Horses Abandoned in Ocala National Forest

http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/1078

DeLand-Deltona Beacon [FL]
26 August 2008

Horses suffer in difficult economic times
Official seizures of neglected horses are 'tip of the iceberg'

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

[...] As economic times get harder, suburban legends float around Central Florida.

One involves horses abandoned in the Ocala National Forest.

For example, local Horse Protection Association of Florida representative Beatty said she's heard a story about a pair of horses left tied to a tree in the forest, with a note begging someone to take them. Alternative stories feature horses simply turned loose, to fend for themselves.

Deputy Ranger Carrie Christman, who's posted at the Ocala National Forest, said she's heard these stories, too, but rangers have never found any abandoned horses in the forest. Silver said she doesn't know of any such cases, either. [...]

Kirk Douglas's Son

Rich Shydner & Mark Schiff, eds., I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics (NY: Crown Publishers, 2006), p. 158.

SPARTACUS FINALLY GETS A LAUGH

Steven Alan Green

The late Eric Douglas -- Kirk's son -- is onstage at Jongleurs, London's biggest comedy club, a place where office parties and hen nights go.

Eric's telling jokes, but not getting laughs. He's pacing and starting to sweat. Finally, some bloke in the crowd yells out, "Come on, mate, tell us a joke!" Douglas fires back with some aggressive put-down. Others join in, chanting, "Tell us a joke!" Forced back on his hind legs, Douglas gets very aggressive. "Do you know who I am?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

"No, who are you?" shouts a heckler, in an uninterested tone.

Douglas snaps back, "I'm Kirk Douglas's son! I'm Kirk Douglas's son! THAT'S who I am!"

Suddenly a lone bloke in the back row stands up and says very solemnly, "I'm Kirk Douglas's son."

Then another audience member stands up, puts his hand over his heart, and says, "I'm Kirk Douglas's son!"

Soon, hundreds of audience members all stand up, hands on hearts, solemnly repeating, "I'm Kirk Douglas's son!"

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article6995513.ece

The Times [London, UK]

23 January 2010

[Book review]

On the Spartacus Road: A Spectacular Journey through Ancient Italy by Peter Stothard

An unthinkable rebellion — how the slaves rose up

Natalie Haynes

Spartacus is a figure so embedded into our culture that, even now, he can command a group of disparate people to rise up in rebellion. Kirk Douglas had a son, the little-remembered Eric Douglas, who was an actor and stand-up comedian. He once came over to the UK to do some gigs and inadvertently created one of British comedy’s finest legends. Eric wasn’t having a great gig at a London club; he was going down the pan. His opening line, I seem to remember, focused on the fact that he lacked the cleft in his chin possessed by both his father and brother. The audience was not in the least interested. Their indifference eventually overwhelmed him and he finally shouted: “Do you know who I am? I’m Kirk Douglas’s son!” The room looked on in silence, then someone in the audience stood up and said: “No, I’m Kirk Douglas’s son.” He was swiftly followed by several more. Within seconds, the entire audience was on their feet, all claiming to be Kirk Douglas’s son, in a pitch-perfect parody of the scene in Spartacus. That, by anyone’s standards, is a tough gig. [...]

Free Key Rings = Tracking Devices

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-08-28-the-great-keyring-paranoia-prank

The Mail & Guardian [South Africa]
28 August 2008

The great keyring paranoia prank

IMKE VAN HOORN AND RIAAN WOLMARANS
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Jozi is a dangerous city indeed: not only are its residents preyed upon by vicious hijackers, but the cunning criminals now plant tracking devices in their victims' cars by handing them "free" key rings at traffic intersections.

The tale of the techno-savvy car thieves did the rounds on email this week. "Kindly refuse them as you would be able to be followed if you accept it [the key ring]. Please pass this on," the message adds helpfully. [...]

