Clare's Collection of Unusual Tales and Pictures

[Dark One]

Ice cream 'like fire'

An ice cream has been created that is so hot customers must sign a waiver before tasting it.

Cold Sweat was created by shop owner when he wanted to create an ice cream to appeal to Hispanic customers

Wilson started out experimenting with jalapenos in vanilla ice cream which was unsuccessful - and finally ended up with Cold Sweat.

The ice cream is made with three kinds of peppers and two kinds of hot sauce at the shop in Cary, North Carolina.

According to newsobserver.com customer Rod McCallum said: "I thought it was a cool idea, but I didn't think he'd make it that hot. It tasted like fire - with a side of fire."

[Dark One]

Man told his willy is 'broken'

A man was told he'd 'broken' his willy after he got randy with his wife.

Adam Shaw was having a "quickie" with his wife Niki when he fell out of bed and screamed in agony.

Niki, 31, grabbed a bag of frozen peas to ease the swelling as Adam's manhood ballooned to the size of a cucumber - and his testicles to the size of a coconut.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors told him: "It's broken".

He had an operation to mend the snapped muscle reports The Sun.

Adam from Camborne, Cornwall said: "I never knew you could break it - but I found out the hard way. It was agony."

Niki added: "He'll just have to be a little less energetic in future."

[Dark One]

Russian wants to marry a cow

A Russian farmer has asked President Vladimir Putin to allow him to marry a cow.

According to MosNews Boris Gabov asked Putin for permission to marry the animal during a recent webcast in which Russians could send email directly to the president and ask him anything.

The farmer from the Kemerovo region in southern Siberia said: "All the girls have left our small village and moved to the city, so I cannot find a woman to be with. But I see the solution to the problem. I love animals very much and want to ask when we will be allowed in Russia to marry domestic animals, such as cows?"

It is unclear what Putin's reply was.

[Dark One]

Retirement gift was 'lost treasure'

A chinese vase given to a London cleaning woman as a retirement present was "a lost treasure of the Qing dynasty".

The cleaner's grandson sold it at auction for £92,000 after discovering its history, reports the Daily Telegraph.

It might have sold for more than £1 million - but the cleaner polished it so much she rubbed off most of the gold enamel.

She bequeathed the red, white and blue pot to her grandson, who kept it for years beside his television.

After reading that a similar vase had fetched £240,800 at auction, he asked Bonhams to look at it and discovered it had been made for the emperor of China 200 years ago.

Julian King, a specialist at Bonhams, said: "When I saw it for the first time, I was staggered. This is a lost treasure of the Qing dynasty. I had gone to view it with little excitement because discoveries of this kind are rare. But there it was."

[Dark One]

Keith reveals truth about fall

Keith Richards has admitted the 'coconut tree' he fell out of was actually a small bush.

The Rolling Stones guitarist suffered head injuries in the accident on the island of Fiji.

According to The Sun Richards, 62, said: "If you saw the tree, you would realise the joke. It certainly was not a coconut tree.

"Fiji has other trees, too. It was just a little tree. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it."

The Stones had to delay the European leg of their Bigger Bang world tour for Keith to undergo surgery.

He had to have his head drilled and fluid drained off.

The shows were put back six weeks while he convalesced at home.

He is due to play at tonight's Stones gig in Milan.

[Dark One]

Battery-powered plane

An aeroplane powered entirely by tiny AA batteries has taken off in Japan.

The plane, which used 160 AA batteries, flew 1,283ft in one minute.

It is believed to be the world's first battery powered takeoff, reports the Mirror.

A member of the Tokyo Institute of Technology team behind it said: "I didn't think it would fly so beautifully."

Weighing just under 97lbs, the plane has a 31 metre wingspan and was piloted by a 9st 9lbs student.

The Tokyo team hopes it will be recognised as a record by the Japan Aeronautic Association.

