SWORD-WIElDING MAN WEARING NINJA MASK ROBS PHARMACY
Police are looking for a robbery suspect who was wearing a ninja mask and armed with a sword when he demanded cash from a clerk at a Walgreens pharmacy in Placentia, California.
The Orange County Register reports that police had responded to a report of a robbery at the pharmacy last week. According to police, the masked suspect had a martial arts-type sword and took off with about $200. The suspect was seen wearing a leather jacket, shirt, jeans and gloves, all of which were black. No injuries were reported.
(AP)
BRITISH INVENTOR’S ‘EJECTOR BED’ THROWS OCCUPANTS
A British inventor shared a video of his solution for people who sleep through alarms — a “High Voltage Ejector Bed” that flings occupants from their comfort. Colin Furze, a self-described “garage inventor/video maker,” posted a video to YouTube showing his “High Voltage Ejector Bed” in action.
The video shows Furze being flung out of bed at increasingly high speeds — at one point using the bed’s high setting to fling a dummy against the wall. Furze also conducts experiments in the video using the bed to help him get dressed and eat breakfast.
Furze, who said he was approached to create such a bed by the makers of Taylors High Voltage Coffee, said he drew inspiration for his design from Wallace and Gromit. “Anyone who could still stay asleep when this goes off is not human,” he told Mashable. A video previously posted to Furze’s account shows how he created the prototype prior to release of the demo video.
(UPI)
MAN’S BUllET BOUNCES OFF ARMADIllO, HITS HIM IN HEAD
Authorities in Texas said a wounded man told them his bullet bounced off the animal’s armored hide and hit him in the head. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office said the man told deputies he was shooting at an armadillo just before 3 am last week when his bullet ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the head.
The incident is being investigated as a possible accidental shooting, deputies said. The fate of the armadillo was unclear. The shooting was reminiscent of an April incident in lee County, Ga, where larry McElroy shot his 9 mm pistol at an armadillo and the bullet bounced off the creature and wounded his mother-in-law. The armadillo in the Georgia incident was killed by the bullet.
(UPI)
MAN FINDS HIS CEllPHONE THAT FEll FROM AEROPlANE
A Texas businessman used an app to find his iPhone in a rural pasture after it fell about 9,300 feet during a flight from Houston.
The Wichita Falls Times Record News reported last week that Ben Wilson says his cellphone still works. Wilson says he and a pilot were traveling home in a Beechcraft Bonanza when a pressure change caused the passenger door to open slightly. Wilson didn’t realise his cellphone fell out until after landing.
Wilson owns Gas Corporation of America in Wichita Falls. He and an employee used an app to narrow the search to near Jacksboro, more than 50 miles away. The pair set on their search, and ended up in a rural pasture. They found the cellphone under a mesquite tree.
(AP)
DRACUlA WANTS YOUR BlOOD, FOR TRANSYlVANIA MUSIC GIG
A fanged Dracula with a blood bag hooked up to his arm is offering an unusual deal for tickets to a Romania music festival: Pay with blood. “We have a bloody problem”, “Don’t suck, donate” and “Not only vampires need blood”, say campaign flyers encouraging blood giving for tickets.
The Untold Festival has teamed up with Romania’s national institute for blood transfusion INTS to provide free or discounted tickets in exchange for the blood, seeking to raise awareness in a country with one of Europe’s lowest levels of blood donors.
less than 2 per cent of Romanians donate blood each year, one of the lowest figures in Europe. The festival, which took place from July 30 to August 2 in the Transylvanian city of Cluj, was headlined by DJs Avicii and David Guetta, among others. People who had donated blood got festival tickets on the spot, while those who register receive discounts.
Up to 500 people are estimated to have “paid with blood” for their tickets, the organisers said in a statement.“‘Pay with blood’ is a novel and brave initiative that draws attention to a real need for blood in Romania,” Untold’s communications director Adrian Chereji said in the statement.
“We wanted to actively contribute to raising the number of donors and, at the same time, give fans a unique method to pay for their festival ticket.” Organisers said they expected as many as 300,000 people to attend the festival. A four-day ticket cost 309 lei ($76.35).
(Reuters)