Posts filed under 'Bizarre'
Valentine’s Day hilarity
Dave and I got each other: the exact same card, a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates, and a goofy little gift. Proof that we have, in fact, become the same person.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone.
1 comment February 14, 2009
Grand Isle ferry crashes into pier
As reported by the Burlington Free Press:
The Grand Isle ferry struck the pier in Vermont at full speed just before 6 tonight, according to Free Press correspondent Rob Swanson, who is on the scene.
South Hero Rescue transported several people, at least one of whom was on a stretcher, to a hospital, Swanson said.
Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, the region’s largest hospital, was preparing to receive three patients; the extent of their injuries was unknown, spokeswoman Kim O’Leary said at 7 p.m.
Grand Isle County Sheriff Connie Allen said the ferry’s captain acted admirably.
According to Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Underdahl, a problem with a runaway engine caused a loss of control of the ferry.
There were passengers aboard the ferry at the time of the accident, Swanson said.
A dispatcher at the Vermont State Police barracks in St. Albans dispatcher confirmed an incident occurred at the Grand Isle ferry dock.
There were conflicting reports about whether the captain, whom Swanson identified as Ed Gelinas, was hurt. Swanson said he spoke to the captain, who was “mobile and walking around” and did not appear to have sustained significant injuries.
“He wouldn’t tell me anything,” Swanson said of the captain. “The cops wouldn’t tell me anything. The fire department wouldn’t tell me anything.”
The boat, operated by Lake Champlain Transportation, was completing a 12-minute trip from Plattsburgh, N.Y., according to the Associated Press. A message left with the company was not immediately returned.
There were 12 to 15 emergency vehicles parked at the ferry dock.
Swanson saw crew members peering over the starboard side of the ferry, apparently checking for damage. Swanson said he couldn’t confirm if there was damage.
There was no fire. The ferry is not experiencing flooding or sinking.
A state police spokeswoman has not responded to repeated pages seeking information on the incident.
Add comment January 30, 2009
What is with the birds lately!?
Okay, seriously – did we forget to renew our agreement with the birds about how they need to stay out of our way?
A bird struck an Arkansas hospital’s helicopter Saturday, tearing a hole into the aircraft’s nose and prompting the pilot to land early, according to officials and pictures taken after the landing.
A medical helicopter landed near Forrest City, Arkansas, on Saturday after striking a bird.
“I think the pilot just made a judgment call to set it down,” Lowman said of the landing, which happened at 6:15 p.m. Saturday near Forrest City, Arkansas.
Video footage taken by CNN affiliate WREG showed a bird hanging out of a hole torn into the paneling on the chopper’s nose. Part of the helicopter’s windshield also was broken.
The pilot was slightly injured during the landing, and the other two crew members on board were uninjured, Lowman said.
Federal aviation officials are investigating, and the helicopter is not expected to be grounded for long, he said.
The helicopter was returning from a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where the crew had taken a patient.
Add comment January 19, 2009
Flock of geese cause plane to bail into Hudson River
… WTF.
A US Airways plane was down in the Hudson River on Thursday after attempting to take off from LaGuardia Airport, officials said.
US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320, was headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, the Federal Aviation Administration said.A passenger said he was “pretty sure” everybody on the plane got out.
“Somehow, the plane stayed afloat and we were all able to get on a raft,” said the passenger, Alberto Panero. “It’s just incredible now that everyone’s still alive.”
A New Jersey State Police source told CNN the pilot radioed to air traffic controllers that he had experienced a bird strike — when a bird or flock of birds is sucked into the jet engine — and declared an emergency.
Watch footage of plane in water »
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown also said preliminary information indicates a bird strike. The plane was in the air for about three minutes before it went down, the FAA said.
U.S. Coast Guard units were responding, and a ferry on site was dropping life jackets into the water.
The New York Times, citing a local TV station, reported that the aircraft had 146 passengers and 5 crew members aboard.
The pilot tried to return to the airport when the plane fell into the Hudson, the Times reported. The Times said it was below 20 degrees in New York at the time the plane went down.
A couple of minutes after takeoff, “we just heard a loud bang,” Panero said.
“The plane shook a bit and … you could smell smoke and fire and immediately the plane started turning,” Panero said. “All of a sudden, the captain came on and said, ‘Brace for landing,’ and that’s when we knew we were going down.”
The plane approached the water at a gradual angle and made a big splash, according to a witness watching from an office building.
“It wasn’t going particularly fast. It was a slow contact with the water that it made,” said the witness, Ben Vonklemperer.
“It appeared not to have landing gear engaged. This was bigger than a puddle-jumper or sea plane. It was a silver aircraft and it basically just hit the water,” Vonklemperer added.
An Airbus A320 can hold a maximum of 179 passengers and a flight crew of two, depending on the configuration.
I don’t even have a suitable witty remark right now. Just… WTF?
3 comments January 15, 2009
Are the only members Trump and Gates?
I mean, really? A LinkedIn/Facebook for rich people? Oy vey. As my coworker Joe put it, “Just what we need in an economic downturn”.
[Thanks to Joe for pointing out this oddity]
Add comment January 15, 2009
Hey Tropicana…. what?
If you ask me, this is just a weird way to promote your product. I’m not so sure that putting people with the likeness of Barack and his daughter on promotional materials for orange juice around the time of Inauguration just after you’ve done a massive (and a huge step backwards, if you ask me) overhaul on your product’s branding is a great idea.
Oh, and by the way – the kid in the ad is a boy.
Add comment January 15, 2009
Pilot attempts to fake death, judge freezes assets
Does anyone else feel like this is something out a movie? Guy is a pilot. Guy’s wife files for divorce. Guy flies plane. Guy puts out fake emergency call, puts plane into autopilot, crashes plane, escapes by parachute, attempts to fake own death. Guy attempts to live a new life under a new identity. Except in this case, the guy’s plan is foiled.