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080830090214128C212626

The Independent on Saturday [South Africa]
30 August 2008

Caltex hit by urban myth

By Fiona Gounden

E-mails flying through the electronic ether in South Africa warning of "tracking devices" fitted into free key rings are false and fuel retailer Caltex is infuriated that its promotion at service stations has become a victim of urban myth.

The chain e-mails warn motorists against taking these free key rings from petrol attendants because "electronic gadgetry" was giving off a signal that could "be traceable". [...]

Nauseated Woman's Revenge on Uncaring Bus Passenger

Sydney Morning Herald
26 August 2008

Column 8

[...] "Isha's comments reminded me of a lovely story I heard about a pregnant lady on the Gosford-to-Sydney train," writes Alison Webster, of Westleigh (Rude blokes not offering seats, Column 8, yesterday). "Unlike Isha, she was not obviously pregnant but was feeling very nauseous and unwell, and asked a gentleman if he would mind giving up his seat for her. He said he wouldn't, and several other passengers offered her a seat -- she declined. About two minutes later, she threw up into the gentleman's lap and when he tried to stand up, the other passengers wouldn't let him. He had to sit with vomit on his lap all the way to Sydney. Served him right, I say!" [...]

Dead Rat in Disneyland Cider

David Koenig, Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland (Irvine, CA: Bonaventure Press, 1994), p. 47.

But the worst of the animal intruders were the rats that invaded Tom Sawyer Island in the late Sixties. They were big, ugly rodents that usually came out at night to feast on the popcorn, potato chips and other treats guests had dropped behind. [...] [A Disneyland hostess once] opened a huge barrel that she'd been serving apple cider from all day to discover a dead rat floating inside.

Godless U.S. Dollar Coin

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/08/dollar_coins_not_godless_despi.html

Grand Rapids Press [MI]
22 August 2008

Dollar coins not 'Godless' despite urban myth

by Chris Knape

The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS -- An e-mail spreading an urban myth about those shiny, new dollar coins might be better circulated than the coins themselves.

Since The Press published a story Thursday about plans to test its marketing of the Andrew Jackson coin in Grand Rapids, several readers have written to object to what they thought was the coin's omission of the motto "In God We Trust." [...]

"Sgt. Steeley": Canadian Variant

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ilgZsCHig6AjaacSQvnL-nzwtT3g

The Canadian Press
23 August 2008

American urban legend adapted for fallen Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan

[...] A chain e-mail which circulated last month among military families and the general public paints a compelling first-person account of a traveller on an Air Canada flight sitting near a stoic soldier who is escorting the body of a comrade killed in Afghanistan home for burial. [...]

[A Canadian variant of the American "Sgt. Steeley" story.]

Gang Initiation: Brick Through Windshield

http://newsok.com/article/3286624/

The Oklahoman
21 August 2008

E-mail chain spurs panic, Oklahoma City police warn

By Michael Kimball and Ken Raymond
Staff Writers

An e-mail detailing a woman's harrowing encounter with teenage vandals is spreading across the Oklahoma City area — but police say there's no need to worry.

Misty LaFave e-mailed friends and family members Tuesday about an incident that occurred as she was driving on Wilshire Boulevard near Western Avenue. According to the e-mail, LaFave was driving with her child when two teenagers jumped into the road and hurled a brick at her windshield. She continued driving and called 911.

According to the e-mail, a police officer told LaFave it was a "gang thing” targeting single women in order to get them outside their cars to be robbed or killed. [...]

Fatal Lunar Eclipse Rumor, India

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Lunar-eclipse-rumours-bring-hundreds-out-of-their-homes/351855/

Express India
22 August 2008

Lunar eclipse rumours bring hundreds out of their homes

Express News Service

Pune, August 21 -- It might have been someone’s idea of an April Fool joke but this one caused a lot of confusion and agitation early on Thursday morning. Many confused and irritated people at Tadiwala Road and Bhavani Peth poured out on to the streets because of several wild rumours. They said that sometime between 3 am and 5 pm, there were frenzied knocks on the doors asking people to get out of their houses if they wanted to survive the ill-effects of an alleged lunar eclipse. [...]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/Death_in_sleep_rumours_keep_residents_awake/articleshow/3391470.cms

