TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

[TexasStooge]

Woman pleads no contest for dirty Shih Tzu

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Like most dogs, Anita Tolentino's Shih Tzu got into his share of dirt. But that resulted in criminal charges against the owner when the high-maintenance breed was found wandering the streets with its long hair so filthy that it couldn't move properly.

Tolentino pleaded no contest Tuesday to neglecting the dog and was sentenced to one year of probation.

"This is one breed that you need to groom, but she just didn't care," said Peninsula Humane Society investigator Debi DeNardi. "The owners of most of these little breeds buy cute little jackets and fancy collars for them. They don't just throw them out in the backyard."

The pooch, named Benji, was found near Tolentino's Hillsborough home on June 7, 2005, by a neighbor, who took it to the humane society.

Benji's hair was so matted and encrusted with excrement that it formed a cast-like covering that prevented him from walking or running normally, or even turning his head, DeNardi said.

DeNardi said it took more than an hour for workers to remove more than 1 pound of matting from the dog's body to locate its identification tag.

"It's one of the worst grooming neglect cases I've seen in a long time," she said.

When confronted, Tolentino admitted that her toy pet had not been groomed in two years.

Benji later was adopted by a Pescadero family.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle

[TexasStooge]

Deputy fired for filming girls in bikinis

STUART, Fla. (AP) - A Martin County sheriff's review board found just cause in the firing of a former deputy who was relieved of duty for using his patrol car's dashboard-mounted camera to film bikini-clad girls at the beach.

Jack Munsey was fired Jan. 30 after an internal investigation found his behavior was not criminal but violated department policies. Munsey had sought reinstatement.

The panel took just four minutes Wednesday to determine his firing was justified.

The daylong hearing included testimony about two previous investigations involving Munsey, including one in 1997 when he used a department computer to view pornography on the Internet while on duty. He was suspended for a week. In 2004, he was suspended after he totaled a patrol car while speeding on his way to work.

Munsey's attorney Larry Fagan called the videotaping a brief lapse in judgment that should not warrant termination.

"This is something that will follow him forever," Fagan told the panel.

Munsey declined to comment after the hearing.

Sheriff Robert Crowder said Munsey likely will not lose his law enforcement certification that could get him a job elsewhere.

"He's not a bad guy, but I think his judgment perhaps was flawed and maybe he's learned from this, and maybe he'd be able to work somewhere where this wouldn't be held over his head," Crowder said.

[TexasStooge]

'Flying' cow sculpture to go on display

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - Bessie is cleared for takeoff. A sculpture of a cow wearing a jet pack and leaping over a crescent moon will go on display this month in front of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Artist Michael Bingham won a $3,000 commission last summer to create a "flying object" and decided on the airborne bovine.

"I read about the commission in the paper and was thinking about things that I could make fly," Bingham said. "I saw these cows and thought, 'These are the least likely animals or objects to fly.' Then, I pictured the jet pack and that was it."

Bingham is shuttling the sculpture around the city of Logan before it goes on display in Salt Lake City.

"I'm on a local board for public art and we're hoping this will be a good conversation starter about public art in the valley," Bingham said.

The cow is life-size and has a jet pack — complete with flames shooting from it — on the animal's back. It will be perched on a 15-foot pole when it goes on display in front of the downtown Salt Lake City theater.

"Most people will walk by and go, 'Oh look, a flying cow,'" he said. "They won't realize the thousands of hours it took to make this cow fly."
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Information from: The Herald Journal
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This reminds me of a flying cow on the movie "Twister".

[TexasStooge]

Sources: Kunkle expected to fire some officers

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - In a series of closed-door meetings beginning Friday morning, Dallas police Chief David Kunkle and other high-level commanders began meeting with officers who have been accused of misconduct.

Police sources involved in the matter said Chief Kunkle is expected to fire as many as eight officers, then meet with representatives from the department's six police associations to discuss the dismissals.

Friday’s action could amount to the most officers let go for misconduct in one day. In November 2002, former Chief Terrell Bolton fired three officers who were accused of using excessive force while arresting a man after a pursuit. The officers were later reinstated.

Lately, the Dallas Police Department has been troubled by a series of allegations of misconduct, including the sending of inappropriate e-mails to a neighborhood activist and taking a suspect into custody as a retaliatory measure.

[TexasStooge]

Police: Grandparents ordered hit on family

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) - A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond.

Police said they initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog. More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger.

The couple's 31-year-old son has been jailed since November on 22 charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor, court records show.

