Today is National Bike to Work Day
Today is National Pizza Party Day.
Today is Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day.

History 101:
1770: Fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis VI of France who was 15.
1904: The automohorse was patented. The first autos tended to scare horses, so this ingenious invention was an automobile that looked like a horse.
1991: Fourteen Stanford University students started leapfrogging. They stopped 10 days and 999.2 miles later with a Guinness world record.
May 16, 1998 this rock and roller fell off a chair at his home and injured his chest and ribs causing cancellation of several concerts for his band – Keith Richards – Rolling Stones
1999: Near Somerset, England, a rookie bull named President suffering from nervous exhaustion brought on by having to service 80 cows was treated with acupuncture to cure the stress. Dairy farmer Richard Clothier said using drugs would endanger his farm’s organic status. The acupuncture worked and helped President relax.
2000: The New York Democratic Party nominated First Lady Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate, making her the first First Lady to run for public office..

The 101 number one song of the day was recorded by a woman who wanted to write songs; not sing them but because she couldn’t read or play music her life took a different turn.   She took some samples of her stuff to a producer for Tamla records but the only way to demonstrate the songs was to sing them.  He loved what he heard and told her she should sing them herself and he signed her to a contract on the spot.  But she was disappointed to hear that the contract would not be for Tamla but for a new label he was forming.  He was Berry Gordy, Jr. and the new label was Motown.  On May 16, 1964, a song written not by her but one of Motown’s other early signees, Smokey Robinson, became the company’s first record to reach the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 – for Mary Wells – “My Guy”

A Romanian man has lodged an official complaint with the local trading standards agency after he got drunk on a single can of beer. Iancu Boroi, 35, said he had bought the beer at a local supermarket in Arges in southern Romania but was so drunk after drinking just one can that he nearly passed out. He said: "I am more than capable of holding my drink and it is ridiculous to think one can of beer can get me so drunk. "There must have been something wrong with it and I am demanding compensation."
He has written to Romania's Consumer Protection Office demanding they investigate the case.

LAPTOP ARREST  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A New York woman helped nab some Mac-nappers, by programming her computer to take their picture. Police in White Plains report about $5,000 worth of electronics had been ripped-off from her apartment last month. Police say the victim got a call from a friend asking if she was online. That's because the suspects had used the stolen MacBook to surf the Net. Officers say the woman was to able to remotely activate the laptop's built-in camera. She turned the digital snapshots over to police, who report busting two suspects. Police say they've also recovered most of the stolen electronic gear.

EXCHANGE-KING KONG E4473
MONROE, Mich. (AP) - You'll have no trouble spotting King Kong. It's Dereiq McCalister's customized truck. He's welded the front of a Ford F650 to the back of a Ford Excursion. The charcoal gray monster is more than 8 feet tall, about 20 feet wide and 25 feet long. He even has King Kong license plates. Kong, of course, has a huge appetite. To feed the beast, the Monore, Michigan, man has twin 50-gallon diesel fuel tanks. Inside, McCalister has installed DVD players, Playstation video games and a 42-inch plasma TV. If he wants some refreshments, the truck has a bar and fridge, too. McCalister tells the Monroe Evening News that he's had to get used to being the center of attention when he drives King Kong.

GAS PRICES-SCOOTERS
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Joan Kohler has found a way to scoot around high gas prices -- with a motor scooter. The 51-year-old South Dakota restaurant owner bought a candy-apple red Honda scooter last week. Kohler says her family was nervous about her new mode of transportation but she's promised to be careful. Kohler says she loves the 100 miles per gallon she gets on the little Honda. And she's not alone. Scooter dealers across the country say interest and sales are way up, as gas prices continue to rise.

Virgin on the ridiculous
A Romanian fed up with neighbours' gossip has been to a gynaecologist to prove she is still a virgin at the age of 60.  Rodica Trandafir, 60, from Bacau county in eastern Romania, posted the results of her virginity test to neighbours to stop rumours in her hometown.  She told local media: "I'd had enough of locals gossiping - they said men kept coming to my house at all times of the day and night."  She has now visited a gynaecologist who confirmed she was a virgin and gave her a certificate to prove it - which she then posted it to all her neighbours.  She added: "There has been some nasty gossip about me. The men my neighbours are talking about are relatives who are helping me do some work on my house.  "To make such accusations about a woman of my age is disgusting. I hope now they will all shut up. To claim I am a loose woman of any kind is outrageous."

Good News For Popcorn Fans
People who snack on popcorn may consume more whole grains and less meat than their peers who
don’t, new research shows. Fewer than 10% of American meet current dietary guidelines
recommending they eat at least three servings of whole grain foods each day. Popcorn is a whole
grain and whole grains have been tied to a number of health benefits, including reduced heart
disease and diabetes risk. According to Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey for 1999-2002, 6% of the participants had eaten popcorn in the past day. On average,
popcorn eaters consumed about 12 cups of popcorn per day. Compared with people who did not eat
popcorn, those that did had roughly 250% higher intake of whole grains and approximately 22%
higher intake of fiber. Popcorn eaters also had higher overall grain consumption and lower meat
consumption.

California’s Top Court Legalizes Gay Marriage
The California Supreme Court declared that gay couples can marry – a monumental but perhaps
short-lived victory for the gay rights movement. Same-sex couples could tie the knot in as little as a
month. But the window could close soon after – religious and social conservatives are pressing to put
a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would undo the Supreme court ruling and
ban gay marriage. Massachusetts in 2004 became the first, and so far only, state to legalize gay
marriage; more than 9,500 couples have taken advantage of the law. But the California ruling is
considered monumental because of the size of the state – 38 million out of a U.S. population of 302
million.

Row over fish in urinal
A Chinese restaurant has been criticized - for keeping ornamental fish in a urinal.
The restaurant in Changchun city has around 20 fancy carp in the four-metre long trough in the gents' bathroom.  The Eastern Asian Economic and Trade Daily says experts have condemned the move as harmful to the fish and "disrespectful to China's fish culture". A spokesman for the restaurant insisted the urinal contained a mixture of urine and water which was not harmful to the fish.  "The water is running, and each day we change the water at least twice and add oxygen into the water. It's not much different to a fish tank," he said.  The owner added that the fish were intended as an attraction for diners and were not used in dishes.  Guests seemed surprised to find fish swimming in the trough which has sign saying "Please urinate here" above it.    "If they didn't have the sign here I would have thought it was a new fish tank," said one diner, Mr. Wang.

Worst Places To Take A Date (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
MSN has listed the top places men should never take women on a date – and vice-versa.
Worst places to take women:  Worst date places for men:
1. Sports bars    1. Hiking
2. Theme parks    2. Opera
3. Chain restaurants   3. Travel
4. Gross-out comedies   4. Clothes shopping
5. Paintball    5. Relationship workshops
6. Meeting your mother (not right away, anyway)

Employee Robs Restaurant In Uniform
Police say an employee of Hungry Howie’s Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, broke into the restaurant
where he worked early Wednesday morning. They say they know it was him, because he was still
wearing his Hungry Howie’s uniform. Police arrived to find the rear door lock smashed, three security
cameras broken, and cash and credit card receipts missing. The owner of the restaurant showed
police surveillance video that appears to show an employee, Joseph Whittenton, committing the
burglary. Whittenton was arrested and charged with burglary.

Taxpayers Get Wrong Stimulus Checks
Thousands of U.S. taxpayers’ economic stimulus checks have been directly deposited into the wrong
accounts by mistake, federal officials said. A New York man said he noticed an additional $1,800 in
his account that the bank concluded was from someone else’s Internal Revenue Service stimulus
check. The man said he was told by the IRS the check was among a group of 1,500 deposited into
wrong bank accounts because of an electronic mistake. The IRS said most stimulus checks are
being distributed in an accurate and timely manner.

Woman Selling ‘Virgin Mary’ Rock
A Brooksville, Florida, woman is attempting to sell a rock she says bears the image of the Virgin Mary
cradling baby Jesus. Dena Patterson, 79, said she found the rock while walking through the woods in
West Virginia in 1996. She has been using it as a doorstop ever since. Patterson said she decided
to sell the rock to raise money for a trip to visit family members in West Virginia. Patterson said she
is seeking local buyers because she does not own a computer and does not know how to use eBay.

‘The Sopranos’ Discussion Continues
“The Sopranos” ended about year ago, but the discussion about how it ended and what the series
means to pop culture continues. More than 60 college professors from around the world will gather at
Fordham University to analyze the “The Sopranos.” The symposium is called “The Sopranos: A
Wake.” Sessions are planned on gender, parenthood, ethnicity and cuisine, all based on “Sopranos”
episodes. The event is being held May 22-25.

‘The Gong Show’ Auditions
Open casting calls for “The Gong Show with Dave Attell” start Monday at Planet Hollywood in Las
Vegas. Comedy Central says Attell is looking for the “wackiest, wildest, most bizarre, unique
performers out there.” To register for auditions, e-mail gongshowcasting@aol.com. The new “Gong
Show” premieres July 17th.

Mel Gibson Bi-Polar?
Mel Gibson suffers from bi-polar disease, according to a leaked report. A documentary, filmed in
2002 by Gibson’s old school friend Sally McKenzie about Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic
Art’s acting class of 1977 – which Gibson attended – is due to air on Australian TV on May 25th.
Gibson reportedly says in the documentary, “I had really good highs but some very low lows. I found
out recently I’m manic depressive.”

Britney Spears, Mel Gibson Vacationing Together
Britney Spears and Mel Gibson are reportedly headed to Costa Rica, where they will vacation with
the singer’s father and Gibson’s wife. A source tells People magazine, “They’re just going away for a
few days to relax.” The group plans to stay at Gibson’s Costa Rican home and will be back early next
week. Gibson and Spears used to be neighbors when the singer previously lived in Malibu. “There
are no expectations, there is no agenda,” the source added. “It’s simply an act of human kindness –
one neighbor reaching out to the other.”

Kate Hudson, Owen Wilson Split
Despite a flurry of engagement rumors, Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson have called it quits again,
less than two months after rekindling their romance in Miami. The couple began dating in September
2006.

