Clare's Collection of Unusual Tales and Pictures

[Dark One]

Rare swallow swallowed

Birdwatchers flocked to see a rare swallow in Scotland - only to see it attacked and eaten by a sparrowhawk.

The red-rumped swallow, normally resident to the Mediterranean, excited twitchers when it was spotted at Lunan Bay, near Montrose.

Word that it had arrived on the East Coast of Scotland spread quickly, and a large crowd gathered to watch it flying over the beach.

The swallow's fatal mistake was to take a rest high on the roof of a nearby farm building, reports The Times.

The twitchers watched in disbelief as the sparrowhawk appeared, swooped on the swallow, crushed it with its powerful talons and flew off.

Mike Sawyer, of the Dundee branch of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "We were horrified.

"We had just phoned local birdwatchers to tell them of this rare occurrence. Then we had to ring them back and tell them it had been eaten."

The RSPB says the red-rumped swallow is a rare visitor to the UK but occasionally turns up during the migrating season, probably having lost its way.

[Dark One]

Thief caught after getaway car runs out of fuel

A Romanian thief was arrested after his getaway car ran out of fuel after just half a mile.

The 27-year-old man snatched a bag containing £20,000 from the front seat of a car in Bucharest.

He jumped into a car driven by an accomplice - but they didn't get far before it ran out of petrol.

Police said the thieves knew their victim was collecting takings from a chemist and snatched the bag while he was starting his car.

The thief was caught by an employee of the chemist and a security guard who handed him to the police.

The getaway driver managed to escape on foot and is still at large.

[Dark One]

Woman sues after drinking 5,000 litres of Coke

A Russian woman who drank up to 5,000 litres of Coca Cola has successfully sued the company for making her ill.

Natalya Kashuba, 27, the owner of an up-market clothes shop, drank up to three litres of the soft drink every day for five years.

She took legal action against the soft drinks giant after claiming that she had suffered insomnia and heartburn, reports the Telegraph.

Miss Kashuba said she had become addicted to the drink as a result of a promotional offer that allowed consumers to swap Coca Cola caps for prizes.

Dozens of inflatable mattresses and radios she won were used as key evidence in the case.

"In October 2005, as a result of an examination by a gastroenterologist, she was diagnosed with a chronic condition whose main symptom is heart burn," her lawyer, Alexey Monakhov, said.

In a landmark ruling, two Russian courts agreed that Coca Cola had failed to warn of the potential health risks of drinking too much Coke and awarded Miss Kashuba £62.

Though the sum in itself is derisory, Miss Kashuba's victory is unprecedented and could, lawyers predict, prompt an avalanche of similar suits.

Miss Kashuba herself is seeking a further £59,000 from Coca Cola in "moral damages".

[Dark One]

Drunken elk terrorises school

Pupils at a school in Sweden are being terrorised - by a drunken elk.

Police say the animal has probably been eating fermented apples in a garden, reports Sky News.

Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, said: "That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy elk."

Elk can weigh as much as 1,100 lb and personnel at the school described the erratic male as "completely mad".

The receptionist at the school, near Molndal, in the south of the country, told the Gothenburg Post: "The children are really scared."

Police have contacted hunters and said that if the animal does not sober up and calm down, it could be shot.

[Dark One]

May the faith be with you

Two self-acclaimed Jedi Knights want their faith to be formally recognised.

Umada and Yunyun, also known as John Wilkinson and Charlotte Law, want the UN to acknowledge Jedi is worthy of being called a religion.

It comes after 400,000 people recorded it as their faith in the 2001 Census.

They also want today's International Day for Tolerance renamed Interstellar Day of Tolerance.

Umada and Yunyun said: "For the last ten years the United Nations has marked the International Day of Tolerance. While we support this important work, we feel the UN needs to move with the times.

"Like the UN, the Jedi Knights are peacekeepers and we feel we have the basic right to express our religion through wearing our robes, and to be recognised by the national and international community.

"We therefore are calling upon the United Nations Association to change November 16 to the UN Interstellar Day of Tolerance, to reflect the religious make-up of our twenty-first century civilisation."

More people claimed to be Jedi in the census in England and Wales than those who follow Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism.