Detectives say his daughter and stepdaughter are the victims. The Associated Press has withheld the names of the grandparents and the family members to protect the children's identities.

The man tried to solicit a fellow jail inmate to kill his family, the arrest report said. An informant told detectives about the plot and they arranged to meet the man's parents Tuesday at a Best Western motel in Tavares, a lakefront community about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, police said.

"(The deputy) said, 'You want me to kill everyone, including the dog?' They agreed," Mysinger said.

The son's attorney, Peter Sartes, said he had no details on the parents' arrest. It was not clear who was representing his parents.
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It's like an episode of "The Sopranos".

[TexasStooge]

Five Dallas officers fired in major shake-up

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Five Dallas police officers were fired Friday in a major department shake-up.

Chief David Kunkle called an emergency 9 a.m. meeting with police union leaders to discuss the unprecedented action. That was followed by discipinary hearings with the five employees.

No one at police headquarters could remember when a Dallas chief terminated as many officers in a single day.

Chief Kunkle said he would not tolerate inappropriate or illegal behavior.

"We've got problems that we've got to address, and they have to be addressed organically from within the department," Chief Knukle said. "But I think it does help to point out the contrast—which I think the reporters see every day—between the two faces of the department: The releatively few people who get in trouble but tend to define us as opposed to these men and women who are extraordinalily brave, and do a good job day after day."

Sources told News 8 the police employees being terminated include:

• Officers Edward Saenz and Michael Contreras, who are accused of official opression for retaliating against a wrecker driver who towed Contreras' personal car last month.

• Sgt. Ramon Gonzalez, for sending a profane and unsigned e-mail message to community activist Avi Adelman after Adelman filed a complaint against excessive noise along Lower Greenville Avenue.

• Officer Zenoc Castro, who threatened retaliation against a local TV reporter after her expose on Love Field officers.

• Sgt. Richard Garcia for failing to report Officer Castro's threats to superiors.

All of those affected did have the opportunity to present their sides of the story to a group of commanding officers at a series of disciplinary hearings at police headquarters on Friday.

The chief also announced major changes to the department's chase policy, designed to put limits on when officers can pursue fleeing suspects. The new policy reportedly permits involvement in a chase only when:

• Offender is suspected of a violent felony

• Information about the suspect is factual and not assumed

Dallas officers will be allowed to participate in police pursuits outside the city limits only if there is suspicion of a violent felony.

As part of the major changes on Friday, Chief Kunkle also promoted 25 sergeants.

WFAA-TV reporter Cynthia Vega and The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Lubbock teen accused of poisoning father's juice

LUBBOCK, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - A 13-year-old girl was being held in a juvenile justice center Friday after she was accused of putting rat poison in her father's juice.

She was detained after her father noticed green particles floating in the juice May 26, according to police reports. Her father didn't drink the juice, and when he asked what was in his juice his daughter told him she had poisoned the drink, police said.

The father told police he'd instructed his daughter to do chores before the incident but she refused.

The girl was taken into custody on suspicion of aggravated assault May 27. She was ordered detained for 10 days, and her next detention hearing is June 13, Lubbock County Juvenile Detention Center director Les Brown said.

The girl's attorney, Kelly Clark, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

[TexasStooge]

Court bars man from seeing dog

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - A Spanish court has ruled that dogs should not be treated like children with allocated visiting rights when it comes to divorce cases.

A Spanish man was originally given permission by his wife to visit Yako, a golden retriever, when they separated but he appealed to a lower court when she stopped him from seeing the dog. The court ruled in his favor and set up visiting hours.

But the provincial court of Barcelona then overturned that decision, saying it set a precedent for pets to be treated like children in divorce cases.

"This sort of litigation is rare, given that common sense and reason dictate that people should not take such cases to court," said court papers obtained by Reuters Friday.
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I hate divorce cases like this.

[TexasStooge]

Part of WWII bomb found at World Cup venue

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - The media centre at the Olympiastadion was evacuated on Friday when part of a Second World War bomb was discovered at the site.

A gardener made the find while working outside the stadium, a week before the start of the tournament in Munich on June 9.

"There was nothing dangerous about the situation for anyone," said Berlin World Cup media officer Hans-Georg Felder, who added that between 70 and 100 people were working in the media centre when it had to be cleared.

The Olympiastadion will host the final on July 9.

[TexasStooge]

Man who put mouse in burrito sentenced

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - A man who stuffed a dead mouse into his Taco Bell burrito in a botched extortion attempt was sentenced Friday to 16 to 30 months in prison.

Ryan Daniel Goff, 20, pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of attempted false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000.

