"Hamwinkies" The Crazy News Thread

[TexasStooge]

U.S. casino magnate gives Picasso's dream the elbow

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Picasso's famed "Dream" painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multimillion dollar canvas an elbow.

Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called "Le Reve" (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.

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In other art news, the same person acccidentally did a "Three Stooges" eye-poke on the "Mona Lisa" painting. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!
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Smoking cowboy most influential imaginary icon

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - They influence everything from how we look and act to eat and speak and have even helped sway the course of history -- but they are not real.

And topping a list of "The 101 most influential people who never lived" in a book released Tuesday is the Marlboro Man -- a macho American cowboy who emerged in the 1950s and helped boost sales of Marlboro cigarettes.

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He sure didn't influence me to buy cigarettes.
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One in three workers jot down passwords?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One in three people write down computer passwords, undermining their security, and companies should look to more advanced methods, including biometrics, to ensure their systems are safe, a new study shows.

A study released on Tuesday by global research firms Nucleus Research and KnowledgeStorm found companies' attempts to tighten IT security by regularly changing passwords and making them more complex by adding numbers as well as letters had no impact on security.

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Guess I'm part of the sensible 1/3 people.
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Not it! Mass. elementary school bans tag

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - Tag, you're out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

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OK, now that's stupid.
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Nightmares brought to life in New York houses

By Karen Brettell

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - If being buried alive, overrun by rats, or encountering a sinister clown is your worst fear -- then welcome to your living nightmare.

In the lead-up to Halloween, off-Broadway producer Tim Haskell has set up "Nightmare: Face Your Fear" -- interactive haunted houses in each of New York City's five boroughs -- and is daring people to endure a psychologically terrifying experience.

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This is like "Fear Factor"...wait, it is!

[TexasStooge]

Make no mistake: don't "bank" on Kazakh money

ALMATY (Reuters) - The Kazakhstan central bank has misspelled the word "bank" on its new notes, officials said on Wednesday.

The bank plans to put the misprinted notes -- worth 2,000 tenge ($15) and 5,000-tenge -- into circulation in November and then gradually withdraw them to correct the spelling.

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I wonder what they spelled, "bunk"?
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Dog wakes up man in burning Alabama home

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) - When three smoke alarms failed to wake up Josh Coats during a fire that heavily damaged his home, his 4-year-old English bulldog's frantic barking turned out to be the wake-up call that saved his life.

"If Princess hadn't woke me up, I don't think I would have woken up," said Coats, 25.

Coats said he had put a load of clothes in the washer and another in the dryer around 2 a.m. Tuesday before going to bed. The fire is believed to have begun around the clothes drying. Coats said he awakened to the dog's frantic barking about 30 minutes after getting in bed.

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Some dogs can do wonders.
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Aircraft bolt smashes through man's roof

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - A man who lives under a Sydney flight path was shocked when a bolt from an airliner crashed through his roof, according to a news report Wednesday.

Angelo Margiotta said he thought a bomb had exploded when the stainless steel bolt, which appeared to be about 6 inches long, struck his roof in the Sydney suburb of Five Dock on Wednesday morning, Ten Network television news reported.

Margiotta called the fire brigade and a firefighter found the bolt which had smashed two roof tiles and lodged in the ceiling.

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Sounds like a deleted scene from "North By Northwest".

[rainstorm]

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - Tag, you're out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

Full Story Here


I SAY CHAIN THEM TO THEIR CHAIRS

[TexasStooge]

Vicar's knicker run rescues town

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A vicar has come to the rescue of a small New Zealand town that has run out of women's underwear.

A group of women at the local Anglican church revealed the crisis caused by the only clothing shop in the small town of Inglewood, about 280 km (175 miles) north west of the capital Wellington, no longer stocking women's underwear.

"Someone came up with the point that it was a bit difficult that ladies essentials were not able to be bought in Inglewood," Reverend Gary Husband told National Radio.

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Was someone stealing women's underwear?
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Andy Griffith decides to run for sheriff

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. (AP) - A local music store co-owner is putting a touch of Mayberry in the race for sheriff in western Wisconsin's Grant County. The former William Fenrick changed his name earlier this year to Andy Griffith — the name of the actor who portrayed the fictional Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry on TV's "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s.

He said his goal was to focus attention to a sheriff's race that otherwise gets little.

"Nobody knows who's running or what the issues are, if there are any issues or how the people differ," Griffith said.

