Harp's Blog

SANDWICH, Mass. – Life is a big buffet for a young seal with a talent for breaking and entering.

A young harbor seal somehow broke into a fish hatchery on Cape Cod on Tuesday and turned the place into an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The female seal briefly had the run of the Sandwich Hatchery, downing untold numbers of trout before Division of Fisheries and Wildlife employees found it, the Cape Cod Times reported.

The seal, just under 3 feet long, was released on a beach by members of the Cape Cod Stranding Network, which rescues marine mammals that end up on land.

The seal looked healthy and "pretty full," said network spokeswoman Katie Touhey.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Three German children aged five, six and seven who said they were fed up with cold weather at home set off on a voyage to Africa but only got as far as the local train station, police said on Monday.

The boy and the older girl were planning to get married in Africa and brought the girl's five-year-old sister along as a witness. They left their home in the city of Hanover, which they shared with the boy's father and the girls' mother, early on New Year's Day as their parents slept.

"The children wanted to do something really special for the New Year," said police spokesman Holger Jureczko. "They had it all planned out. They had three suitcases, filled with food, swimming costumes, a lilo and even sunglasses."

He said they took a tram to the central station and were about to board a train to the airport when police stopped them.

"They said they wanted to go to Africa 'because it's so nice and warm there'," Jureczko said. The boy had once been to Italy and convinced the girl that Africa would be even warmer, he said.

The police told the trio that it would be difficult to get to Africa without money or tickets and instead gave them a tour of the police station before handing them over to their parents.

(Reporting by Anna Brooke; editing by Sophie Hardach)

Lou the mule credited with saving woman from fire

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. – Jolene Solomon is beginning the new year with her life, her mule named Lou and little else. The Southern Standard in McMinnville reported Solomon had just finished eating supper on New Year's Day when Lou's braying and acting up got her attention.

Solomon, 63, who lived alone, stepped outside, she saw her house was on fire. She called 911 and as she waited for firefighters, her home and everything in it burned to the ground.

She said her father bought Lou years ago to help her and her late sister, Blue, around the farm. It took Lou months to get over the loss of her sister.

Solomon said she has 'lost it all', but credits Lou with saving her life.

Jolene is staying with family members and plans to rebuild her home. The home was built by her grandfather and she had lived there all her life.

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Information from: Southern Standard, http://www.southernstandard.net

Autopsy planned in death of John Travolta's

Associated PressJanuary 2, 2009, 11:50 pm PST

• • celebs:
  • John Travolta
  • Kelly Preston
  • Larry King

NASSAU, Bahamas - An autopsy is planned for John Travolta's teenage son, who died after apparently hitting his head on the bathtub while the family was vacationing at their home in the Bahamas, authorities said.

Jett Travolta, 16, had last been seen entering the bathroom on Thursday and had a history of seizures, Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said in a statement.

A house caretaker found the teenager unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning. He was taken by ambulance to a Freeport hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the statement said.

Jett apparently hit his head on the bathtub, said a police officer who declined to be named because she was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Family attorney Michael Ossi said in a statement that Jett died suddenly on Friday. Publicists Samantha Mast and Paul Bloch released the statement but could not be reached for additional comment.

Obie Wilchcombe, a parliament member and former tourism minister in the Bahamas, said that an autopsy is planned for Monday, and "we expect a quick resolution."

"John spoke with the minister of health and the doctors and police are at the hospital. They're very, very quick to resolve things," he said.

Wilchcombe said Travolta "spent a tremendous amount of time with Jett."

"He always brought him along. There was a close affectionate relationship and lots of love," Wilchcombe told "Larry King Live" in a live telephone interview. "People in the old Bahama community today are in shock."

Travolta, 54, and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, 46, also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu. The family had arrived in the Bahamas on a private plane Tuesday and was vacationing at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.

Preston and Travolta have said that Jett became very sick when he was 2 years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, an illness that leads to inflammation of the blood vessels in young children. She blamed household cleaners and fertilizers, and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine. Both Travolta and Preston are practicing Scientologists.

"I was obsessive about his space being cleaned. We constantly had the carpets cleaned," Travolta said in a 2001 interview with CNN's Larry King, a portion of which was rebroadcast on the "Larry King Live" show Friday night. During that interview, when Jett was 9, Travolta spoke of how his son nearly died when he was 2.

It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medications for his seizures.

The Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns.