[Dark One]

Burglar fell down chimney

A burglar was caught after he fell down a chimney while escaping over the roof of a house he had just broken into.

Police in Maastricht, Holland, arrested the 33-year-old after being called out by the house owners who heard his calls for help.

The man had tried to flee out of a roof window with his booty of cash and jewellery, but tumbled in the dark and got stuck inside the chimney.

[Dark One]

First spatula in space

A putty knife 'dropped' in space by British astronaut Piers Sellers is being tracked by Nasa.

The £1,100 spatula drifted out of Sellers' tool kit as he did repairs to the Discovery space shuttle.

It is being watched by military radars at 20 sites worldwide as it hurtles at 25 times the speed of sound towards Earth, orbiting the planet every 90 minutes.

Nasa dismissed fears the tool could be a hazard to the shuttle or the international space station saying: "We have no concerns."

Shuttle commander Steve Lindsey filmed the spatula as it floated over Discovery and into space.

Mission controllers teased British-born Sellers by making him count his other five spatulas before he was allowed back aboard the spacecraft.

[Dark One]

Cemetery visitor falls in grave

A Dutch woman fell into a an old grave after it collapsed while she was watering flowers at a cemetery.

Monique Zuydendorp, 40, of Capelle aan de Ijssel was watering flowers on her uncle's grave in Schollevaar.

Suddenly, a neighbouring grave subsided and Ms Zuydendorp fell in, landing on the coffin.

The grave was that of a woman who had died in September 2005.

"It was a horryfying experience," she told Algemeen Dagblad.

Fortunately she was with a friend who, with other cemetery visitors, managed to pull her out of the grave.

Ms Zuydendorp needed medical attention for bruises but says the emotional shock was the only lasting damage.

The experience has confirmed one decision: "When the time comes, I want to be cremated," she said.

Workers at the cemetery say the grave contained three coffins on top of each other and say one or more must have collapsed.

[Dark One]

Prisoner escapes for girlfriend's birthday

A prisoner broke out of jail to wish his girlfriend a happy birthday before returning later that day.

Dragan Boskovic, 26, escaped from a prison near his hometown of Kolasin in central Montenegro, where he was serving a life sentence for murder, by overpowering guards and scaling a ten foot prison wall.

He went straight to his 19-year-old girlfriend's house but two hours later turned himself in to cops who had started a manhunt for him.

He told officers: "I promised my girlfriend that, no matter what, I would say happy birthday to her but I wasn't allowed to use the prison phone.

"I had no other option but to get the message to her personally."

[Dark One]

Angler catches the one that got away

An angler caught the same fish twice within three days - two miles out at sea.

Bob Watton, 36, first hooked the 11lb sea bass while fishing from his boat, reports the Mirror.

It escaped when his line snagged on a rock - but three days later, at a similar spot off Bournemouth, he reeled in a 2ft bass.

Bob, a father of two, was amazed to discover the distinctive hook and severed line from his previous effort was attached to it.

He said: "It was the same fish, there's no doubt. What are the odds of that? Of all the fish in that bit of sea this one ends up on my hook twice.

"When the fish got away I thought that was the end of it. It's very satisfying to catch the one that got away - because in this case it didn't."

A spokesman for Sea Angling Magazine said: "This is very unusual. I have heard of catching the same sea fish in the same session but never three days apart."

[Dark One]

Funeral cortege gets tickets

Police handed out tickets to drivers in a funeral cortege who jumped a red light.

Five drivers got £60 fixed penalty notices or summonses to appear in court after being caught on camera.

Amanda Miller who was at the funeral of David Franks from Laindon, Essex said: "It's utterly outrageous."

There were 25 cars in the cortege and many drivers did not know their way to the church. When the lights turned red before everyone had passed, other motorists stayed put and allowed the last few cars through.

Amanda wrote to the camera enforcement unit along with a letter from the funeral firm but they were told the fines would stand.

According to The Sun Amanda said: "I spoke to a very officious woman who told me 'rules are rules'."

