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Tennis' Serena Williams headlines Tampax ads

2009-09-21T18:50:00.001-04:00

Procter & Gamble is featuring tennis star Serena Williams in a lighthearted ad campaign for its Tampax brand that begins just weeks after her U.S. Open outburst.

The Cincinnati-based consumer-products maker announced Monday that Williams will take on Tampax's "Mother Nature" character in print advertising in October magazines. P&G officials say Williams represents the energy, independence and strength of women they want to celebrate.

The campaign was in the works before Williams' tirade this month against a lineswoman at the U.S. Open, which brought a $10,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct

More.

A toilet in the shape of Madonna's bra

2009-09-08T06:34:00.001-04:00

Sydney Morning Herald

The Kiwi capital is set to build a toilet block the shape of Madonna's infamous pointy bra to jazz up its waterfront.

The designer unisex dunnies, costing $NZ400,000 ($A324,096) are supposed to resemble a crayfish but the Wellington public say it looks more like a pair of pointy breasts or fallopian tubes.

"Oh my God. It looks like something Madonna would have worn in the past ... It is just ugly," one local told the Dominion Post newspaper when shown the designs.

A poll found most Wellingtonians actually preferred bog-standard toilets and didn't support the fancy loos at all.

Continue.

Kelloggs cleared of Crunchy Nut complaint

2009-08-18T21:32:00.001-04:00

Mad.Co.Uk

Complaints that Kelloggs exaggerated the size of the cereal in a TV campaign for Crunchy Nut Clusters have been dismissed by advertising watchdogs.

The campaign, created by JWT London, showed people eating Crunchy Nut Clusters in a variety of situations, for instance at a barbecue where they were arranged on the grill as kebabs and being eaten out of a bowl as though they were popcorn.

The Advertising Standards Authority received two complaints that the ad was misleading for exaggerating the size of the cereal.

Kelloggs responded that the clusters appearing in the ad were all from genuine packets of the cereal and that as a result of the manufacturing process the size of clusters varied from 10 mm to 30 mm in diameter. The company estimated that the clusters seen in the ad were no larger than 30mm.

Skydiver Falls 2,000 Feet Onto Aircraft Hangar Roof

2009-08-16T16:08:00.000-04:00

Fox News

A skydiver has survived a 2,000 foot fall onto the roof of an aircraft hangar after his parachute failed.

Paul Lewis, who is in his forties, was airlifted to hospital with head and neck injuries. Last night he was in a stable condition and, according to friends, in “good spirits”.

Lewis, a skydive cameraman with 20 years’ experience, was filming a parachutist making her first jump from 10,000 feet, near Whitchurch in Shropshire, at 3 p.m. on Friday. At 3,000 feet his main parachute failed and he tried to release his reserve.

The reserve parachute opened, but a malfunction caused it to spiral rapidly to the ground. He fell 2,000 feet with the canopy partially open before landing on the steel roof of an aircraft hangar.

Record-breaking cupcake jolts Dream Cruise

2009-08-16T09:39:00.001-04:00

Detroit News

Woodward Dream Cruise attendees' attention was ripped away from the seemingly endless parade of classic cars on Saturday afternoon thanks to Ryan Abood and his giant cupcake.

Abood, owner of GourmetGiftBaskets.com, decided four weeks ago to make a bit of sweet history that would get him recognized by Guinness World Records. He and a team of 30 succeeded in creating a 4-foot-tall cupcake that was 10 feet wide and weighed 1,224 pounds.

Accomplishing such a feat also had a philanthropic purpose. Proceeds generated from selling pieces of the monstrous cupcake and 5,000 smaller cupcakes benefited the Susan G. Komen Passionately Pink for the Cure, Abood said.

What a drives a man to create a gargantuan cupcake filled with 2 million calories?

"I was sitting at my desk and I heard about what was then the world's largest cupcake and it weighed 151 pounds," said Abood, 30, of Manchester, N.H. "I felt that a world record should be breathtaking, awe-inspiring, have a wow factor. And 151 pounds didn't do it."

So the yummy gauntlet was before Abood and he decided to best the world record. In the heat of making this decision, Abood said a friend from Michigan suggested he come to the state during the Dream Cruise.

The feud between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann keeps viewers tuning in

2009-08-15T22:41:00.001-04:00

Chicago Tribune

Two weeks of vitriolic exchanges between cable news hosts Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann have amped up viewership for Fox News as efforts by corporate executives to strike a détente fell apart.

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who face off in the 5 p.m. PDT time slot, have been attacking each other's networks ever since news broke earlier this month that executives had sought to tamp down the personal attacks by the two men, whose sparring has long been a staple of the cable news wars.

The renewed feud appears to have benefited O'Reilly, whose show "The O'Reilly Factor" averaged nearly 3.5 million viewers between Aug. 3 and 13, the nine days following the news of the supposed truce. That's 7% higher than his average viewership so far this year and 12% more than his average this quarter, which began June 29. He also recorded more than a million viewers in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic twice last week, his largest showings among that age group this year.

