maarts' newsagency

[maarts]

Fancier pigeons


A Dutch farmer has painted pigeons pink and green to ward off hungry birds of prey, and it seems to have worked.

"I'm crazy about the birds ... Naturally, birds of prey are going to eat pigeons, but preferably not here," the farmer told Holland's Algemeen Dagblad.

He began painting the birds with environmentally friendly, water-based paint a year ago.

"The colours make the pigeons seem unsuitable as prey. The birds of prey simply don't recognise them any more," he said.

[maarts]

Strip 'n Sketch

A strip club in Idaho has found an artful way to prance past a city law that prohibits nudity. On its "art club nights", the Erotic City strip club charges $US15 ($19) for a sketch pad, pencil and a chance to see naked women dancers.

In 2001 the Boise City Council passed an ordinance banning total nudity in public unless it had "serious artistic merit" - an exemption meant to apply to plays, dance performances and art classes. "We have a lot of people drawing some very good pictures," said Erotic City's owner, Chris Teague, who has posted drawings around the club.

[strat-0]

Life imitates art!

[maarts]

Life imitates art!

Wouldn't Topsy be proud!

[ScottsyII]

Some darn funny stories there Maarts! I can just picture all the blokes in that strip club... a paint palette in one hand and an alcoholic beverage in the other...

[maarts]

Revenge of the lamppost

A dog was electrocuted when it urinated on a lamppost with a loose connection.

The three-year old Argentinian mastiff named Pako was being walked by its owner in Wavrechain-sous-Denain in northern France on Sunday evening.

It let out a yelp and died on the spot.

The owner received a shock when he tried to help the dog and was hospitalised, the town hall said yesterday.

A spokesman for the local electricity board said the street light had been vandalised and a live wire was in contact with the metal pole.

[maarts]

Having a crack

Is it art? Or a tasty snack?

The Crackers is one of a rising tide of online parodies poking fun at The Gates, a $US21 million ($26.5 million) work by the artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, featuring 7532 saffron-coloured gates spread through Central Park, New York.

The Crackers was made by a couple known only as "Chris et Jane", who "poured their hearts and souls into the project for over 26 minutes ... It required three dozen crackers and spanned over nearly 23 inches along a footbridge in the park at a cost (borne exclusively by the artists) of $2.50".

A US website, www.boingboing.net, is logging the Christo parodies.

[maarts]

Blind man bites guide dog

A blind man who allegedly bit his guide dog was arrested by Scottish police today.

David Todd is accused of sinking his teeth into the animal's head in a busy street in Edinburgh.

An eyewitness told Lothian and Borders Police the 34-year-old dragged the bitch across the road before biting its head and kicking its body.

Todd is facing charges of breach of the peace and animal cruelty for the alleged attack earlier this month close to Edinburgh's Meadowbank Retail Park.

The eight-year-old labrador/retriever cross was taken into protective care by police and handed over to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

[ScottsyII]

Ahhhh, the true "man Bites Dog" story!

[Dr. Drum]

You’re making me sad with these dog stories, maarts.

[maarts]

Sorry Doc!

I told them to the cat who is living now underneath my house (!) and she laughed herself silly!

[maarts]

Puppy love

Two small boys and two girls were married off to puppies by tribal villagers in the small northern Indian state of Jharkhand to ward off evil, a report said.

Local officials in Kuluptang village in Jharkhand said the "kukur vibaha" or dogs' marriages, were organised on the last day of a local tribal festival, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

One of the tribeswomen, 54-year-old Sonamuni, who blessed the marriage of her three-year-old grand-daughter Priya, said the wedding was no less important than other such ceremonies and all customs normally associated with marriage were followed.

The mother of "groom" Durga, aged one, said if the first tooth of a baby came out in the upper jaw it was considered "inauspicious" for the child as well as the family and dog marriages had to be performed.

After a bath in a nearby river, the children are taken to a place of worship in a procession accompanied by a band.

Neighbours and relatives of the four children danced to music performed by the band before the marriages were solemnised with puppies of the opposite sex, the report said.


_{I just hate to think about what happened on the wedding night....}

[maarts]

Storm warning


The weather bureau in Moscow has been warned.

"Weather forecasters in our city and the surrounding area will be held responsible for financial losses that the city incurs through their incorrect prognoses," Moscow's Mayor, Juri Luschkov, was quoted as saying on ananova.com.

Earlier this month Moscow had 20 centimetres of snow in one night. Streets were blocked and people were unable to get to work.

Mr Luschkov said the same could apply in the summer if outdoor festivals had been planned for sunny days and it rained, forcing visitors away.


_{Hang on a minute....confusing article here...now will these poor weathermen even be sent to Siberia if their correct predictions for bad weather mean cancellation of outdoor festivals?
Even God would have trouble with these workconditions!}

[Dr. Drum]

Hey maarts, got one for you...

Student plans 'crime spree' breaking odd American laws

Jim McBeth
The Scotsman
February 26, 2005

A madcap student is embarking on an epic 18,000-mile journey across the United States to break the law in a "crime" spree worthy of Bonnie and Clyde.

Fortunately, his transgressions are not likely to land him in jail, because he will break only bizarre and arcane legislation, such as the prohibition against falling asleep in any cheese factory in South Dakota.

Richard Smith, 23, from Portreath in Cornwall, will also attempt to play cards with a Native American, which is against the law in Globe, Arizona.

He will flout the authorities by loudly declaiming "Oh Boy!" in Jonesborough, Georgia, and by driving round the town square in Oxford, Mississippi, more than 100 times on a single occasion.

Mr Smith’s other planned "illegal" exploits include playing golf in the streets of Albany, New York, and whale hunting in Salt Lake City, Utah - a state with no coastline.

"I got the idea when I was playing a board game with my neighbour in 2002," he said.

"The game featured laws which were ludicrous and I thought they would be enjoyable to break for real."

Mr Smith is in talks with a publisher about a book and he plans to document his experiences on broadcast-quality film, in case television companies show an interest. He said: "I’m excited about the trip and the prospect of a book."

Mr Smith intends to break 40 strange state and town laws as he crosses the United States, and fittingly he will begin his journey at Alcatraz, the former prison island off San Francisco.

[maarts]

America's full with weird and wonderful laws indeed! I remember one- you're not allowed to wander on a cemetary with a fishing rod in Gary, Indiana....

There's this wonderful site called www.dumblaws.com that lists some beauties from the United States Of weirdness...stuff like:
"It is illegal for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking."
"You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit. " Wyoming

"Baths may not be taken between the months of October and March."
"It is illegal to sell cars on Sunday"
"Oral sex is illegal."
"Within four hours of eating garlic, a person may not enter a movie house, theater, or ride a public streetcar".
"No one may throw an old computer across the street at their neighbor."
Indiana


As you can see, that dude's got his work cut out for him!