samhexum

My take-away from this is that you like to get smashed. Almost every day.

Does anyone watch? I recently discovered this late-night guilty pleasure.

Tag team bandits wanted for robbing a sweet shop and a fried chicken joint A tandem team of junk food bandits indulged their sweettooth for cash when they held up a candy shop and a fried chicken joint in the Bronx, police said. The duo turned sour during one of their capers, pistol whipping the cashier of a Kennedy Fried Chicken. Hagie Touray, 27, was working the register at the Belmont restaurant at 2273 Crotona Ave. at E. 183rd St. on Aug. 17 just before 2:30 a.m. when the two men came in, one of them waving an automatic pistol, according to the NYPD. The gunman shoved one worker out of the way as the other ordered Touray to open the register, grabbing him by the back of the neck and shoving his head down toward the machine. “They ordered me to open the cash registered,” Touray said. “I had the wrong key because I was panicked. It made noise and that’s when he started to beat me up.” The fast food worker said the man said nothing while he cleaned out the loot. The man, who wore black latex gloves, a blue ball cap, white undershirt and jeans, turned to his partner and said “Dale, dale,” Spanish for “hurry, hurry.” The two men made off with a $1,000, according to police. Touray said that he didn’t feel the pain from the attack til the next day, but even then it was only a few bruises. “Right now, I’m OK,” he said. “Of course, I’m scared.” The two men hit again about a half an hour later in Kingsbridge when they knocked over Broadway Candy shop at 249 W. 231st St. This time, the men covered their faces as one waved a gun at the clerk and the other cleaned out the cash register. They stole $5,500, police said. Both robberies were caught on surveillance camera.

KFC will give $11,000 to first baby born on Sept. 9 who’s named Harland If you have a baby on Sept. 9, Kentucky Fried Chicken might just give you $11,000. But KFC isn’t giving money away to just any baby. There are two big catches: First, you must name your precious baby Harland, in honor of KFC’s Col. Harland Sanders. Second, your baby must be the first Harland born in America on Sept. 9. This isn’t a clucking joke, people. The first baby born whose legal first name is Harland between midnight and 11:59 p.m. Eastern time (or the equivalent in other time zones) on Sept. 9 will get an $11,000 college donation. Why $11,000 you might ask? Because of KFC’s 11 herbs and spices, of course. If you’re willing to gamble with your child’s first name, bookmark https://www.kfc.com/babyharland. The entry site will go live on Sept. 9 and stay open for 30 days. Parents must submit name, date and time of their baby’s birth (via birth certificate, hospital records or other official record) along with their contact information. KFC’s baby-naming promotion is held in honor of founder Sanders’ 128th birthday. The fried-chicken behemoth was displeased that the name Harland ranked only 3,257 among the most common baby names in America. (At that point, wouldn’t it be easier to include it among the least common names?) “Even though vintage names are making a comeback, our iconic founder’s name was dwindling in popularity, and we couldn’t just stand idly by and let that happen,” said Andrea Zahumensky, KFC U.S. chief marketing officer. “We hope that this birthday celebration honors the Colonel and encourages the next generation of people aspiring to live the American dream.”