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Wait...there's a real Andy Griffith?
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Woman finds black widow spider in grapes

By SHELLEY K. WONG, Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. - Price Chopper removed a brand of black seedless grapes from the shelves at its Newington supermarket Thursday after a woman said she found a poisonous black widow spider.

Sheryl Rosen of Rocky Hill bought a bag of Autumn Royal black seedless grapes on sale Tuesday. It wasn't until Thursday, when she was eating some grapes at work, that she found the spider in the bag.

"I couldn't believe it," said Rosen, who was not injured. "I never thought I'd see a black widow around here."

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School scarecrow display catches fire

READING, Pa. (AP) - A scarecrow display on a bulletin board caught fire, setting off a sprinkler and giving nearly 700 Tyson-Schoener Elementary School children an early dismissal while school officials mopped up.

The students and staff left the building when the bulletin board fire set off the alarm about 11 a.m. Wednesday, school officials said.

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I hope it's not a bad Omen there!

[TexasStooge]

5.47-carat canary diamond found in park

MURFREESBORO, Ark. (AP) - A Wisconsin man visiting a state park took home the ultimate souvenir: a 5.47-carat canary diamond.

Bob Wehle of Ripon, Wis., found the diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro Oct. 14. The park is the world's only publicly operated diamond site where visitors are allowed to search and keep any gems they find.

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Wow! What a great find!!
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Officials probe finger-in-sandwich claim

CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (AP) - Health officials are investigating a woman's claim that she found part of a human finger in a Subway sandwich — an allegation reminiscent of the chili bowl finger hoax at a Wendy's restaurant last year.

Two health inspectors visited the Subway restaurant Thursday in Chowchilla after the woman reported finding what appeared to be a half-inch piece of a finger a day earlier, said Jill Yaeger, director of the Madera County Environmental Health Department.

The inspectors did not find any evidence that a restaurant worker had lost part of a finger, and they found no violations of food handling procedures there, Yaeger said. The purported human digit was sent to a laboratory for testing, and the incident was reported to police.

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Yes, I like to order a "Lean Bulime" sandwich.
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Man builds haunted house out of balloons

By BEN DOBBIN, Associated Press Writer

IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. - Instead of clay or wood, sculptor Larry Moss prefers a highly malleable but far less durable material: balloons. Moss typically creates air-filled models of humans, animals and monsters, but his latest piece of performance art is even spookier: a 10-room, 10,000-square-foot, walk-through haunted house made out of 130,000 latex balloons covering everything but the floors and ceilings.

The Balloon Manor and its inhabitants — quirky, hilarious and somewhat creepy Halloween creatures — fill a wing of the Medley Centre mall in this Rochester suburb.

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I wonder how long it would take before the kids get scared and unwittingly pops all the baloons trying to escape...

[TexasStooge]

Obedient driver follows orders, crashes car

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German motorist followed the command "Turn right now!" from his navigation system and crashed into a small toilet hut by the side of the road -- about 30 yards before the crossing he was meant to take.

The overly obedient 53-year-old from Freiburg drove his sport utility vehicle off the road onto into a building site, up a stairway and into the small toilet shack, police in the eastern town of Rudolstadt said Sunday.

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That navigational system needs a little tune-up.
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Inmate won't use "get out of jail free" card

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 59-year-old German man who has spent the last 34 years in jail has turned down offers to be let out, an official said Saturday.

"He rejected an offer to leave in 1992," Thomas Melzer, a spokesman for the Brandenburg state justice ministry, told Bild newspaper. "We can't do anything if someone sentenced to life in prison doesn't want to leave."

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Why? Because he's a ticking timebomb?
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A cow you can steer Mon

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - A Chilean taxi driver has come up with a new way to fight assaults: make your vehicle so conspicuous that nobody would dare try to rob you.

After being robbed several times, Juan Geraldo upholstered and covered every square inch of his car's interior with black and white spotted cowhides, including the steering wheel and ceiling. He then decorated the interior with stuffed toy cows, and added a horn that moos.

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Talk about a real "Cattle Drive".
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Bostonians light 30,128 pumpkins

BOSTON, Mass. (AP) - Bostonians on Saturday lit 30,128 pumpkins on Boston Common, shattering the world record for the most jack-o'-lanterns lit in one place.

"It's fantastic," said Jim Laughlin, a spokesman for Life is Good, the Boston clothing company that sponsored the event. "We've been going after this record for a long time."

