Teen Takes Great-Granny As Date To Junior Prom
An Indiana teenager who took his 93-year-old great-grandmother to his junior prom says he had a great time, even though her early bedtime nearly cut the night short. Drew Holm says his classmates thought it “was pretty cool” that he asked Kathryn Keith to last Friday’s Crothersville High School junior prom. Holm picked Keith up in her Cadillac for the dance in Seymour, about 60 miles south of Indianapolis. Keith, who wore a blue dress, told the Seymour Tribune she’s proud that he asked her.
The pair hit the dance floor for only one song, sharing a slow dance. Their night ended by 9 pm because Keith has an early bedtime. Holm then took his girlfriend to an after-prom event at a bowling alley.
(AP)
Theme Park In China Offers ‘Death Ride’ Called Samadhi
Forget about thrill rides. How about a shrill rideIJ The Window of the World theme park in China has a new attraction that some are just dying to ride. It’s called Samadhi: 4D Experience of Death, and it’s designed to give riders the sensation of being dead, cremated, and reborn. First, the visitor goes on a journey through a ‘morgue’. Next, they are placed in a casket and put on a conveyor belt for ‘cremation’, which is simulated by a sudden blast of hot air over the rider to simulate flames.
The attraction also uses flashes of light to give the rider “an authentic experience of burning”. Finally, an image of a womb is projected onto the ceiling and riders must crawl until they reach a white, padded room where they are ‘reborn’. Sound funIJ The ride’s creators went to great lengths to make the experience as accurate as possible by visiting a real crematorium and lying inside the incinerator. When many riders reach the end of the experience, they are said to be drenched in sweat. Whether that’s a result of the heat, or being scared to death, is uncertain.
(UPI)
Koala Drops By Australian Hospital’s Emergency Room
An Australian hospital shared security camera video of a curious koala wandering into the emergency waiting room. Officials at Hamilton Base Hospital in Victoria said the late-night visitor wandered into the emergency waiting room last week, but left after a few minutes without being seen by a doctor. Hospital boss Rohan Fitzgerald dubbed the koala “Blinky Bill” after a famous cartoon koala from the 1930s.
“You never know who’s going to stroll through the doors at the Hamilton Base Hospital. Our very own Blinky Bill pays a visit to the ED waiting room,” the Western District Health Service said in a Facebook post.
(UPI)
Zoo Sorry For Naming Monkey Charlotte
A Japanese zoo has apologised after being criticised for naming a baby monkey Charlotte, the name of the newborn British princess. The Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden said it was considering renaming the macaque. It was flooded with angry calls and emails after announcing the name for its first monkey born this year, a tradition at the zoo run by the southern city of Oita.
Charlotte was the favourite in a public ballot, receiving 59 out of 853 votes in the counting, conducted after the female monkey was born. Votes for Charlotte surged after the British princess was named and topped the ballot in the last three days of voting, which ran from March 27 to May 6. Many critics said giving the princess’ name to a monkey was disrespectful to British royals. According to zoo official Akira Asano, some said the Japanese people would feel offended if a monkey were named after Japanese princesses.
The complaints originated in Japan. Asano said he was not aware of any complaints from British citizens. He said the zoo has also received support for Charlotte, and the views are now largely divided. “We deeply apologise for causing trouble to many people over the naming of the monkey,” a statement posted on the zoo’s website read. “We take these opinions seriously.”
Officials at the zoo and the city were still discussing what to do with the monkey’s name. The zoo now plans to seek advice from the British Embassy before making a final decision, Kyodo News agency reported. The embassy declined to comment, and Japan’s Foreign Ministry said it was not involved with the issue.
(AP)
Underwater Skeleton Tea Party In Arizona Busted
Authorities in Arizona responding to a report of human remains in the Colorado River said they actually discovered a staged “underwater skeleton tea party”. The la Paz County Sheriff’s Department said deputies received a report last Monday from a Colorado River snorkeler, who spotted what appeared to be human remains near the Cienega Springs boat launch.
A Buckskin Fire Department diver investigated with a video camera and discovered the reported remains were actually a pair of fake skeletons in lawn chairs having what the sheriff’s department described as an “underwater skeleton tea party”. “Although the call itself was resource intensive, both the Sheriff’s Office and Buckskin Fire were happy to find that the remains weren’t real and thanked the reporting party for making the call,” the department said.
(UPI)