Explorer’s dog gets statue

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A larger-than-life statue of Meriwether Lewis' pet dog now stands watch over the Missouri River in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation dedicated the 6-foot-high, 1,400-pound steel statue of Seaman on Sunday, with about 20 friendly Newfoundlands in attendance from across the country.

Dave Borlaug, president of the foundation, said it's the only stand-alone statue of its kind honoring the dog that accompanied members of the Lewis and Clark expedition two centuries ago, providing companionship and fetching game.

Goldilocks—reversed

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A West Vancouver [Canada] woman felt a little like Goldilocks in reverse when she arrived home to find a bear happily eating oatmeal in her kitchen.

"It sounds like a nursery rhyme, doesn't it?" quipped Sgt. Paul Skelton of West Vancouver Police. "At least we have a health-conscious bear on our hands."

When the woman returned to her home on Thursday afternoon, she was shocked to see the bruin — but didn't let it ruin her day.

"The bear had made its way into her kitchen through an open sliding glass door," said Skelton. "It appeared to be a one- to two-year-old bear — a juvenile — within the kitchen enjoying some oatmeal it had obtained by breaking a ceramic food container. When she saw it, she did the right thing. She vacated the area and called us."

Despite the arrival of three of West Van's finest, the bear wouldn't budge.

"The bear didn't appear to be aggressive and wasn't destroying the house, so they just let it do what it was doing and eventually the bear decided to make its way out of the residence and down toward a forested gully," Skelton said.

Damage was limited to two ceramic food containers.

Gag!!

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Scientists at Procter and Gamble, which makes Old Spice deodorant, compiled [a] list…based…on computer models that predict how much sweat an average man secretes after an hour of standing in a city’s average summertime temperature…

The highest ranked city was Phoenix. The scientists said that city’s population could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with sweat in less than three hours.

A Perfect Exam Score—Zero

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A Turkish student is hoping to get into the record books after giving wrong answers to every question in a university entrance exam. Sefa Boyar, from Ankara, deliberately answered all 180 questions wrong as a form of protest against the national university entrance examinations. The complicated system of examinations is considered an ordeal by tens of thousands of students every year.

It is reported the construction engineering student said he studied hard ahead of the exams because he still needed to find what the right answers were before opting for the wrong ones.

He told Anatolia news agency: "I'm confident. It's a very high possibility that I will end up with zero correct answers."

Robin Hood’s ‘house found’ – in Sheffield

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Archaeologists claim they have found the remains of Robin Hood's house – in Sheffield. The outlaw is usually associated with Nottingham but researchers believe he came from the South Yorkshire village of Bolsterstone. Experts from Sheffield University have started a preliminary dig at the site of an 11th century castle in the village.

Robin Hood is a mythical character but researchers believe he was based on the son of Waltheof, the Earl of Huntingdon who fiercely opposed the Norman invasion. Waltheof was the father of Robert Fitzwalter, an archer who became known as Robin Hood.

One of the volunteers at the archaeological dig, Steve Moxon, said: "This site might have major historical significance.

"Robin Hood was mythical, however Waltheof inspired the key ballad about the death of Hood and the 15th century prose account of him."

Want to Live Forever? Fish ‘n’ chips – That’s The Secret

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A woman of 98 who's been frying fish and chips for 80 years says her longevity is [due] to never eating anything else.

Constance Brown, who has just been awarded the MBE, told the Daily Mirror. "That's all I eat. I don't eat any vegetables at all. So I'm living proof you can eat nothing but fish and chips and still be healthy."

Constance – always Connie to customers – still opens up Brown's Cafe in Pembroke, West Wales at 11.30am every day.

She says she was surprised and honoured to hear she's to receive Royal recognition for services to business and the community.

Look! Up In The Sky! It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane!—Nah. Just An Ad

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Imagine a drive-in movie screen that floats 1,000 feet in the air — and travels 15 mph. An Orlando-based blimp company called The Lightship Group has effectively made one, and it could be coming to a night sky near you.

