Grandma wacks robber with saucepan, gets free pots

A Grandma in Ohio fought off four robbers with a saucepan. Unfortunately the police won't give it back.

Ellen Basinski was on the phone with her husband, who is a judge, when the four boys pushed their way into her house.

With quick-thinking she grabbed her favorite saucepan and hit one of the boys over the head with it.

The boys ran, but were later caught.

The police took the saucepan as evidence and Lagasse says she may never get the pan back, which is in his words, "not good."

So he called her up to say he's sending her a brand new ten-piece set of non-stick Emerilware.

The free cookware is being credited to their youngest son Michael, who e-mailed Lagasse saying, quote, "you saved my mom's life."

Go Granny! I wonder what she cooks with her saucepans. I bet it's delicious.

Casino awards burrito finishers with free roller coaster pass

A casino in Las Vegas is selling a two foot long burrito and offering finishers a free roller coaster pass if they can finish it.

The offer comes with a caveat, though: Those who accept the challenge but can't finish "The Bomb" burrito have to take a picture with an extra small, pink T-shirt that says "Weenie."

The NASCAR Cafe at the Sahara Hotel & Casino began selling the cheese-and-guacamole slathered burrito on Thursday for $19.95.

Those who can finish the monstrous entree get it for free, along with two unlimited coaster passes and a T-shirt proclaiming they "Conquered the Bomb."

How delightful for the person that runs the coaster. Eek!

Department store sells slimming shirt

A department store in the UK has started selling a shirt that slims the tummy for men.

A spokeswoman for retailer Selfridges said the store plans to begin stocking the "core precision undershirt," manufactured by Australian firm Equmen, in March, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

The undershirt, which is made of polyester, spandex and nylon, is designed to force the wearer's body into a leaner form and correct posture under normal clothing.

"It's a very tight-fitting T-shirt, so it's not like we're asking men to wear a bra. It's quite inoffensive," the spokeswoman said. "We've never stocked male control-wear before, so it will be a test. It may be that women will buy them for men, until men become more familiar with it."

The shirt is expected to sell for around $70!

It's not a bra, it's a slimming camisole. . . . Could you get your husband to wear one?

Chick-Fil-A Cow attacked in Virginia

A Chic-Fil-A cow was attacked recently in Fredricksburg Va.

The victim, dressed as a cow, was standing outside the restaurant when he was approached by a man who yelled at him and pushed him to the ground, according to a release by Fredericksburg Police Department spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe.

She said when another man intervened, the assailant ran away.

I suspect that the chickens probably put a hit out the cow, tired of how he's encouraging people to eat more of their kind.

Couple tries to trade kids for a bird

A couple in Louisiana was caught trying to trade two kids (who were not theirs) for a cockatoo and $175.

Donna Greenwell, who babysits the 5-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, is also charged in the deal, which was negotiated via telephone.

Paul J. Romero, 46, and Brandy Lynn Romero, 27, had been trying unsuccessfully for years to start a family.

Police say Greenwell offered the kids up for $2000, but when the Romeros couldn't meet the price, a deal was sealed with the pet cockatoo (and $175 for legal fees.)

The kids are now in state custody. Their father has expressed interest in getting custody. The mom is reportedly in Texas.

Why did the mother have these random people watching these kids and why did the father not know about it? Poor kids. I hope they get to live with someone that values them more than a bird.

Will trade ski passes for drugs

A group of guys in California have been arrested for offering to trade lift passes for drugs.

Mono County sheriff's deputies told The Orange County (Calif.) Register Wednesday that the suspects were busted after answering an ad posted on Craigslist.com that offered to swap ticket vouchers for the Mammoth Lakes ski area for narcotics.

Department spokeswoman Shannon Kendall told the Register that the operation netted a pond of marijuana and quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and prescription pills.

Four Orange County residents and two people from San Luis Obispo and Highland Park were arrested Friday and were in jail Wednesday on various drug-related charges.

Note to criminals. Do not use craigslist to facilitate your crime.

Florida bans fish pedicures

The Florida cosmetology board has banned fish pedicures.

The board said salons had been inquiring about its legality and decided to issue the decision before it became a problem.

The treatment is popular in Asia and has spread to some U.S. cities. A client sticks feet, hands or other body parts in a bowl or pool, and the small fish chow down on soft decaying skin.

Texas, Washington, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have also outlawed the practice. A spokeswoman for the Florida board says there's concern because there's no way to disinfect a pool of fish in between uses.

It sounds creepy to me. Fish, eating your feet. Eek!

Rabbit leads officers on low speed chase

A rabbit in the UK successfully evaded officers for twenty minutes leading them to ask for assistance from members of the public.

After spending 10 minutes fruitlessly trying to grab the animal - even resorting to using their jackets as matador capes in a bid to snare the creature - they had to call on eight members of the public to help out.

Pc Jackson said: "After several failed attempts trying to grab the rabbit, we removed our coats to try and cover it with a bullfighting technique. Again this failed.

"Pet-loving members of the public who were passing by saw us struggling and rushed to our assistance. Now, with 10 pairs of hands at the ready, the rabbit's time on the run was coming to an end."

The officers and members of the public pursued it for about 200 yards before it was finally caught.

Pc Jackson added with a smile: "Inquiries are ongoing into unconfirmed reports that Bunny had an accomplice called Clyde who assisted in the hare-brained escape idea."

Did it not occur to these officers to use a carrot? Everyone knows that bunnies love carrots.

Woman goes to jail for lying to get out of a speeding ticket

A woman in the UK has been sentenced to two months in jail for lying to get out of a speeding ticket.

Investigators said Sema Ali, 43, initially told police that she had been speeding -- an offense which carries an $87 fine -- because four men had attempted to run her Renault Megane off the road, The Times of London reported Monday.

Police said Ali then convinced her husband, Mohammed Nawaz, to lie and tell police that someone else was behind the wheel when the speed camera photographed the vehicle in April 2007.

Ali and Nawaz both pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. They were both sentenced to two months in jail, while Ali was also fined $87 for the traffic offense and received three points on her license.

She should of told them that she really really had to go to the bathroom, it would have been more believable. Did they not think that they would be able to see her in the picture from the camera?

Zorro the hippo finds home in sanatation plant

A hippo in South Africa named Zorro has found a new home in a sanitation plant.

Wood said the 4-year-old hippo, named Zorro because of the zigzag scar on his back caused by his father's tusk during a fight, was "happy" in his new surroundings. He is living in the plant's pans — shallow pools once used to store untreated wastewater but made mostly redundant by new technology.

The pans now contain primarily clean water surrounded by grassy areas.

"There are big beautiful pans and lots of grazing," Wood said.

Wood said it is believed that Zorro had been on the run from his father, Brutus when he found the gap in the fence.

Young bull hippos will often get booted out of their herd after challenging the strongest male. In the wild, the young males move off and begin their own herds.

The sewage plant and the wetlands that surround it are part of the False Bay Coastal Park, one of the many nature reserves in a city famous for its flora and fauna. The wetland area is home to the only six hippos in Cape Town, where they were once numerous. The creatures, which are becoming endangered, were reintroduced 30 years ago.

Hippos are known to be violent, and Wood said the pans were being secured so that Zorro could not escape and become a threat to the public.

They're eventually going to capture Zorro and find a new home for him. I hope they find Zorro a girlfriend too.