July 8, 2010

I Can Do Anything Humans Can Do, But Better!

Moscow (AP) Any dachshund owner knows the feisty breed rarely backs off from a challenge, but one in Russia is taking that reputation to new heights or depths.

The dog named Boniface (not pictured) is learning how to scuba dive. Owner Sergei Gorbunov, a professional diver in the Pacific Coast city of Vladivostok had a diving suit complete with helmet made for the dog and is teaching him the tricks of the trade. In a recent demonstration, Boniface barked eagerly as Gorbunov readied the equipment and uncomplainingly endured being hung upside-down as Gorbunov fitted the suit on him. Once underwater, he seemed to have a different outlook, emitting some high-pitched whines. Gobunov says, “Underwater, I don’t think he experiences any stress.”

Lonely Widow May Get To Keep Bodies Of Family Near

Wyalusing, PA (AP) A 91-year-old woman found living with the corpses of her husband and twin sister will be allowed to keep them if she installs a mausoleum or crypt, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Jean Stevens has indicated through her attorney that she plans to build an aboveground vault on her property to store the bodies of James Stevens and June Stevens, according to Bradford County District Attorney Daniel Barrett.

“If she does that, the bodies will be released for that purpose,” he said. “Otherwise they will be re-interred.”

Stevens’ attorney, Leslie Wizelman, did not immediately return phone messages left at her office.

Stevens previously told The Associated Press that she kept the embalmed remains of her loved ones because she wanted to be able to see them and talk to them. She also said she’s claustrophobic and couldn’t stand the thought of their bodies in caskets in the ground.

State police have been investigating the bizarre case since the corpses were discovered in mid-June. Authorities found the body of James Stevens on a couch in the detached garage and the body of June Stevens on a couch in a spare room off the bedroom.

Stevens had them dug up shortly after they died‚ James in 1999 and June in October and tended to their remains at her rural property outside the northern Pennsylvania town of Wyalusing.

Barrett said a decision on charges could be made as early as Friday, after he meets with investigators.

He said authorities are looking into several possible violations, including misdemeanor abuse of a corpse. He also cited possible summary violations of the state health code, which regulates how bodies must be disinterred.

“There were some things done here that were not lawful,” he said.

Police haven’t said who retrieved the bodies.

Nekkid & In The Wrong House!

Good News Is, No One Cared!

San Diego (AP) A San Diego resident awoke to a shocking discovery: a naked stranger passed out on his downstairs sofa. San Diego police Lt. Jim Filley says the Pacific Beach homeowner called police after wandering downstairs Sunday morning and finding the snoring man.

Filley says the naked man was drunk and thought he was in his own home in Mission Valley, some 20 miles away. The man, whose name wasn’t released, had taken off his clothes outside the house and walked in through the unlocked front door. The homeowner declined to press charges. And since the intruder had sobered up, he was released to find his own way home.

There’s A Leaping Leprechaun In A Town Near You

Boulder, CO (AP) Boulder police didn’t need a detailed description of the suspect they were seeking.

They responded to a report Wednesday of a man dressed as a leprechaun leaping in and out between cars in a supermarket parking lot. Police Sgt. Fred Gerhardt says witnesses said the man was pretending to shoot at people with his fingers and may have made obscene gestures.

But officers didn’t find anyone matching the suspect’s description. Gerhardt says this is the first time Boulder police have received a complaint about a leprechaun.

Jam Said To Be Made From Princess Diana’s Hair

London (AP) The royal hair? Jam made from what its maker claims is one of Princess Diana’s hairs is up for sale at an art exhibition in London.

The preserve, called “occult jam,” is part of a surrealist art show at London’s Barbican Art Gallery that includes exhibits by Salvador Dali and Rene Margritte. The 5-pound-a-jar ($7.60) jam is both art and food, Sam Bompas, who founded catering company Bompas and Parr, said Sunday.

He said the preserve is made by infusing a tiny speck of the late princess of Wales’ hair with gin, which is then combined with milk and sugar to create a product with a taste resembling condensed milk.

The hair was bought on eBay for $10 from a U.S. dealer who collects what he says is celebrity hair and sells it in extremely tiny parts.

The art show’s organizers asked his company to come up with a response in food to the exhibition’s surrealist theme. Bompas said he decided to make the bizarre product to provoke people into thinking about food marketing and how language enhances the everyday eating experience, he said.

“We thought about it and the most mundane food of all is jam. So we made it a surreal object,” he said. Self-styled “food architects,” past projects included a banquet consisting entirely of gelatine molds shaped like architectural landmarks. In another, they gave audiences at a screening of Peter Greenaway’s film “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” scratch-and-sniff cards that evoked smells from key scenes in the movie.

Some Call It Prison, Others Call It A Great Party!

Carson City, NV (AP) State prison officials are investigating reports that a fundraiser at the Nevada State Prison featured scantily clad female band members and a motorcycle that was brought into the yard for inmate pictures.

Nevada Department of Corrections spokeswoman Suzanne Pardee says the agency’s inspector general’s office is interviewing staff to find out what happened during the June 26 barbecue and fundraiser hosted by the Vietnam Veterans of America. It was unclear what the event was raising money for, and a message left Sunday at the Vietnam Veterans of America state headquarters wasn’t immediately returned.

A copy of the minutes from a Tuesday prison staff meeting referred to the barbecue as a “fiasco.” The minutes say the band members wore appropriate attire to enter the prison but later changed.

The Nevada State Prison is a medium security prison and houses about 700 inmates.

London’s National Gallery Show Features Fakes & Mistakes

London (AP) An exhibit that combines X-rays, microscopy, and Botticelli opens this week at The National Gallery, detailing how scientists and others have unraveled some of the art world’s mysteries.

The exhibit, ``Close Examination Fakes, Mistakes & Discoveries,’’ shows how techniques such as infrared imaging, X-rays and mass spectrometry were used to properly attribute works of art and sniff out forgeries. Art historians and conservators have also contributed to the effort.

Among the more than 40 paintings on show is ``The Virgin and Child with an Angel,’’ which was acquired by The National Gallery in 1924 and attributed to Italian painter Francesco Raibolini, known as Francia.

But a 2009 investigation unmasked the painting a fake, finding that the underdrawing was done in graphite pencil an instrument not available to the Renaissance painter.

The exhibit also explores how paintings evolved over time. ``Woman at a Window,’’ a 16th century work by an unknown Italian artist, was altered to reflect the prudishness of the Victorian era.

The woman, originally a blond with a seductive gaze and a revealing bodice, was transformed into a brunette with more modest dress and a reserved expression.

When the gallery discovered the change during cleaning in the late 1970s, it removed the new layers of paint and the woman’s racy look was restored.

The 15th-century painting ``Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels,’’ was thought to be painted by a pupil of the Italian master Sandro Botticelli. But, after cleaning and restoration in 2002, the gallery now attributes the painting to Botticelli himself.

Betsy Wieseman, co-curator of the exhibit, said such discoveries take time, but are rewarding.

Entry to the exhibit, which opens Wednesday, is free and runs until Sept. 12.