Trump Sells Beach House For $100 Million
Donald Trump has signed a contract to sell a Palm Beach, Florida, mansion for $100 million. The
80,000-square-foot oceanfront property, under contract with an unidentified foreign purchaser, was
snatched up by Trump in 2004 for a modest $41.35 million. The home comes with all the luxuries
one would expect from a $100 million mansion, including 6 acres of land, 475 feet of beach, nine
bedrooms, an art gallery and a ballroom.

No actual chihuahuas were injured to obtain the photo at left.

Today is True Confessions Day.
Today is Flip Your Mattress Day.
Today is National Chocolate Chip Day.
Today is Peace Officer Memorial Day, a part of National Police Week. Flags on all government buildings will be flown at half-staff today.

History 101:
1888: The swinging washing machine was patented. The machine was attached to a large swing, which children could swing in and power the machine.
1940: Nylon stockings appeared on sale for the first time in the U.S. Competing brands went on sale simultaneously under an agreement between manufacturers.
1942: Gasoline rationing went into effect in 17 states, limiting sales to three gallons a week for non-essential vehicles.
1970: - U.S. President Richard Nixon appointed America's first two female generals.
1972: 21-year-old Arthur Bremer shot Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace four times in Laurel, Maryland. The wounds left Wallace paralyzed for life. A month earlier, Bremer had planned to assassinate President Richard Nixon in Ottawa, but changed his mind at the last minute. He wrote in a diary he wanted "to do something bold and dramatic, forceful & dynamic, a statement of my manhood for the world to see." Bremer was sentenced to 53 years in prison. with good behavior, he could be released in 2015.
And May 15, 1998 – this former man and wife came together again for the ceremonies surrounding the placement of their star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame – Sonny and Cher

101 number one song of the day took about 15 minutes to write but wound up being recorded in each of the first four decades of the rock era.  (More on that next)  The biggest success came on its first try – which you’ll hear in a moment.  But it also charted for young Dr Kildare in the 60s, or Richard Chamberlain as he was officially known as.  Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry took it to number 27 in 1970 and Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal attempted a version in 1981 that made it to number 51.  But, by far, the most appreciated version was recorded by the Kentucky pair that provided inspiration for the harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel, the Mamas and Papas and the Beach Boys and it was the number one song on May 15, 1958 for the Everly Brothers.  (All I Have to Do is Dream)

Solar-powered bra (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A Japanese lingerie firm has unveiled the perfect gadget for eco-friendly sun worshippers - the solar-powered bra.    It comes with a detachable solar panel which can produce enough energy to power an iPod or mobile phone, reports the Daily Telegraph.
It is also equipped with plastic pouches that can be filled with water, allowing wearers to quench their thirst without having to buy and then throw away drinks bottles.  The bra is made of high quality organic cotton, to ensure its production has the smallest possible impact on the environment.  But the 'Photovoltaic-Powered Bra' won't be on shelves any time soon. It is still at the concept stage and has several problems that need to be ironed out. For one, it is damaged by rain.  Triumph International Japan concedes the bra will not become popular in its current form, as outer clothing renders its solar panel ineffective.  "People usually cannot go outside without wearing clothes over it," said Yoshiko Masuda of Triumph.  Triumph has previously released a bra than can be turned into a shopping bag and a bra designed to encourage the use of reusable chopsticks.

Dad Outraged Over Pregnant Survey
The father of a sixth-grader in Jackson, Mississippi, wants a teacher fired after a survey completed by students revealed that his daughter will likely get pregnant before graduating high school. Curtis Lyons said that when his daughter came home from Chastain Middle School on Monday she told him what had happened. “She was humiliated,” Lyons said. “She’s an honor student.” Lyons said the students were given a survey in science class that asked them to select a student they thought was most likely to die, get pregnant or contract AIDS. The names of all of the students were included on
the survey. Once the results were tallied, the teacher told Lyons’ daughter that statistics showed her classmates believed that she was most likely to become pregnant. School officials said they are investigating the matter.

Vatican Says It’s OK To Believe In Aliens
Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview published yesterday. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones. Funes said such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

Cars Get Real Horse Power
A driven inventor in Dubai has taken the term horse power to the next level. Hadi Mirhejazi has been horsing around for the last 27 months masterminding an eco-friendly automobile, and now is unveiling the Naturmobil, a vehicle powered by a living horse.
The horse walks on a treadmill within the clear, plastic vehicle, and sends the car galloping up to 43 mph.   With the Naturmobil, Mirhejazi hopes to encourage people to think seriously about the environment, and can picture the horse- powered machine on the streets someday.  He says, “It could work for a smaller village with straight streets. It can’t compare with a car though. They have 40 horse power. This only has one.”

YOUNG MAYOR
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) - The new mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, can't celebrate his victory with champagne. John Tyler Hammons isn't old enough to drink. The 19-year-old freshman at the University of Oklahoma won about 70 percent of the vote in yesterday's election. It was a run-off pitting the college student against former Mayor Hershel Ray McBride. Hammons goes to school in Norman, but expects to transfer to be closer to Muskogee. He says he can be both mayor and continue his college education. The young mayor-elect adds that winning the public's trust is a humbling and "most awesome experience." He'll be sworn in next week.

PROM DRESS TOO SKIMPY
Hey, It Got Her On Television! - Houston, Texas, high school student Marche Taylor missed her senior prom because officials deemed her dress too skimpy. She was ordered to leave when she showed up at Madison High School wearing a gold miniskirt with bare midriff and a top composed of two narrow bands of gold lame crisscrossing her breasts. She argued with the officials and demanded her money back, and someone called police, who led her out of the building in handcuffs. An official said the dress was inappropriately revealing, but she showed it off to a KHOU-TV reporter and said, "I actually like the dress. Everybody else likes my dress."

Whopper Beetles Captured In PA Post Office
Customs agents seized more than two dozen giant beetles – some the size of a child’s hand – from
an overseas package after postal workers heard the insects making scratching noises. The large
bugs arrived last week from Taiwan at a post office in Mohnton, about 50 miles northwest of
Philadelphia, in a box whose contents were labeled as toys, gifts and jellies. But the postmaster
suspected the package contained live things and notified authorities. The package was X-rayed and
then opened. In all, 26 Hercules, rhinoceros and Goliath beetles were found. It is illegal to ship live
beetles to the U.S. without a permit from the Department of Agriculture. The sender and recipient
have been identified, and an investigation is under way.

Ants Invading Houston
The Houston area is facing one of the nastiest ant invasions it has ever seen. The hairy, reddishbrown
creatures are known as “crazy raspberry ants” – “crazy,” because they wander erratically
instead of marching in line, and “raspberry” after Tom Raspberry, an exterminator who did battle
against them early on. The ants are about the size of fleas and they’ve infested some homes so
viciously that one homeowner was scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. The ants were first
spotted in Texas in 2002. They have since spread to five Houston-area counties. It is believed they
arrived in a cargo ship through the port of Houston. Scientists aren’t exactly sure where they came
from. About the only good news is that the crazy ants eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas
summers. The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on
how to stop the ants.

Horse Ride To School
High school senior Bradley Walker is coping with the high price of gas by using horsepower of a
different kind. Bradley is riding his horse Pumpkin to school in Rockwood, Tennessee. He figures he
saves about $25 a week thanks to Pumpkin. The ride takes 45 minutes, compared to the 10 minute
drive. While Bradley is in class, his horse stays in a makeshift stall behind the school. School
officials are looking for more stall space, in case other students want to ride instead of drive.

‘American Idol’ Down To 2
Syesha Mercado was voted off of “American Idol” last night, leaving two contestants to battle it out.
David Archuleta and David Cook remain. Who will snag the title next Wednesday? We predict his
name will be David.

Jack Black Breaks Brangelina Twins News
Angelina Jolie is indeed expecting twins, and it was Jack Black who let the news slip with a “Brady
Bunch” crack. Long rumored to have two children by Brad Pitt on the way, Jolie confirmed the news
during a “Today” show interview with Black, her “Kung Fu Panda” co-star. The two are in Cannes,
France, promoting the animated film. The twins will be the 5th and 6th children for Jolie and Pitt. She
didn’t volunteer the information until Black joked that the couple will “have as many as (the) ‘Brady
Bunch’ when you have these.”

Paul McCartney is furious and it has nothing to do with his divorce.  That was finalized this week.  Sir Paul was waiting for delivery on his new $120,000 Lexus hybrid limo.  The car was a gift from the company for their partnership with Paul.  The car showed up a couple of days ago...but not on a boat...it was flown to England on a jet.  The Greenest people who keep an eye on these things say flying/not boating the car caused 100X the carbon footprint.  They say it did the equivalent environmental damage of putting Paul in the limo and driving around the world six times.

Today is National Receptionist Day.
Today is National Dance Like a Chicken Day.
Today is Underground America Day. Malcolm Wells of Brewster, Massachusetts, want everyone to think about designing and building stuff underground

History 101:
1804: The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory left St. Louis.
1856: U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis brought the first camels to America to test as military pack animals. The project was abandoned because the camels wouldn’t follow orders and they stunk.
1936: Walden Cassotto was born in the Bronx. His first recording, "Early in the Morning," was released twice, using the group names the Ding Dongs and the Rinky Dinks.  You’d know him better as Bobby Darin.
1998: NBC-TV aired the final episode of Seinfeld, the same day singer Frank Sinatra died in Los Angeles at age 82.
2003: Golfer Vinenzo Frascella in Peterborough, England, finished his round despite being hit by lightening twice within 30 minutes. Lightening struck the 50-year-old golfer's umbrella tip as he waited during a storm on 14th and 17th holes at Orton Meadows Golf Course. He said he felt tingles down his shoulder and arm both times, but wanted to finish the round. He would not divulge his score, but said it was a "stinker" of a day.
2007 The price of a first-class stamp goes up 2 cents, to 41 cents.

The person who recorded the 101 number one song of the day started out as a fallen woman looking for a savior but ended up knocking off one of the Hot 100’s longest running charttoppers.  (That’s Next.)  She was born in Hawaii but moved to London where she wound up singing the role of Mary Magdelene in Jesus Christ Superstar.  Later, when the show moved to Broadway, she relocated to New York.  It was there that she met Eric Clapton and sang back up vocals on the guitarist’s fabled “comeback tour.”  She also sang vocals on “I Shot the Sheriff.”  But she left Clapton after being introduced to the BeeGees who were about to begin recording their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.  They wrote a song for her which was contained in that album and she ended up replacing them at the number one spot after they reigned for 8 weeks with “Night Fever.”  On May 14, 1978 it was her song that was number one in America and it’s your 101 number one song of the day: Yvonne Elliman “If I Can’t Have You.”