Boy swept in sewer sticks finger out of manhole and is saved An 11-year-old boy sucked into a flooded Wisconsin storm sewer was saved when an eagle-eyed firefighter saw the boy's fingers pop through an opening in a manhole cover. The astonishing rescue Tuesday evening came as storms pounded the southern half of the state and southeastern Minnesota. The Calumet County Sheriff's Office said the boy was playing with friends in a flooded drainage ditch after the rains passed around 6 p.m. in the Village of Harrison. He disappeared under the water and didn't surface. A dive team, sheriff's deputies and volunteer firefighters responded. Deputy Fire Chief Wesley Pompa said that when they arrived they found a bystander trying to hold onto the boy but he was sucked into a culvert that led to the storm sewer. Pompa said the water was rushing so quickly it would have sucked a full-grown man into the culvert. The rescuers could do nothing except try to determine where the flow might take the boy. Pompa called the village road superintendent, Bob Kesler, to the scene to help map out the sewers. Pompa and Kesler were standing on top of a manhole cover about 30 feet (9 meters) away from the ditch when Pompa saw the boy's fingers pop through an opening in the cover. The boy had found air pocket just beneath the manhole cover and was hanging onto a ladder leading up to the manhole. The firefighters wrenched the cover open. Pompa and Kesler lifted the boy to safety. "He was hollering and talking to us and he was able to reach up for us," Pompa said. The boy was taken to the hospital, and authorities said he was alert and conscious after his ordeal. Pompa said he never got the boy's name. "I just thank God he was alive and he'd made it that long," Pompa said. "It could have gone a million different ways but this one way it worked out for him." A string of storms began moving through the region last week, flooding streets and farm fields and cutting power. One man was killed in Madison as he tried to escape from a flooded ditch last week.

A mother of five lost control of her vehicle, crashed into a tree and died after her boyfriend cut her brake lines to get a piece of pipe for crack smoking, police said. John Jenkins, of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, is facing homicide charges in the death of 38-year-old Tammy Fox. A witness said the car was traveling about 60 mph on Aug. 22. The brake lights flashed, but the car never slowed down before the crash. According to court documents, Jenkins told police Fox was "driving him crazy" because she was looking for a pipe to smoke crack in. He allegedly told troopers he didn't want to go to the store for a pipe, so he started "hacking away" underneath Fox's vehicle to get something she could use. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for her funeral expenses and five children called Fox "a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend." Jenkins is currently being held without bail. A preliminary hearing for is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 7. A New Jersey man drowned at a bachelor party while playing a game of “Who can stay underwater the longest,” authorities said Tuesday. Robert Zachary “Zack” Bunsa, 23, of Basking Ridge was at a home on Lake Sinclair in Georgia on Saturday with about a dozen other guests, including his brother, when the group started the contest. “He was attempting to see how long he could hold his breath, and tragically, he drowned,” Baldwin County Sheriff’s Capt. Brad King told The Post. “I don’t know if it was the type of thing that was ongoing all afternoon or if it was a spur-of-the-moment type” game. The group of 15 men didn’t realize Bunsa hadn’t gotten out of the water at first. Thinking he was already back at the house, they went up to find him, authorities said. “He was missing for some time — over 7 minutes, at least — before they realized,” Cpl. Lynn Stanford told the Macon Telegraph. Finally, one of the men back at the lake dove in to look for Bunsa and pulled him out of an area between 5 and 10 feet deep near the dock. Visibility in the lake is about 1 foot, Stanford said. A law enforcement officer living nearby heard a call on the radio and responded to the dock, performing CPR for 10 to 15 minutes before EMS arrived. A helicopter was called to airlift Bunsa for treatment — but he was already pronounced dead at the scene. Bunsa was a graduate of Koinonia Academy in Plainfield, NJ, where he played on the high school’s basketball team. He worked at Urban Table Restaurant in Basking Ridge, a former employer of his, Lauren Rubio, told NJ.com. “He was an awesome young man, we were blessed to have him,” Rubio said. “He always carried himself as a mature, strong person. We only have good things to say about him.”

Get ready to guac out, avocado fans. People who sign up for a weight loss study looking at avocado consumption can get paid for their efforts, Loma Linda University announced. “The study will examine whether eating one avocado per day reduces visceral adipose fat in the abdomen,” Joan Sabaté, MD, PhD, said in an online statement Tuesday. The school laid out certain requirements for the project, including: men and women signing up must have waist measurements of 40 and 35 inches or more, respectively — and all subjects have to be at least 25 years old. They also mentioned another — crucial — stipulation. “Be willing to either eat one avocado per day for six months or eat only two avocados per month for the same period,” the school said. Loma Linda University also explained how the study will work. “The test group will be given 16 avocados every two weeks and required to eat one avocado per day throughout the six-month study,” it said. “The control group will be required to eat no more than two avocados per month during the same period.” Everyone who signs up will get a free MRI and health screening and should meet monthly with a dietician, the school said. “Upon successful completion of the study, participants in both groups will be paid $300 each, and members of the control group will be given 24 avocados to enjoy,” it adds. Loma Linda isn’t the only school that will get people to join. Tufts University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Penn State University will also sign up 250 people a pop.