Travolta's corporate and commercial attorney, Michael McDermott, said the actor had a very strong relationship with his son.

"There was unspoken communication between the two. ... It's just so hard," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Kelly is very quiet and both are grieving."

McDermott said his family and other friends are with the couple in the Bahamas. The group came for a two-day New Year's celebration and had planned to return to Florida on Sunday.

"We're are all here and trying to help in any way we can," McDermott said. "Their pain is so evident."

Travolta, who gained fame as Vinnie Barbarino on the 1970s television show "Welcome Back, Kotter" and the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever," went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest names. He married Preston in 1991.

A television actress, Preston appeared with Travolta in the 2000 film "Battlefield Earth," based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

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Associated Press Writers Josh Dickey in Los Angeles, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami and Kathy Corcoran in Mexico City contributed to this report.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE

ADD YOUR NEW YEAR PICS AND GRAPHICS.

Buzz up!on Yahoo!

If your college was anything like mine, a day didn’t go by without some company giving out free samples in wacky cars. The Red Bull car even had its own parking space down the street from the dorms. (Trying to resist the temptation when walking past a giant can of Red Bull before an early class is absolute torture.) Here are seven examples of even weirder promotional vehicles.

Built in 1947 for $25,000, the Zippo Car was a Chrysler Saratoga with two gigantic lighters sporting neon flames. The Zippo Car was used for fairs, expos and parades between 1948 and 1949, but mysteriously disappeared sometime in the 1950’s when it was left at a Pittsburgh dealership for reconstruction and never returned. In 1996, Zippo commissioned a replica of the original Zippo car, and in 1998 the second Chrysler Saratoga—New Yorker was unveiled at the Zippo/Case Visitors Center.

The Chock Full o’ Nuts novelty truck first appeared publicly in the late 1930s shortly after the coffee company originated in New York City. The vehicle was designed to resemble a comfortable cabin with a screened in porch—just the kind of place where you’d want to enjoy your morning java. The Chock Full o’ Nuts brand has been owned by dessert queen Sara Lee since the year 2000. Image via JAMD.

This shoe may look a little like something out of a nursery rhyme, but it is actually a promotional vehicle created for Daniel Neal, The Children’s Shoemaker, a business that originated in 1837 in London. The shoe was built on a 1921 Ford Model T with coachwork done by Riverside Motor Works. Presumably the message on the wheels is a brand of shoes.

Invented in 1936 by Carl G. Mayer (nephew of namesake Oscar), the Weinermobile has evolved over the years and the massive hot dog can currently be seen atop many different vehicles. Gas rationing kept the promotional car off the road during World War II, but in the 1950s, Oscar Mayer and the Gerstenslager Company created several new vehicles using Dodge and Jeep chassis. These vehicle were driven by “Little Oscar” who would frequent festivals and parades as well as visiting schools and children’s hospitals. In 1988, Oscar Mayer launched its Hotdogger program, where recent college graduates were hired to drive the Wienermobile through various parts of the nation and abroad. There are currently six Wienermobiles in existence.

In 1967, Warren Hampton of the musical equipment manufacturer Vox approached famous car customizer George Barris to build a Voxmobile guitar auto. His idea was to fabricate a custom roadster that would function both as a car and as a mobile amplifier, designed to be used for promotional purposes. The Voxmobile, released in 1968, features a Vox guitar silhouette that serves as a functioning amp capable of supporting up to 32 guitars as well as featuring a working Vox organ in the rear deck. In all, there are two main drive speakers mounted atop the intake manifold, five 12-inch speakers, one 18-inch bass speaker and four tweeters. The entire vehicle is worth $30,000 and is drivable.

This giant blue trolley drives all over the country giving out free samples of delicious Spam products. Inside, the vehicle only seats two passengers to accommodate mass quantities of canned ham and the electric griddle necessary for cooking Spamburgers. The license plate of the Spammobile reads “Spam37,” the number 37 being a reference to 1937, the year Spam was invented.

Much like the Spammobile, Just Born, the company responsible for marshmallow Peeps as well as Mike and Ikes and Peanut Chews, has a large bus that tours the nation. However, the Bethlehem, Pa-based candy company also has a smaller promotional vehicle—the Peepster. A bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle with a five-foot tall yellow marshmallow chick on top, the car can often be seen cruising around the tri-state area.

