Ship wrecks bridge

A cargo ship plowed through a Kentucky bridge, leaving a 300-foot gap in the middle of the structure and carrying off a load of asphalt and metal on the ship’s bow.

The 312-foot-long ship, the Delta Mariner, struck the Eggner Ferry Bridge in Benton, Ky., about 9 p.m. on Thursday. The ship was too tall to pass under the structure, and destroyed two sections of the bridge.

Four cars were on the bridge and 20 workers were on the ship that was carrying rocket parts, but no one was injured.

“We are grateful that this wreck caused no injuries or loss of life. Since that bridge carries 2,800 cars every day, we were very fortunate that no one was on the span at that time,” Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement. “We’ll turn our attention to a full inspection of the bridge and determine what steps we can take next to speed up the replacement of that important artery.”

Inspectors and emergency responders from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet rushed to the scene to assess the damage.

The bridge was in the process of being replaced.

House made of shredded money

What would you do with $1.82 billion worth of shredded money? In Ireland, people build houses out of it — at least that's what Dublin-based artist Frank Buckley did. The unemployed artist originally wanted to create a gallery for his series of mixed-media artworks called "Expressions of Recession," but he ended up building a house instead.

Buckley has been working roughly 12 hours a day every day since the beginning of December. During the early part of the construction process, he made bricks out of the decommissioned Euros Ireland's mint lent him. In all, around 50,000 money bricks went into building the house that consists of a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room. He plans to continue expanding the house that sits on an empty office building to include a kitchen, a shower, and a patio.

If you're wondering how it feels to live in a house made out of paper currency, he said that it's quite warm inside: "Whatever you say about the Euro, it's a great insulator." Frank is one of the countless people all over the globe affected by recession, and he built the house because he "wanted to create something from nothing." It will take around seven more weeks to complete building his new home, but Buckley (who's been living in the house since December) welcomes any visitor who wants to take a look at his billion-dollar masterpiece.

Student hangs own painting in museum

THE director of a major Polish museum says it was a "witty artistic happening" when an art student secretly hung his own painting in the museum as part of a campaign to open up galleries to young artists.

Director of the National Museum in Wroclaw, Mariusz Hermansdorfer, said he treated the campaign as a joke and has kept the painting on display - in the museum's cafe.

It will be offered for sale at a charity auction.

Last month, Wroclaw Fine Arts Academy student Andrzej Sobiepan put up his small painting of a green leaf in the Polish contemporary art gallery. Museum officials didn't notice the new painting for three days.

He said later he wanted to draw public attention to young artists who are denied exhibition space in museums.

Sobiepan said he was inspired by the elusive British graffiti artist known only as Banksy.

"I decided that I will not wait 30 or 40 years for my works to appear at a place like this," Sobiepan told TVN24.

"I want to benefit from them in the here and now."

Goal Balls

In their latest bid to stop people riding on top of crowded trains, railway officials in Indonesia have begun hanging heavy concrete balls over train tracks.

The balls, named by state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api the "Goal Bola-bola" (Goal Balls), are hung on chains from a metal frame much like a goal post, the Jakarta Post reported. Hung slightly only higher than train roofs, they are designed to swing into "anything that happens to be on top of the train."

Each ball is around the size of a grapefruit and "could deliver serious blows to the head," according to the Associated Press.

The first of them were hung this morning near a train station just outside the capital, Jakarta. Others are due to be installed at railway crossings. If successful, Kerata Api plans to expand the scheme, spokesman Mateta Rizahulhaq told the AP.

Soccer trophy run over by bus in Madrid

Chaotic celebrations after Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey fell a little flat when the prized trophy was dropped from the top of the ceremonial open-top bus.

One of the players, Sergio Ramos, managed to lose his grip on the cup after holding it above his head.

It ended up under the wheels of the double-decker bus before being retrieved by police on the ground, who returned it to the bus driver.

Thousands of euphoric fans watched the trophy fall after packing into the Spanish capital to welcome the champions home.

Fined for walking dog while in car

An elderly disabled woman in Wisconsin was ticketed for allowing her dog to walk free without a leash while she drove behind in a car, The Capital Times reported yesterday.

Police said the 70-year-old woman's neighbours had called in about the unleashed dog wreaking havoc in Madison, Wisconsin.

"At the time of the complaints, the officer tried, without success, to contact the pet owner," police spokesman Joel DeSpain told the paper. "Now, after seeing the little white dog strolling down East Mifflin with a car following close behind, it rang a bell and he had the chance to talk to her."