$2 MILLION FOR ROBOT SOUP STIRRING (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
British scientists have won a £1 million grant to find out if a robot can safely be employed to stir soup.
The Co-operative Human Robot Interaction Systems (CHRIS) project, based at the Bristol Robotics Lab (BRL), has been funded by the European Commission.
A lab spokeswoman said: "It will specifically look at the problems of a human and a robot working together in the same space, for example in a kitchen where the service robot is performing a task such as stirring soup, while you add cream."
Professor Chris Melhuish explained: "When we interact with other humans we are interpreting facial expression, body position, gestures, tone of voice as well as sharing a goal and understanding and following verbal instructions.
"For example in the soup situation, not only does the robot need to know what the goal is (making the soup) but he also needs to know how hard to stir the soup, what it means when you hold up your hand to say enough, to interpret the look of pain on your face if you accidentally get splashed with hot soup, and to stop stirring when told.

Honda Robot Conducts Detroit Symphony
ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., conducted the Detroit Symphony last night in a
performance of “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha.” “Hello, everyone,” ASIMO said to
the audience. As the robot conducted, it perfectly mimicked the actions of a conductor, nodding its
head at various sections and gesturing with one or both hands. ASIMO took a final bow to
enthusiastic shouts from the audience. Later, cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined ASIMO onstage to receive an
award for his efforts in music education. Honda brought the robot to Detroit to highlight its recent $1
million gift to the orchestra for a music education fund.

NEW TREND: "CUDDLE PARTIES"
TCBS 3-TV in Philadelphia reports that the latest hot trend is "Cuddle Parties." Adults who want to connect physically but non-sexually with other people get together in their pajamas. There's a welcome circle where rules are spelled out, such as asking permission before you touch anyone. Then the snuggling and spooning with strangers starts. Cuddle party facilitator Edie Weinstein-Moser said, "This is a way of framing touch in a positive way." One cuddle party participant said it had helped him overcome years of social anxiety, while a female attendee said she loves "experiencing the feelings that come up when you connect with each individual person."

Lesbian Chased Out Of Bathroom Settles Lawsuit
A popular restaurant has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a lawsuit with a lesbian who said a bouncer
chased her out of the women’s bathroom and forced her to leave because she looked masculine.
The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced the settlement yesterday on behalf
of Khadijah Farmer. The Caliente Cab Company, while denying the allegations, also agreed to add
gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy, amend its employee handbook with a section on
customer restroom use and adopt a gender-neutral employee dress code. The confrontation at the
Greenwich Village eatery happened last June 24th after the annual Gay Pride march.

POT JUROR CAUGHT SMOKING POT
The Houston, Texas, Chronicle reports that prospective juror Cornelia Turner Mayo was in a jury pool that had been narrowed down to 20 when the court took a break. Police say they caught her outside the courthouse, smoking pot. Ironically, she was up for a jury spot in a marijuana possession trial. The judge said, "I've had prospective jurors get lost before, but it never occurred to me that they might be getting ready for a marijuana trial by, allegedly, smoking marijuana."

WILLIAM SHATNER's new autobiography hits bookstores today.
In the book, he talks about the "Star Trek" groupies: "We were treated like rock stars. I was told there were female Trekkies who kept lists of all the cast members with whom they'd slept. I was told this!
"During much of this time I was single and I had opportunities to be with many women — and I grasped a great many of them. Never at warp speed."
"Admittedly, there were times when the woman I was with said: 'So this is what it's like to be in bed with Captain Kirk.' That was definitely a downer, in every sense of the word."

Man Jailed After Daughter Fails To Get Diploma
A man ordered by a judge to make sure his daughter hit the books has found himself in jail because
she failed to earn a high school equivalency diploma. Brian Gegner, of Fairfield, Ohio, was
sentenced to 180 days in jail for contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor. He was
ordered months ago to make sure his 18-year-old daughter Brittany, who has a history of truancy,
received her GED. Brittany said Monday that she plans to take the test this month and said her father
shouldn’t be blamed for her failure because she has been living with her mother. A hearing on a
motion filed by Brian’s attorney to reconsider the sentence is scheduled for Friday.

New Yorker Gokhan Mutlu says he was denied a seat on a five-hour jetBlue flight and was instead
told to “hang out” in the plane’s bathroom. Mutlu has sued jetBlue for $2 million, saying he suffered
“extreme humiliation.” When the man arrived to check in for a flight from San Diego to New York in
February he was told the flight was full. But he was allowed to board after a flight attendant agreed to
give up her seat and travel in an airline employee “jump seat.” It was not clear whether the flight
attendant was working. About 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot told Mutlu the flight attendant was
uncomfortable and he would have to give up his seat and “hang out” in the bathroom for the
remainder of the flight. According to court papers, the pilot “became angry” when Mutlu refused and
said he “should be grateful for being onboard.” When Mutlu said he would sit in the “jump seat,” he
was told it was reserved for airline personnel.

Drew Barrymore In Hit-And-Run Chase
Drew Barrymore chased a hit-and-run motorist around Los Angeles after the reckless driver smashed
into her car and sped off. Barrymore was driving in West Hollywood just before noon on Monday
when she was rear-ended. Instead of pulling over to exchange insurance information, the driver fled.
Barrymore went into vigilante mode, chasing the suspect. She eventually lost track of the vehicle, but
did get the car’s license plate number.

‘Oprah’s Big Give’ Won’t Be Back On ABC
“Oprah’s Big Give” will not be returning to ABC, the network’s president of entertainment said
yesterday. As he unveiled ABC’s upcoming slate of programming in New York, Stephen McPherson
said Winfrey’s Harpo production company has decided not to do another season of “Oprah’s Big
Give.” “It wasn’t something Oprah wanted to do,” McPherson said.

Photo at left: The Chilean volcano with a lightening backdrop.  Nature - both fearsome and beautiful.

Today is National Apple Pie Day.
Today is Table Knife Appreciation Day. Cardinal Richelieu invented the utensil on this date in 1639.

History 101:
1918 The first U.S. airmail stamps, featuring a picture of an airplane, are introduced. On some of the stamps, the airplane is printed upside-down, making them collector’s items.  A set of four “Jenny’s” sold for over $500,000 not long ago
1940: In his first speech as prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
On May 13th, 1966, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork -- were first seen on TV as  "The Monkees"
1973: Tennis male chauvinist Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in front of a world-wide television audience. Later that year he would lose to Billy Jean King.
1991: A study released by the University of Utah indicated that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your face. Smoking, they said, triples your chance of premature facial wrinkling.
1995: Thieves in Birmingham, England, unscrewed aluminum handles from all 150 doors in a 19-story apartment building. It had to have taken them all night.

The 101 Number One Song of the Day was a hit before a single fan ever heard the song.  (Find out why next)  RCA assigned it catalog number 7740 and with only that to go on, the company racked up over 1,275,000 advance orders of the record.  Why all the anticipation?  The singer had been out of commission for the previous two years and his millions of fans were hungry for something – anything -  new.  The reason he was out of commission was that he was serving as a non commissioned officer in the U.S. Army.  Anybody care to guess who I’m talking about here?  That’s right, catalog number 7740 was recorded by the King – Elvis and it was number one on this day – May 10, 1960 and here it is.  “Stuck On You”

M&M Assault (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A Des Moines, Iowa, college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run accident
was charged with assaulting an officer with M&Ms. Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a
convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the
ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder. McGuire said
he threw the candy because he was “sticking up for his friend.” He was released from jail Sunday
after posting $1,000 bond.

A couple of South Florida politicians want to make South Florida a separate state.
They've passed a resolution, asking that a boundary line to split South Florida from the rest of the state be drawn at the Palm Beach County line. They're looking for support from other counties in South Florida, such as Miami-Dade and Broward. This is largely about money. South Floridians argue that South Florida pays a larger share of the state's tax burden and they're getting less than their share back. One of the politicians called it, "South Florida's Boston Tea Party."

Sticky situation for fire crews
Firefighters in China found themselves in a sticky situation - after an accident involving a truck load of glue.    A truck fully loaded with buckets of construction glue crashed into a bus in Chengdu city, reports West China City News.  The driver and a passenger escaped with only minor injuries - but the entire load of glue spilled on to the road.
Firefighters tried to use water guns to dilute the glue but without success. And the glue was so sticky that their spades and brooms were soon stuck to the ground.
"It's too sticky. And the chemical smell is very strong," said the chief of 11th branch of the local firefighting department. Things went from bad to worse when some of the growing crowd of onlookers slipped into the pool of glue and also got stuck.
Firefighters eventually managed to clean up the street and dissolve the sticky mess by using special chemicals

Bogus dentist used DIY tools
A man who passed himself off in Italy as a dentist for years despite using a DIY power drill and a pair of normal pliers in his surgery has been arrested.  Alvaro Perez, 40, from Ecuador used screwdrivers and household pincers among other things when he treated his patients at his surgery in Sampierdarena in northern Italy. He was arrested though after one of his patients who said they had almost passed out with the pain called police.
Police said Perez, who has been charged with deception, had no dental qualifications but had hundreds of clients on his books.

Best Times To Shop For Deals
With spring in full-swing and summer just around the corner, choosing the right day of the week to
shop for items on sale can mean major savings on these seasonal must-haves:
· Want a steal on swimwear? Wait until Saturday and you’ll save an average of 46%.
· Searching for the best deals on denim jeans? Shop on Friday and get an average 41% off.
· Dreaming of maxi, wrap and other dresses for less? Buy on Fridays when they average 42% off.
· Shop on Fridays and Saturdays for new shoes.
· The best handbag deals can be found on Tuesdays, when they average more than 41% off,
although Friday is also a good handbag shopping day at an average of 40% off.
These are just a few of the money-saving surprises that were unearthed when Shop It To Me
(www.shopittome.com) analyzed its vast sale data to determine the best days of the week to find the
steepest discounts. Shop It To Me compared prices on more than 150,000 clothing items that went
on sale between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007, from 70+ leading online retailers.
Additional information can be found at http://blog.shopittome.com.

iPhone Sold Out
Apple said yesterday its online stores in the U.S. and U.K. are sold out of the iPhone. Brick-andmortar
stores run by Apple and iPhone carriers including AT&T might still have units available. The
company isn’t saying why there’s a shortage of iPhones. An updated version of the iPhone is
expected to be released by Apple next month. So far, 5.4 million iPhones have been sold.

