Traffic getting your goat?

The California Highway Patrol is still investigating how a herd of goats found their way onto Interstate 5 Saturday night, triggering car accidents and leaving dozens of animals dead.

Some surprised drivers were unable to avoid the nearly 200 goats that walked onto the southbound lanes of traffic near the Twin Cities Road off-ramp, causing several accidents and inflicting non-life threatening injuries to one driver.

More via CBS Sacramento.

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• Herd of 200 Goats Wander Interstate 5 in California With Deadly Results (brainz.org)

File under “Not Surprising”: Heavy metal scares wolves

A 13-year-old Norwegian boy saw off a pack of wolves with a blast of heavy metal music from his cell phone, music website Zvuki.ru reported today.

Walter Acre was walking home from school in the central municipality of Rakkestad when he found himself encircled by the four snarling beasts.

But just as they prepared to sink their teeth into the petrified youngster, he pulled out his mobile phone and cranked out a song by US metal legends, Megadeth.

Walter had previously been told not to run away from wolves but to face them and attempt to scare them away.

And sure enough, the tactic worked as the thrash guitar music sent the animals scattering in confusion, Zvuki.ru said.

via News.com.au.

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• MEGADETH Song Saves Norwegian Boy From Wolf Attack! (bravewords.com)
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A new definition of “Stupid”

A Mumbai-bound flight was delayed by one-and-a-half hours at the Delhi airport Friday morning — first by fog and then by a passenger who did not want to travel on a plane piloted by a woman.

Passengers on board had a curious story to tell as to why Indigo flight 6E 179, supposed to depart at 8.10 a.m., could not take off before 9.40 a.m.

“First the flight was held up by a slight fog. Then, just when we were about to fly, the doors were opened again at around 9 as a middle-aged man seated a couple of seats away from me objected to a woman piloting the plane,” co-passenger Partha Guha told IANS.

The man apparently turned jittery after the customary flight announcement was made, giving the pilot’s name – it was a woman.

via Woman pilot? Won’t fly!.

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• Passenger objects to woman piloting plane (hindu.com)
• IndiGo Airlines Passenger Refuses To Fly With Female Pilot (huffingtonpost.com)

Band Aids not required on male nipples. Well…that’s a relief

Male exotic dancer Ed Cloyd, who goes by the stage name “Total Package” at clubs in Prince George’s and Washington, D.C., will not have to wear Band-Aids over his nipples when he dances close to customers.

via County’s strip club restrictions upheld by judge as unconstitutional.

World’s fattest contortionist

With the ability to press his soles to his cheeks, turn himself into a human dart board, and dislocate his shoulders to escape from a straitjacket, Matt Alaeddine’s resume reads more like a medical examiner’s report.

Couple that with his sizable mass — well over 400 pounds — and the city comic and contortionist has found a ticket around the world, securing him a place in the infamous Jim Rose Circus.

via Edmonton performer claims to be world’s fattest contortionist.

Hide your cow pictures, you felon you

Taking photographs from the roadside of a sunrise over hay bales near the Suwannee River, horses grazing near Ocala or sunset over citrus groves along the Indian River could land you in jail under a Senate bill filed Monday.

via  The Florida Tribune.

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• Photographing Farms would be a Felony under Proposed Law in Florida (pixiq.com)

UK woman sits on it…or, in this case, “in” it

A British woman was celebrating after beating a £110 $180 fine in a 30-hour standoff with a parking inspector.

Jessica Davey, 22, from Salisbury, in southern England, barricaded herself in her Renault Clio for more than a day after parking inspector Anthony Brindley booted her vehicle despite its valid parking permit, the Salisbury Journal reported.

The care worker discovered the clamp when she tried to go to work on Monday.

“I couldn’t afford to pay him, and I didn’t see why I should, so I decided to stay with my car until he took it [the boot] off so he couldn’t tow it away,” she said.

via  News.com.au.

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• Driver Jessica Davey beats parking warden’s £110 fine after 30-hour stand-off (dailymail.co.uk)

It’s a good idea to read the signs

Workmen laid tarmac around this Ford Focus after the car’s owner failed to heed warning signs informing the public that resurfacing work was taking place. Undeterred, they carried on the with the job anyway – leaving the Ford Focus standing alone on an island in the middle of the newly laid surface.

via Mail Online.

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• Workmen resurface around parked car after motorist ignored warning (dailymail.co.uk)

Crime tip: Maintain a low profile

Link to more mug shots

Hey, doc, can you do anything for my headache?

Surgeons in southern China successfully removed a rusty, 4-inch (10-centimeter) knife from the skull of a man who said it had been stuck in there for four years, the hospital said Friday.

Li Fuyan, 30, had been suffering from severe headaches, bad breath and breathing difficulties but never knew the cause of his discomfort, said the senior official at the Yuxi City People’s Hospital in Yunnan Province.

Li told doctors he had been stabbed in the lower right jaw by a robber four years ago and the blade broke off inside his head without anyone realizing it, said the director of the hospital’s Communist Party committee’s office

via Doctors remove knife from man’s head after 4 years – Yahoo! News.

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Christmasy UFO in Washington State

Residents of Vancouver, Wash., reported seeing a saucer-shaped object with red and green lights hovering low in the sky, authorities said.

The lights brought several people out of their homes in the city’s Clear Meadows neighborhood around 6:45 p.m. Sunday, The Vancouver Columbian reported.