As the officer approached the vehicle, the dog fell back and jumped into the front seat on his owner's lap, the report said.

The woman was slapped with a $114 fine for "permitting a dog to run at large" and given a stern warning not to repeat the mistake again.

Man superglued tiny hat to his head

AN ENGLISH man got himself in a sticky predicament when he didn't quite think through his Halloween costume.

Shawn Merter had a tiny sequinned top-hat to round out his outfit, but rather than tie it on with string, he superglued it to his head.

"I had fabric glue which is washable, but it wasn't sticky enough," he says in the video.

The point at which he realised his mistake is unknown, but the next morning an embarrassed Shawn was in the emergency ward at the hospital to have the formerly fashionable, now ridiculous headpiece removed.

His understanding boyfriend was there to offer support and muffled giggles as the doctor gave him the bad news; the best they could do is cut off part of the hat, leaving the rim stuck to his scalp until it came off on its own.



Source

Cow poop fetish man jailed

A BRITISH man with a fetish for cow manure was beginning a two-year jail sentence today after he was caught sexually pleasuring himself while covered in dung on a farm in southwestern England.

David Truscott, 41, was found naked apart from a single sock by farmer Clive Roth's 16-year-old son last month, on Woodbury House Farm in Penzance, local newspaper The Falmouth Packet reported.

When officers arrived, he was covered in a large amount of slurry and mud and was surrounded by tissues.

It was the third time he was caught in similar circumstances at the same farm. He was previously jailed for offenses linked to his fetish.

Judge Christopher Elwen, presiding at Truro Crown Court, turned down defense calls for a suspended sentence, saying that Truscott had to be jailed for his "bizarre and perverted activities."

Truscott pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to breaching a restraining order and causing harassment.

Read more:

Raw Video: Skiing on Watermelons

Watermelon skiing isn't for the faint hearted, nor is it for those with feeble bones. But that's not stopping folks in Queensland, Australia from giving it a whirl.

Britain's unluckiest woman?

A WOMAN who dumped her truck-driver boyfriend for being dull, only to see him scoop a Lotto fortune, has been branded Britain's unluckiest woman.

Kerry Graves, 31, has known self-confessed Mr Boring Matthew Breach, 37, since schooldays.

They were a couple for 14 years but Ms Graves then walked out, telling pals she wanted "lots of sex".

She is now in a dingy bedsit with failed web cafe owner Travis Mains-Marten, 28, and their baby Blake.

Meanwhile Mr Breach, who admits his hobby is sleeping, is working out how to spend his jackpot, which was worth almost $30 million.

A friend said: "Kerry's got to be the unluckiest woman in the country. She was with Matthew through all the hard times and that inevitably caused strains - but after she walked out on him he struck it rich."

His mum Sandra, 67, added: "It's a shame because she was a lovely girl and we really liked her."

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Boy almost buys fighter jet

AN overenthusiastic seven-year-old London boy almost bought his very own real-life Harrier fighter jet on eBay for £69,999 ($113,515).

The British-built Harrier jump jet was for sale on the site - but for a fixed price instead of an auction.

The youngster hit the "buy it now" button to purchase the restored fighter jet, causing his father to quickly apologize to the sellers and tell them his son was not able to buy the aircraft out of his pocket money.

"His dad rang up and profusely apologised to us, so it's still for sale. We've put it on as an auction now so that won't happen again," said a spokeswoman for Jet Art Aviation, of Bradford, central England, which is selling the Harrier.

The British-built jet was integral to the nation's arsenal in the Falklands War, but the Government put the elite fighting machines out of service in 1997.

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Vegetarian couple barred from adopting

A VEGETARIAN couple on the Greek island of Crete has been barred from adopting a child because of doubts about their diet, a local social welfare official said today.

The decision was taken because the would-be adoptive parents, who have gone to court to overturn it, eat no meat or fish and officials feared this regimen would be applied to the child as well.

"We asked the University of Crete medical school on the issue and they said the child's diet must include meat, fish, etc," the head of the city's welfare services, Spyros Epitropakis, said.

"We do not discriminate but we were obliged to check this out. The issue is now in the hands of the judicial authorities," he said.

The university expert whose recommendation was used by the welfare services to reject the application has labeled the affair "unreasonable."

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Mistaken Address

A man from Birmingham,UK, is being plagued by police calling at his house in error, due to an address mix-up.

Matthew Jillard, of Bordesley Green, said he had been visited by police more than 40 times in the past 18 months, often in the middle of the night. He said police confused his house in Repton Road with a nearby address in Repton Grove.