The old record of 28,952 lit pumpkins had been held since 2003 by Keene, N.H. That city tried to keep up with their own attempt Saturday, but lit only 24,682 pumpkins.

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Ain't that a fire hazard?

[Jim Cantore]

Man sues neighbor who staked home in bet

Mon Oct 23, 8:16 AM ET

A Bosnian says he is suing his neighbor for refusing to honor an election bet in which he lost his home and 15,000 euros ($18,910), a newspaper said on Friday.

Vujadin Markovic has rejected his neighbor Sinisa Tripkovic's offer of lunch instead, Dnevni Avaz reported.

The daily said the two men quarreled in the street over who would win the October 1 election in the Bosnian Serb Republic.

They made a bet before five witnesses and signed an improvised contract stamped in a farm cooperative near the eastern town of Sekovici.

Markovic bet Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and his Social Democrats would win -- which they did. Tripkovic had been convinced of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), but it lost after 15 years in power.

Tripkovic wagered his home and the cash to equal the value of Markovic's more valuable house, his stake.

But afterwards he dismissed the bet as a joke and the contract as illegal, but his offer of lunch instead was refused.

"I ask that he pays me the 15,000 euros while I'll allow him to keep his house, which he also put in the bet, for the sake of his children," Markovic told Dnevni Avaz.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061023/od_nm/bosnia_bet_dc&printer=1;_ylt=AjblKefRNGuSQkhb2RqTOywZ.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[TexasStooge]

Great Ape scolded for pulling fire alarm

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - One of the great apes at a research center in Des Moines has learned a valuable lesson — don't pull the fire alarm. A bonobo named Panbanisha did just that last Friday, sending out the fire department to the Great Ape Trust of Iowa.

Fire department spokesman Brian O'Keefe said Monday it was the first known case of an animal setting off a fire alarm in Des Moines.

Trust spokesman Al Setka said a 25-year-old female named Panbanisha was the guilty ape.

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C'mon, you gotta give some credit to that ape who pulled the alarm...in case of fire.
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Alabama candidate campaigns on cleavage

By PHILLIP RAWLS, Associated Press Writer

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Loretta Nall, the Libertarian Party's write-in candidate for governor of Alabama, is campaigning on her cleavage and hoping that voters will eventually focus on her platform.

"It started out as a joke, but it blew up into something huge," said Nall, a 32-year-old with dyed blond hair.

Her campaign is offering T-shirts and marijuana stash boxes adorned with a photo of her with a plunging neckline and the words: "More of these boobs." Below that are pictures of other candidates for governor — including Republican incumbent Bob Riley and Democratic Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley — and the words: "And less of these boobs."

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Couple end up catching dog in Fla. bay

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) - Ray Truche Jr. and Lisa Largrassa fished for hours and didn't catch anything — except a drowning dog. Motoring their 23-foot fishing boat earlier this month on Florida Bay, the two hit something unusual and turned around to check.

"As we came back upon it, I realized it was a little fat dog," said Truche, of Manchester, Mass. "It was having trouble keeping its head above water. Its big eyes were looking at us. It was almost as if it was saying, 'Don't leave me here!'"

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OMG!!

[TexasStooge]

Upset U.S. dad pulls gun on son's football coach

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (Reuters) - The father of a young football player pulled a gun on his son's coach because he didn't think the boy was getting enough playing time, Philadelphia police said on Monday.

Wayne Derkotch, 40, was charged with aggravated assault after getting in a fight with the coach over the amount of time the boy was getting on the field at a game for 6- and 7-year-olds on Sunday morning, said police spokesman Officer Raul Malveiro.

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(As R. Kelly singing) The coach has once again benched my son,
And that's when I pulled out my gun...
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Five punished for China banquet binge death

BEIJING, China (Reuters Life!) - Five Chinese power bureau officials have been dismissed or demoted after an auditor died from a series of banquet binges, the Shanghai Daily reported on Tuesday.

The death of Zhang Hongtao, 25, who worked with the Yanshan County Audit Office in northern Hebei province, was blamed on alcohol after banquets provided in April for auditors by the Yanshan Power Supply Co., the newspaper said.

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That's taking "Death by Eating" a little too far.