Sheriff's investigators said Goff complained to a restaurant employee in January that his burrito tasted "funny."

Goff reported finding the mouse to the local health department and Taco Bell's regional manager. According to court records, he allegedly told the manager: "It won't be a good day if the media finds out about this."

But investigators said his girlfriend told them he purchased frozen mice from a pet store and put one of them in his burrito.

Goff's sentencing was just the latest in several recent cases of alleged extortion over body parts and dead animals in restaurant food.

In January, Anna Ayala, 40, was sentenced to nine years in prison for planting a severed human finger in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in California in an extortion scheme. Her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, who obtained the finger from someone who lost it in an accident, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

In April, Carla Patterson, 38, and her 22-year-old son, Ricky, were convicted of trying to extort money from the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain by claiming they found a dead mouse in a bowl of soup in Virginia. Both are awaiting sentencing.
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When will these extortion incidents stop?!?!?!?!?!

[TexasStooge]

Pilot finds snake stowaway inside cockpit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Monty Coles was 3,000 feet in the air when he discovered a stowaway peeking out at him from the plane's instrument panel: a 4 1/2-foot snake.

Coles was taking a leisurely flight over the West Virginia countryside in his Piper Cherokee last weekend and was preparing to land in Ohio when the snake revealed itself.

"Nothing in any of the manuals ever described anything like this," said the 62-year-old Cross Lanes resident.

But advice given 25 years earlier from his flight instructor sprung to mind: "No matter what happens, fly the plane."

Coles attempted to swat the snake but it fell to the pilot's feet, then darted to the other side of the cockpit.

While maintaining control of the single-engine plane with one hand, Coles grabbed the reptile behind its head with his other.

"There was no way I was letting that thing go," he said. "It coiled all around my arm, and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling."

The next step was to radio for emergency landing clearance.

"They came back and asked what my problem was," he said. "I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane. They cleared me in."

After a smooth landing, Coles posed for pictures with the snake, then let it loose.

"That snake resides in Ohio now," he said.

[TexasStooge]

Nadal chokes on banana

By Pritha Sarkar

PARIS, France (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal choked at the French Open on Saturday. Luckily for the defending champion it was only on a piece of banana.

"I took a little bit of a banana. It slipped through the mouth sideways. I don't know what happened but it suddenly stayed stuck halfway through," a bemused Nadal said pointing to his neck following a 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 third round win over French hope Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Nadal was serving for the third set at 5-4, 15-all when he suddenly sprinted to the sidelines and pointed to his throat as a trainer tried to assess the problem.

The move drew loud whistles and jeers from the crowd but Nadal was not about to let a piece of fruit scupper his quest to chalk up a 56th consecutive victory on clay.

"I played one point. At 15-love, I started being a little bit frightened," said the second seed.

"But I didn't want to stop in the middle of the game. I didn't think it would look very good but I then lost the next point.

"I was now paying more attention to my throat than to tennis. It was an important game, so I started getting nervous.

"It's not that I couldn't breathe but I did feel a very strange sensation.

"I thought, I've got to stop because I don't want anything serious to happen. Never mind if I don't look good. (It was) not my fault."

Nadal, still, went on to hold serve to establish a two sets to one lead.

Buoyed by the roaring support, Mathieu tried his best to ruin Nadal's 20th birthday celebrations but in the end, he did not have the energy or will to quell the Spaniard.

After almost five hours of high drama, Nadal finally booked a fourth round showdown with former Australian world number one Lleyton Hewitt.

"This was a fabulous match," said Nadal. "I knew this was going to be extremely difficult. Of course, he was playing at home.

"Apart from the pressure from playing at home, there was no pressure on his side.

"I was theoretically the favourite. He was liberated in his game. He was also playing very well.

"But I had prepared for this and the crowd wasn't a problem at any moment.

"I was very focussed at all times and I tried to keep the right attitude, tried to think about staying calm and think about the final victory. I think that's the important point."

[TexasStooge]

Japan's "Blue Samurai" shivering in Bonn

BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Japan's "Blue Samurai" are complaining of blue fingers and numb toes at their World Cup base as they struggle to get to grips with the German weather.

The samurai warrior spirit has been dispensed with in the rush for thermal gloves and many Japan players have been throwing on four layers of clothing to practice in the low temperatures.

"It's freezing, isn't it?" grumbled midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, the zip of his tracksuit top pulled up to his nose.

"When it's this cold, it makes it harder to shake off the fatigue."

Japan's players have been shocked at how cold it has been since their arrival last weekend, with temperatures rarely climbing above 10 degrees Celsius.