Fan mad about Archie engaging Veronica sells comic

2009-08-15T22:38:00.001-04:00

iWon

When comic book store owner Dave Luebke heard that after 67 years, the carrot-topped everyman of the comic world, Archie, was proposing to va-va-voomy rich girl Veronica instead of girl-next-door Betty, he decided to protest by selling his copy of the series' rare first issue.

Luebke's Archie Comics No. 1 sold for $38,837 when Dallas' Heritage Auction Galleries offered it Friday. Heritage spokesman Noah Fleisher said the buyer was a longtime Archie reader and collector from Virginia who did not want to be identified.

"Betty is it. Not Veronica," said Luebke, whose Richmond, Va., store has more than 1 million comics in stock. "This is serious."

And, he said, 99 percent of his customers agree that perky, blond Betty is the clear choice over shiny dark-haired Veronica in the seemingly never-ending love triangle.

Judge Reportedly Questioned Whether Woman Was Raped Because She Was "On Top"

2009-08-10T21:29:00.002-04:00

Houston Press

Newly elected judge Kevin Fine isn't your typical jurist -- he's been frank and outspoken about his missteps in life, which include a cocaine addiction.

Now he finds himself dealing with another alleged misstep -- accusations that he told a rape victim in his court that he didn't believe she was raped because she was "on top" during the act.

There are no transcripts yet to the July 31 hearing, which came after the defendant was convicted and before he was sentenced. Transcripts are being prepared for appeals. But observers in the courtroom have spread word of the alleged comment, and it will likely come up in the appellate process.

Read More.

via Fark.com

I wonder if this judge has made the "short list" for the next Supreme Court vacancy?

Baby Want Ba-Ba?

2009-08-10T20:49:00.003-04:00

App.com

Janet Schulte believed the man when he told her by phone that his 40-something, disabled brother needed a caregiver who could bottle-feed him and change his diapers.

What the Melbourne woman can't believe is that he committed no crime, now that she said she has found out the situation was a charade: that the man and his brother were same person.

And that he didn't have the disabilities he claimed to have.

"I feel violated," Schulte said, sharing her story because she said the man has deceived other women and will try again. "I feel disgusted."

Read the rest of this story
Hat Tip: Daily Rotten

Buckle Up For Safety

2009-08-10T20:46:00.001-04:00

iWon

Authorities said a purse snatching suspect being chased by police near Detroit got his right leg tangled in his car's seat belt when he tried to bail out and ended up being dragged several hundred feet. Police told the Detroit Free Press and The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens that 45-year-old man Lawrence Neal of Detroit was dragged Thursday night and broke his leg before the car stopped on a front lawn.

During the chase, police said Neal used turn signals. And Detective Lt. Leo Borowsky said he was "captured by his own seat belt."

Neal was being held at the Macomb County Jail. He was charged with unarmed robbery, fleeing and eluding and resisting and obstructing police.

Police said he requested a court-appointed attorney.

Reality show aims to convert atheists

2009-08-10T19:00:00.001-04:00

York Daily Record

Apparently believing that religious competition in the Middle East is not exciting enough already, the television station Kanal T in Istanbul, Turkey, is preparing a reality game show for September release in which 10 certified atheists try to resist conversion by a priest, a rabbi, a Muslim imam and a Buddhist monk. The exact rules have not been disclosed, but the "winning" convert will receive an expense-paid trip to the holy land of the most persuasive religion (the Vatican, Jerusalem, Mecca or Tibet). According to a July Reuters report, Turkey's Islamic Religious Affairs Directorate, not surprisingly, had vowed never to co-operate.

Modern Toilet Diner

2007-11-21T20:52:00.000-05:00

New York Post:

"No one complains about the toilet humor at this diner.

All 100 seats in the crowded Modern Toilet diner are made from toilet bowls, not chairs. Sink faucets and gender-coded 'WC' signs appear throughout the three-story facility in Taipai, one of 12 in a chain of Taiwaneateries with a toilet theme.

Customers eat from mini-plastic toilet bowls, and wipe their hands and mouths using toilet rolls hung above their tables, which are glass-topped jumbo bathtubs."

Panty phone fetish sends Briton to prison

2007-11-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

kansascity.com :

"The underwear-obsessed telephone stalker’s undoing proved to be the opening of a gym opposite the apartment that the 40-year-old shared with his mother.

Detectives caught Paul Kavanagh on film, leaning over the balcony of the West London apartment, just as he was peppering the gym’s female receptionists with calls.

Jailed for 2 1/2 years this month, Kavanagh admitted making some 15,000 such harassing calls to women, asking them questions about their underwear. He posed as a clothing researcher and claimed to be gathering marketing data for a retailer."

Pastor's Wife: Church Is a Divorce Asset

2007-11-16T20:13:00.000-05:00

iWon News:

"The estranged wife of a pastor claims her husband blended his professional and personal finances so thoroughly that his church should be counted as an asset in their divorce.

A judge agreed in a decision published this week to hear arguments on the claim, and he ordered a financial appraisal of the church. Lawyers said it could represent the first time anyone in New York state has tried to treat a religious institution as a marital asset.

