Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S

Coffee

Bat in coffee gives woman an extra jolt

Bat in Coffee
It wasn't just the caffeine that gave an Iowa woman an extra jolt after she had her morning coffee. It was also the bat she found in the filter.

The Iowa Department of Public Health says the woman reported a bat in her house but wasn't too worried about it. She turned on her automatic coffee maker before bedtime and drank her coffee the next morning.

Magic Wand

Czech court to rule on fairy-tale kingdom

A court in the Czech city of Olomouc is to deliver its verdict in one of the oddest legal disputes in the country's history.

Comic actor Bolek Polivka is suing former business partner Tomas Harabis over the rights to the fictitious Wallachian Kingdom.

The court must decide whether Mr Polivka is the true "king" of the fairy-tale realm.

Beer

UK: Horse is barred from pub

Image
© PAPeter Dolan with cart horse Peggy as she enjoys a pint of John Smiths at the Alexandra hotel in Jarrow, South Tyneside
A horse who has been a regular at a pub for several years has been barred after the landlady bought new carpets.

Peggy, a 12-year-old mare, used to enjoy a pint of John Smith's bitter and a packet of pickled onion crisps alongside owner Peter Dolan inside O'Malleys in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

But when landlady Jackie Gray had the pub refitted and renamed as the Alexandra Hotel, she had to bar Peggy.

Smiley

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

I know some folks out there might have had trouble following the Vice Presidential debate. Particularly, trying to parse meaning from the things that Sarah Palin said. With that in mind, I have compiled a handy resource for your perusal. I hope to update this chart, both graphically and grammatically, when it is no longer ten to five in the morning. For for the mean time. . . enjoy!

Take 2

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin nails it again on "Saturday Night Live" Debate skit

Tina Fey nailed Sarah Palin for a third time in a parody of the vice presidential debate where Queen Latifah played moderator Gwen Ifill.

Newspaper

Palin Web Ad Cites Thumbs Up From 'Famous Person'

Is the McCain campaign still nursing a grudge against Peggy Noonan?

This morning on news sites, the McCain campaign appeared to be in need of a copy editor when it attributed a positive review of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's debate performance last night to a "Famous Person."

Smiley

2008 Ig Nobels honor best, weirdest scientific research

2008 Ig Nobel
Last night kicked the scientific award season into full swing; the 18th First Annual Ig Nobel Awards were handed out in Harvard's Sanders Theater. Not quite as well-known as their more prestigious namesake, the awards recognize "research that first makes people laugh and then think."

The ceremony saw the ever-popular 24/7 lecture series, where leading researchers from around the world discuss the technical details and ramifications of their work in 24 seconds, then explain it in layman's terms in 7 words. This year's 24/7 series included talks from Benoit Mandelbrot, Anna Lysyanskaya, Dany Adams, and the 1976 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, William Lipscomb. Other ongoing traditions include the Ig Nobels being handed out by Nobel laureates, and an eight-year-old girl being kept up past her bedtime whose role is to ensure that acceptance speeches are capped at 60 seconds.

Bell

Video: Homer Simpson Tries To Vote For Obama

Homer tries to vote for Barack Obama, but runs into a few problems...

Comment: This is from an episode of the Simpson's that will be aired on November 2nd.


Einstein

Man shoots himself in arm after being denied sex

FORT MYERS, Florida - Authorities say a Fort Myers man shot himself in the arm after his girlfriend refused to have sex with him. The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported that a 29-year-old man and his girlfriend returned home from a bar early Wednesday morning.

Mr. Potato

Couric to Palin: Do You Know We're Recording This?

Several times during her exclusive interview with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric asked Palin whether or not she was aware that the interviews were being taped, and that "other people would see them." Palin reportedly told Couric that she was indeed aware, but then asked Couric what she meant by "broadcast."