The Times of India
22 August 2008

'Death in sleep' rumours keep residents awake

PUNE: It was a sleepless Wednesday night for many citizens in the Pimpri-Chinchwad township and some Pune suburbs, following a rumour that people were dying in their sleep. The 'reasons ' for the rumoured deaths were many -- planetary effect, fast spreading illness and earthquake. [...]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200808221551.htm

The Hindu [India]
22 August 2008

Eclipse of moon triggers rumours in Pune

Pune (PTI): A police van took rounds with blaring microphones on Thursday night asking people in many localities to go to sleep and ignore the rumours that they could be dead next day morning if kept awake. [...]

http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=8846&cid=2

The Herald [Goa, India]
22 August 2008

‘Keep Awake’ rumour has Goa in tizzy!

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, AUG 22 – This rumour – which spread like wild fire in many parts of Maharashtra in the last two days – gripped Goans as well in the wee hours of Friday.

The rumour read like this – keep yourself and your children awake or risk dying in sleep, literally keeping many a children awake in the wee hours of today. [...]

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=90055

Mangalorean.com [India]
24 August 2008

Rumours keep people of six districts awake!

By Team Mangalorean, Bangalore

DHARAWAD, August 23, 2008: Residents of six districts of North Karnataka, including Hubli-Dharwad twin cities, spent sleepless night on Thursday and even some people on Friday following thick and fast rumours that children and elders who fall asleep in the night would die. [...]

However, some educated persons moved all over the Hubli City the entire night banging house doors and advising people that it was all blind belief and not to wake up the sleeping children. [!]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/People_lose_sleep_over_quake_rumours/articleshow/3401100.cms

The Times of India
25 August 2008

People lose sleep over quake rumours

AKOLA: Scores of people in rural parts of west Vidarbha region, comprising Akola, Washim and Buldana, have stopped sleeping in their homes after rumours of earthquake and other natural calamities spread in the past 4-5 days. Many people have been sleeping in their courtyards or on the roads.

Sources said that people have been receiving SMSes about natural calamities from Jalgaon, Khandesh, Bhusawal, Parbhani, Nanded, Pune, Surat and Baroda. Sources said that an SMS doing the rounds says that a child was recently born with moustaches and killed his parents. "The child would bring disaster to the world. The parents must not allow their children to sleep or they would die of some disease." [...]

Ice Storm to Blame for Baby Boom? (Pratt, KS)

http://www.pratttribune.com/news/x2090469083/Ice-storm-to-blame-for-baby-boom

Pratt Tribune [KS]
21 August 2008

Ice storm to blame for baby boom?

By Carol Bronson
The Pratt Tribune

Twenty-four little guys and girls have been born in Pratt during the first three weeks of August, positioning Pratt Regional Medical Center to tie or break its record of 33 babies in one month set in June 1960 and tied in September 2005. [...]

Ice storm babies? No one is saying so officially, but the sly explanation around town and even at the hospital is that more than the usual number of babies were conceived during an ice storm that hit Pratt last Dec. 10 and suspended electrical power in the town for a few days, up to a week in places, and for longer than that in outlying areas. [...]

Tennis Shoes on Powerlines

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/08/clio_police_make_pair_of_drug.html

The Flint Journal [MI]
21 August 2008

Clio police make pair of drug busts; Tennis shoes hang nearby -- just like urban legend says

by Bryn Mickle
The Flint Journal

CLIO, Michigan -- Urban legend has it that sneakers hanging from powerlines are a secret way to advertise spots to buy drugs. There might be some truth to that in Clio.

Twice this month, city police busted suspected drug dealers within spitting distance of tennis shoes dangling from utility lines.

That has Clio police Chief Jim McLellan wondering if the shoes are just a coincidence. [...]

