Creepy clown prank results in charges for two men
A pair of Massachusetts pranksters were caught on a would-be victim’s porch when an off-duty officer’s suspicions were raised by a creepy clown mask. An off-duty officer became suspicious when he spotted Nicholas Court and Jonathan Gebbia running through his backyard while one was wearing a “freaky clown mask”.
Sgt Sean Sweeney said the officer saw Court, who was dressed in all black and a bloody clown mask, carry a box onto the porch of a neighbouring home, while Gebbia hid in nearby bushes with a camera. The off-duty officer stopped the men before any residents of the home answered the door and they told him they were filming a prank video for YouTube.
“They explained they were going to put it on YouTube. The woman had never seen the people before. It was a strictly random pick,” Sweeney told the Cape Cod Times. Sweeney said the men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.(UPI)
Meet the Unfriendly Neighbourhood Spider-Dog
Arachnids, aka spiders, may be a kind of insect that can keep other insects in check or may be the subject of classic children’s literature, but to many people, spiders just downright make skin crawl. Now what about a real-life prank involving these web spinnersIJ Not just any small trick with plastic joke bugs but something completely planned — with props and captured by amateur videographers. And throw in a canine-sized faux arachnid with human-sized webbing for good measure. Just imagine the horror. Or not. YouTube prank group SA Wardega, fronted by Sylwester Wardega, created such a prank. The group shot it in a horror-genre style that would make John Carpenter — slightly — proud. The group’s concept was a mutant giant spider-dog, and the five-minute viral video shows just how fearsome that kind of creature can be, even if it is just a little doggy.
Chica, the dog-spider, is the four-legged fur-ball actor garbed in an eight-legged tarantula costume. She also has a Facebook fan page where is written, “Yo! I want your soul.” Yikes — a mutant spider-dog with keyboarding skills.
SA Wardega has made other prank videos but nothing like this adorable yet horrifying montage. The video earned nearly four million hits in a day. look out! Here comes the spider-dog!
A tip: If you happen to find yourself confronted by a giant mutant spider-dog in the chill of the night, don’t run.
A scratch behind the ears might be all you need to survive the gag. (Yahoo News)
Soda can alarms in use at Detroit
It’s no secret that the city of Detroit has been suffering tough financial times for decades with ongoing budget cuts and debt. It’s the largest city in the US to ever declare bankruptcy, with legal proceedings still continuing. Those affected by those cuts include city service-workers such as the Detroit Fire Department firefighters, who have been using unusual, creative, low-tech practices to deal with the lack of resources and technology.
In fact, things have gotten so bad that unlike most modern fire stations across America, which have computerised alert systems for emergencies, many Detroit stations use soda cans filled with metal screws, or sometimes pocket change, and fax machines. When an emergency call comes in, an antiquated fax expels a sheet of paper, knocking a cola can off the top of the machine — that’s it, that’s all. And it’s strangely efficient.
Now this isn’t how all the stations operate, but it’s not far off. Some stations have rigged their fax machines to wiring connected to standard firehouse bells.
Although these ideas are clever, they aren’t ideal. And the low-tech alarm system isn’t the only problem the department faces. Response times are also affected because of older and poorly maintained service vehicles.
So what’s being done about the low-tech challenges the fire department facesIJ The “pop can system” was brought up in court before US Bankruptcy Judge Steven W Rhodes as evidence that the city needs to spend more money to upgrade the tools and technology at its fire stations. But until Judge Rhodes has a plan of action in place to get the city out of the financial gutter, it looks like the Detroit Fire Department will continue shopping at Costco and Home Depot for soda and screws. Scrounging up a little change might be tough, though. (Yahoo News)
Queen of england finds selfie-takers ‘strange’
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II finds selfie-taking fans to be “strange” and misses the days of “eye contact,” the US ambassador said. Ambassador Matthew Barzun told Tatler magazine that he and the monarch discussed the Queen’s feelings about being the constant subject of photos taken on mobile devices when she presented him with his credentials last year. The ambassador said the Queen finds it “strange” to be confronted with the backs of selfie-taking users instead of faces when she ventures out in public. “She was essentially saying: ‘I miss eye contact,’” Barzun said. The Queen made selfie history when she famously photobombed a picture taken by Australian hockey players Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris during the Commonwealth Games in Scotland. (UPI)