Obama Supporter Runs Into Hillary
Doris Smith was hoping to get tickets to Barack Obama’s rally in Charleston, West Virginia, yesterday
morning. Advance seats were sold out and the only option was to stand in line for two hours and
hope for the best. Doris decided instead to go for breakfast. Wearing her “Obama ‘08” T-shirt, Smith
went to Tudor’s Biscuit World – and ran right into Hillary Clinton. Doris admits she was a little
embarrassed, and she had no idea Hillary would be at Biscuit World. She said she liked Clinton but
prefers Obama. “We’ve got to get the Republicans out of there,” she said.

Another Drunk On A Mower – This One Wearing A Tuxedo
Police in Chautauqua County, New York, say a man wearing a tuxedo was incredibly drunk when he
took a riding lawn mower out for an early morning spin. Police received a report of an intoxicated
man at a home in Irving around 1 a.m. yesterday morning. When they arrived, the man was riding
away on his mower. They pulled over the 58-year-old and charged him with felony driving while
intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation. Officials said the charge is a felony because the
man had a previous DWI conviction.

McCartney, Mills Divorce Official
Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are officially divorced. The marriage came to a formal end during
a short hearing in London’s High Court on Monday. Justice Hugh Bennett said the petition for divorce
by Mills was granted on the grounds that the couple had lived apart for two years. Neither McCartney
nor Mills were in court for the ruling. In March, the judge awarded Mills a fraction of the money she
had been seeking from McCartney. But she still received about $34,000 for each day of the four-year
marriage.

Kate Hudson, Owen Wilson Reps Deny Marriage Rumors
Reps for Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson are denying rumors that the couple are getting married. The
rumors started flying after Hudson was spotted wearing a huge rock on her engagement finger. But a
rep for Hudson tells Us Magazine that she is “definitely not engaged.” A spokesperson for Wilson
also denied the wedding rumors.

Seacrest Exec-Producing ‘Momma’s Boys’
A new NBC reality series, to be executive-produced by Ryan Seacrest, will challenge a group of
moms to find brides for their complacent sons. “Momma’s Boys” will also be produced by “Average
Joe” co-creator Andrew Glassman. The new series is set to premiere on the heels of “All-American
Summer” and the “Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.”

Tasmanian Devil Week begins today. More Tasmanian devils are born this week than any other week of the year.
Today is Limerick Day, marking the birthday of limerick champ Edward Lear.
Today is National Nonsense Day.
Today is National Windmill Day.

1820: Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was born. She carried a pet owl everywhere she went.
1932: A new character, Dippy Dawg, appeared in the cartoon "Mickey’s Revue" by Walt Disney. Later, Disney changed Dippy’s name to Goofy.
1959: Elizabeth Taylor married Eddie Fisher. Liz said, "We will be on our honeymoon for 30 or 40 years."
2003: Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers brought the Texas House to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan.
1978 The Commerce Department announces that hurricanes would no longer be named exclusively after women.
May 12, 1967 this man was drafted in the Army and was shortly thereafter shipped off to Vietnam for a year just as the band he headed was climbing up the charts with a song they’d recorded.  By the time he came back, their 15 minutes of fame had come and gone – Archie Bell (and the Drells)

101 number one song of the day was a first for a famous group and a last for that same famous group from Motown.  It was the 18th chart hit for this trio from Detroit and the first record to be a title tune for a movie.  It was the last record that would contain the single name by which they had been known.  From here on out, their subsequent singles and albums would contain an additional name.  And that brings us to today’s 101 number one song of the day – it reached the top on May 12th 1967.  After this one they’d be known not just as the Supremes but “Diana Ross and the Supremes”  “The Happening”

How To Kick The Oil Addiction (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A new company is hoping drivers will kick their oil addiction by making their own ethanol at home. EFuel
Corp unveiled last week the “MicroFueler,” touting it as the world’s first machine that allows
homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars. The portable unit
that sells for $10,000 resembles a gas station pup and nozzle. Instead of tapping gasoline from an
underground tank, the pump’s back end plugs into home power and water supplies to make ethanol
for as little as $1 a gallon, according to E-Fuel. The company says one of the machine’s top selling
points is its sweet tooth. It ferments fuel from sugar, the price of which is historically cheap as global
supplies are glutted. That means it avoid the Achilles heel of today’s U.S. ethanol system – reliance
on corn – which has been blamed for helping to spike global food prices.

NUDE HIKER
SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) - John Mosley might have to buy some hiking shorts. Deputies in Arizona charge he was hiking in the buff. Authorities say Mosley told them he didn't think it was illegal to hike naked in a public forest. Deputies report two women complained, saying they were confronted by a naked man, who offered to snap their pictures. Mosley, who's from St. George, Utah, is now charged with indecent exposure. Authorities say they're looking for people who might have encountered the naked man.

First-Class Stamp Prices Rise 1 Penny Today
The cost of mailing a letter goes up one penny to 42 cents today, the latest in what are expected to
be annual price adjustments by the Postal Service. A new law regulating the post office makes it
easier to raise rates as long as the agency doesn’t exceed the rate of inflation. Rates are to be
adjusted each May. The Post Office also has introduced a way for people to save money – the
Forever stamp, which remains valid for first-class postage regardless of any increases. Sales of the
Forever stamp reached 64 million-a-day in April. Forever stamps currently sell for 41 cents, but can
be used after the rate increase without any additional postage. However, when the rate goes up, so
does the price of Forever stamps.

A New Type Of Cremation
Since the very beginning, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest – dissolving bodies in lye and flushing what’s left down the drain. The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in the U.S. 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers. No funeral home in the U.S. – or anywhere else in the world – offers it. In fact, only two U.S. medical centers use it on human bodies, and only on cadavers donated for research. The experts say the process could one day rival burial
and cremation.

Man Says This Was His Second Self-Tracheotomy
Remember the guy we told you about last week that performed a tracheotomy on himself with a steak
knife? Well, it turns out 55-year-old Omaha resident Steve Wilder did the same thing to himself two
years ago. Wilder said his throat is shrunken because of radiation treatments for cancer. Those
treatments ended four years ago, but scar tissue remains. He said seasonal allergies may have
caused his latest episode, on April 30th. Wilder said he’s had three tracheotomies since 2004. He
performed the first one on himself in 2006.

‘Survivor’ Winner
Parvati Shallow was the last woman standing on “Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites.” The 25-
year-old boxer and charity organizers from L.A. outwitted, outlasted and outplayed her competitors –
both “favorite” former castaways and “fan” contestants – to claim the title of “Sole Survivor” and the
$1 million prize during last night’s live finale. She previously came in sixth place on “Survivor: Cook
Islands.”

Dennis Farina Arrested
Actor Dennis Farina was charged with a felony yesterday after a loaded gun was found in his carry-on
luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. When the weapon was discovered at a security
checkpoint, the 64-year-old actor said he had forgotten the .22 handgun was in his luggage. Farina
was booked for investigation of carrying a concealed weapon. Bail was set at $25,000 before police
discovered the weapon was not registered. Charges were upgraded to a felony, and he is now being
held in lieu of $35,000 bail.

Archuleta’s Dad Loses Backstage Pass At ‘Idol’
While Jeff Archuleta may deny that he’s a controlling father, his son will need to finish his run on
“American Idol” without the assistance of his dad. According to a source who works at the show, Jeff
has had his backstage access yanked. He is accused of overstepping his boundaries when he
wanted David to alter his “Stand By Me” performance by adding a verse from Sean Kingston’s 2007
summer hit “Beautiful Girls.” Jeff reportedly ignored the producers’ objections, which led to problems
with the song’s publisher and cost the show a ton of money in legal fees. The elder Archuleta will be
allowed to sit in the audience during the live show.

Miley Cyrus Offered Playboy Centerfold
Miley Cyrus has been offered the chance to pose naked for Playboy magazine as soon as she turns
18. Hugh Hefner wants the 15-year-old to follow up her controversial photographs for Vanity Fair and
strip completely in his magazine – but only when she reaches legal age. The 82-year-old also
slammed the furor surrounding Miley’s poses for Vanity Fair. “I think to make such a big to do over
something as innocent as those photos, I think is a reflection on how schizophrenic America is about
sexuality,” Hef said.

Lohan Linked In Second Clothing Theft
Model Lauren Hastings claims Lindsay Lohan swiped thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes from her
closet during a party last year. Earlier this month, Lohan was accused of stealing an $11,000 fur coat
after it went missing at a New York nightspot back in January. Now Hastings has come forward,
alleging the star has a history of hoarding clothes. She tells “Inside Edition,” “Basically ... my closets
were emptied. I can be the one person not to let Lindsay get away with this.” Los Angeles County
prosecutors have declined to press charges against Lohan, citing insufficient evidence.

Michael Jackson Saves The Ranch
Michael Jackson said yesterday a foreclosure on his Neverland Ranch set for this week was averted
after a loan on the California property was sold to Colony Capital, a large real estate investment firm.
The loan, which sources said was about $23.5 million, had been held by Fortress Investment Group.
The 2,700-acre ranch in Santa Barbara County was slated to be auctioned off on Wednesday after
Jackson defaulted on loan payments.

Why is this dog wearing shoes?  Some silly new fashion fad for Fido?  Nope.  These shoes serve a higher purpose and the story is below.

Today is Root Canal Appreciation Day
Today is National Nightshift Workers Day.
Today is Pipsqueak Appreciation Day, a time to honor pipsqueaks everywhere.

