Woman Killed By Homemade Cannonball

Today in Bizarreville: A woman in Potrero, Califonia, was killed this morning from injuries she sustained after her boyfriend’s makeshift cannon exploded inside her mobile home.

Her boyfriend, 39-year-old Richard Fox was reportedly working on a homemade cannon with another man when it suddenly went off, firing a cannonball into the side of the mobile home.

Police officers arrived at the residence of the unidentified 38-year-old woman Tuesday morning to find her dead of shrapnel wounds. Other people believed to be inside at the time, including the woman’s 4-year-old daughter, were not injured.

Fox suffered leg injuries and was taken to a San Diego hospital. He was later arrested on suspicion of detonating an explosive device in a manner resulting in death, and booked into county jail.

An investigation into the incident is being handled by homicide detectives from the sheriff’s department. Alcohol is believed to have played a factor.

[WSBT/UT - San Diego]

Video: Prince Harry Races Against Usain Bolt In Jamaica

Prince Harry's in Jamaica and he got to race against the fastest man in the world: Usain Bolt. You wouldn't have guessed who won.



[Telegraph TV]

The Moon May Have Crashed The Titantic

For almost 100 years it carried the blame of sinking the world’s most famous ship, but now, the ill-famed iceberg may be cleared, after some researchers claim they’ve found the true culprit – the Moon.

Now don’t get the wrong idea, it was the collision with the ice mass that ultimately brought the demise of the Titanic, but it was a freak lunar event three months earlier that put the obstacle in the ship’s path, scientists claim. An incredibly rare combination of astronomical events led to this collision, including the closest lunar approach in 1400 which led to an incredibly large tide in January 1912.

This once-in-a-turtle-lifetime event swept a vast field of icebergs from their normal positions and brought one to the lane where it was when it sank the Titanic on April 14th, claiming 1500 lives and destroying the ship which was thought to be ‘unsinkable’.

Prof Donald Olson of Texas State University who led the study and published it in the Sky and Telescope magazine explains:

“They went full speed into a region with icebergs, that’s really what sank the ship, but the lunar connection may explain how an unusually large number of icebergs got into the path of the Titanic.”

Unusually large tides such as the one in case are known as spring tides, and they occur when the Moon and the Sun are aligned in a way that sums up their gravitational pull. Professor Olson adds:

“We don’t claim to know exactly where the Titanic iceberg was in January 1912 – nobody can know that – but this is a plausible scenario intended to be scientifically reasonable.”

You could also put it this way: it wasn’t the iceberg that sank the Titanic, it even wasn’t the spring tides – it was human arrogance – which claimed nobody and nothing can sink the ship. As usual when we challenge it, nature put us in our place.

[Texas State University-San Marcos and Smithsonian Magazine]

Man Sues Movie Theater Over Popcorn Prices

A movie theatre patron from Michigan has filed a class action lawsuit against the AMC in Livonia alleging that the snack prices are too damn high.

Consumer experts expect Joshua Thompson’s suit won’t get very far, but, with popcorn and soda prices at the cinema as much as four times more expensive than at less price-gougey places, many film goers undoubtedly agree with his cause.

“Movie concession prices are extremely high, and that’s why I don’t stop at the snack bar very often,” said gym own Timothy Fells.

Thompson also used to shun the concession stand, opting instead to bring his snacks from home. But the theatre eventually posted a sign prohibiting outside food.

He filed the lawsuit after paying $8 for a box of Goobers and a Coke — over $5 more than the cost of the same items at a nearby restaurant and drug store.

“[L]ike high airline prices, it’s just one of those things that we’ve become accustomed to because we don’t have any control over it,” said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Reached for comment, AMC declined to discuss the suit. A National Association of Theatre Owners hung up the phone.

[Detroit Free Press]

Oreo Celebrates 100th Birthday

Happy 100th birthday to the Oreo!

It is the world's top selling cookie, and a billion Oreos are baked in a Montreal factory each year. That works out to 3,000 cookies a minute.

The black & white sandwich cookie first went on sale on this day in 1912 in New Jersey & now racks up about $2-billion in global sales every year.

To celebrate Oreo's 100th birthday, Kraft has created a limited edition birthday cake flavoured version featuring rainbow sprinkles.

Oreo has over 25 million Facebook fans, and a recent poll shows people have different ways of eating the cookies. Some twist, lick and dunk the Oreos, while others eat them in a single bite.

I think I'll go get me some Oreos today.

Disney Songwriter Robert Sherman Dies At Age 86

Disney songwriter Robert Sherman has died at the age of 86.

Sherman, along with his brother Richard, wrote some of the best known songs in some of the studio's most popular musicals, winning two Oscars in 1965 for their work on Mary Poppins. They received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 1976.

His son Jeffrey confirmed his passing yesterday with a posting on Facebook: "I have very sad news to convey. My Dad, Robert B Sherman, passed away tonight in London. He went very peacefully after months of truly valiantly fending off death. He loved life and his dear heart finally slowed to a stop when he could fight no more."

In later life, Sherman remained active, being closely involved in stage adaptations of movies he had worked on like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Sherman’s cause of death is unknown at this time.

Woman Sells "Washington" McNugget for $8K

A Nebraska woman got quite a return on her 99-cent investment.

Three years ago she noticed one of her McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets resembled President George Washington, and she put it in the freezer. Then, trying to raise money for her church’s summer camp, she unearthed the Washington nugget and posted it on eBay. The winning bid: $8,100.

EBay took down the nugget at first, saying it violated its rules regulating expired food, but then the woman got an email saying the company was “willing to make exceptions to help your cause.”

[Telegraph]

Video: "Men In Black III" Full Theatrical Trailer

This just made things interesting.


[Box Office Buzz]

Video: Robotics Researchers Create Running "Cheetah"

What you see above you is an early glimpse of how the robots will inevitably win the forthcoming robocalypse – ruthless speed.

The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, or The Guys Who Invented The Internet, funded engineers at Boston Dynamic to design the robot, nicknamed the Cheetah, with the intent of breaking the previous legged robot land-speed record of 13.1 miles per hour. The Cheetah hits 18 mph, which is well short of an actual cheetah's 70 mph, but is closer to the 27 mph that Usain Bolt hit during his record-setting 100-metre sprint at the 2008 Olympics.

Bolt, the world's fastest man, can't keep that pace up for nearly as long as the Cheetah, and the rest of us are only able to hit about 15 mph, so humanity? You're officially on notice.

[YouTube]