Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Einstein

Bear wins 2nd place in art contest

RAPID CITY, South Dakota - You have to wonder if the paint brushes were coated with honey.

Bear Painting
©Unknown

Better Earth

Japanese team on yeti quest in Nepal

A team of Japanese adventurers hope to prove the existence of the mysterious yeti in Nepal's mountains, focusing on an area they are convinced is home to the legendary creature.

Tales of a huge half-man-half-ape roaming the high Himalayas are as old as the hills, and local Sherpa stories about the hairy giant have gripped the imaginations of Western adventurers and mountaineers for decades.

Takahashi Yoshiteru, 65, and six other Japanese team members are trekking to Dhaulagiri IV, a 7,661-metre (25,135-foot) peak where they say they have seen traces of the beast on past trips in 1994 and 2003.

Pistol

Florida Deputies Taser Run Away Emu



Emu
©Unknown

Plop-plop was raised right, as a beloved pet emu in a good home. But a hard storm and a low fence tossed her into the mean world, where she was lead astray, fought the law, and, well, we all know how that ends.

Sheriff's deputies and animal control officers spent a few days responding to sightings of the bird. Plop-plop even was reported chasing cars along U.S. 231. But on Monday, the bird found itself stuck in a pasture with the law close behind.

Question

Pair sentenced after correcting grammar on Canyon sign

Two self-described "grammar vigilantes" from the East Coast are being banned from national parks for a year and fined $3,035 after altering a historic sign at the Grand Canyon.

Smiley

Blind Frenchman fined for drunk driving

A blind journalist was given a month's suspended jail sentence and fined 500 euros (750 dollars) by a French court Friday for driving while drunk and without a license.

The owner of the car, who was also drunk as he sat next to the blind man when he drove the vehicle, was given the same sentence and had his license suspended for five months by the court in the northeastern town of Nancy.

Heart

Bear steals hubcap from car - then gives it back

A black bear surprised visitors to a safari park by stealing a hubcap from a car and then offering it to a woman driver.

bear
©PA
Bear steals hubcap at Woburn Safari Park, which stole a hubcap off a car, then took it over to the lady in car behind

Magic Hat

Meet Yoda the cat with FOUR ears

If Batman had a cat, it would probably look something like this.

The household pet, named Yoda, was born with an extra set of ears.

yoda the cat
©Barcroft Media
A good listener: Two-year-old house cat Yoda was born with four ears

Light Saber

Armed 85-year-old woman makes intruder call cops

POINT MARION, Pa. - An 85-year-old woman boldly went for her gun and busted a would-be burglar inside her home, then forced him to call police while she kept him in her sights, police said.

Bandaid

Reduction in gas prices was caused by prayer

Forget Congress. Forget President Bush. About four months ago, frustrated by the apparently immutable laws of supply and demand, Rocky Twyman turned to a higher authority in his quest for cheaper gasoline.

The recent dip in prices, he says, is proof of divine intervention.

"Prayer is the answer to every problem in life," said Twyman, founder of the Pray at the Pump movement, whose members huddle around gas pumps and ask the Almighty to lower gasoline prices.

"If the whole country keeps on praying, we can bring down prices even more, to even less than $2," Twyman said.

Display

16-year-old drops out of school to play Guitar Hero

Regular readers know that I love video games as much as the next guy. In fact, my right ankle is still sore from drumming my way through a marathon Rock Band session last night (who knew calibrating the TV would make such a difference!?), and I'm always looking for the latest titles to pop into my Xbox.

But how much gaming is too much? For North Carolina native Blake Peebles, there's no such thing. Guitar Hero is his title of choice. "I usually play till I can't anymore," he says, in this profile from the News & Observer.