By: David Matthews
Nose to the grindstone
A British man spent 11 days last month pushing a square
metal nut along the streets of London with his nose.
Mark McGowan's seven-mile journey ended at the residence of
Prime Minister Tony Blair where he told reporters he was trying to highlight
the need for grants to aid rising student debt. (McGowan himself has around
$24,000 (US) in debts.)
If McGowan's name sounds familiar, you may remember the time
he walked 11 miles with a turkey tied to his head in an attempt to persuade
overweight people to eat less.
Stark-raving mad
The craziest display at the Evergreen State Fair in
Washington this summer didn't cost anything to see and was even more memorable
than the bearded lady and the goat boy.
It all started
on a Tuesday afternoon when a 24-year-old fair employee was spotted smoking
"an unknown narcotic" and was fired.
Police say the carny then made an unsuccessful attempt at
stealing money from another carny, then went into a women's restroom and
exposed himself.
When police arrived, the man put his pants back on and fled
through a window in the bathroom to a nearby highway, groping women along the
way.
After scaling a chain-link fence and making his way to US-2,
the man tried to steal a woman's car. When that didn't work, he ran across the
highway and tried to jump aboard a train traveling at 45 mph. That really
didn't work.
Police found the man in serious condition with multiple
fractures and had him airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Tips from the road
If you're going to drive on one of Germany's autobahns, make
sure you wear your seat belt, your mirrors are properly positioned and you
haven't left a briefcase containing 100,000 euros ($109,000 US) on the roof of
your car.
A German businessman neglected just one of those rules last
month and is now in big trouble.
Just before getting into his car, the man got a call on his
cell phone. After a lengthy conversation he was on his way, completely
forgetting he had placed his briefcase on the roof of his car in order to
answer the phone.
The briefcase stayed on the roof until the man hit the
autobahn on-ramp. It then blew off and the car behind ran over it, bursting it
open and sending euros flying everywhere.
A traffic jam ensued as motorists parked their cars in the
middle of the road and scrambled to collect the money. Not surprisingly, police
have only recovered 3,000 euros and are warning those who were on the scene
that not turning in found money is a crime.
So what was the man doing with that much cash anyway? He's
the owner of an insolvent sealants manufacturer and the money was a month's pay
for his 35 employees, who are now all facing unemployment.
"My Fair Cabbie"
The history and scenery of Cyprus attracts around 2.5
million tourists each year. The cab drivers, on the other hand, attract only
stares and second thoughts.
Surveys conducted among vacationers to the island have shown
that cabbies are in serious need of grooming. So in an attempt to project a
cleaner image, the island's licensing authority will be sending cab drivers to
etiquette classes.
According to the survey, the major offenses seem to be gold
chains and flashy rings, flip-flops and clothing that exposes excessive body
hair or explicit tattoos.
Cut that out
A pioneer in Wisconsin has taken the art of drunken driving
to the next level.
Many people think that drunken driving laws apply only to
street vehicles. Well, Barry Davis of West Bend proved last month that you can
earn a DUI in Wisconsin on any self-propelled vehicle, including a lawn mower.
Police say that the 44-year-old Davis downed a six-pack and
then decided to head up the street to a friend's house to have some more.
Rather than walk, which Davis later admitted would have been faster, he rode
his mower over.
On the way, a police officer noticed him swerving and nearly
driving into a ditch to avoid being hit by another vehicle. When he was pulled
over, Davis reasoned that he just didn't know it was illegal to drive a mower
drunk. He ended up spending the night in jail.
This was Davis' third drunken driving offense, his first on
lawn-care equipment.