The wife argues that her husband of 31 years used his Brooklyn church as a 'personal piggy bank,' setting his own income, spending the congregation's tithes as he pleased and running a catering business from the building, according to the decision by state Supreme Court Judge Arthur M. Diamond. The couple's names were redacted from the decision."

Best to Use Tools When Loosening Lug Nut

2007-11-12T18:10:00.000-05:00

iWon News:

"A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, sheriff's deputies said.

The 66-year-old man had been repairing a Lincoln Continental for two weeks at his home northwest of Southworth, about 10 miles southwest of Seattle, and had gotten all but one of the lug nuts off the right rear wheel by Saturday afternoon, Kitsap County Deputy Scott Wilson said.

'He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off,' Wilson said."

Man shot in bottom over loud music

2007-11-12T17:57:00.000-05:00

The Australian:

"A PERTH man has been charged with attempted murder after a 25-year-old man was shot in the buttocks and stomach during an argument over loud music.

Police alleged the younger man was at his Boddington home with friends when a 56-year-old man visiting neighbours began arguing with him about the loud music.

The older man allegedly threatened the residents with a piece of timber before he left and returned with a rifle."

Monkey Business

2007-11-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Miami Hurricane Online:

"In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a 72-year-old man accidentally shot his neighbor in an attempt to shoot wild monkeys that were trespassing on his land. The neighbor suffered minor injuries and was treated in hospital shortly after the incident. District Police Chief Zahaliman Jamin explained that the man had grown so annoyed by the irritating monkeys that he fired at them as they sat in the bushes of his garden, according to the CBS News report. Unfortunately, his aim wasn't up to par."

You Are Getting Sleepy

2007-11-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

Small Town Papers:

"If police had not seen it on video tape locked away inside the small convenience store surveillance system, they say they probably would not have believed the story. The store clerk called his boss and reported that he had been robbed, by two Indian men. Robberies in the area are common, so the boss was upset but not surprised."

A Halloween outfit is mistaken for a corpse

2007-11-01T18:01:00.000-04:00

Weird world:

"Kent librarian Gordon Jenns is hoping for an exorcist to get rid of his very own Moaning Myrtle. According to the 61-year-old, the ghost flushes a library lavatory at around 19:00 on a Friday, when he thinks the staff have all gone home. But surely an exorcist is a bit drastic - couldn't they use the traditional library method of a snooty 'shhhh'? Moscow authorities have over-reacted a smidgeon this week in banning school students from celebrating Halloween due to its veneration of 'the cult of death'. "

Vampires in Afghanistan? Soldiers Say It's True - Salem-News.Com

2007-10-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

Salem-News.com :

"During my two months on assignment in the Afghanistan combat theater last winter, I covered all kinds of military operations for Salem-News.com and Oregon's KPTV FOX-12. While I was there I spent time on forward combat bases, I went on infantry foot patrols, flew in helicopters, and witnessed levels of disparity that were hard to imagine. But the only time I thought I was going to vomit in that faraway land was when a very strange American soldier found it necessary to tell me about the Afghan vampires. Call it a coincidence, maybe it was the coffee, I will never know for sure, but twenty minutes with this guy sent me running for the men's room."

Nine in 10 Americans say ban texting while driving - Yahoo! News

2007-08-12T10:45:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! News:

"Ninety-one percent of Americans believe sending text messages while driving is as dangerous as driving after having a couple of drinks, but 57 percent admit to doing it, a poll released Tuesday said."

It's the 1 of 10 that has me worried.

Limo-Riding Bank Robber Gets Prison

2007-08-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

iWon News - :

"A woman who traveled in a limousine to a botched bank robbery attempt probably won't get such swank transportation to her next destination: prison. Evonne D. Maurice, 22, was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison for trying to rob a Citizens Bank branch at a drive-up window while using a hired limousine as her getaway car. Prosecutors say Maurice hired a limo in December 2005 to take her to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, but then told the driver she had missed her flight and needed to visit a bank so she could withdraw money to pay for the ride."

Brought To You By The Letter J

2007-08-04T07:52:00.000-04:00

iWon News:

"It's a girl - again - for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more."

Ark. School to Have Port-A-Potty Prom

2007-04-20T08:18:00.000-04:00

iWon News:

"Plumbing problems at an armory that will host the Magnolia High School prom Saturday night has prompted organizers to arrange for portable toilets outside.

The National Guard is debating whether to repair or replace sewer lines leading from the armory at Southern Arkansas University. The high school was notified about the problem last week and decided to leave the prom at the armory, which has air conditioning and adequate parking."

Woman's EBay Sale Doesn't Go Too Well

2007-04-18T09:01:00.000-04:00

iWon News:

"Things didn't work out as planned for a St. Paul woman who wanted to sell nearly all her possessions on eBay.

Lisa Perry, 45, had hoped to sell everything in one huge auction. She had said she wanted a fresh start, and was embracing the Buddist principles of 'releasing attachment to things.'

Bidding this week on eBay topped out at $880, well under her $2,000 reserve. So, she decided to break up 300-plus items into smaller lots and try selling her possessions on eBay and on Craigslist."