“It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” resident Gary Moore said.

Dispatchers with 911 confirmed at least one report of an object sighting.

Officials at the National UFO Reporting Center said they did not receive any reports.

More via Y100.

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• Residents see saucer shape in sky over Vancouver, Wash. (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

“UFO death ray narrowly misses skiers?” Well no, actually.

It’s actually the Sun overwhelming a webcam at the Stevens Pass ski area in Washington State. Cool picture though.

Ready for your closeup, Mr. Lake Monster?

A kayaker believes he may have caught Windermere’s mystery monster ‘Bownessie’ on camera.

This atmospheric photograph, captured by IT graduate Tom Pickles, 24, reveals a strange humped shape gliding through the still waters of the lake. Tom said he thought it was a dog at first but soon realised it was the size of three cars.

More via The Westmorland Gazette

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• Has ‘Bownessie’ been caught on camera after couple’s close encounter with three-car long beast on Lake Windermere (dailymail.co.uk)
• BOW-NESSIE Amazing photo of English ‘Loch Ness Monster’ taken in Bowness (thesun.co.uk)
• Is this the Monster of Lake Windermere? (mirror.co.uk)

Got an iPhone? Watch the battery.

“The phone got hot then started smoking then blew up. My wife and kid were in the room and it set off my fire alarm. It slighty burned my hand when I tried to pick it up. Basically the battery caught on fire.”

via This iPhone 4 Exploded

Remember the laptop fires a couple of years ago? This is certainly not Apple’s fault but it would be a good idea to be aware of your iPhones temperature.

So, it’s illegal to have a rock in your house in Billings?

After rejecting the same plan last month, the Billings City Council voted on Monday night to remove a giant rock that has come to rest inside a home just underneath the Rimrocks…

In October, a 1,000-ton sandstone boulder sheared off from the Rims and crashed into a house below…

The home is destroyed, and the rock is still inside the home while a complicated payment dispute plays out between the homeowners, their insurance company and the city. The homeowners have filed a lawsuit to force the city to remove the rock, while the city has issued a code enforcement violation against the homeowners in an attempt to get them to remove the rock.

via Council votes to remove rock from house

This cat burglar pussyfoots around

There’s a cat burglar on the loose in a California community. Neighbors know who it is, but they’re not pressing charges.That’s because the thief is indeed a cat!

…His owners say in the past three years, they figure he’s stolen about 600 items, and he’s not choosey. He’ll take anything that’s not locked down: towels, gloves, shoes, socks, toys. In fact, he took one pair of shoes in two trips.

More with video of the felon via WTSP.com 10 News.

“After careful review…”

The owner of a family van was surprised to receive a ticket in the mail from police in the southern Italian town of Oria accusing him of driving 1230 km/h 764 MPH. The Lizzanello resident had been driving his Fiat Doblo on the SS7 in the province of Brindisi on November 6 and weeks later received a letter demanding that he pay 165 euros US $223.

Italian tickets allow a five percent tolerance to account for the possibility of error. At 1230 km/h, the motorist exceeded the 90 km/h 56 MPH speed limit with an adjusted velocity of 1078 km/h 669 MPH, according to the notice signed by two officers view ticket. Oria police insist that the camera managed by the private firm Sodi Scientifica SpA is perfectly accurate. Officials blamed the incident “clerical error” in a statement issued Thursday.

via Italy:  764 MPH Ticket | The Truth About Cars

A great example of the care taken by a police agency to review and evaluate the results of camera enforcement of traffic laws. The officers involved should be disciplined but it’s unlikely that will happen unles it is for making their department the butt of internet ridicule.

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• Italian white van man nudges sound barrier (go.theregister.com)
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Biodegradable shoes?

It used to be that the only thing to do with an old pair of shoes was to tie the laces together and chuck them up over a telephone line. Now, a better answer has come along: just bury them in your backyard, and they’ll magically grow into something beautiful.

OAT sneakers are made entirely of biodegradable materials, but integrated into those materials somehow are an assortment of dormant seeds. When you’re done with the shoes, just douse them in water and bury them somewhere, and in a little bit, they’ll sprout flowers.

More via DVICE.

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Nobody ever read Winnie the Pooh to this dog

A dog in Riverside County is recovering after becoming a real pot head.

Animal Services spokesman John Welsh says the male dog got his head stuck in an old smudge pot, a device used for burning oil.

An officer safely freed the white dog, who was nicknamed “Smokey” because his face was blackened during his misadventure Friday near Hemet.

The officer says the animal was likely chasing a mouse when he got stuck.

via Dog OK after getting head stuck in smudge pot.

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• Dog freed from old smudge pot near Hemet (abclocal.go.com)

How much is that per sip?

An amateur wine group paid a record 57,000 euros ($77,000) Saturday for a 237-year-old bottle of wine from France’s eastern Jura region at a local wine festival auction.

“Finally, yellow wine has hit the big leagues,” said wine festival founder Bernard Badoz of Jura’s trademark beverage.

“To sell a bottle for 57,000 euros is not crazy,” he said of the 1773 bottle that came from a Louis XV-era vine and grapes harvested during the reign of Louis XVI.

via Bottle of 1773 French wine fetches record price – Yahoo! News.

Selling it for that amount isn’t crazy but buying it for that sure is.

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• 237-year-old wine sold for 57,000 euros (burgundy-report.com)
• 18th-century wine sets record in France (upi.com)