History 101:
1903: Blacksmith Fred LaRose of Cobalt, Ontario, threw his hammer at a fox and struck the world's largest silver vein.  Unfortunately, he didn't know it, so he sold his claim for a paltry $30,000.
1960: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Enovid, the first pill considered safe for birth control use.
In a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minnow condemned television programming as a "vast wasteland."
It was 41 years ago today that heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing crown for refusing the military draft.
1962 - Brian Epstein met with EMI producer George Martin which would lead to the first recording contract of the act that Epstein had recently signed on to manage:  the Beatles
1999: A truck carrying 20-million bees in 450 hives overturned in Falmouth, Maine. Firefighters quickly sprayed the dumped hives with water to make the bees think it was raining, so they’d stay home. Five firefighters were stung, but none seriously hurt.

101 Number One song of the Day was recorded by a group who wanted to stay anonymous in their native country when they were starting out.  (Find Out why next)
That’s because they couldn’t get any radio airplay.  The airwaves were full of American and British acts but in Canada, groups from there were largely ignored.  Eventually, legislation was enacted giving native artists a certain percentage of the time that music was played.  But before that, a talented group named Chad Allen and the Expressions decided to leave their name off the label of their single called “Shakin All Over.”  That group would go on to have the number one song in America on this day in 1970.  By this time they were known by the name given to them by DJs after their release of Shakin All Over" – Guess Who – with today’s 101 number one song of the Day.   (American Woman)

Doggy Doo Ruined Family Outing (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A New York woman has filed a $100 claim against Norwalk, Connecticut, claiming her family’s outing
to the Maritime Aquarium was ruined by dog poop. Kelly DeBrockey claims her child’s shoes – along
with the entire outing – were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in doggy doo outside the Maritime
Garage. City attorney M. Jeffrey Spahr said the official response is that her claim is denied and in his
words, “poop happens.”

Missing cat spotted via webcam
A cat missing for seven months in Cornwall has been spotted - by a US woman watching a webcam.  Abbi Rendell, 30, lost her tabby Jerry in October after moving to the village of Polperro, reports The Sun.  She stuck posters around the area and appealed on local website www.polperro.org .  Eventually Abbi lost hope - until Deb Wilgus, from Indiana, emailed her last month.  Deb watches a webcam of the village and spotted Jerry several times sleeping on a hotel doormat.  Abbi said: "I couldn't believe it." She now stakes out the hotel each night hoping to find him.

Single Moms Want A Babysitter, Not A Blind Date
This Mother’s Day  single moms are looking for a babysitter, not a date.   Singlerose.com, an online community for single moms, wants to help friends and family make Mother’s Day special for the unmarried mama in their lives. Founder Tammy Jones says treating a single mom to a free babysitter is the best gift because it gives them time to do something for themselves, like get a pedicure or massage. But hooking up a single mom with a dude is a dud.  Jones explains, “Don’t set them up on a blind date. It can turn out a disaster, and ruin your friendship.”  In fact, Jones thinks single mommies should have a Mom’s Day all to themselves. Jones says, “It would be super to have a Single Mother’s Day. They’re the hardest working people on the planet. They deserve it.”

Fart tax on cattle
Estonian authorities have slapped a flatulence tax on farmers to compensate the country for the methane gas produced by cows.  Farmers this week received their first 'fart tax' demands asking them to pay for the greenhouse gases their cattle produce.  A single cow is thought to produce on average 350 litres of methane and 1,500 litres of carbon dioxide per day from flatulence and burping.  It is thought that cattle are responsible for up to 25 per cent of methane gas emissions in Estonia.  Opposition politicians have slammed the tax however. Jaanus Marrandi, spokesman for the opposition People's Union of Estonia said: "This is unprecedented in any EU country."

Well shod dogs (today's Phunny Photo)
Rescue dogs working with Chinese firefighters have been given leather shoes.
Chaoyang fire brigade in Beijing city have fitted them with shoes to protect their paws.
"It's mainly to protect their feet, not for fashion," a fire brigade spokesman told the Beijing Times.
The soles are made of leather, while the uppers are made from tough, fire-proof fabric.
The department says the dogs' working environments are usually very dangerous, and their feet are easily cut open or burnt.

Omaha Man Uses Steak Knife To Operate On Himself
Steve Wilder is a man’s man. Wilder was sleeping last week when he awoke and couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t call 911 because he didn’t think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old Omaha man
got a steak knife from the kitchen and performed an at-home tracheotomy. Wilder suffered from
throat cancer and related breathing problems several years ago. About that time, he had an episode
where he couldn’t breathe because his air passages swelled shut. He said that’s what happened this
time around.

3-, 5- Or 10-Second Rule?
Just 8% of adults follow the five-second rule that says if food falls to the ground and is in contact with
the floor for fewer than five seconds, it is safe to pick up and eat. Do you eat food dropped on the
floor?
· 78% say they NEVER eat food that’s fallen on the floor
· 10% go by the three-second rule
· 8% go by the five-second rule
· 4% go by the 10-second rule

Things We’d Love To Hear Mom Say
· “How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back? Do like your father does and pull your chair
up to about 6 inches in front of the TV.”
· “Ya know, I used to skip school a lot just like you. What neat places do you go to?”
· “If you come home before midnight your father is going to have a long talk with you mister!”
· “Just sniff the pits and let me know if you think you can wear it for another week.”
· “Hey, what’s another stray cat gonna hurt? We already have 27. Why stop now?”
· “Well, you may be able to belch better than me but you can’t fart like I can!”
· “How many excuse notes did you say you needed for the school year?”
· “Just shoot the snot on the ground and wipe your nose with your sleeve.”
· “I double dog dare ya to streak out to the mailbox buck nekkid.”

Commencement Readers Face Tongue-Twister Names
Whatever happened to good ol’ names like “Tom,” “Dick” and “Harry?” Deans, professors and
professional speakers are gearing up to perform one of academia’s tougher jobs – getting every
name right on the commencement stage during graduation ceremonies. With nearly 600,000 foreign
students at U.S. colleges, names like Nokuthula Sikhethiwe Kitikiti (No-oo-TOOL-a SEE-kay-tee-way
Ki-tee-ki-tee) are commonplace. Those who have the privilege of reading names of graduates say
the greatest anxiety often comes from Asian and African names.

Gorilla Celebrates Birthday With Cake
Jenny, recognized as the world’s oldest living gorilla in captivity, celebrated her 55th birthday
yesterday with a four-layer frozen fruit cake and banana leaf wrapped treats at her home in the Dallas
Zoo. Other than a few joint issues and some poor eyesight, Jenny appears to be doing very well.
Gorillas in the wild normally live between 30 and 35 years. Health care and protection from predators
has extended the lifespan in zoos. Of the roughly 360 gorillas in North American zoos, only four are
over the age of 50. All of them are female. Jenny isn’t saying what has led to her longevity, but her
vegetarian diet couldn’t hurt.

Heather Mills Considering ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather is set to show off her skills as a contestant on “Celebrity
Apprentice.” If Mills does do the show it won’t be her first reality TV stint – she was a “Dancing With
The Stars” contestant during the fourth season of the show.

Charlie Sheen To Wed
Charlie Sheen and fiancée Brooke Mueller are getting hitched at the end of the month. The couple
told In Touch magazine that the nuptials will take place on May 30th. Sheen and Mueller met at a
party in early 2006, just after he separated from his then-wife, Denise Richards. This will be Sheen's
third marriage and Mueller's first.

Liv Tyler’s Marriage Is Over
Liv Tyler and her rocker hubby Royston Langdon have announced their separation. Tyler, 30, and
Langdon, 36, tied the knot in the Caribbean in 2003 and have a four-year-old son, Milo. Liv’s rep tells
people.com, “They remain good friends and devoted parents to their son Milo and are requesting that
their family privacy be respected at this time.”

How's this for a single family residence?  Read more below.

Today is No Socks Day. Conserve laundry energy by not wearing socks.
Today is World Red Cross Day.

History 101:
The first Coca-Cola went on sale on this day in 1886 at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia -- formerly called "Globe of Flower Cough Syrup," the newly-named, carbonated soft drink was an instant hit.
1940:  Eric Hilliard was born to a couple named Ozzie and Harriet Nelson of Teaneck, New Jersey. At 16 "Ricky" became an instant rock star when he began singing on the family TV show in 1957. He died in a Texas plane crash in 1985.  Ten years later – to the day he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Rick Nelson
President Harry Truman took to the radio airwaves 62 years ago tonight to announce the Allied Forces victory over the Axis Powers in Europe during World War Two.
Democrat Gary Hart withdrew from the American presidential race on this day in 1987 after being dogged by questions about his relationship with a woman named Donna Rice aboard a boat called "Monkey Business."
1999: Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, began testing its lemon meringue pies, fruit tarts, and egg custards to make sure they were safe to throw at people. A new pie-flinging craze prompted the chain’s concern.
2001: A bungling armed raider threatened a bank teller with a pistol in Bordeaux, France, and demanded $13,700. When the teller said he didn't have nearly that much, the bandit lowered his demand to $6,800. When the clerk again refused, the robber asked to withdraw a small amount of cash from his own account. The asked for his identity card. Police captured the suspect at his home.

The 101 Number One Song of the Day is about a teacher who returned to the High School he attended as a teenager and the writer who was especially hired for the project found it to be a somewhat difficult challenge. It was written for a TV series which would launch the career of a man who would become an international superstar.  Since it was originally just a TV theme song it lasted less than 60 seconds.  But it became so popular that a second verse was later added so it could be released as a single.  The tough part about writing the song, however, revolved around the show’s name.  The writer couldn’t find anything to rhyme with it so eventually just omitted the name of the character altogether.  Well, actually, he could think of one word to rhyme with the name but couldn’t think of a way to include the word “otter” into the song.  It became number one on May 8th, 1976 for John Sebastian – the show’s name – “Welcome Back Kotter”

101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge: MUKESH AMBANI is the head of the Indian petrochemical giant Reliance Industries and the fifth richest man in the world (Forbes magazine estimated his net worth in March at $43 billion-with-a-b). So Mukesh can afford to build himself a 27-story skyscraper to use as his single family home in downtown Mumbai, India.  Estimated cost: $2,000,000,000. Yes, that would be $2-billion bucks.  In addition to six floors for parking, it'll have the usual swimming pool, yoga studio and gardens (various types, including meditation and hydroponic) but will also have what Forbes calls "an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries." When it's ready for them to move into it in January, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space. Ambani, the wife and their three kids have been getting by in a 22-story single family tower until now.