An Indiana judge Monday froze the assets of Marcus Schrenker, a suburban Indianapolis financial manager authorities say tried to fake his own death by crashing his private plane into a Florida swamp.
Marcus Schrenker exited his small plane before it crashed, and investigators are looking for him, police say.
Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance Services and Icon Wealth Management are “the subjects of an active investigation by the Indiana Securities Division,” Gavin said. Public documents list Schrenker as president of Heritage Wealth Management in Fishers, Indiana.
A search warrant related to the inquiry was served December 31, he said.
According to The Herald Bulletin in Anderson, Indiana, Michelle Schrenker filed for divorce in Hamilton Superior Court on December 30. A hearing was set for February 5.
Schrenker, 38, took off alone Sunday night in a corporate plane, a Piper PA-46, from Anderson, Indiana, en route to Destin, Florida. Authorities said the Fisher, Indiana, businessman parachuted to the ground before letting the plane crash in the Florida panhandle.
The craft came down near the Blackwater River, only 50 to 75 yards from homes, said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office…
Military aircraft from Whiting Field, which were dispatched to intercept the plane after Schrenker reported an emergency, witnessed the crash about 9:15 p.m. CT. The crews fired flares and noticed the plane’s door was open and the cockpit was dark, Haines said in a news release. They got no response.
Haines said the plane appeared to have been put on autopilot at around 2,000 feet, over the Birmingham, Alabama, area, before the pilot parachuted to the ground. Schrenker had contacted air traffic controllers, saying that the windshield imploded.
“The pilot stated that he was bleeding profusely,” the news release said. “Radio contact with the plane was not able to be established after that point. When deputies located the plane at the crash site, no blood was present and the door to the plane was open.”
Then, shortly before 2:30 a.m., the Childersburg, Alabama, Police Department reported that Schrenker approached one of its officers “and said that he had been in a canoeing accident with some friends,” a news release said. Childersburg is about 35 miles southeast of Birmingham.
The officers, unaware of the plane crash, took Schrenker to a hotel in nearby Harpersville. Then after hearing about the crash, they went back to the hotel, where they found that he had checked into the hotel under a fictitious name.
“When authorities entered Schrenker’s room, he was not there,” the release said.
Authorities said Schrenker checked in under a fake name, put on a black cap and fled into a wooded area.
Hotel manager Yogi Patel, who identified Schrenker on surveillance video, told CNN that Schrenker was the only guest overnight. He signed in as Jason Galouzs of Bolingbrook, Illinois, Patel said.
A hotel employee said Schrenker went up to his room, but didn’t enter before leaving the building.
Steve Darlington, manager of Anderson Municipal Airport, told CNN the plane was in fine condition at takeoff, and Schrenker is “an accomplished pilot” who owns “a couple of airplanes” and flies regularly, Darlington said…
Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said several factors indicated the pilot likely left the plane before the crash: a “detailed review of radar data,” the fact that the plane was switched to autopilot before it crashed, the sighting by military jet crews and the fact that the cockpit was found mostly intact with no one inside….
I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
[CNN]
3 comments January 13, 2009
10 less friends = free Whopper
Add comment January 8, 2009
Teen ordered to fix haircut… over a star?
The celestial scene on Jay Cowell’s head, “[is] for God and all the stuff he made on the earth.” But Elizabeth City school officials didn’t agree. The 8th grader at River Road Middle School was ordered to change his hair because the star shape is also a gang symbol.
Newsflash: the star is also on the United States flag. Are we all gang members then? Oy vey.
Add comment January 7, 2009
Topless coffee shop?
This is just flat out weird, I’m sorry. I’m all for doing your thing, but there is no way this is a good idea.
A proposed topless coffee shop may receive a dressing down from some residents of rural Vassalboro.
The town, which borders Augusta, is set to take on the matter at a planning board meeting scheduled Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The proposed topless coffee shop would take over the former Mac Daddy’s Pub at the Fat Cat Grille along busy Route 3. What used to be the Grand View Motel, an Ellsworth businessman hopes customers will come inside for a view.
The owner is keeping a low-profile until Tuesday’s meeting, but residents sure had much say Monday, News 8’s Jim Keithley found.
There have been restaurants and bars, but the building — with its log-cabin façade — remained empty for four years.
Vassalboro is the kind of rural town where wild turkeys run, and longtime residents like Debbie Jordan prefer not to have a topless coffee shop move in.
“We just found out about it this morning and we are opposed to it,” she said. “It’s not going to bring in a good crowd, and we’ve had those kinds of things in the past with it being a bar and it can get very loud.”
Not everyone in the small town thinks the proposal is a bad idea. Some neighbors said a former business at the same location used to bring in female dancers from time to time without any problems.
“I say, bring the money in,” said Kevin Goodrich, a resident. “People need jobs and it’s a good place to go. The economy’s not very good right now, so why not do it?”
The chairperson of the committee told News 8 that the planning board will review the application. If it meets all of the ordinances regarding traffic, parking and lighting, then the application will be approved.
The planning board has no jurisdiction over employee attire, and there is no ordinance in Vassalboro that prohibits adult entertainment.
You would have to get the single greatest waitresses in the world. One slip up and someone’s chest is going to get third degree burns and be part of a lawsuit.
Customer: “I would like to file a lawsuit against this coffee shop because they spilled hot coffee on me.”
Lawyer: “Okay, so they spilled coffee in your lap?”
Customer: “No. My boobs. I lost a nipple.”
Yeah… that’s gonna go well.
Add comment January 6, 2009