Birth defect?

If I ever try some, I'll let you know.

Former Olympian shocked to find his dog-sitter with two shirtless men, a camcorder and bottle of lube. A Colorado man said he was stunned when he came home from a trip out of town to find two shirtless men sitting in his living room with a camcorder and an open bottle of lube on a table - while his dog-sitter took a shower. Klete Keller, a three-time Olympian-turned-real-estate-agent, said he hired a sitter through Wag to care for his dog Jimbo while he was away. Keller said he returned to his Colorado Springs home on Monday around 1am to find the two men relaxing on his couch with no shirts on. The 36-year-old former Olympic swimmer, who competed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, said he asked them to leave and that's when he spotted a bottle of personal lube on his living room table, as well as a camcorder. 'It's pretty self explanatory what was going on,' he told Fox 21, adding that his bed sheets were dirty and there was what appeared to be bodily fluid on his couch. Klete Keller, a three-time Olympian-turned-real-estate-agent, said he hired a sitter through Wag to care for his dog Jimbo while he was away. He said his dog, Jimbo, had been locked in a bedroom and was sitting in his own urine. 'The general smell in the house is disgusting. I've had all the windows and doors open.' Keller said he later learned that the woman who was supposed to be watching Jimbo had been taking a shower when he came home. The dog was locked in a bedroom sitting in his own urine. 'It was just a total mess and I can only imagine what poor Jimbo saw in there,' he said. The sitter tried to explain what happened telling Fox that she had locked her keys in her car and her two friends helped her get them unstuck with lube. 'To be completely honest, I didn't have WD-40 and my keys were stuck in my car, so I ended up grabbing what I had in my car, for things, that, you know, I do in my personal time and I didn't think to put it back in my car,' she said. As for the alleged bodily fluid on Keller's couch, the sitter offered: 'I wouldn't know anything about that, because I know that I took a shower at his house and I was on the couch in a towel ... and that was before my friends got there.' She did not explain why her friends took their shirts off or why a camcorder was on the table in the living room. 'I'd like to apologize to him for making him feel like I violated his house, because that wasn't my intention. I misinterpreted information and I had guests over when I shouldn't have,' the Wag sitter said. Wag said the sitter had a 4.96 rating out of 5 and had completed 305 dog walks and sittings with the company. She has since been suspended from the platform, the company told Fox in a statement. 'We have launched an investigation into this incident and have suspended the sitter from our platform. The circumstances around this incident are unacceptable, and we expect everyone on our platform to conduct themselves in a professional manner,' the statement read. 'The trust and safety of the Wag! community is a top priority, and we are working with the dog’s owner to restore his trust.' The company added: 'Wag! does extensive background checks on all its walkers and sitters. This includes a SSN Trace (an Identity Check), a Facial Recognition Check (against all official documents provided), a Document Check, a National Criminal Check, a CountyCriminal Check, a Sex Offender Check and a Global Watchlist check. In this case, the walker/sitter passed all of them.' Wag, known as the Uber for dogs, said the sitter has been suspended and they launched an investigation. Wag, which launched in 2014, has come under fire quite in a bit over the past year. In March, a New York woman said her Goldendoodle Simba was hit by a car and almost killed after the Wag walker she hired to take her dog out dropped the leash to answer a phone call. Wag said in a statement at the time that the woman was taking a call about her mother who was in the hospital. Wag has also been accused of losing several dogs. Nicole DiCarlo, also of New York, said she hired a walker to take her Chihuahua Norman out on March 2 and the walker lost her dog. According to the walker, Norman was trailing behind her when he slipped out of his harness. In a Facebook post on August 10, five months after he disappeared, DiCarlo said her pet dog is still missing.