Party Animal - Australian politician Troy Buswell has survived an attempt to oust him as leader of the West Australia Liberal Party, which is actually conservative. Buswell was under fire after he tearfully admitted at a press conference to sniffing a chair that a female colleague had recently vacated in his office. He said he did it in front of staffers just to get a laugh. He had previously admitted to snapping the bra strap of an opposition party staffer. A Liberal Party meeting was held, it was put to a vote, and the motion to replace him was defeated.

YOUNG GRADUATE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A lot of 18-year-olds are now thinking about going off to college. But Mattias Gassman already has his eyes on graduate school. The 18-year-old graduates from Iowa State University this coming Saturday with two bachelor's degrees. Gassman has majors in biophysics, German and classical studies, plus a minor in history. And he's graduating summa cum laude, to boot. He earned a full scholarship to Iowa State at age 14. Now, he's thinking about a summer job before heading to the University of Minnesota for graduate studies in the classical languages.

How Much Mom Is Worth?
The job-market value of the role of a mother has increased to nearly $803,000, according to financial
advisor Ric Edelman’s 10th Annual Mother’s Day Index. That is an increase of $28,990 over last
year! The basis of the index is that the typical mom actually does many jobs – 17 of them in fact.
Using average annual compensation data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Edelman totals up the average salaries for those 17 key occupations to arrive at each
year’s figure. The occupations which compose the Annual Mother’s Day Index and their
corresponding median annual salaries are:
1. Animal Caretaker $29,920
2. Chef $37,880
3. Computer Systems Analyst $72,230
4. Financial Manager $101,450
5. Food/Beverage Service Worker $19,360
6. General Office Clerk $25,200
7. Registered Nurse $59,730
8. Management Analyst $77,270
9. Child Care Worker $18,820
10. Housekeeper $18,700
11. Psychologist $66,110
12. Bus Driver $33,050
13. Elementary School Principal $79,200
14. Dietitian/Nutritionist $47,890
15. Property Manager $52,290
16. Social Worker $40,640
17. Recreation Worker $22,950
Total $802,690
Edelman said the index is actually a conservative number since it does not include the value of the
retirement, health and insurance benefits that workers in these positions typically receive.

Update: ‘Pants Suit’ Judge Suing For Job, $1 Million In Damages
A former judge who lost a $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants is
suing to get his job back. He also wants at least $1 million in damages. Roy Pearson claims he was
wrongfully dismissed for exposing corruption within the Office of Administrative Hearings, the
department where he worked. In court documents, Pearson said he was protected as a whistleblower
and that the city used the fact that he was being “vilified in the media” to cut him out of his job.
The city’s general counsel said Pearson’s term as an administrative law judge expired in May 2007,
and the D.C. Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges voted not to
reappoint him.

Cher Begins 3-year Vegas Engagement
Cher began her 200-show, three-year-long stint at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas
Tuesday night. The 90-minute concert-style show includes Cher’s biggest hits, vintage footage of
rarely-seen “Sonny and Cher” clips, and a stage that changes its scenery for every song and mood.
Tickets cost between $95 and $250 each.

Neil Diamond Still Dreaming Of Hall Of Fame Induction
After 20 years of being snubbed, Neil Diamond is still hoping that with hard work and a little luck he
will land in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year. Diamond became eligible for induction in 1989,
but has yet to join his peers in the Cleveland music museum. Neil hopes that will change on the 20th
anniversary of his eligibility. “It just makes me think that maybe I just have to keep doing it…
Hopefully I’ll get in some day. I’d like to be in there with my peers. I’ve paid my dues, I think, and I
think I’ve done good work,” Diamond says.

‘American Idol’ Boots Another Finalist
This season of “American Idol” is now down to three contestants. Jason Castro was voted off “Idol”
last night as the show narrowed the competition to three finalists: David Cook, David Archuleta and
Syesha Mercado.

Star Jones Attacks Barbara Walters
Nearly two years after leaving “The View” amid a rocky relationship with her co-stars, Star Jones
lashed out at Barbara Walters for writing about her. In her new memoir, “Audition,” Walters discusses
how Jones wouldn’t acknowledge her gastric bypass surgery on the air. She also writes about Star’s
lavish wedding, which wound up alienating viewers as Jones accepted gifts in return for promotion.
Jones told US Weekly, “It’s a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is
reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of
her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book.” Walters reveals
in the book that she had an affair with married U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke that lasted several years in
the 1970s.

Texas Town Getting Ready For Bush Wedding
If you’re upset because you didn’t get an invite to Jenna Bush’s wedding this weekend, you can still
celebrate. The wedding of one of President Bush’s twin daughters will take place at his 1,600-acre
Central Texas ranch on Saturday in Crawford, Texas. With only 700 residents in Crawford, the folks
are getting all spiffed up for the celebration. Souvenir shops will serve cake and punch while other
stores will sell coffee mugs and mouse pads featuring a photo of the happy couple. Jenna Bush is
marrying Henry Hager, a former aide to Bush’s former top political adviser Karl Rove and Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

It’s the Great American Grump Out.  See if you can go 24 hours without being grumpy, crabby, or rude.
National School Nurse Day.
National Roast Leg of Lamb Day.
Mother Ocean Day, a time to celebrate the wonder of the ocean.
Today is Experience the Awesome Stomach-Churning Wonder of a Thrill Ride Day.

History 101:
May 7, 1789 - The first Presidential Inaugural Ball was held in New York City. Each lady in attendance received as a gift a portrait of George Washington. Actually, the ball was the first such event held for the incoming President of the United States.
1912 - Columbia University approved final plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories. The award was established by Joseph Pulitzer.
1915 – The British Liner, Lusitania, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat and sunk within 20 minutes off the South Coast of Ireland.  Of the 1959 passengers and crew 1198 drowned including 128 Americans.
1975 President Ford formally declares an end to the “Vietnam era.”
1991: A bandit tried to hold up a Jacksonville, Florida, supermarket wearing a paper bag over his head with eyeholes cut so he could see. But when he moved, the bag shifted and he couldn’t see. While he adjusted the bag it tore, exposing his face. Which a checker recognized as one of the store’s regular customers.
1991 A well known American singer arrested in Englewood, New Jersey, after driving over the lawn of his neighbor, Mayor Donald Aronson. He was charged with DUI and with threatening the mayor.
---I wonder if he was driving a Mustang…it was Wilson Pickett.

The 101 number one song of the day had a rough road to the top – nobody in the group wanted to record it except its writer and he had no idea what it meant.  Producer Lou Adler didn’t like the song either but this group of four was heavily influenced by their de-facto leader John who insisted they record the song before they put their new album to bed.  He said to his dying day that he had no idea what the song was all about but he liked it none the less.  Although the other three in the group didn’t like it, the public did and radio stations started playing it off the album since it was never intended to be a single.  By the time it finally was released as a single, it was so popular that more than 150,000 were sold on the first day.  And on May 7, 1966 it reached the number one spot in America – for the Mamas and the Papas (Monday, Monday)

Dad’s pirate flag battle                                                                                                                    
A fireman is facing prosecution for flying a skull and crossbones outside his home for his daughter's pirate-themed birthday party.  David Waterman, 41, faces legal action for refusing to remove the Jolly Roger flag he hoisted to celebrate his daughter's eighth birthday.  The father of four left the 5ft by 3ft flag flying after the party but was ordered to take it down after a complaint from a neighbour, reports the Daily Telegraph.  Under current laws, any flag flying outside a residential property has to have planning permission unless it is a national flag.  Mr Waterman said he is determined to continue flying the Jolly Roger and is paying £95 to apply for advertising consent for the £5 flag at his home in Ashtead, Surrey. Mr Waterman, who works at Battersea fire station in south London, describes his battle with the council on his internet blog and says he is in a position now where he "couldn't possibly take down the flag". He said: "It's a £5 flag, not hurting anyone, and they're probably spending hundreds of pounds of our cash getting me to take it down. That could be spent on improving the local area - it's disgraceful." A spokesman for Mole Valley District Council said: "We received a complaint about the flag flying outside Mr Waterman's house and are duty-bound to investigate."

CAUGHT ON TAPE: SEAL MOLESTS PENGUIN 
The BBC reports that scientists from South Africa's University of Pretoria working on sub-Antarctic Marion Island captured on video the most unusual case of mammal mating behavior ever seen: a seal molesting a penguin. At first, they thought the seal was killing the penguin, then realized it was trying to copulate with it. It was a male fur seal and a penguin of indeterminate sex. Scientists believe the seal was young, inexperienced and sexually frustrated. The seal held the penguin down for 45 minutes, as the penguin tried to escape. The seal finally gave up, and the penguin waddled away, ruffled but unharmed, and still in possession of its virtue.

Volvo puts foot in it:                                                                                                                         
A German court has ruled car maker Volvo has to pay compensation to a man who claimed his feet were too big to use the accelerator on his new car.  A judge in the southern German town of Wiesloch said the car makers should have catered for Michael Herzog's size 12 feet.  He went to court complaining the area around the accelerator of his new Volvo C70 coupe was too small to accommodate his feet.  The court ruled his feet were not abnormally large and the judge said the dealer should give the German five per cent off the price of his new car.  Under a court-supervised settlement, Herzog obtained a £1,350 refund to pay for a specially made pair of shoes that allowed him to squeeze his foot into the space.  He was also compensated for the time spent changing back into street shoes each time he got out of the car to meet clients.

Toilet surprise for RV-er                                                                                                         
A German tourist had a shock when his caravan rolled 200 yards down a hill - while he was on the toilet.  Juergen Winkler, 48, was left with just cuts and bruises after the caravan, crashed into a lamppost and then into a ditch in an orchard in the Upper Austria region where he was on holiday.  He was still sitting on the loo when the fire brigade arrived to pull his caravan out of the ditch.  A spokesman said: "He has only a few very slight injuries but he was as white as a sheet and still sitting there on the toilet."  Rescue service workers who were called out by passers-by who saw what had happened said Mr Winkler was so shocked he was unable to move.