[TexasStooge]

Montana principal returns after 'wedgie'

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (AP) - The principal of Park High School returned to school Tuesday after a six-day suspension for giving a student a "wedgie." The Livingston School District Board held a special meeting Monday and approved Superintendent Hannibal Anderson's recommendation that Principal Eric Messerli be allowed to return to work.

"It has been clearly recognized and stated that the behavior is inappropriate, unprofessional and unacceptable," Anderson said.

Messerli's behavior "warrants substantial disciplinary action" but was not sufficient grounds for a recommendation for termination, he said.

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OK, now THAT'S just wrong.
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Toddler gets stuck in vending machine

ANTIGO, Wis. (AP) - Three-year-old Robert Moore went fishing for a stuffed replica of Sponge Bob and ended up trapped in a vending machine. The toddler's adventure began with a Saturday evening shopping trip with his grandmother, Fredricka Bierdemann, and three siblings.

Bierdemann ended the trip by giving each child a dollar and telling them to have fun in a retailer's game room.

A stuffed Sponge Bob in a vending machine's bin caught Robert's eye. He tried without success to fish it out with a plastic crane.

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OK, just when you thought you saw everything...
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Dogs, ferret among pet costume winners

NAVARRE, Fla. (AP) - More than 120 pet owners gathered this weekend for an annual Halloween pet costume contest organized by a local pet store.

"It is a great community event where we can give back to our customers," said Holly Elassaad, who owns the store Pet Nation with her husband Abdul. "The event has more than doubled in participation every year. This year we were very pleased to have 127 registrations."

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Another runner up is the black cat dressed up.....as a black cat.
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Jailer fired for using toy gun on inmate

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Hawkins County jailer was fired after shooting an inmate with a toy gun. Sheriff Roger Christian said Josh Byrd had brought to work earlier this month a toy pistol that shoots rubber pellets with compressed air to discuss using it during training exercises.

"(Byrd was) plinking with it, shooting it, and as the inmate came up for whatever reason, he aimed it toward the inmate and fired," Christian said. "I feel it was intentional. I don't feel it was an accident."

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Now if it were a real gun...

[P.K.]

Think this is ideal for this thread.

Families and tourists in a London park were left shocked when a pelican picked up and swallowed a pigeon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6083468.stm

[TexasStooge]

OMG!! What are the chances of that happening?!?!
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City sets underwear rule for firefighters

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian city under pressure for alleged sexual harassment within its fire department has ordered firefighters to wear only boxer-style underwear.

Richmond, British Columbia will spend C$16,000 ($14,200) to buy six pairs of underwear for each firefighter in a bid to make firehalls in the suburb of Vancouver more gender neutral, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

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Talk about being the butt-end of all the "under fire" jokes...
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Woman's driving test becomes a nightmare

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) - A young woman's goal of getting her driver's license crashed this week — right into the license branch. The 20-year-old woman was pulling into a parking spot outside the license branch when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Bucy said.

The car jumped a small curb and went into the building about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, tearing out a large glass window and damaging a door and low brick wall.

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That's a first.

[TexasStooge]

Vampyre club seeks new recruits

By Sophie Hares

LONDON (Reuters) - Vampyres are prowling for new recruits in London as Halloween approaches to partake in wild parties, trips to Transylvania and bat spotting nights -- but coffin-dwelling, blood drinkers need not apply.

With a penchant for custom-made fangs, striking make-up and gothic clothes, members of the London Vampyre Group (LVG) say it's their fascination with the romantic notion of vampires, rather than any darker intent, that draws them together.

"People who think they're un-dead, hundreds of years old, or that you have to drink blood if you're interested in the dark side of things, we can put them right on that," LVG's Mick Smith, 57, told Reuters in an interview in a London pub.

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I already got a Halloween party to go to this Saturday with my family and friends. Leave me out of that "Vampyre" club.
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Want to diary your death? Ask online

By Sara Ledwith

LONDON, England (Reuters Life) - With Halloween looming, 'tis the season to be morbid and people wishing to know their expiry date can indulge in some online trick-or-treating at websites which predict the date of their death.

"I'm sorry, but your time has expired! Have a nice day," says the "sadistic mode" on http://www.deathclock.com.

The site invites visitors to enter their date of birth, smoking habits, height, and weight in exchange for a pop-up ticker which counts down the seconds they have left.

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I think I'm gonna live past my life expectancy. Speaking of death...
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Cobain bumps off Elvis as top-earning dead celeb

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley ceded his crown to Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain on Forbes.com's list as the top-earning dead celebrity.