Essex Police said: "We look at all the issues, including the overall risk to public safety.

[Dark One]

Robber's gamble too far

An armed robber who held up a string of betting shops in Croatia was arrested after he returned to one to place a bet.

The 28-year-old had robbed 35 bookies in the Croatian capital Zagreb, making off with around £1,000 a time.

But he did not cover his face in any of them and when he walked into a shop in the Crnomerec district of the city, a teller recognised him immediately and called police.

A police spokesman said: "It was unbelievable. He robbed 35 different shops and then he happily walked back into one ready to spend the exact same money he'd got robbing them."

Police said he has admitted to the robberies, and is being held in custody awaiting sentencing.

[Dark One]

Cashier's Hollywood gaffe

A Croatian currency exchange was cleared of cash when a cashier left to take photos of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones.

Employee Mirna Ivanovic ran out of the currency exchange office in Dubrovnik hoping to take a picture of the Hollywood couple after she heard they were walking through the town.

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones are currently cruising the Adriatic on a luxury yacht.

When she returned to work she found the office had been robbed and thousands of pounds taken in various currencies.

A police spokesman said: "The woman was only gone for a few minutes but that was more than enough time. It only takes a few seconds to rob somewhere."

[Dark One]

Dumped porn sparks scramble

Belgians are rushing to the countryside to scoop up thousands of porn videos and erotic books dumped after a failed sex fair.

Porn-lovers young and old have been spotted in the fields outside the small town of Geraardsbergen, near Brussels.

They have been stuffing bags with the free X-rated material after open air erotic festival 'Imagination 69' failed to attract the expected number of visitors.

Resident Matthias Roggeman, 17, said: "The organisers left behind thousands of DVDs and books and the news has spread like wildfire.

"Loads of people have rushed here to stock up on their porn collections and I've even heard some people are selling the stuff on in pubs."

Locals have now dubbed the field Pornotopia.

[Dark One]

Granny, 72, pulls truck with her teeth

A 72-year-old Chinese grandmother has pulled a four tonne truck, loaded with people, with her teeth.

Wang Xiaobei, from Jinan, Shandong province, managed to drag the truck for more than 10 metres.

Wang, a senior accountant, said her good health and high spirits were down to more than 30 years of martial arts training.

Last winter, she succeeded in pulling two cars with her teeth and decided to try something tougher this time.

Next, she aims to set her sights on something even heavier - a train carriage, reports Chongqing Morning News.

[Dark One]

Cafe Osama forced to change name

A cafe called Osama opposite the US embassy in Belgrade has been told to change its name after diplomats complained.

The word Osama means 'secluded' in Serbo-Croat and cafe owner Milomir Jeftic said he had named his shop after a local shelter for the homeless.

But he has been told to change it after an official complaint from the US Embassy, local media reported.

But Jeftic said: "I had no intention of offending Americans. It is just a word in Serbian.

"I admit I have heard of Osama Bin Laden, but until now I was not quite sure who he was."

[Dark One]

Girl's miracle escape from lightning strike

A Russian teenager survived a lightning strike which was so powerful it vaporised a gold cross on her neck.

The bolt hit Marina Motygina, 16, from Ekaterinburg in western Russia on the top of her head and seared through her body into the ground.

The necklace she had been wearing was 'atomised', leaving burns in the shape of a cross on her neck, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

Only a couple of links of the chain could be found.

A doctor at the local hospital who treated her said: "It is a miracle she has survived. She is fine now but will be staying in hospital for another two weeks.

"But she will have deep scars on her neck where the cross was for the rest of her life."

[Dark One]

Crocodile Gran

AN 80-year-old woman re-created a famous scene from the film Crocodile Dundee to tackle a knife-wielding burglar.

Winifred Whelan, from Liverpool, was threatened in her home by a man brandishing a 10-inch knife.

