Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
John Steven Szwalla was arrested for attempted armed robbery of a computer cafe in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He approached the store owner, Bobby Ray Mabe while pointing something that was under his shirt. Mabe and a store customer jumped on Szwalla, held him down, and called police. The "weapon" turned out to be a banana! Szwalla ate the banana before the police arrived.
Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: Flickr user Jason Gulledge)
"And the deputy said, 'Ah hah! He ate the evidence,'" Mabe said. "But we had the banana peel and they took a picture of it."
John Steven Szwalla, 17, was charged with one count of attempted armed robbery. Warrants and records with the sheriff's office list different addresses for him, with a most recent address in Clemmons.
Deputies joked about charging him with destroying evidence, said Major Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's office.
Szwalla is in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: Flickr user Jason Gulledge)
These glasses make it easy to identify whose drink belongs to who at a party. Then when a person gets to the point where they can't spell their own name, you know they've had too many! Link -via Unique Daily
Have you ever wondered who the Alfredo in Fettuccine Alfredo was? Or The Salisbury in Salisbury steak? Listverse has the stories of those whose names are left behind in the foods we eat.
Link -via the Presurfer
Crêpes Suzette (thin pancakes covered with orange liqueur and sometimes set alight) were invented by the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier in honor of the renowned French actress (and Baroness) Suzanne Reichenberg (1853-1924). While this is the most likely origin of the dish (as Escoffier almost single-handedly invented modern French cuisine), other stories claim it was invented by a 15 year old assistant chef serving Queen Victoria’s son. This is most unlikely as an assistant chef would not have been given the chance to cook for royalty.
Link -via the Presurfer
Martin Humphreys of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England has a one-eyed cat named Midge he adopted from a rescue center 12 years ago. For five years now, Midge has accompanied Humphreys on his daily run and hates to finish behind him.
Midge is not attending the film festival. Link to story with film trailer. Link to video report. -via Arbroath
When his workplace offered a £1,000 competition for employees to fulfil a dream, he won after proposing a children’s film about Midge’s peculiar talent.
The result, The Great Race, has been selected for the Short Film Corner at Cannes and Mr Humphreys, who wrote, directed and penned the theme song for the eight-minute production, is flying out to the French Riviera to show it to Hollywood executives. It is believed to be the lowest budget offering at the festival – the opening night film, Pixar animation Up, cost $150 million to make.
Midge is not attending the film festival. Link to story with film trailer. Link to video report. -via Arbroath
Look what's eating this kid! Craftster member 3RaysOfSunshine knitted this awesome hat for his/her son, who wanted a "mean shark". Link -via Everlasting Blort
I live in a small town in Kentucky, and the only time you see more than a few young people in Goth clothing is during our annual festival, in the heat of August. Now I've found a niche blog that addresses a question I've pondered: how hot can they be in all that black Victorian attire?
Goths in Hot Weather posts pictures of people in Goth fashion and rates them on how Goth and how sweaty they appear. Link -via b3ta
Goths, I love 'em! I even used to be one for a bit (well, I was a Didi-Goth for at least 6 months). But there's one thing that troubles me about our cheery friends: what to do they do in summer? All that makeup, long black leather and rubber must get very sticky. I think we should show our respect for these poor unfortunates, struggling to stand out from the vanilla crowd despite blazing temperatures and sunshine that puts the rest of us in shorts and vest tops.
Goths in Hot Weather posts pictures of people in Goth fashion and rates them on how Goth and how sweaty they appear. Link -via b3ta
Instructables member seamster made this wooden tabletop pinball game out of bits and pieces he had saved over time, like drawer knobs, dowels, rubber bands, and a recycle tool table. The ball is from a computer mouse! Link -via Unique Daily
Characters from TV and movies are often placed in a real college setting. In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you're asked to identify the real college in the background of 13 fictional characters. My wild guesses brought me a score of 38%. You will do better! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25468
The Penguathlon is a sporting event for penguins at the Kelly Tarlton Arctic Encounter in Orakei, New Zealand. Penguins compete in five events: football, Frisbee, surfing, swing ball, and waddle races. This is no joke! New Zealand is home to nine of the 16 penguin species, and the colony at the Arctic Encounter has 80 King and Gentoo penguins in its colony. The sports are showcased as an enrichment exercise for the birds.
The Penguathlon, which will run the rest of this month, may become an annual event. Link (with video) -via Arbroath
“New Zealand has the greatest diversity of penguin species and is arguably the best place in the world to see them. As well as being great fun, the Penguathlon gives people a fantastic chance to get up close with them as well as gaining a better understanding about their welfare”, said Gregg Anderson, Tourism New Zealand’s Regional Manager for UK and Europe.
The Penguathlon, which will run the rest of this month, may become an annual event. Link (with video) -via Arbroath
Rob at Cockeyed.com wanted his own wooden Kindle reader, probably because he already had a great name for it -Kindling! So he contacted Windell at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, who laser-cut an awesome facsimile out of wood. It is now for sale on eBay. Link -via Evil Mad Scientist
A suburb without cars? It's happening in Vauban, Germany, an experimental community near Freiburg where there are no garages, street parking, or driveways. If you have a car and move to Vauban, you purchase a space in a parking building at the edge of town when you buy your home. Most residents do not own a car.
A few experimental car-free communities are trying to get off the ground in the US, but not many people live in them so far.
Link -via Digg
(image credit: Martin Specht for The New York Times)
Henk Schulz, a scientist who on one afternoon last month was watching his three young children wander around Vauban, remembers his excitement at buying his first car. Now, he said, he is glad to be raising his children away from cars; he does not worry much about their safety in the street.
In the past few years, Vauban has become a well-known niche community, even if it has spawned few imitators in Germany. But whether the concept will work in California is an open question.
A few experimental car-free communities are trying to get off the ground in the US, but not many people live in them so far.
Besides, convincing people to give up their cars is often an uphill run. “People in the U.S. are incredibly suspicious of any idea where people are not going to own cars, or are going to own fewer,” said David Ceaser, co-founder of CarFree City USA, who said no car-free suburban project the size of Vauban had been successful in the United States.
Link -via Digg
(image credit: Martin Specht for The New York Times)
Wildlife officials are expecting this kangaroo, found shot through the head by a crossbow arrow, to fully recover. The roo was found last Thursday at a park in suburban Melbourne. It's possible that he may have been shot up to a week before being found. He has since been under the care of veterinarians at the Melbourne Zoo.
Link -via Arbroath
Wildlife Victoria has posted a Aus$10,000 ( US$7,600, £5,000) reward to find the person responsible.
Wildlife Victoria spokeswoman Fiona Corke, said the kangaroo was rescued just days after another kangaroo was found with an arrow in its rump in the same area.
"It's just unbelievable, I can't believe that anyone would do something so cruel," she said.
Link -via Arbroath
If you recall the kitten eating a melon video, you won't be surprised at how much the really big cats at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida enjoy pumpkins and other gourds, both for playing with and for eating. -via Metafilter
Email This Post to a Friend