The list, published on Tuesday, said grunge rocker Cobain earned $50 million between October 2005 and October 2006. Presley wound up in the No. 2 slot with $42 million, down from last year's $45 million.

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Even after their deaths, Kurt Cobain and Elvis Presley are still fighting over the "King Of Rock 'N' Roll" crown.
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School boots 3 girls in 'Underpants'

LONG BEACH, N.Y. - A high school principal has decreed that Captain Underpants has no place in an institution of learning. Three 17-year-old girls were told to leave Long Beach High School on Wednesday after they showed up on Superhero Day costumed as the subject of the best-selling children's books.

"I didn't know which superhero it was, not that it mattered," said Principal Nicholas Restivo.

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Wouldn't it be easier if you would've dressed up as Charlie's Angels?

[TexasStooge]

Where the living share space with the dead

By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) - In the crowded sprawl of Manila, the living must compete for space with the dead.

Fortunately for Virginia Bernardino and hundreds of other slum dwellers who have moved into the largest cemetery in the Philippines, the deceased don't seem to mind.

"So far we have not seen any ghosts here," the soft-spoken Bernardino, 59, said with a chuckle. "I think that only happens in the movies. As the saying goes, we should fear not the dead but the living."

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Just when it wasn't spooky enough...
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Ottawa seeks to deport U.S. man "exiled" to Canada

OTTAWA (Reuters) - An American sex offender who was sentenced by a U.S. judge to three years "exile" in Canada was arrested by Canadian border guards on Thursday and faces deportation, the government said.

Federal ministers and legislators had expressed deep unhappiness after a New York state judge allowed former teacher Malcolm Watson -- convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old girl -- to live in Canada on probation rather than spending time in a U.S. jail.

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And that's how the TV show "An American In Canada" started.

Staying in Canada...
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Canadian woman is one fast talker

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (AP) - Kelly Minisofer can boast — very quickly — that she is a fast talker.

The Canadian auctioneer has won the fastest mouth crown, competing against both American and Canadian colleagues last weekend.

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As Southern as I am, I'm like "What? Were there any words in that?"

[rainstorm]

School boots 3 girls in 'Underpants'

LONG BEACH, N.Y. - A high school principal has decreed that Captain Underpants has no place in an institution of learning. Three 17-year-old girls were told to leave Long Beach High School on Wednesday after they showed up on Superhero Day costumed as the subject of the best-selling children's books.

"I didn't know which superhero it was, not that it mattered," said Principal Nicholas Restivo.

Full Story Here

they were just having fun

[JonathanBelles]

thats outrageous

[TexasStooge]

Black cat adoptions banned on Halloween

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press Writer

BOISE, Idaho - No black cat will cross your path this Halloween, not if a northern Idaho animal shelter can help it. Like many shelters around the country, the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d'Alene is prohibiting black cat adoptions from now to Nov. 2, fearing the animals could be mistreated in Halloween pranks — or worse, sacrificed in some satanic ritual.

The risk may be remote, said the shelter's executive director, Phil Morgan.

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Oh geez, who would believe in that kind of superstition?
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Statue of Dennis the Menace stolen

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) - The mischievous Dennis the Menace has gone missing — except this time, he's not hiding because he broke the rules.

A statue of the perennial pint-sized troublemaker that stood for almost two decades in a city park was unbolted and stolen sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, police said.

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I bet Mr. Wilson is behind it all.
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Denver voters can ride to polls in style

DENVER, Colo. (AP) - Don't feel like standing in line on Election Day? In Denver, you can get a limo ride to the polls if you take advantage of early voting Saturday.

Fearing that new voting machines, new voting centers and a ballot full of measures could create gridlock Nov. 7, a coalition of advocacy groups is offering door-to-door service to the city's six new voting centers.

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Now THAT's desperate thinking...
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Pa. police station buzzing with snakes

SHAMOKIN, Pa. (AP) - The city police station was buzzing Thursday — with the sound of rattlesnakes. Receptionist Mallary Shingara said when she walked into the chief's office and saw them, "I dropped my cell phone and almost my coffee."

Police Chief John Brown said officers answered a call Wednesday night about a woman threatening to harm herself and found the woman in her basement holding a knife to her throat.

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I'd be frightened if I see snakes at home.

[TexasStooge]

The new mating call...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Is it a phone call, a text message or simply time to make love?

