lock of lennon’s hair might fetch $10,000 at an auction
A lock of hair snipped from the head of John lennon as the Beatle prepared for a film role is expected to sell for $10,000 at a Dallas auction later this month.
Heritage Auctions said in a news release recently that the four-inch lock was collected by a German hairdresser who trimmed lennon’s hair before he started shooting How I Won the War. The dark comedy, released in 1967, follows the World War II misadventures of British troops led by an inept commander.
The auction will be held on February 20 and Heritage says it will include other rare items linked to The Beatles, such as a signed photograph of all four members. Memorabilia from other artistes such as Elvis Presley and led Zeppelin will also be auctioned.
(AP)
Man ‘stole’ police badges while being questioned
Authorities say a Pennsylvania man stole several police badges while he was being held for questioning in a domestic dispute. Police say 26-year-old Robert Dingeldein stole the badges on October 30 while being questioned by Irwin police. The small town has all its borough offices in one building, so Dingeldein was held in the Mayor’s office to keep him away from a woman also being questioned in the dispute.
Police say they didn’t realise that Dingeldein had taken anything from the office until someone else returned one of the stolen badges last month. Police say Dingeldein has since apologised and returned the three other badges he took. He faces a preliminary hearing on May 18 on theft-related charges.
(AP)
Man throws alligator into florida restaurant
A Florida fast food restaurant got a customer it wasn’t expecting when a live alligator was tossed through a drive-through window by a patron. Joshua James, 23, of Jupiter, Florida, had wanted to play a practical joke on a friend working at the Wendy’s restaurant in Royal Palm Beach when he decided to hurl the reptile into the building, his parents told local broadcaster WPTV. “It was a stupid prank,” linda James said.
James faces charges of aggravated assault, and unlawful possession and transportation of an alligator, WPTV said. The incident took place in October. James found the three-foot alligator on the side of the road and
led the reptile into his truck, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report cited by the station.
He drove to the Wendy’s restaurant and placed an order, received a drink at the drive-through window, and then threw the alligator through the opening, it said. The report contains a photograph of the alligator sitting on the floor of the restaurant, WPTV reported. The alligator was later released back into the wild.
(Reuters)
Sparrow defies nature, joins a Japanese family
A sparrow has set up home with an elderly couple in Fukaya, in Japan’s Saitama prefecture, becoming the newest member of their family.
Resident Yoshiko Fujino said she first saw the bird, named Pee Chan, in mid-November while working as a traffic guide for local school children. It followed her home, resting on her shoulder and not wanting to leave.
“He’s like a family member he’s very comforting. It’s fun coming home to a sparrow,” she said.
“My grandchildren have grown up, and there’s none who are still small, so I don’t know how to say it clearly, but he’s like a family member.”
Fujino assumes the sparrow, which appears comfortable in the surroundings, is wild, but also says she does not rule out the possibility the bird was once a household pet.
(Reuters)
Orangutans learn at ‘Forest School’
An animal rescue group in Indonesia is teaching motherless baby orangutans how to survive in the wild with a “school” designed to help them teach one another.
International Animal Rescue, which shared a video of the abandoned and orphaned orangutans on Facebook, said the “Forest School” in Ketapang provides an environment for the baby primates to learn valuable skills they would have otherwise learned from their mothers.
“When the orangutans arrive here, we try to give them an environment that is as natural as possible; that is why we created the forest school,” project director Karmele llano Sanchez says in the video.
“What we want is to try to replicate what an orangutan will do in the wild, so this is what they will learn during the process of rehabilitation,” she says. Sanchez says the sanctuary currently houses 102 orangutans that the charity hopes to eventually return to the wild.
(UPI)