Nakamura, not known for possessing samurai levels of toughness, has been battling a fever since landing in Germany, blaming the cabin pressure for giving him a sore throat.

The Celtic player, who is equally unimpressed with the weather in Scotland, has gone to extreme lengths to avoid picking up a cold, taking special care while bathing.

Japan coach Zico has also been taking precautions.

The Brazilian has been winding down practice earlier than usual, mindful of a bout of influenza that tore through the squad before a World Cup qualifier with Oman in February 2004.

"The coach has told us to be careful because of the cold weather," said Japan skipper Tsuneyasu Miyamoto. "It's easy to pick up injuries in this cold."

Japan reached the last 16 in balmy conditions at the 2002 World Cup, which they co-hosted with South Korea.

The Asian champions take on Australia in their opening Group F game on June 12 before games against Croatia and holders Brazil.

A hail storm before their 2-2 draw in a warm-up against tournament hosts Germany in midweek did little to ease Japan's misgivings about the weather.

Media pictures of snowfall in parts of Bavaria this week will have seemed like a cruel joke to the Japanese, particularly Teruyuki Moniwa, who was dragged from a beach in Hawaii as a late call-up.

(Writing by Alastair Himmer in Berlin)

[TexasStooge]

Hell, Mich., heats up for 6-6-6 party

HELL, Mich. (AP) - They're planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday. The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 — a number that carries hellish significance. And there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 60 miles west of Detroit.

Nobody is more fired up than John Colone, the town's self-styled mayor and owner of a souvenir shop.

"I've got `666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it," said Colone, also known as Odum Plenty. "Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."

Most of Colone's wares will sell for $6.66, including deeds to one square inch of Hell.

Live entertainment and a costume contest are planned. The Gates of Hell should be installed at a children's play area in time for the festivities.

"They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head," Colone told The Detroit News for a Saturday story.

Mike "Smitty" Hickey, owner of the Dam Site Inn, wasn't sure what kind of clientele would show up Tuesday.

"We're all about having fun here. I don't think we're going to get the cult crowd, the devil worshippers or anything like that," said Hickey, whose bar's signature concoction is the Bloody Devil, a variant of the Bloody Mary.

Colone, meanwhile, has been in touch with radio stations as far away as San Diego and Seattle that are raffling off trips to Hell in honor of 6-6-6.

The 666 revelry is just the latest chapter in the town's storied history of publicity stunts, said Jason LeTeff, one of its 72 year-round residents — or, as the mayor calls them, Hellions or Hell-billies. But LeTeff wasn't particularly enthused.

"Now, here I am living in Hell, taking my kids to church and trying to teach them the right things and the town where we live is having a 6-6-6 party," he said.

According to the town's semiofficial Web site, there are two leading theories about how Hell got its name.

The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schoene hell" — roughly translated as, "So bright and beautiful." Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.

The second holds that George Reeves was asked after Michigan gained statehood what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The name became official on Oct. 13, 1841.
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On the Net: Hell, Mich.
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Now serving at the 6-6-6 party: Deep-fried Chocolate Covered Hamwinkies!

Image Courtesy of E!'s "The Soup"

[TexasStooge]

Japanese cow leads police on wild chase

TOKYO, Japan (AP) - A cow being delivered to a Japanese slaughterhouse tried to bolt to freedom Sunday, leading nearly two dozen police on a 3.7-mile car chase through town and sending one man to the hospital unconscious.

Security camera footage of the wild escape, aired by public broadcaster NHK, showed the frenzied 1,606-pound animal zigzagging across a parking lot and then darting down a street, hotly pursued by a stream of patrol cars.

"The cow was being delivered to the slaughterhouse, and it was startled by a loud sound and just ran off," said Masashi Kitabayashi, a police official in the central town of Yakkaichi, where the incident took place.

The 3-year-old cow eventually crashed headfirst into a metal fence, fell down and died, but not before attacking a rendering plant worker who was trying to recapture the animal, Kitabayashi said.

The chase occurred at 6:50 a.m., and the 56-year-old worker was still unconscious in the hospital by late afternoon.

Slaughterhouse workers took the cow's body away.

"I don't know whether it will be processed into meat or not," Kitabayashi said.
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That's Mad Cow Disease to the MAX!

[TexasStooge]

College students found dead inside balloon

LUTZ, Fla. (AP) - Two college students were found dead inside a large, deflated helium balloon after apparently pulling it down and crawling inside it, officials said.

The deaths of Jason Ackerman and Sara Rydman, both 21, appear to be accidental, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Maj. Bob Schrader said.