A new mobile phone available through Japan's NTT DoCoMo can ring to let would-be mothers know when they reach the most fertile part of their monthly reproductive cycles.

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That's one method to let your parents know you're pregnant.
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Country fail to embrace hugs from strangers

BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Chinese appear not to have warmed to a "free hugs" campaign aimed at cheering up strangers by hugging them on the street, with some huggers even being hauled away by police for questioning, media said Monday.

The campaign hit the streets of Beijing, Changsha and Xian this weekend, with participants opening their arms to embrace passers-by and brandishing cards saying "free hugs," "care from strangers," "refuse to be apathetic," the Beijing News said.

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I'm assuming they're giving some butt kickin' for free.

Speaking of No Love:
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"Love witch" loses court battle

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A German woman won a lawsuit against a "love witch" who failed to induce her ex-boyfriend to come back with rituals under the full moon designed to cast a spell over him, a Munich court said Monday.

"The witch lost," said Munich district court spokeswoman Ingrid Kaps. The 'love witch' was ordered to return her 1,000 euro ($1,300) fee and pay "several hundred euros" in costs.

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Another rip-off artist foiled.

[TexasStooge]

Just to kick off the Halloween Spirit on this thread today, I'm doing a Halloween Edition of "Hamwinkies".
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Costumed Surfers Hit The Waves

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KFMB CBS 8) - The spirit of Halloween was alive and well at La Jolla Shores this weekend.

Dozens of surfers rode the waves in costume.

Supergirl, a keg of beer, and a tequila bottle were just a few of the creative costumes.

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Just don't wear anything that's electrical.
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Batman helps Ga. town infested by bats

By ELLIOTT MINOR, Associated Press Writer

AMERICUS, Ga. - So many bats have infested the town's historic district that the sky turns black with each sunset and the neighborhood is calling on Batman to come to the rescue.

That's what the local bat remover goes by. George Perkins often makes public appearances in the caped crusader's costume and drives his own Batmobile — a retro-styled Chrysler Prowler with bat emblems. Callers to his office in Eufaula, Ala., known as Bat Cave 1, or Union Springs, Ala., known as Bat Cave 2, hear the "Batman" TV show theme while on hold.

The bat-weary residents of Americus aren't laughing. The problem is even too big for Batman, and now the state has promised to help. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has proposed a long-term plan that includes surveying the bat population, possibly training city workers to do bat removals for needy homeowners and building bat houses in safe areas where the flying mammals can continue providing environmental benefits without being a nuisance.

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In other words, Batman saved the city from going "batty".
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"New" holiday called Halloween

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ghosties and ghoulies, princesses and pumpkins took to the streets of Tokyo this weekend as Japan celebrated one of its newest festivals -- Halloween.

Little known two decades ago, Halloween has spread in cities such as Tokyo, where autumn now sees florists selling pumpkins, shopping arcades festooned with paper Jack o'lanterns -- and even black-and-orange costumes for dogs on offer at pet shops.

Halloween, as Japan now knows it, is unabashedly American, and few Japanese know much about its origins.

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I'd say it's about time that Japan has its fair share of Halloween.
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Who on earth would pay $1 million for hell?

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - No one was buying hell on Friday -- or at least its red-hot Web address.

HELL.com was among hundreds of Internet domain names up for auction in Hollywood, Florida, by domain asset management provider Moniker.com, a unit of marketing services firm Seevast Corp.

The owner put a minimum price of $1 million on the underworld's domain, confident of high interest after the salacious address, Sex.com, sold for about $12 million earlier this year. But there were no takers with bids failing to reach the reserve price.

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Who would by $1 million for hell? NOT ME!!!
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German masked robbers revealed as costumed children

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two sharp-eyed Germans saw what they thought were masked bank robbers in "a suspicious-looking car" with tinted glass windows in front of a bank and called police -- who discovered three children wearing Halloween masks.

The two women in the small northern town of Bad Zwischenahn separately spotted a "dark van with foreign registration plates", police said on Monday. But the van left before police arrived. The women reported they had probably scared them away.

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O....kay......

[lurkey]

iHalloween: Turn your iPod into a Ouija board

When we first heard that occultists were using the new iPod to channel spirits, we had our doubts. Why would ancient spirits choose to manifest themselves in consumer electronics -- don't they prefer the dusty seclusion of basement seances?

Apparently not.

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