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‘Cavemen’ Go On Display At Warsaw Zoo
Visitors to Warsaw’s zoo are being greeted by two “Homo sapiens” peering out from a cage — humans in animal skins trying to spark interest in man’s caveman ancestors.
Organizer Maria Mastalerz says the weeklong “performance” aims to attract interest in a play, “Caveman,” showing in the Polish capital. But she says it also carries a message that humans today are not all that different from their prehistoric ancestors.
Dressed in furs and animal skins, the young woman and man smoked a fish over a fire, poking it with a stick, or stared from behind bars at startled zoo visitors.
Woman Sees Image Of Jesus On Her Iron
A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that “life is going to be good.”
Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image when she walked into her daughter’s room.
The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair.
The 44-year-old Coady was raised Catholic. She and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that “he’s listening.”
Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.
Woman Delivers Grandchild On Thanksgiving
A Boston woman has succeeded at one of the all-time great Thanksgiving Day juggling acts: She cooked the turkey while helping deliver her baby granddaughter.
Patricia McCalop was in the middle of preparing the meal when her daughter suddenly went into labor two weeks early.
McCalop called 911, and a dispatcher talked her through the delivery and helped her confirm that the baby girl was breathing.
Paramedics arrived shortly afterward and took Africa McCalop and her newborn to the hospital. They are both in good health.
Patricia McCalop said she kept running between the kitchen and her daughter in labor because she didn’t want the turkey to burn while helping her child deliver the baby.
“I’m like, ‘What are you doing with the turkey? We got the baby,’” Africa McCalop told the Boston Herald. “She didnt know what to do. Shes like, ‘I got to go get the turkey baster.’ Im like ‘For what?’”
The infant weighed six pounds.
Some Good Old-Fashioned Sticker Shock
When a Los Angeles hairstylist accepted a collect call from a customer, she had no idea it would run more than $45.
And no idea that’s just what collect calls from pay phones cost in the mobile age.
Barbara James gladly accepted the call from 84-year-old client Pat Devine, who said she was running late and called from a pay phone because her cell phone had died.
James’ bill from Network Communications International showed about $37 for the quick call, about $5 in regulatory fees and taxes, and about $3 for a “billing cost recovery fee.”
NCIC president Bill Pope says the tiny number of collect calls makes such prices inevitable.
Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman Rosemary Kimball says collect calls are largely unregulated since most major companies left the business.
Santas Demand Priority Swine Flu Vaccine
US Santas want swine flu vaccine so that sneezing children don’t give them an unwelcome present this Christmas.
Ernest Berger, head of “Santa America,” told NPR radio that the organization’s 200 volunteer Father Christmases want to be given the same priority as school teachers and health care workers for getting the H1N1 vaccine.
The website of “Santa America,” which visits sick and traumatized children in the Christmas season, instructs the men in red to take no chances.
“As wonderful as it is, be cautious of children burying their faces in your beard for a hug. If this happens, use sanitizer in your beard,” the website advises.
“Avoid touching your face, nose, eyes, or mouth. Do not touch children?s faces. If you do, immediately sanitize your hands,” the site urges.
“Santa should be taking needed vitamins and other doctor approved boosters to keep his immune system at peak performance.”
Mysterious Toilet Blockages Plague Cathay Pacific Flights
Cathay Pacific says its fleet of Airbus planes has been hit by a spate of mysterious toilet blockages.
The problem has been so serious that one flight from Riyadh had to land in Mumbai when the crew discovered none of the plane’s 10 toilets were working.
In other cases, the number of passengers boarding flights had to be restricted because of toilet problems.
Airbus engineers are now fitting new toilet pipes to the airline’s fleet and carrying out deep cleaning.
Cathay spokeswoman Carolyn Leung said although the exact cause of the blockages was unclear, passengers themselves may be partly to blame.
“You would be amazed what we find in the pipes when we clean the system – not just face towels but medicine bottles, socks, items of clothing and even children’s stuffed toys,” she said.
The toilets use high-speed vacuum pipes to take waste at up to 110km/h (68mph) into a holding tank, which is then emptied between flights.
Any blockage usually affects all the toilets on one side of an aircraft.
Real Estate Agent Finds Surprise In Basement
A Louisiana real estate agent showing a house got to the basement and found about 100 human bones in a corner.
James Kenny, a forensic investigator with the Terrebonne Parish Coroner’s Office, says the bones found were so old that dirt had saturated the marrow inside them. He says they probably are remains of Native Americans buried long before the house was built.
Kenny says he learned that the previous residents would often find bones while mowing the lawn or doing yard work, and would put them in the basement.
Half of the split-level house is on top of a circular mound, which parish officials suggest may be an Indian burial mound.
Neither the agent nor the home’s owner would talk to The Courier of Houma.
Prince William’s Embarrassing Encounter With Naked Rugby Players
Prince William came face-to-face with a rather embarrassing situation when he bumped into naked All Blacks rugby team players during his New Zealand visit.
The 27-year-old British royal had arranged to meet the players, but strolled in as they were still in the showers.
“The Prince did a bit of a double-take, but actually dealt pretty well with what could have been embarrassing,” the Sun quoted an All Blacks source as saying.
“Some of the boys were more awkward. I think they’d have felt more comfortable being dressed more appropriately – or being dressed at all!” the source added.
Paula Deen Clobbered By A Flying Ham
Celebrity chef Paula Deen got an unexpected serving of ham — across her face.
The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her.
Deen tells WGCL-TV: “I thought it busted my lip, but it didn’t.”
Though smiles and laughter, Deen added: “I’m OK. It just knocked me for a little bit.”
She says she was unloading hams when she tossed one to a man, who then said “Back at ‘ya.” Thinking he meant it only as a sentiment, she turned around to get another ham when the errant swine came at her.
“He really meant, ‘Back at ‘ya.’”
Later, she tweeted: “I haven’t met the ham that could stop me yet!”