There are also said to be 70,000 Jedi knights in Australia, 53,000 in New Zealand, and 20,000 in Canada.

[Dark One]

Armed robber, 7, in Lego heist

Police in Florida are looking for a little girl, aged about seven, who tried to steal Lego at knife-point.

The girl pulled a knife on a cashier at a Wal-Mart store in Largo as she tried to walk out with two boxes of Lego.

Police say the girl, aged about seven or eight, hid the toys under her coat and tried to walk out, reports Tampabays10.com.

A store employee approached the child, asking her to turn over the Lego blocks.

Police say the little girl then opened her jacket and pulled out a 10ins carving knife.

The employee talked the girl into putting down the knife and the toys. The girl then rode away on her bicycle.

[Dark One]

Kidnapper shoots own testicle

A would-be kidnapper shot his own testicle after tucking his gun into the waistband of his trousers.

It happened as three men were attempting to kidnap a teenager in a dispute over stereo speakers in Wichita, Kansas.

One of the three pulled out a gun, fired it at the teen and missed, reports the Wichita Eagle.

The gunman jammed the pistol back into the waistband of his pants - and it went off, hitting him in the left testicle.

The 23-year-old man's reaction to his injury caused the gun to fire again, hitting himself in the left calf.

The man was arrested after he walked into a medical centre seeking help. His companions, ages 18 and 20, were also arrested.

[Dark One]

23-stone genie gets stuck in trap door

A 23-stone pantomime genie has been forced to quit - because he keeps getting stuck in the trap door.

Alan Myatt was supposed to appear on stage through the trap door but his 56-inch waist won't let him.

Alan told the Mirror: "I'm just too big to be the genie anymore. The time has come to hang up my lamp. I'm not as agile as I used to be."

The trap door at Gloucester's New Olympus Theatre was widened two years ago to accommodate Alan's expanding stomach. But now he has got even bigger, show bosses decided to call it a day.

However, the amateur actor isn't giving up on his stage career.

He added: "People want me for all sorts of jobs from the laughing policeman to Mr Pickwick and, of course, Santa Claus."

[Dark One]

Police hunt granny suspects

Two OAPs suspected of nicking a purse from a handbag have been caught on CCTV.

The grannies were seen laughing to themselves moments before a student's purse was stolen at a train station.

The white-haired pensioners, one with a bandaged ankle, are seen holding on to each other for support as they shuffle along the platform at Sunderland.

They may have tried to cover their tracks by handing in the bag, reports the Mirror.

PC Gavin Alcorn, of British Transport Police, said: "The student had left her bag for a few minutes and the elderly ladies saw it and brought it into to our office.

"When the girl came back to look for the bag she came to us and checked her possessions. She told us her student ID, Malaysian driving licence and a small amount of cash had been taken.

"We would like to speak to these ladies regarding the incident. They had just got off a train from Newcastle.

"It is a very unusual case but I don't think it is the start of a campaign by older members of the public. We've never had anything like this before."

[Dark One]

Britons moan for 3 days a year

Britons spend more than three full days a year moaning, according to a new study.

It reveals we moan to partners about their annoying habits from hogging the remote control to leaving wet towels on the bed.

Men's biggest complaint is that women take too long to get ready, while women's biggest moan is about men not cleaning up after themselves, reports the Sun.

The study reveals women in Nottingham take the longest to get dressed in the morning, while households in Bristol are the messiest.

Edinburgh has the most nail-biters while people in Plymouth have the worst table manners, and a third of people in Cardiff take too long in the bathroom.

A third of the women surveyed complained about their partners' poor domestic skills and bad financial habits.

Over 1,100 people were questioned for the survey.

[Dark One]

Cat 'gives birth to pups'

Scientists are baffled after a cat apparently gave birth to pups in Brazil.

Mimi's owner says she got pregnant after mating with a neighbour's dog.

Cassia Aparecida de Souza, from Passo Fundo, says Mimi had a litter of six babies - three cat-like and the rest looking like dogs.

Geneticists are testing blood samples to confirm the species, reports the Sun.

Unlikely hybrids have happened before but always between closely related species.