West Midlands Police said it had taken measures to stop it happening again, but Mr Jillard said they had failed.

The 38-year-old labourer said in Christmas week police had mistakenly called at his house five times, disturbing the friends and family he had staying with him, including one call at 0300 GMT and one at 0500 GMT.

"I just don't know what to do. Nine out of 10 times they are really apologetic. When my girlfriend rang Police HQ at Lloyd House the gaffer there said he knew all about it because they had seminars about not getting it wrong. We used to get post for the address in Repton Grove but that has stopped after we contacted them. We've put up signs, we've tried to get them to change their records. Some officers have said it is their sat-nav because they're not always that accurate. I really don't know what more we can do."

A police spokeswoman said: "West Midlands Police can confirm that officers have attended an incorrect address in Repton Road on several occasions. Officers have been in regular contact with the occupier to apologise for the mistakes. A number of measures have been put in place to stop this from happening again."

Streaker tackler gets red carded

A non-league footballer who was sent off for tackling a pitch invader who was dressed in a mankini has escaped a three-match ban. Dorchester Town's player-manager Ashley Vickers, 39, said he thought he was doing the stewards a favour by tackling Alan Young during the match on 7 March.

Vickers said he was "dumbfounded" by the red card and the Conference South club lodged an appeal last week. The FA said the red card still stands but it has withdrawn the match ban.

The organisation said the referee was right to dismiss the defender for violent conduct under the laws of the game but said the circumstances were exceptional - hence the withdrawal of the ban.

The incident happened during Dorchester's game away to Havant and Waterlooville. The score was at 1-1 at the time, with Vickers' team going on to suffer a 3-1 defeat.
Borat film

Pitch invader Mr Young had evaded the attention of three officials for about 30 seconds before he was pulled to the ground. Havant & Waterlooville fan Mr Young admitted he ran onto the pitch for a bet and the club has since been charged with supporter misconduct by the FA.

Mr Young told BBC News last week: "It was only a bit of a joke. We all agreed at my local pub on Sunday I'd do it as a bet. The security there were too slow but Vickers caught me quite well. He should be a rugby player."

"The Thing"

Bottoms Up!

Montana allows drunk riding

The Montana Department of Transportation started a legal debate with an advert urging drinkers to get a lift home. The public safety video featured a horse picking up a rider at a bar.

It was meant to act as a metaphor to encourage drinkers to seek alternative means of getting home. But in a state well known for its horse culture it is being taken literally.

Curious residents calling Helena Police have been told that riding a horse while under the influence is legal. The law in Montana carefully defines a vehicle, and excludes those running under real horse power.

The video shows a savvy horse carefully obeying traffic laws on a night-time journey through town before stopping in front of a bar to pick up a rider who has enjoyed a drink or two.

Doll rescued on Yarra River

A COUPLE floating down Melbourne's Yarra River on inflatable dolls have been rescued after getting into trouble.

Australian police say the 19-year-old couple had just passed Pound Bend Tunnel at Warrandyte North when the water became turbulent and the woman lost control of her grip on the doll about 4.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

The woman grabbed hold of a tree that was floating in the river. The man stayed with her and they yelled for help, police say. A passer-by contacted triple zero and police and SES went to the scene.

A kayaker took life jackets to the pair and the SES attended with a boat and rescued the pair. They were checked by ambulance officers but did not require medical attention.

Police say the fate of the dolls is unknown.

NOT made in Scotland

The owners of a number of tartan souvenir shops have been fined £4,500 for selling Chinese-made cashmere clothes from a shelf with the label "Made in Scotland". Gold Brothers, which owns stores in Edinburgh's Royal Mile, had already pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of "misleading" customers.

It follows two test purchases in 2009 by trading standards officers. Sentence was passed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Gold Brothers, which pleaded guilty last month, was trading as Abercrombie Cashmere. Having established the garments were of Chinese origin, officers visited the store on 15 September 2010 and 293 cashmere jumpers were seized. They were all described on the "shelf-edge label" as Scottish but were subsequently identified as having been imported from China.

Read More HERE

Irish Cup draw blunder

The draw for the sixth round of the JJB Irish Cup was thrown into confusion after one of the numbers was called out twice during the live TV broadcast. The problem arose when the Irish FA's senior clubs chairman Robert Cupples mistakenly called out the number 10 after drawing ball six from the cup. Moments later the real number 10 was drawn and supervising IFA official Andy Johnston knew a blunder had been made.

Watch the video HERE