Snore Losers
A new survey by Breathe Right Nasal Strips has found that snoring can lead couples to separate
beds. One in three people who share a bed with a snorer say snoring is among the top three things
they would like to change about their mates. Forty percent of those who sleep with a snorer admits
they’ve had to sleep in another bed just to get a good night of sleep. What’s even more amazing is
that home builders and architects predict that more than 60% of custom homes will have dual master
bedrooms by 2015. Other survey findings:
· More than three out of every five snorers say they have woken themselves up from their own
snoring.
· 77% of snorers’ bed partners have tried poking, slapping, nudging and whacking their snorer to get
them to shut up.

Chocolate Helps Nab Shoplifter
A 15-year-old boy is in big trouble after the odor of chocolate on his breath gave him away. The boy
is accused of shoplifting candy bars in Bremerton, Washington. An officer responding to the report
last Friday caught up with the suspect on a bicycle. The cop smelled an odor of chocolate and called
witnesses to identify the kid. He confessed.

Light Bulb Still Burning After 107 Years
A 107-year-old light bulb in California has been deemed by Guinness World Records and Ripley’s
Believe It Or Not as the word’s longest-ever burning bulb. The low-watt rarity has been burning
nonstop in the Livermore, California, Station No. 6 firehouse since 1901. “This fragile thing that
wasn’t meant to last has outlived the company that made it, people who first screwed it in, people
who have written about it and who have kept watch over it,” said Edward Meyer of Ripley
Entertainment. The bulb even has its own Web-cam and Web site, http://centennialbulb.org, which
gets a million hits each year.

Mario Booted From ‘Dancing’
“Dancing With The Stars” celebrated its 100th episode last night by giving the boot to Mario and his
professional partner, Karina Smirnoff. The pair performed a Viennese waltz and a jive during
Monday’s performance show, earning 53 out of 60 points. Christian De la Fuente, Jason Taylor,
Kristi Yamaguchi and Marissa Winokur will compete in next week’s semifinals.

Heath Ledger’s ‘Joker’ Dolls Sell Out In Minutes
“Batman” fans have scooped up the entire stock of Heath Ledger’s “Joker” action figure, within
minutes of them going on sale in New York. Fans started lining up early to buy the $9.99 toy, which
shows Ledger in his final completed role before his death in January from an accidental drug
overdose. He was 29. The action figures have already started showing up on eBay, some selling for
up to $75. Ledger will be seen as the “Joker” in “The Dark Knight,” which hits theaters in July.

Neighbors Want Pitt And Jolie Out
Neighbors of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly sick and tired of the attention the couple has
brought to their swanky Franklin Village community outside of Los Angeles. According to
Animalnewyork.com, a number of homeowners are trying to get the Pitt-Jolie family out of the
neighborhood. But Pitt doesn’t believe the reports. He tells the New York Post, “This is the first I’ve
heard of this.”

Co-Founder Of Baskin-Robbins Dies
Irvine Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream stores, has died. He was 90. Robbins died
Monday in Rancho Mirage, California. While the company advertised that it offered 31 flavors, in fact
it has created more than 1,000 flavors, according to its Web site. Robbins opened his first ice cream
store in Glendale, California, in December 1945. He used $6,000 from a cashed-in insurance policy
his father had given him for his bar mitzvah. Robbins offered 21 flavors at the store. His brother-inlaw,
Burton Baskins, opened his own ice cream store in neighboring Pasadena a year later. By the
end of the ‘40s, they had joined forces to create Baskin-Robbins. Robbins said they flipped a coin to
decide which name came first. As corporate policy, employees were allowed to eat all the ice cream
they wanted, because, Robbins said, “I don’t want my employees stealing.”

Today is National Nurses’ Day
Today is National Scrapbook Day.
Today is National Teacher Day
Today is No Homework Day
Today is No Diet Day, a day to stop dieting and stop dangerous weight-loss attempts.

History 101:
1937 The Hindenburg crashes in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 people onboard.
1950: Elizabeth Taylor married Nicky Hilton. Liz said, "There is no doubt that Nicky is the man I want to spend my life with."
1950: At Miyazaki race track in Japan a 72-year-old jockey rode a 14-year-old horse to a second-place finish. He had ridden the horse 140 miles to compete in the race.
1954: At a track meet in Oxford, England, medical student Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in less than four minutes (3:59.4)
1994: The flight crew of an Aeroflot jetliner with no hydraulic fluid landed their 55 passengers safely in Arkhangelsk, Russia, by pouring all the lemonade on board into the jet’s hydraulic system.
1965: Keith Richards fell asleep while improvising with a new guitar. The next morning he couldn’t remember the riffs, but fortunately, they had been preserved on a tape recorder.  "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction"

101 number one song of the day was the second song of the rock era to become number one twice by different artists and both of the songs were written by the same husband and wife team.
Carole King and Gerry Goffin first accomplished the feat with their song “Go Away Little Girl” which reached the top of the charts for Steve Lawrence and later Donny Osmond.  Their other song which got to number one twice was first recorded by their former baby sitter and subsequently by a heavy metal band from Flint Michigan.  And that brings us to today’s 101 number one song of the day for May 6.  First it was Little Eva and on this day in 1974 it was Grand Funk (The Loco-Motion)

Jar Museum Founder Dies (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
Phil Robinson, the owner of the only museum in the world dedicated to jars, died yesterday in Indiana
at the age of 85. Robinson had been struggling with prostate cancer and had recently turned over the
Robinson Jar Museum in Muncie to a collector who will be selling it off on eBay and at auctions.
Robinson started his collection in 1971 when he found a lid for a Hoosier Jar dating back to the 1880s
and set out trying to find a jar to go with it. The museum opened in 1988 and was home to 4,000 fruit
jars made by Mason, Ball and other familiar names. The entire collection is estimated to be worth
about $300,000.

Safari Nights Gala at the Zoo

Since 1995 the Safari Nights Gala has been a major Zoological Society fundraiser. This fantastic event has grown into a tradition that combines live entertainment, exotic gourmet foods and a great silent auction. The 2008 Gala will be located at the El Paso
Country Club on Saturday, May 17, 2008. Each year this themed gala has become more and more exciting. The "Africa in El Paso" Gala will honor the upcoming African expansion at the Zoo. This spectacular evening features a formal reception, buffet dinner at a variety of different food stations, live musical entertainment and the traditionally great silent auction.
The El Paso Zoological Society Board of Directors and staff hope you will consider supporting the El Paso Zoo through attendance at the "Africa in El Paso" Gala. The cost to attend is $1,000 for a table for 10, or $100 for individual tickets. Reservations must be made by May 12, 2008. Please call us at (915) 532-8156 to make reservations.  As a separate fundraiser, Your dream Vacation could come true for two!Grand Prize Win your dream vacation for two to the location of your choice. Total value $5,000.00  Travel arrangements by Sun Travel. Drawing will be held Saturday, May 17, 2008 during the "Africa in El Paso Gala" at the El Paso Country Club.  Need not be present to win, Must be 18yrs. Or older, ID required, Ticket cost is not tax-deductible, Trip is not redeemable for cash, Only 500 tickets will be sold, Travel subject to dates and availability.

The ultimate dress-down Friday
A new BBC TV show will ask people to go to work naked.
The plan is first for cameras to follow fully clothed employees at work and gauge their views on nudity.  Some will be asked to pose for life-drawing classes to see how comfortable they feel in the buff in public.  After several weeks, the firm's staff will all be asked to come to work starkers for an event called Naked Friday.  The idea is to look at people's attitudes to nudity, body image and the role clothes play in office hierarchy.
In a letter inviting companies to take part in BBC3's Naked Office, producers assure potential participants the project would be a "very productive day as well as a day to remember".

SWEDEN-FEMALE ROAD SIGN
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Gender-conscious Sweden plans to make room for women on its crosswalk signs. The government has ordered the National Road Administration to design a female alternative to the walking-man signs found at pedestrian crossings. A government spokesman says the order will provide more gender balance. The government was inspired by a campaign in one town to put up a walking woman sign created by a local artist. Unwilling to give the town (Mariestad) an exemption from the national standards on road signs, the government instead decided to introduce the new sign nationwide. They're expected to go up next year.

Man Uses Big Toe To Call 911
With his arms stuck in a piece of machinery, a Florida man was able to call 911 using his big toe.  Police said the unidentified man was at the DRS Technologies building early Thursday morning when he became trapped in a press-like machine that resembles an elevator. The employee was alone. He shook his cell phone off his belt, kicked off one shoe and used his toe to dial 911. Rescuers used a thick metal bar to pry the machinery off his arms. He was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital.

The hot new ingredient in sunscreens may be --broccoli. Inflammation and redness are key measures of future skin cancer risk.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are finding out that not only is broccoli a potent cancer-fighter when you eat it, applying a smear of an extract found in broccoli sprouts to skin reduced inflammation by nearly 40%. The antioxidants in the compound apparently activate skin's own cancer-fighting ability by boosting production of protective enzymes and it works for days, even after it's washed off.

From beer to eternity
A Chicago man has had a custom-built coffin made to resemble a giant can of his favourite beer. Bill Bramanti, 67, doesn't plan on using it for its intended purpose any time soon.  Meanwhile, he has filled the blue-and-red coffin with ice and beer - and is using it as a cooler.  Mr Bramanti paid $2000 to have the coffin painted like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. "I'm going to use it as a cooler until I really need it," he said. "You see, I'm going to get my money's worth. Hopefully I get to use it many times."
Mr Bramanti said he revealed the unusual coffin to his family during a mock-wake at his house. He said the event featured family members drinking cans of Pabst from the ice-filled casket. "I wouldn't expect anything less for my dad," said his daughter, Cathy, 42. "He's a man that loves to entertain. He likes it when people are happy. This is what he does."

No Way!  On E-Bay?
A Bust Of A Butt
Item number: 330233657186
Bidding ends: May 10th
With no bids at press time, starting bid: $10.99
Item location: Waupaca, WI
Seller says: “I came into possion [sic] of an unique peice [sic] of art. It’s fragile with a few chips, but
in pritty [sic] good condition. Yes, I know it is a butt, why do you think I’m selling it? I just want to put
this item behind me.”