Greek Rumors about Chinese Goods

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11977024

The Economist [UK]
21 August 2008

Doing business for aeons

The lofty theory, and tough reality, of a link between two peoples who have always known the meaning of diaspora

[...] Compared with the Albanian builders and Filipino nurses who also live in Athens, the city's Chinese community is elusive. The lanterns that mark out Chinese shops are easy to spot -- but the number of Chinese people visible on the street, or even at the till, is small.

This "invisibility" fuels many myths, says Tracey Rosen, a doctoral student who is studying the 30,000 or so Chinese who live in Greece. There are rumours that all their merchandise is made on ships on the high seas, where no labour laws apply, and that it can be dangerous -- televisions that explode, underwear that gives you a rash. [...]

Assembling a Car from Spare Parts

Sydney Morning Herald
22 August 2008

Column 8

[...] More on automotive spare parts, a spin-off of our exorbitant ink cartridge discussion, this time from Cecil Grivas, of Bathurst. "I was an engineering apprentice in 1948 when the first Holden came out, and it was said around the trades that you could assemble one from spare parts for well under the market price of the car. When GMH became aware this was happening, spares prices were trebled. Urban myth?" [...]

Mars Spectacular

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Mars_hoax_mails_flood_planetarium_website/articleshow/3382733.cms

Times of India
20 August 2008

Mars hoax mails flood planetarium website

KOLKATA: A hoax e-mail has kept the telephones at MP Birla Planetarium ringing incessantly for the past couple of days. "I received over 50 calls on Tuesday, all referring to a mysterious e-mail titled 'Mars Spectacular' saying the Red Planet will come so close to the Earth on August 27 that it will look as large as the moon. This is totally false and baseless," said an exasperated Debiprosad Duari, director (research & academic) at the planetarium. [...]

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10239408.html

Gulf News [United Arab Emirates]
22 August 2008

UAE astronomers reject rumours of 'second moon'

[...] A senior official at the Emirates Astronomical Society and Chairman of the Islamic Moon Observatory Project. Mohammad Shoukat Oudha, said the rumour has been triggered by the fact that Mars becomes brighter every 780 days on its orbit between the sun and Earth.

Mars might appear brighter but it will not be larger than usual to the naked eye this year.

"By the will of God, this may happen in the year 2287 AD. [! -- bc]

"Mars will appear in the sky as large as a full moon, giving mankind a feeling that Earth has two moons, one in the east and the other in the west," Oudha predicted.

Tapeworm Came From Restaurant Salad

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1114396,CST-NWS-shaws19.article

Chicago Sun-Times
19 August 2008

Man says 9-foot tapeworm came from undercooked salmon salad
Wants $100,000, but Shaw's owner says it's not at fault

BY MARK J. KONKOL
Staff Reporter

Anthony Franz had started to eat healthy, but the salmon salad he ordered for lunch from Shaw's Crab House in August 2006 wasn't the best choice, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Franz says he became violently ill for several days after eating that salad and later "passed a 9-foot tapeworm." [...]

Bottle Caps Collected for Cancer Treatment (W. Va.)

http://wvgazette.com/latest/200808180252

The Charleston Gazette [WV]
18 August 2008

Va. bottle cap drive for cancer a hoax

By The Associated Press

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- A bizarre hoax has fooled residents across West Virginia who thought they were helping raise money for cancer patients.

Churches, restaurants and businesses from Wheeling to Bluefield have been collecting plastic bottle caps, fueled by flyers that claim the caps can be redeemed for money to pay for cancer treatment. [...]

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_232221731.html

Register-Herald [Beckley, WV]
19 August 2008

Bottle cap hoax upsets residents, but shows how much folks care

Audrey Stanton
Register-Herald Features Editor

If plastic bottle caps could help cancer victims receive chemotherapy treatments, many southern West Virginia residents would benefit.

Unfortunately, plastic bottle caps don't do anything more than keep liquids from spilling.

When news broke Monday confirming that collection of such caps to help raise money for cancer patients was a hoax, area stores and businesses did away with collection bins that sometimes held thousands of pop bottle lids. [...]