Lions and tigers have produced 'ligers', while a 'wolphin', half killer whale and half bottlenose dolphin, also exists.

[Dark One]

What's in a name?

James Bond fan David Fearn has changed his name - to all 21 official 007 film titles.

The 23-year-old is now called - 'James Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live And Let Die The Man With The Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octocat A View To A Kill The Living Daylights Licence To Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond'.

James, of Walsall, Staffordshire, said: "I wanted to be James Bond and now I am - it's the ultimate fantasy."

The 69-word name change is the longest in the UK Deed Poll Service's history.

It comes as a survey of British birth certificates found 36 boys - and girls - nationwide have been named 'Arsenal'.

The survey found football a common inspiration for names with three boys given the first names 'David Beckham' and 28 'Brooklyn' after his eldest son. Another 29 were named 'Gazza'.

Golf fans named 1,191 sons 'Tiger' while some sports fans preferred brand names - two children being called 'Reebox' and three named 'Adidas'.

Cinema was also an inspiration - the survey found six boys with the first name 'Gandalf', one named 'Harry Potter' and two lads called 'Superman'.

Spokeswoman Sarah Malone said: "It seems many of us are happy to take hero worship to a whole new level, naming our children after the stars we admire."

[Dark One]

Hi-tech walking stick

German scientists have developed an intelligent walking stick that calls an ambulance if the owner falls over.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Development in Kaiserslautern invented the 'i-Stick'.

It's part of an ongoing Assisted Living project to use technology to help elderly people.

If a sensor in the i-Stick registers that it is in a horizontal position, for example if its elderly owner has fallen over, it sends a signal to a control unit which plays a message telling the owner to pick it up.

If the stick remains on the floor the control box is programmed to call either an ambulance directly or a chosen relative.

I-Sticks have yet to hit stores but the scientists are currently looking for a distributor.

[Dark One]

Man sleeps through tree fall

A man carried on sleeping as a 35ft tree crashed into his home.

The beech tree fell into Oscar Henriques' spare room in Exeter, Devon at 3am - just feet from where he slept.

He was only woken when police woke him with constant phone calls an hour later.

Oscar, who lives alone, said: "I did hear a noise but I thought it may be an earth tremor so I went back to sleep.

"The next thing I knew the police were ringing me and I saw a giant tree on my house. I couldn't believe it."

The repairs to the house will cost thousands, reports the Sun.

Oscar added: I've been asking the council to sort that tree out for 24 years."

[Dark One]

Blind skier sets new records

A skiing enthusiast has broken two world records - despite being blind.

Kevin 'Cannonball' Alderton first hit a blistering 105mph at a course in Les Arcs, France.

And last week, he set an indoor record in Landgraaf, Holland, where he reached more than 56mph.

Kevin, 35, relies heavily on his partner Susan and his trainer to help him achieve his goal.

He told the Sun: "I trained hard for three months, most of which was spent in my living room wearing skis and a helmet perfecting my position.

"Susan takes pictures of me, then emails them to my trainer in Scotland who sends me feedback.

"On the course I have a two-way radio in my helmet so my guide can speak to me. He alerts me if I veer too far to either side. I am concentrating too hard on what he says to have time to worry about what is coming up in front of me."

Speaking about breaking the records he said: "It gave me a whole new lease of life and proved that my disability could not hold me back."

Kevin lost his sight after trying to stop thugs attacking a woman near his home in Islington, North London.

[Dark One]

PS3 - a smash

Practical jokers in New York waited for hours to buy a PlayStation 3 - then smashed it in front of shoppers behind them in the queue.

The pranksters took a sledgehammer to Sony's latest offering as stunned gamers looked on, reports ITN.

The consumer terrorists are from the website smashmyipod.com and more recently smashmywii.com, which ensured Nintendo's console received the same treatment.

They began their practical joke campaign by raising £210 on their website, which enabled them to buy an iPod and smash it outside a store.

A statement on the website claims to have nothing against the companies making money but 'exists for the sole purpose of providing satisfaction to people who hate the Nintendo Revolution'.

The project also says: "This is only a social experiment, for the entertainment of the donors, and visitors of this site."