The company recently received Federal Aviation Administration approval for its new A-170 lightship, an enormous blimp that doesn't just say "Goodyear" or "Coca-Cola" on the side, but instead flashes their newest commercials, NFL football highlights, movie trailers or whatever else a company wants to put on its 70-by-30-foot LED screen.

"It totally rises above the clutter because this is the only one of its kind in the world," said Toby Page, Lightship group marketing director. "It's never been seen before, so it gets a huge amount of attention."

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It doesn't "rise above the clutter". It's part of the clutter. 

Solar power In Himalayas

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…Many of the monasteries, or gompas, lining Ladakh's Indus valley, in northwest India near China, boast a small blue rectangle of photo-voltaic technology. Standing 3,500 metres high (11,480 ft) they have the advantage of being [sunnier] than many other inhabited places.

"There's a lot of scope as we have over 300 days of sun a year here, and average solar radiation is high," said Tashi Chombel, an engineer in Ladakh's local government.

Solar power is mostly used for night-time lighting rather than to keep Ladakh's bitter winter cold at bay, which would need more costly systems. Villagers built around green oases in Ladakh's barren valleys collect sparse poplar wood and animal dung for fuel.

Pretty but really dumb!

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Mr. P, a proud peacock fuelled with passion, is spending 18 hours a day strutting his stuff at a petrol station trying to turn on one of the pumps.

British newspaper reported [he] puts on a dazzling display of mating prowess at a service station in Brierly, Gloucestershire, for three months a year, in the vain hope of getting some high-octane action with the pumps.

But after three years of petrol station prowling, the bird-brained romeo's antics have been brought to the attention of the local authorities — who are now plotting to capture Mr. P and put an end to his preening there.

Ornithologists reckon he is attracted by the clicking sound of the pumps, which resemble the mating calls of a broody peahen, The Times said.

“Dead Parrot Sketch” Rip-off?

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A St. Louis, woman accused of pummeling a dog breeder over the head with a dead Chihuahua, has been charged with two misdemeanors and reimbursed the money she paid for the puppy… [

The victim]  said she was hit with the dead puppy at least 30 times and went to a hospital for her bruises, but had no serious injuries. She said she was upset that …she had [been] accused…of selling the puppy too young and said the puppy was two days shy of 6 weeks old.

Japan bomb squad mobilised over six-pack of beer – Yahoo! News

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Police in southern Japan closed off roads, evacuated residents and even brought in a bomb squad after spotting a suspicious box in a police station, only to find out it was a six-pack of beer.

Police in Iizuka City in Fukuoka took [the] precautions after discovering the box, wrapped in newspaper and sealed with adhesive tape, on the counter of a police station on Friday afternoon, a police spokesman said.

A bomb squad was rushed to the scene after an X-ray scan showed metallic cylinders inside the box.

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It turned out to be a "Thank You" gift from a lady the cops had given directons to earlier.

You Can’t Outrun The Cops On A Street Sweeper

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A Manchester [New Hampshire] man faces charges after taking an unattended street sweeper out for a joy ride. The sweeper was being used in a downtown Manchester parking garage on Saturday and the operator had left the machine temporarily.

That's when police say Michael Moran, 26, hopped on and started it up. Moran traveled several blocks before he was caught by people chasing him. Police have charged him with taking the sweeper without the owner's permission and drunken driving.

Police said Moran admitted to taking the street sweeper and said it was a stupid thing to do.

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He was right about the stupid part, anyway.

Probably ticked at all those “Aaah! Ain’t it cute?” cracks.

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A 75-year-old northeast Ohio woman is recovering from injuries she received this week when a deer got into her home and attacked her.

Mary Blake of suburban Cleveland opened her patio door Wednesday to let her border collie back inside and was shocked when a female deer followed close behind. Blake says she tried to shut the door, but the deer knocked it off track and then knocked into Blake and started stomping her.

Blake frantically called police as the deer damaged her walls, furniture and some keepsakes. Two police officers arrived and were able to coax the deer outside.