public again this year, and about 16,000 tickets were distributed. Two years ago the event was closed to the public and limited to only about 12,000 people -- troops involved in the Iraq war and their children.

There were 7,200 dyed eggs for the egg roll, another 4,000 for the egg hunt, and an additional 4,000 were ready for children to dye on the Lawn.

The White House egg roll has been a tradition since the mid-19th century.

It took place on the Capitol grounds until 1878, when it was moved to the White House.