The pensioner grabbed a larger carving knife from her kitchen before shouting: "That's not a knife, this is a knife!"

Mrs Whelan was quoting the famous line from Crocodile Dundee when the film's star Paul Hogan brandishes a hunting knife at a mugger.

She told a newspaper: "I said to the robber: "You call that a knife?" His was around 10 inches long and I had a carving knife measuring about 14 inches.

"I pointed it at his belly and said: "This is a knife!""

Two men were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court in connection with the incident, which happened last September.

[Dark One]

Man caught speeding - in reverse

A German man has been fined after being caught by a speed camera driving 35 mph in a 25 mph zone while in reverse.

Heinz Erlauf, 42, from Stuttgart was sent the £20 fine after police saw the photo of his Mercedes C Class zooming backwards down a residential street in Bludenz, Austria.

A spokesman for the local police said: "That is the first time any of us have ever seen a driver get flashed by a radar while reversing."

[Dark One]

Police test Porsche patrol car

Austrian police are testing a Porsche 911 as a traffic control car to help prevent motorists from speeding.

A spokesman said the £65,000 sports car, than can do up to 177mph, had been a major success and they are planning to buy more.

He said: "The preventive effect is excellent. Drivers just needed to see it parked alongside the road and they slammed on the breaks.

"The only thing is that it's a bit cramped. But there's still enough space for the essential equipment like the speeding radar and the breathalyser."

[Dark One]

Squirrels force couple to flee home

An elderly German couple were forced out of their home when a family of squirrels moved in and chased them off.

Heinz Steinhaeuser and his wife Brunhilde, from Verden in Lower Saxony, were kept out of their house for almost two hours.

They eventually had to call the fire brigade to reclaim their home from the squirrel pair and their three offsrping.

Steinhaeuser said the family of squirrels had slipped into the house when he went outside to pick up his newspaper and had chased his wife out.

When firemen arrived the squirrels hid in the bed and other furniture before the five officers were able to catch them one-by-one, often by dismantling much of the furniture to corner the animals individually.

[Dark One]

Spiderman suit breakthrough

Soldiers of the future could use special "Spiderman" suits to walk up sheer surfaces and even stick to the ceiling.

BAE (British Aerospace Enginnering) Systems has developed a material that closely mimics the feet of a gecko lizard, which can scale vertical glass.

The research is still at an early stage but the firm said "infantry climbing suits" could be made out of the material, giving the troops gecko-like abilities.

A "government organisation" is also interested in using the material for a "particular covert application" connected to surveillance, according to a BAE Systems spokesman.

The gecko's foot is covered with tiny hairs, which are so small they effectively merge with molecules of things that they touch.

Dr Jeff Sargent, a research physicist at BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre in Bristol, said: "We wanted to mimic this ability.

"We have made a small amount of this material and we have demonstrated that it will stick on glass surfaces to demonstrate that it's got some potential.

"We have demonstrated we can do multiple attachments with this material - you can stick it down once and stick it down again. Having a Spiderman glove is a long way down the road, but in principle, you might have something like that."

[Dark One]

Man drove tank to buy ice cream

A Czech man drove a armoured personnel carrier through a historic town centre to buy his kids an ice cream.

Miroslav Tucek, 34, now faces a £300 fine after driving the 12-tonne military vehicle through Hradec Kralove.

He told police it was too far to walk from his home and he had promised his kids an ice cream.

He said he had to use the APC, which he bought from the Czech military, as his car had broken down.

Only light vehicles are allowed in the historic centre of Hradec Kralove in the northern Czech Republic.

[Dark One]

Wriggling parcel empties post office

Staff fled a post office in Germany when they noticed a parcel wriggle and opened it to find a 5ft snake.

The package containing the albino python was handed in at a post office in Kommern by a woman who wanted to send it to an address in the south of the country.

A keeper from the local zoo was called in to catch the snake and police are now searching for the sender, who is likely to be charged with breaking animal protection laws.