Korean Belief in Deadly Electric Fans

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/480793

Toronto Star
19 August 2008

Urban legend: That fan could be the death of you
Korean wives' tale one of many legends unique to Canadian culture

Justin Piercy
Special to the Star

A student was convinced her teacher was going to kill the entire class, thanks to a piece of imported folklore. [...]

"(The student) told us that if you are in a sealed room with an electric fan, it will lower your body temperature and you will die," Clarke-Gray said. [...]

The Cross in the Dirt (John McCain)

[Left-wing bloggers note a similarity between Sen. John McCain's account of one of his Vietnamese guards drawing a cross in the dirt and a story said to have been told by Solzhenitsyn.]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/the-dirt-in-the.html
The Daily Dish

18 August 2008
Andrew Sullivan
The Dirt In The Cross Story, Ctd

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16591.html
The Carpetbagger Report

18 August 2008
McCain tells a tall tale?
Steve Benen

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/solzhenitsyn_biographer_crossi.php

TPM Election Central [Blog]

Solzhenitsyn Biographer: Cross-In-Dirt Gulag Story Never Happened

By Greg Sargent - August 19, 2008, 2:05PM

There's been a ton of buzz on the web for the last day or so -- beginning with this Daily Kos diary -- suggesting that John McCain patterned his story about a Vietamese captor drawing a cross in the dirt before him on a similar episode from Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn's time in the Soviet gulags.

But it turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode "never happened," and didn't appear in Solzhenitsyn's book, Gulag Archipelago, either. [...]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/08/mccains_vietnam.html
Boston Globe
20 August 2008
McCain, Vietnam, and a cross in the dirt
Posted by Michael Paulson

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/cross-in-the-di.html

The Daily Dish [Blog]
22 August 2008

By Andrew Sullivan

Cross In The Dirt Update

Some loose ends. Chuck Colson's office say they simply don't know where the original source for the Solzhenitsyn story was, and have reviewed notes and manuscript of the book and come up empty. They're still looking into it. But Factcheck.org have uncovered two Billy Graham broadcasts that put the story out there in 1975 and 1976. [...]

Samuel Jackson's Imminent Death

http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=bcd5f281-b1cc-47e3-ac06-412e29d1e8f0

Times Colonist [Victoria, BC, Canada]
18 August 2008

Morbid e-mail tags Jackson as 'next'

Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist

His public relations gambit might be in questionable taste, but you have to hand it to Daryl Toor. The former CBS journalist, music reviewer and marketing guru has lived up to the title of Attention!, his Atlanta-based publicity agency.

Toor, the firm's CEO and "Chief Awareness Officer," has generated plenty of attention since he e-mailed a morbidly intriguing memo to media outlets. It noted the eeriness of a photograph in which two showbiz luminaries who died a day apart this month -- soul legend Isaac Hayes at 65 and comic Bernie Mac at 50 -- are pictured with Samuel L. Jackson.

"Could Samuel Jackson be next?" the memo read -- a reference to the bizarre phenomenon of celebrities often dying in threes. [...]

Obama Tried to Smuggle Iraqi Soldiers Into the U.S.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/150576/page/2

Newsweek
11 August 2008

Southern Discomfort
A journey through a troubled region.

By Christopher Dickey

[...] At The Point on Lookout Mountain above Chattanooga, I came across a small group of men who spend much of their spare time and disposable income re-enacting battles and reproducing camp life as it was in the 1860s.

[...] Walking down to The Point one morning, a 12-year-old "private" in this particular Confederate unit told me what he'd heard tell in school about the elections. Next to nothing about McCain. But Obama? "There are too many chances we would take if he became president, you know what I mean?" I said I wasn't sure I did. "I don't know if it's a myth or it's true," said the boy, "but they say that they caught him trying to sneak Iraqi soldiers into the United States." [...]