Their bodies were found Saturday partially inside a deflated helium balloon at the entrance of a condominium complex a few miles north of Tampa. The 8-foot-diameter balloon was used to advertise the complex.

"It was more a fun thing they thought they were doing," said Linda Rydman, whose daughter was found dead. "You know how you blow up the balloon and suck the helium."

The county medical examiner said Sunday that the cause of death won't be released for six weeks, until toxicology results come back.

Inhaling helium can quickly lead to brain damage and death from lack of oxygen, according to the Compressed Gas Association, which develops safety standards in the gas industry.

[TexasStooge]

Is "daggy" Manilow the answer to loud cars?

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Sick and tired of souped-up cars with loud engines and pulsing music? Barry Manilow may be the answer.

Officials in one Sydney district have decided to pipe the American crooner's music over loudspeakers in an attempt to rid streets and car parks of "car hoons" whose anti-social cars and loud music annoy residents and drive customers from businesses.

Following a successful experiment where Bing Crosby music was used to drive teenage loiterers out of an Australian shopping centre several years ago, Rockdale councillors believe Manilow is so uncool it might just work.

Councillor Bill Saravinovski said local authorities plan to install a loudspeaker and pipe in Manilow music, interspersed with classical pieces, over a car park favoured by car "hoons", or hooligans.

"There are restaurants nearby and people can't park in the car park because they're intimidated by these hoons," Saravinovski told The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Monday.

"Daggy music is one way to make the hoons leave an area because they can't stand the music," he said.

The Oxford Concise Australian Dictionary defines "daggy" as unfashionable, or lacking style, even eccentric or stupid.

[TexasStooge]

Convicts hitch helicopter ride out of Greek prison

ATHENS, Greece (Reuters) - A helicopter landed in the middle of the high security Athens Korydallos prison, picked up two prisoners and flew away in a Hollywood-style escape that has left Greek police stunned.

A criminal on the run hijacked the helicopter on Sunday to get his brother out of prison, police said. Vassilis Paleokostas, 40, who was serving a 25-year sentence for kidnapping and bank robbery, and an Albanian convict escaped.

"The guards thought it was a surprise inspection by ministry officials and did nothing," a police official said.

The helicopter pilot, who said he was forced at gunpoint to undertake the mission, flew the inmates to a nearby cemetery and they made their escape on motorbikes. Greek police have launched a manhunt for the convicts.

[TexasStooge]

No Sex please, we're butlers

By Paul Majendie

LONDON, England (Reuters) - Forget the quintessential image of the butler as the epitome of discreet decorum.

"Butlers in the Buff" has proved such a business success as half-naked waiters in Britain that the firm is now off round the world to market the ultimate "male order" service.

The company, whose waiters wear only a bow tie, collar, cuffs and a bottom-revealing apron, is the brainchild of former Royal Marine Jason Didcott who turned entrepreneur after serving in the Gulf and Bosnia.

Determined to find a tasteful alternative to strippers and pole dancers, he lays down strict rules -- each waiter undergoes a scrupulous police check and drink-fuelled clients are firmly told to keep their hands to themselves.

"What we are looking for is James Bond in a butler outfit. We want them to be cheeky but clean," he told Reuters.

"At the end of the party they can have their photo taken with the butler but that is as far as it goes. If they have too much wine and try to undo the apron, he says No Touching."

"We want nice, charming, gentlemanly types. At the interview we just check their upper body. We take their bums on trust."

The waiters readily admit to first night nerves -- but they soon conquer them.

Butler Dan Atkins said: "I love the job. I couldn't think of a better way to earn money. At first you're nervous but you soon forget your bum is on display and you get on with serving drinks and mingling."

Didcott, and his company partners Will Jones and Stacey Lynn, has 75 part-time butlers on his books to staff hen parties, corporate functions and the fast growing market of gay wedding receptions.

The butlers range from actors, dancers and students to personal trainers and even a hypnotherapist. "We are desperate to find more. We never have enough," he said.

Didcott is now ready to expand the horizons of Butlers in the Buff.

"We have a business model we want to franchise out. We have had so many people passing through London who have rung us and said they would like to do it. I'm thinking of North America, Australia and South Africa as first stops."

But Didcott, who when launching the firm did his first party for free as a half-naked butler, draws the line at any more parading of himself.

"At 37 I am over the hill in butler terms. My bottom retired three years ago."
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(Imitating Chris Rock) "There is no sex in the champagne room, none."

[TexasStooge]

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.

"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.

"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."

The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.