Zombiecon 2008: Manhattan’s undead invade Wall St
October 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
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Manhattan’s undead stumbled down to Wall St for Zombiecon 2008
Photos by Editrrix, Toast to Life, Jamie NYC, Geekanerd, and ThreadSeven.
Armoured truck robber uses Craigslist to make getaway
October 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In a move that could be right out of a Hollywood movie, a brazen crook apparently used a Craigslist ad to hire a dozen unsuspecting decoys to help him make his getaway following a robbery outside a bank on Tuesday. He then made his escape in an inner tube on the Skykomish River.
The robbery happened about 11 a.m. on an armored truck guard at a Bank of America branch.
“He was wearing a dust mask, a particle mask. At first I thought it might be a surgical mask. I still didn’t think anything was wrong, just unusual. Then I noticed he had a pump sprayer,” said Mitch Ruth, who had looked out his office window and noticed the man walking into the bank.
The robber sprayed the guard with pepper spray, grabbed a bag of money the guard was carrying and ran about 100 yards to the creek that runs into the Skykomish River, shedding clothes as he ran.
But apparently, the robber had planned ahead. In case anyone was hot on his trail, he had at least a dozen unsuspecting decoys waiting nearby, which he recruited on Craigslist.
“I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour,” said Mike, who saw a Craigslist ad last week looking for workers for a road maintenance project in Monroe.
He said he inquired and was e-mailed back with instructions to meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He also was told to wear certain work clothing.
“Yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt,” he said.
Mike showed up along with about a dozen other men dressed like him, but there was no contractor and no road work to be done. He thought they had been stood up until he heard about the bank robbery and the suspect who wore the same attire.
From there, the cook made his watery escape in a creek that dumps out into the Skykomish River. One witness said the robber swam away, but another said he used an inner tube to get away.
“We did get an inner tube that was about 200 yards from the place where he entered the water and took that for evidence,” said Debbie Willis, Monroe Police.
Investigators believe accomplices could have picked the robber up at a nearby boat launch or park.
The FBI is helping Monroe Police trace the ad and want to talk to anyone who responded.
“Any piece of information anyone has could be the piece of the puzzle we need to apprehend the suspects,” said Debbie Willis, Monroe Police.
Some Monroe residents, while not endorsing what the robber did, are somewhat amused.
“Creative. Not a right way of doing it, but creative,” said Monroe resident Byron Bevard.
“I grew up in LA and I never heard of anything so crazy in my life,” said resident Sarah Vazquez.
The suspect is described as a white man in his 20s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, wearing a dark blue shirt, jean shorts and a mask.
No sex is secret to long life, says 105-year-old Virgin
October 10, 2008 | 3 Comments
Over the years many a centenarian has delivered their secret for a long life.
Not smoking, daily exercise, moderate drinking, being married (and sometimes not being married) have all had their champions.
But, at the ripe old age of 105, Clara Meadmore could trump the lot: a life of celibacy.
Miss Meadmore says she has always been too busy for relationships and thought of physical intimacy as a ‘hassle’.
The former secretary, who will celebrate her birthday tomorrow, said she had no regrets about remaining a virgin and had turned down several marriage proposals.
Miss Meadmore said: ‘People have asked whether I am a homosexual and the answer is no. I have just never been interested in or fancied having sex.
‘I imagine there is a lot of hassle involved and I have always been busy doing other things. I’ve never had a boyfriend - I’ve never been bothered about relationships.’
She added: ‘When I was a girl you only had sex with your husband - and I never married.
‘I’ve always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry.
‘Everything seems so fast these days. I don’t know a lot about young people or the way they do things. I’m sure it’s very different. I made my mind up at the age of 12 never to marry and I’ve not gone back on that.’
Miss Meadmore was born in Glasgow in 1903, two years after the death of Queen Victoria. She remembers hearing about the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the outbreak of the First World War. Her family emigrated when she was seven, first to Egypt, then Canada and later New Zealand. But Miss Meadmore returned to Britain alone in her twenties and worked as a secretary and housekeeper.
She said: ‘I grew up in an era where little girls were to be seen and not heard so I had to learn to stand up for myself and earn my own living.
‘Some men don’t like that in a woman and before long I was too old to marry anyway.’
Instead of boyfriends, Miss Meadmore filled her time with reading, gardening, cooking and listening to the radio.
Yesterday her friend and former neighbour Josie Harvey, 72, said: ‘When she was a little girl she told her mother that she would never marry and for Clara no marriage meant no sex. She is fiercely independent.
‘Maybe never having a man to get under her feet has kept her young all these years. She has her hobbies and her friends and that is all she needs.
‘She has always believed in doing things her own way and that has allowed her to live a long life. Clara listens to Radio 4 all day long and knows what is going on in the world better than most people in their 30s.’
Miss Meadmore trained as a secretary and served in the Army, undertaking administrative duties in Egypt during the Second World War. She was one of the first members of the Youth Hostel Association and a keen member of the Women’s Institute.
Her only surviving family are two nieces in New Zealand who keep in touch by post.
Miss Meadmore will celebrate reaching 105 with a card from the Queen and a glass of wine with her friends at the Perran Bay nursing home in Perranporth, Cornwall.
But she is determined not to let things get out of hand. ‘I’m hardly likely to get drunk and do something silly at my age,’ she said.
Palin Look-alike wanted for Porn
October 3, 2008 | 1 Comment
US Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has caught the eye of Hollywood - as the subject of a movie definitely not for kids.
A major Los Angeles porn studio is on the hunt for a Palin look-alike to play the mother-of-five politician in an adult film.
The successful actress would earn $2535 to $3800 for the role, according to online advertisements posted on the Los Angeles webpage of sales and social networking site Craig’s List.
“Looking for a Sarah Palin look-alike for an adult film to be shot in next 10 days,” the advertisement said.
“Please send pix, stats etc.”
America’s multibillion-dollar pornography industry is centred in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley region, home to some of the major film and television studios including Warner Bros, NBC Universal and Nickelodeon.
Fast food Fatties fined after monster gorge
October 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
A TRAINEE nurse who was hit with a $336 fine for staying too long while gorging on a monster-sized family bucket at KFC says she is “disgusted”.
Natalie Jackson and a friend spent 1.5 hours eating fourteen chicken pieces, six bags of fries and large cokes at their local branch in West Yorkshire, England, The Sun reported.
The feast worth 5456 calories - 3516 more that the recommended daily calorie count for women - cost $29.50.
A few days later, Ms Jackson received a fine in the post for breaking the restaurant car park’s 75-minute limit.
The 24-year-old, who eats at KFC three times a week, said she was unaware of the car park restructions, and was never going back.
“It’s disgusting, I spend a lot of money there,” she said.
“It didn’t feel like I was in there all that long. We were hungry.”
KFC told The Sun that restaurant parking was contracted to a private firm - but promised to review Ms Jackson’s case.
A spokesman said: “A parking restriction was introduced to prevent non-KFC customers using the car park.
“The 75-minute time limit is designed to accommodate our customers who generally eat for about 30 minutes.”