Houses of White Owners to be Confiscated (S. Africa)

http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/08/08081213151004

BuaNews [South Africa]
12 August 2008

Confiscation of houses in North West is a hoax

Mafikeng - The North West Housing Department has confirmed that a letter, alleging that about 5000 houses are to be seized from "white house owners", is a hoax.

According to the department, the fraudulent declaration was signed by a fictitious "Richard Molefe," who allegedly works at the department, saying the houses would be seized and handed over to the formerly disadvantaged.

The declaration on 31 July was fraudulently written on the letterhead of the North West provincial legislature and circulated in Klerksdorp. [...]

Giant Catfish in Reservoir

http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/angleberger/wb/172659

Roanoke Times [VA]
11 August 2008

'Giant catfish' another legend

Tom Angleberger

[...] "Every large reservoir I've ever worked on has reports of 'catfish as big as a man' that hang out in front of the intakes and eat everything that comes close to them," recalled Scott Smith, a fisheries biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. [...]

Black Cats Killed by Italian Satanists

http://news.scotsman.com/12007/Not-so-lucky-for-black.4373883.jp

The Scotsman
9 August 2008

Not so lucky for black cats killed by satanists in Italy

By Nick Pisa in Rome

DOZENS of black cats are vanishing across Italy every day to be used in Satanic rituals, an animal welfare group has revealed.

In the last few weeks, black cats - strays as well as pets - have vanished from the streets of Milan, Rome, Florence and Venice. The Italian Association for the Defence of Animals and the Environment (Aidaa) estimates 60,000 were killed last year, to ward off bad luck, but also for use in satanic rites and in cosmetics laboratories where black fur gives the best results. [...]

Hydrodynamic Moustache

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldOfSport/idINIndia-34934120080810

Reuters India
10 August 2008

BLOG - Secret moustache pact paying off in the pool

By Kevin Fylan

[...] One of the more famous moustaches in the pool belonged to David Wilkie, of course, and this story reminded me of a (no doubt tall) tale about the great Scot. I was told that Wilkie once said, jokingly, to a bunch of Soviet swimmers that his great times were down to his silky big moustache making him more streamlined in the water. At the next big event, the Soviets all turned up sporting similarly impressive moustaches... [...]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93211290

National Public Radio [U.S.]

All Things Considered
3 August 2008

Mark Spitz: How Phelps Can Win Big In Beijing

[...] As for his trademark mustache, Spitz said, it began as a celebration of leaving his college team at Indiana, where the coach required his swimmers to be clean-shaven.

The facial hair also gave him an opportunity to play some mind games with his rivals on Russia's swim team.

At the Olympics, Spitz had been planning to shave his mustache before his first race.

But just before that was to happen, he shared a pool with the Russian team.

One of the coaches, Spitz recalled, wanted to know about the mustache and why Spitz hadn't shaved it.

"No, it doesn't slow me down," Spitz answered. "As a matter of fact, it deflects the water away from my mouth. It allows me to get a lot more streamlined in the water. And that's why I broke three world records three weeks ago at the Olympic trials," he told the Russian coach.

"The next year, all of the Russian swimmers -- the men, that is -- had mustaches. And that's a true story," Spitz said. [...]

Belief in Yetis in Bhutan Decreasing

[Will there be a time when more Western cryptozoologists than the Bhutanese believe in the yeti? -- bc]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080900970.html

Washington Post
9 August 2008

Losing the yeti in forgotten nation of Bhutan

By TIM SULLIVAN
The Associated Press

[...] Many traditional beliefs remain deeply ingrained in Bhutan, from astrology to the worship of Buddhist priests. But the monster is now increasingly forgotten, and the link to an ancient past is more often seen as a sign of ignorance. [...]

South African Crime Legends

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20080809084132951C830117

The Independent on Saturday [South Africa]
9 August 2008

Crime: Separating the fact from fiction

Carvin Goldstone

South African crime is so widespread and unpredictable that it is often hard to tell genuine cases from urban myths. [...]