I PLAYED THIS CARD TRICK 6 TIMES AND EVERY SINGLE TIME HE GOT THE RIGHT CARD...i PICKED DIFFRENT CARDS 4 TIMES AND TWICE PICKED THE SAME JUST TO SEE IF HE MISS ONE..

HE GOT EVERY CARD I PICKED THIS GUY IS SO AMASING DOING THIS CARD TRICK..

COME INSIDE AND YOU SEE IF YOU CAN BEAT HIM..

COME INSIDE TO SEE THE NEW YEAR WALLEYE

DROP AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT..

Vermont Lottery spokeswoman Hadley Melendy says LeClair's wife found out two days later that the only winning ticket had been sold at a market in Richford. So LeClair went through the trash at his home and found it.

LeClair works for a car dealership and doesn't normally play the lottery. He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday; his telephone number isn't listed.

New Hampshire and Maine also participate in Tri-State Megabucks.

THIS IS SO AWSOME

I SAW THIS AND IT IS ONE CRAZY VIDEO OF DORKY GUYS PUTTING THERE PANTS ON.. THE ONE USING THE TETER TOTTER WITH A BACK FLIP IS MY FAVORITE..

COME INSIDE TO SEE HOW THEASE GUYS PUT THERE PANTS ON...

Reuters – People visit agiant Santa Claus ice sculpture for the upcoming 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow …

HARBIN, China (Reuters) – China's freezing northern city of Harbin is building what organizers say is the world's largest Santa Claus ice sculpture.

The giant Father Christmas, 160 meters (525 ft) long and 24 meters high, centers on an enormous face of Father Christmas, complete with flowing beard and hat.

Its huge size and unseasonably warm temperatures have made the job especially challenging, said Tang Guangjun, one of the sculptors.

"It is even bigger and higher than last year's, and more difficult. The weather swings between warm and cold, so it becomes very wet and slippery on the ice. It is very dangerous for us," he told Reuters Television.

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province on the edge of Siberia, is one of China's coldest places. Winter temperatures can drop to below minus 35 degrees Celsius (- 31 F).

Every year the city plays host to a world-renowned ice festival. But the effects of global warming are taking a toll as the snow and ice now melt more rapidly than in the past.

Organizers said they had to artificially make snow for the Santa Claus sculpture.

Still, the sculpture has attracted thousands of tourists from all over the country who want to enjoy a white Christmas despite worries over the economic downturn.

Many said such tourism could help to boost the economy.

"It can stimulate the economy and consumption. When people feel happier, they will want to spend more, so it will lift the economy of the city and even the country," said Li Qingsheng, a tourist from Beijing.

Officials in Harbin remained optimistic about the tourist outlook for the winter.

An estimated 800,000 tourists, 90 per cent of them Chinese, were expected to visit the ice festival, said Jia Yan, director of the local tourism bureau.

The festival traditionally runs from mid-December to early February.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Ben Blanchard)

Utah store has bone to pick with shoplifting dog

Thu Dec 25, 12:31 pm ET

MURRAY, Utah – A thief remains at large after pulling off a daring heist — in the pet food aisle.

Surveillance video at a supermarket in this Salt Lake City suburb caught a dog shoplifting, KSL-TV reported Wednesday.

The video showed the dog walking in the front door of Smith's Food & Drug in Murray, and heading straight to Aisle 16, the pet food aisle, where it grabbed a bone worth $2.79.

The thief wasn't even perturbed by a face-to-face confrontation with store manager Roger Adamson.

"I looked at him. I said 'Drop it!'" Adamson said. "He looked at me, and I looked at him, and he ran for the door and away he went, right out the front door."

SEE VIDEO OF DOG SHOPLIFTING INSIDE

copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I LIKE TO SAY THAT TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY

BECAUSE ON THIS DAY A VERY IMPORTION BABY WAS BORN

IT'S A DAY OF GIVING AND CARYING AN LOVE

IT'S A DAY WE ALL GET TOGATHER WITH ARE LOVE ONES

I BLESS TO HAVE SUCH A NICE LOVING HOME

AND I BLESSED THAT FOX 2 HAVE GIVEN ME SO MANY FRIENDS

I AM HAPPY AND SAFE

I FEEL WARM INSIDE BECAUSE I KNOW I AM LOVED BY SO MANY

JUST WANTED TO SAY

LEARN HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TWINKIES AT HOME

AND SEE WHAT A TWINKIE LOOKS LIKE AFTER SITTING ON A SHELF FOR 10 YEARS...

COME INSIDE TO SEE IT