March 2008 Entries

March 29, 2008

I'm emigrating

[found on Ananova]
A third of Brits don't know Shakespeare wrote plays - and many of them think he was King of England.

A new survey also reveals 25% didn't realise John Keats was a poet, with some saying his famous Odes were written by Robbie Williams.

Others believed poet Sylvia Plath was lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas. Less than a third knew Winnie the Pooh author A A Milne was a writer.

Our ignorance about our famous authors was revealed in a poll of 3,000 people. It also showed almost two thirds did not know Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest.

Some 70% have never written a poem to a loved one though two thirds would like to receive one.

Poet laureate Andrew Motion, 55, said: "Although most people accept that poetry has a vital role in personal as well as national life, these findings show a depressing level of ignorance.

"The good news is that 61% said they would like to have poetry play a role in their lives - in which case we hope they might also want to write one."

A cruise firm is offering a seven-night holiday to the writer of the best poem, chosen by Andrew. The framed work will be displayed on board.

March 23, 2008

Happy Easter

March 17, 2008

Good idea, poor execution

[found on stuff.co.nz]
It is the one moment every man wants to get right – and which London floor-fitter Lefkos Hajji could hardly have got more wrong.

The luckless 28 year-old's dreams of giving his sweetheart, Leanne, 26, the ultimate proposal have literally vanished into thin air.

Hajji, of Hackney, east London, had concealed a £6,000 ($NZ14,895) engagement ring inside a helium balloon. The idea was that she would pop the balloon as he popped the question.

But as he left the shop, a gust of wind pulled the balloon from his hand and he watched the ring – and quite possibly the affections of his girlfriend – sailing away over the rooftops.

"I couldn't believe it," he told The Sun newspaper.

"I just watched as it went further and further into the air.

"I felt like such a plonker. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me."

Hajji spent two hours in his car trying to chase and find the balloon, without success.

"I thought I would give Leanne a pin so I could literally pop the question," he said.

"But I had to tell her the story – she went absolutely mad. Now she is refusing to speak to me until I get her a new ring."

He is hoping the ring will still turn up.

"It would be amazing if someone found it," he added.

March 11, 2008

Personally, I'm with the cops on this one

and also, shouldn't it be "The Bilingual Ecole?

---
[found on ananova]

Parents of two four-year-old boys in New York are suing officials after their sons were allegedly handcuffed for refusing to take a nap.

Lawyer Scott Agulnick says a substitute teacher took Jaden Diaz and Christopher Brito to an empty classroom.

Then, a school safety officer allegedly entered the room, cuffed the boys' wrists - and told them they would never see their parents again.

Mr Agulnick said the families were seeking damages, adding: "Failure to comply with nap time is hardly an offence that warrants being handcuffed, or threatened, for that matter."

Christopher, now five, told his mother Vasso Brito, 34: "I wasn't shot, but my hands were tied," she told the New York Post.

"Right now, I feel there are monsters in school," she said. "I'm still perturbed. As I'm talking to you, I'm shaking."

Jaden, now six, remembers a man who was dressed like a cop walked in, sat at a big desk and threatened them.

"He was police," Jaden said. "He said, 'You know what happens when you don't go to sleep in there? . . . 'When you go to jail, you're not going to have no fun, no TV, no toys.' "

Education officials and the NYPD, which oversees school-safety officers, have yet to comment about the case at The Bilingual School in The Bronx.

March 9, 2008

Sexy lamp post

The suspicion that sexual assaults against inanimate objects, including bicycles and hoovers, are on the rise is confirmed by the disturbing news that a man was last month cuffed for "allegedly simulating a sex act with a lamppost", as the Wiltshire Times puts it.

The incident apparently took place at about 4.45pm on 16 February, when police received reports of a man "being indecent" in the Queens Road area of Westbury.

The suspect was arrested on 27 February "on suspicion of outraging public decency" and later bailed pending an "extensive police investigation".

During their probe, officers gathered evidence and statements, "some of which were from children", and the unnamed man yesterday answered bail for further quizzing. He was again released "pending further inquiries".