[Chubb Security recently issued a warning about a gang initiation that involves killing drivers who flash their headlights; gas pump attendants sell unclaimed cash slips to taxi drivers; women are robbed and undressed in shopping mall restrooms.]

ITIS APIS POTANDA TINO NE

Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]

9 August 2008

Column 8

[...] It's suburban archaeology time, with Epping's John Rourke reporting an intriguing find. "While digging in the garden, I unearthed what appears to be a very old bronze vessel. A thorough clean revealed the following inscription, obviously in a foreign language - possibly Latin, 'ITIS APIS POTANDA TINO NE'. I am curious to know the age and purpose of the vessel, and would be grateful if one of your learned readers could provide a translation." We are almost certain it is evidence of a Roman ship blown off course, and that the inscription translates as "I'm as pissed as a potato, aren't I?" But we may be wrong. [...]

[IT IS A PIS POT AND A TIN ONE. -- bc]

Sydney Morning Herald
15 August 2008

Column 8

[...] "John Rourke, though I don't live in Epping, I think your archaeological visitors must have been round my way, too," writes Graham Bannerman, of Lewisham (Mysterious inscription, "ITIS APIS POTANDA TINO NE", Column 8, Saturday). "I found something similar - a large stone slab set with an iron ring, inscribed with the words 'TOTI E HORS ESTO'. I never have been able to figure out what it's for." OK, everyone, the penny has finally dropped. That's quite enough. [...]

Boxer Willie Pep Won a Round Without Throwing a Punch

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3522638

ESPN
6 August 2008

Could Pep have won a round without landing a single punch?

By Don Stradley
Special to ESPN.com

In Willie Pep's later years, he was known to carry a folded newspaper article in his wallet. The article was about his 1946 fight with Jackie Graves, the one in which Pep allegedly won a round without throwing a punch. [...]

Some skeptics have alleged that the newspaper article was actually typed by Pep himself; others say it was a copy of a story written by the man responsible for creating the myth, St. Paul sports writer Don Riley. [...]

John Smoltz Got Burned Ironing a Shirt (2)

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/194/story/374759.html

Merced Sun-Star [CA]

1 August 2008

Shawn Jansen: Note to self -- Take shirt off before ironing

[...] I figured [...] it would be fun to look back at some of the strangest sports injuries.

Some of these just leave yourself shaking your head.

Braves pitcher John Smoltz, for instance, burned his chest when he tried to iron his shirt while wearing it. [...]

Cruise Control

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24115528-5010800,00.html

The Australian
2 August 2008

GPS drivers lose their minds to life on dash

Caroline Overington

[...] It may be apocryphal, but in the US, the story that most commonly does the rounds concerns the guy who put on his GPS and his cruise control, and then got out of the driver's seat, and stepped into the back of his Winnebago, to make himself a cup of coffee.

He ran straight into a tree. The man told investigators that he assumed the GPS, coupled with cruise control would enable the car to drive itself. [...]

Recycling Rumor

http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?17665

Martha's Vineyard Gazette [MA]
1 August 2008

Glass, Paper, Cardboard: Recycling Riddle Solved

By MIKE SECCOMBE

It is one of the enduring pieces of Martha's Vineyard lore: you take your recycling to the transfer station, separate it as directed into containers for plastics, paper, cardboard, aluminum and so on, and then at the end of the day it all gets tossed in together and dumped.

Like glass, the myth recycles endlessly. But it is a myth. [...]

Texas State University, Top Party School

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/sports/local_story_213122249.html

San Marcos Record [Texas]
31 July 2008

Dispelling Texas State's longtime urban legend

By Randy Stevens
Sports Editor

[The writer, an alumnus of Texas State University, recalls the belief that the university had been "ranked as the nation's top party school by either Playboy or the Princeton Review back in the late 1980s, something I absorbed as a fact without ever taking a look to see if it was true. And since Texas State didn't have much to celebrate from its sports teams, I'd use "nation's top party school" comeback whenever my friends from UT or A&M started to brag about their winning sports teams."]