[Dark One]

Marquee firm slams 'cheap' wedding

A marquee hire firm has apologised after telling a New Zealand couple their wedding plans were 'cheap, nasty and tacky'.

The Great Marquee Company emailed Auckland couple Steve Hausman and Paula Brosnahan after they cancelled a wedding marquee, reports the New Zealand Herald.

The firm's office manager, Katrina Jorgensen, wrote: "Your wedding sounded cheap, nasty and tacky anyway, so we only ever considered you time wasters.

"Our marquees are for upper class clients which unfortunately you are not. Why don't you stay within your class levels and buy something from Payless Plastics instead."

Mr Hausman, a builder, forwarded the exchange to a lawyer, who sent it on to friends and it ended up on the internet.

Now, the company has fired the office manager - who is also the company owner's wife - and posted a public apology on its website

"We know that planning a wedding is one of the most stressful times in a person's life and we do what we can to make it easy," wrote Great Marquee Company boss Klaus Jorgensen.

"You may be aware that the email that was forwarded by our customer has now reached some thousands of people.

"We would rather not comment any further but move on having learned from this situation. Again, we pass our apologies on to this customer."

[Fuil Dearg]

that last was is funny, even tho it is was nasty for the customers.
i had no idea that there were still people living in "the west" or "the first world" who cared taht much about class. i guess i'm still fairly naive.
the firm's (previous) office manager was so horrid. it served her right that the letter was posted around the interent.

that PS3 one is just plain wrong!!!
seriously, why would anyone wnat to smash a PS3?

[Dark One]

Council bans Xmas

A council has told staff not to put up Christmas decorations in the office - in case they get hurt.

Festive lights have also been banned because they are too costly to run.

Staff at Tower Hamlets council in East London said they were stunned when they were issued with the order.

One worker said: "We only wanted to get into the spirit and brighten the place up. It feels more like the Eastern Bloc than the East End round here now - except slightly less cheery."

A council spokeswoman defended the move, she said: "There's a concern people might hurt themselves trying to attach hanging decorations from the ceiling.

"Christmas lights use a relatively small amount of electricity but every effort counts in reducing energy waste."

[Dark One]

Wife goes to court to stop hubby's ghost stories

A Taiwanese woman has taken out an injunction against her husband to stop him telling her ghost stories.

The woman, named only as Mrs Chen, complained he was giving her nightmares, reports the Apple Daily Taiwan newspaper.

She first filed a complaint with police, then applied for a personal protection order which was approved by a district court in Taichung.

The couple have been married for 20 years and have two daughters. They separated a few years ago but never divorced.

Mr Chen found work away from home, at an orchard, but returned every few months to visit his daughters for a few days.

In her complaint, Mrs Chen claimed her estranged husband often returned home in the dead of the night in a drunken stupor.

He would then go on to tell her ghost stories for at least an hour, despite her repeated pleas for him to stop.

He would tell her stories of seeing 'figures clothed in white floating around in the orchard', of people hanging themselves, and of the discovery of human bones near the orchard.

In his defence, Mr Chen claimed he was only sharing work stories with his wife.

But his daughters told the judge their father frequently traumatised their mother with his macabre tales.
Wife goes to court to stop hubby's ghost stories

A Taiwanese woman has taken out an injunction against her husband to stop him telling her ghost stories.

The woman, named only as Mrs Chen, complained he was giving her nightmares, reports the Apple Daily Taiwan newspaper.

She first filed a complaint with police, then applied for a personal protection order which was approved by a district court in Taichung.

The couple have been married for 20 years and have two daughters. They separated a few years ago but never divorced.

Mr Chen found work away from home, at an orchard, but returned every few months to visit his daughters for a few days.

In her complaint, Mrs Chen claimed her estranged husband often returned home in the dead of the night in a drunken stupor.

He would then go on to tell her ghost stories for at least an hour, despite her repeated pleas for him to stop.

He would tell her stories of seeing 'figures clothed in white floating around in the orchard', of people hanging themselves, and of the discovery of human bones near the orchard.

In his defence, Mr Chen claimed he was only sharing work stories with his wife.