I'm sure almost all of us have "belted one out" into our hairbrush (or remote control) at least once in our lives, especially those of us who can't sing... wishing we could hit that big note, or at least hold our off-key warbling that long. Off the top of my head, my top 3: The end of the MacArthur Park Suite by Donna Summer: Streisand's biggie at the end of The Main Event: The final note of Juice Newton(-John)'s version of Angel Of The Morning:

That's a rather tone-deaf remark.

‘Anne & Frank’ bakery owner considers name change after backlash An Amsterdam bakery owner has been assailed for naming his new store “Anne & Frank” – linking it to the world-famous Jewish diarist who died in the Holocaust after hiding from the Nazis with her parents. Twitter users slammed the owner, named only as Roberto, for being “tasteless” in his decision to tie his Dutch business to the girl, who died of typhus at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1945. Roberto was quoted as saying “it seemed like a nice name to me,” adding that Anne “is a hero for me, too,” according to the BBC. He told Dutch media he would change the name. “I’ll have a good think about it,” he said. “It wasn’t my intention to offend anyone.” Social media user Drukke Toestand tweeted that “even if the owners had been called Anne and Frank it would still be shocking.” Anne wrote in her diary until she and her family were discovered by the Nazis on Aug. 4, 1944, and deported to Auschwitz. Her father, Otto, was the only member of the Frank family to survive. He had his daughter’s diary published and it has since been translated into dozens of languages and become a worldwide bestseller. The Anne Frank House, located in the same neighborhood as the bakery, is one of the top sights for tourists to Amsterdam.

They were on GOOD DAY NEW YORK today, hawking their new children's book. Anthony has a little salt & pepper in his hair now, and it's styled a little and looks terrific.

They were on GOOD DAY NEW YORK today, hawking their new children's book. Anthony has a little salt & pepper in his hair now, and it's styled a little and looks terrific.

I switched from Verizon to Spectrum 2 weeks ago. I dropped my return box off at a UPS store 2:45PM yesterday afternoon. At 2:30AM I got an email... Thank You for returning your equipment. It has been logged in and processed.

A black bear wandered the lobby of the Colorado hotel that inspired Stephen King to write “The Shining.” Stanley Hotel vice president Reed Rowley tells KDVR-TV 300 guests were sound asleep as the bruin figured out how to open the door and climbed over furniture. A front desk supervisor taped the romp. There was no damage, but the furniture got rearranged before the bear walked out of the lower level door. The hotel in Estes Park opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. King wrote “The Shining” after he and his wife stayed at The Stanley in 1974. The 1980 horror film was not shot there. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=523195538131958

Monster 14-foot squid washes up on beach A monster 14-foot-long squid has washed up on the shores of New Zealand’s capital. Three brothers were out for a morning dive in Wellington when they came across the impressive creature. Daniel, Jack and Matthew Aplin were driving along on a track near Red Rocks on the city’s south coast when they came across the beached cephalopods. The brothers said they had come across sharks while on their diving trips but had never seen a squid of that size. The trio contacted the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, who arranged to have the squid collected. A Department of Conservation spokesman said it was almost certainly a giant squid, the bodies of which washed up relatively regularly. Male giant squids can grow as large as 33 feet long and have suckers and barbs running down the length of their arms. The giant squid is the largest type of squid save for the colossal squid. They are chiefly hunted by sperm whales, but juveniles are occasionally hunted by deep-sea sharks. Rumors and sightings of giant squid as long as 66 feet are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented. Studies show giant squid feed on deep-sea fish and other squid species. They catch prey using two tentacles, gripping it with serrated sucker rings, then bring it toward the powerful beak and shred it before ingesting it. They are believed to be solitary hunters, as only individuals have ever been caught in fishing nets. Giant squid inhabit all the world’s oceans. Online commenters compared the brothers’ find to the colossal squid held at national museum Te Papa – which is over 17 feet long. In 2017, a 50-foot squid washed up in Indonesia.