But his daughters told the judge their father frequently traumatised their mother with his macabre tales.

[Dark One]

Rubbish 'too cold' for binmen

Binmen refused to take away rubbish - because it had frozen.

The collectors in York said bins were overfilled and the contents pressed down - so they froze solid on cold nights and were hard to empty.

According to the Sun, a council spokesman said staff were not allowed to put their hands in bins to free waste.

He added: "Every effort is made to empty bins whilst adhering to health and safety rules."

[Dark One]

Panda porn pays off

Scientists say a bid to encourage giant pandas to breed by showing them 'panda porn' has paid off.

They claim to have sparked a baby boom among the endangered animals by showing them DVDs of pandas mating.

"It works," Zhang Zhihe, a leading Chinese expert, told the Xinhua news agency.

Pandas are notoriously poor breeders and the 'panda porn' movies were just one of many techniques used to encourage them to breed.

In the first 10 months of this year 31 cubs were born in captivity in China and 28 survived, said Zhang.

That's an increase from 12 births in 2005 and just nine in 2000. Of this year's births, 14 came through natural breeding, while artificial insemination or a combination of the two produced the rest.

Now comes the next test - getting the trick to work outside China.

The day of reckoning will come in January, when Prasertsak Buntragulpoontawee hopes male Chuang Chuang and partner Lin Hui will mate in Thailand.

"It is the same idea as chimpanzees seeing people smoke and then copying it," says the Thai researcher.

[Dark One]

Hand-me down fibs

British parents love telling their children the same tall tales they were told in their youth.

A poll found almost nine out of 10 parents had passed on the white lies they were told as children - many with an extra dash of imagination.

Among the fibs were: "When the man in the ice cream van plays his music, he's run out of ice cream", and "Daddy is related to all policemen, so you have to be good wherever you go."

But the favourites remained stories about Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy, followed closely by the importance of eating carrots and crusts.

The nationwide poll for Reader's Digest magazine found 89% of British adults were told minor mistruths by their parents when they were young, with 83% passing them on to their own kids.

Parents from the north of England told the most lies, followed by those from the South, the Midlands and Wales. The Scots told the fewest.

Child psychologist Richard Bulkeley said parents did not need to feel guilty for lying to their children.

He said: "Sharing fantasies may well stimulate children's brains and help develop language skills. It could also make them more creative and sensitive later in life."

The top 10 white fibs:

1. Father Christmas

2. The Tooth Fairy

3. Crusts make your hair curl

4. Carrots make you see in the dark

5. If the wind changes, your face will stay like that

6. Easter Bunny

7. Babies are found under gooseberry bushes (or similar)

8. If you eat apple pips, they'll grow in your tummy

9. Picking your nose causes your head to cave in/your brain to fall out/your nose to fall off

10. Lying does something unpleasant to your tongue (spots, ulcers, it will drop off)

[Dark One]

Britain's most jinxed day - Monday the 27th

Forget Friday the 13th - insurers say Monday the 27th is really the unluckiest day.

More people suffer mishaps when the 27th is a Monday than on any other day, insurers AA warn.

Their report, based on one million claims, dispels the myth that Friday the 13th is the date to fear most.

The firm's Kevin Sinclair said: "Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck.

"But records show you're more likely to have an accident or break something on Monday the 27th."

Monday the 27th disasters include a cat that started a house blaze by toppling a candle, and a man who put his foot through a ceiling while fetching Christmas decorations from his loft.

There have been two other months this year when the date has fallen on a Monday - in February and March. But the good news is the next is not until August 2007.

[Dark One]

Worker gets saucy with waxworks

A night worker at Madame Tussauds faces losing his job after posing for photos groping star waxworks.

In one of the pictures Bryan Boniface is shown pulling down Kylie Minogue's hotpants and kissing her bum.

In others, he is seen beating up Sven Goran Eriksson, throttling London mayor Ken Livingstone and grabbing disabled Professor Stephen Hawking.

Bryan's ex Sofia Oliveira leaked the shots when their 11-year romance ended, reports The Sun.

Bryan, of London, said: "I'm in hot water."

A spokesperson for the museum said: "We do not encourage this."