Man Wins Right To Use Wife’s Last Name
When Michael Buday married his wife, Diana Bijon, he wanted to take her last name. But it took two
years, a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination and a change in California law before he was able to take
the name. Michael Bijon says his wife asked him to take her name and he thought it would be easy
to do. After months of frustration, they took their complaint to the American Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California. A double barrel name would have been no problem, nor would Diana and
Michael keeping their own names. But California and some 40 other U.S. states provided no place
on the marriage license application, and driver’s license, for the groom to choose the bride’s
surname. Michael Bijon picked up his new license yesterday.

Highest-Paid CEOS
Oracle’s Larry Ellison tops Forbes’ list of the highest-paid CEOs. While Ellison’s salary was $1 million
in 2007, he also made $182 million from exercising vested stock options last year. The magazine
notes that although the country’s top execs collectively got a 38% pay raise in 2006, last year their
compensation declined by 15%. On average, those execs made $12.8 million apiece. The highest
paid CEOs:
1. Larry Ellison, Oracle $192.9 million
2. Nabeeb Gareel, MEMC Electronic Materials $79.6 million
3. John Chambers, Cisco $54.8 million
4. Mark Hurd, HP $27.6 million
5. Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA $24.6 million
6. Samual Palmisano, IBM $24.3 million
7. Wendell Weeks, Corning $22.6 million
8. Joseph Tucci, EMC $20 million
9. William Sullivan, Agilent $17.4 million
10. Paul Otellini, Intel $16.3 million
11. Steve Jobs, Apple $14.6 million
12. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun $13.5 million

Danish Arrested At Dunkin Donuts For Bathroom Peeking
A Huntington Station, New York, man was arrested for setting up a wireless surveillance camera in
the women’s bathroom of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Kings Park, police said. According to investigators,
Danish Qureshi, 25, an employee at the shop, would use his laptop to look at occupants in the
bathroom while sitting in his car. An area resident who has similar camera equipment called police
after he intercepted the signal on his television.

Lisa Marie Presley Gets Apology Over Fat Story
A British newspaper has apologized to Lisa Marie Presley for writing a story which claimed she was
getting fat like her late father, Elvis Presley. Lisa Marie later confirmed she was pregnant, not fat.
But she sued Britain’s Daily Mail for libel. On Friday, the paper printed an apology, saying: “We
suggested she might have an unhealthy appetite similar to her late father. We now accept that the
suggestion is untrue.”

Dina Lohan Named ‘Mom Of The Year’
Lindsay Lohan’s mother Dina has been named one of the mothers of the year in her native Long
Island, New York. Despite her daughter’s trouble-filled past, Minglingmoms.com will honor Dina at a
ceremony today. The site is honoring “mothers from Long Island who have raised superstar children”
for Mother’s Day. Other moms to be honored include Carol Baldwin, mother to Alec, Billy, Daniel and
Steven; Billy Joel’s mom, Roslind; Natalie Portman’s mother, Shelley; Ralph Macchio’s mom, Rosalie;
and Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia. Jennifer Lopez is being handed the top gong, Celebrity Mom of
the Year, for drawing attention to Long Island when she gave birth to twins Max and Emme there in
February. It’s unknown if Lopez will attend the ceremony.

It may look like the most dangerous motorbike in the world but this new invention is actually the latest form of green transport.  The story is below.

Today is Cinco de Mayo
Today is National Boo Boo Day, a day to call someone "Boo Boo."
Today is Cartoonists Day, a day to honor all cartoonists, funny ones, poignant ones, and even the editorial cartoonists we don't agree with. Thanks for making us laugh and think.

1923: Syracuse University refused to let Phi Beta Kappa Bernice Goldstein graduate because she could not learn to swim.
1925: John Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
1961: Commander Alan Shepard Jr. was rocketed 115 miles into space from Cape Canaveral to become America’s first space explorer. Fifteen minutes later in the Atlantic Ocean, he said, "Boy, what a ride!"
1968: An influential, but short lived folk rock group consisting of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Rich Furay, and Jim Messina performed their last concert at The Long Beach Arena in California.  It was Buffalo Springfield
1978: Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds registered his 3,000th major league hit.
1999: A man who admitted making thousands of obscene phone calls over a 3-year-period was arrested in Vienna, Austria, after one of the women told him she was busy and would return his call. So he gave her his phone number.

101 Number One Song of the Day: What do you do when you’re in a recording session with only five minutes left before your time is up?  Today’s featured group made a record in record time.  Producer Luther Dixon and label owner Florence Greenberg wrote the song on the spot and this group consisting of four teenage girls, by this time, seasoned pros despite their tender age recorded it in one take.  It knocked former G.I. Elvis Presley from the top spot on May 5, 1962 and it’s the 101 number one song of the day from the Shirelles and by coincidence - “Soldier Boy”

Man Facing Prison Over Little Debbie Cake (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A judge in Ohio must decide whether to send a man to prison for sharing a Little Debbie snack cake.
The case involves 21-year-old Timothy Caudill, who was held in a residential community corrections
program in Nelsonville last year for breaking into a bar. While there, prosecutors said he bought the
oatmeal crème pie from a vending machine and shared it with a fellow inmate who was on restriction
and wasn’t allowed access to snacks. Prosecutors asked a judge to revoke Caudill’s probation and
put him in prison for nine months. Caudill’s attorney said that is outrageous and keeping Caudill out
of a state prison would leave cell space for a more serious offender.

Balancing act (today's photo)
It may look like the most dangerous motorbike in the world but this new invention is actually the latest form of green transport.
The electric Uno is the brainchild of 18-year-old Canadian Ben Gulak who spent several years developing the bike, which is controlled entirely by body movements.
The machine actually has two wheels, side-by-side, and uses gyroscopic technology to stay upright. It moves in the direction the rider leans - and the more you lean, the faster you go.
Ben claims that the bike could help beat pollution and he was inspired to design it after visiting China and seeing all the smog there.
He says: "The bike is fairly easy to ride, but takes a bit of getting used to because you have to learn to trust it."
The top speed on the current prototype is 25mph, but this could be increased with the use of a bigger motor.
The Uno weighs just 58kg and has a range of 2.5 hours once it is charged from the mains. Ben is seeking investors to help him put it into full production.

One Long Lei
May Day was Lei Day in Hawaii. Volunteers hoping to set a record for the world’s longest lei strung
together flowers that stretched for more than a mile at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki on Thursday. Video,
photos and witness statements documenting the lei, which measured 5,336 feet in length, will be sent
to Guinness World Records, organizers said. Success seems all but certain; there currently isn’t a
Guinness record for the world’s longest lei.

RESCUE SPARKED BY MAGIC MUSHROOMS
He'd Tripped, All Right - Monday night, Matthew Rosenberg, 18, of Santa Cruz, California, called his mom on a cell phone to say he'd gotten lost while hiking in the mountains, tripped and broke his leg. A $10,000 rescue effort was launched, and Matthew was located safe and sound. In fact, his leg wasn't even broken. He'd apparently swallowed some hallucinogenic mushrooms and possibly dropped some acid, and just thought his leg was broken. The fire captain described him as "really gorked." His dad said Matthew will be punished and "probably won't get to use the car for a while."

Some Cigarette Prices Going Up
Philip Morris said Friday it had raised the price on Marlboro, Basic, L&M and most of its other
cigarette brands by 9 cents per pack. The average convenience-store price for a pack of Marlboros,
the No. 1-selling cigarette in the country, had been $4.27. The last price increase on Marlboro came
last September, when the price was jacked up a nickel.

Dancing With The Stars’ Curse Continues
LAKEWOOD, Ohio – There’s a strange curse lingering on the set of Dancing With The Stars, and a bitter Brit may be to blame.  Curse expert Miriam Garabrant says the unfortunate incidents that have happened on Dancing With The Stars this season, like dancer Derek Hough’s neck injury, and Chilean actor Cristian De La Fuente’s severe arm injury this past Monday (Apr. 28), are all the result of a curse placed on the show by former contestant Heather Mills.  Mills appeared on the dance competition during season four, and when she was voted off, Garabrant believes she left harmful energy behind.
She explains, “Heather left a mystical dust of eternity that floats around and curses contestants to this day.”  Garabrant believes that Mills may have cursed the show because she has a prosthetic leg and couldn’t keep up with the strenuous dance moves when she was on Dancing With The Stars.  Now, Mills wants other contestants to feel what it’s like to have a physical shortcoming.   Garabrant advises American TV producers to steer clear of booking Mills on their shows, because she’ll curse those too.
She adds, “She’s back luck. She’s a greedy beast who wants others to be unhappy.”

Brown Is The Daddy
A DNA test has revealed James Brown really is the father of James Brown II. The attorney for James
Brown II says that the 6-year-old boy was tested in April, before the paternity test was ordered by a
judge. The results of the court-ordered test have not been released.

Neville Brothers Get Keys To NOLA
The Neville Brothers have returned to New Orleans. The group was given keys to the city during a
ceremony last Wednesday. City Councilman James Carter says the return of the Neville Brothers to
New Orleans as a group was “a true sign of the city’s recovery.” The Neville Brothers had closed the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for nearly a decade before Hurricane Katrina hit in August
2005. They have not played Jazz Fest for three years, but they closed the festival yesterday.

Lohan Gets ‘Ugly’
Lindsay Lohan has joined the cast of “Ugly Betty.” Lindsay’s first day on the set was Saturday. She’s
also signed up for five episodes next season, including the show’s season finale. Lindsay plays an
old classmate of Betty’s who is now down on her luck.

Wesley Snipes Appeals
Lawyers for Wesley Snipes have filed notice to appeal his federal tax conviction. The 45-year-old
actor was sentenced to three years in prison on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his
income tax returns. He will remain free until he’s ordered to surrender by the Bureau of Prisons. The
two-page filing doesn’t specify the nature of their argument. Snipes was acquitted of five other counts
in February, including two felonies.

Cruise Says He Was Wrong About Postpartum Depression
Tom Cruise has confessed he was “wrong” for attacking Brooke Shields and other new moms who
turn to medication to beat postpartum depression. Cruise made headlines when he criticized Shields
for publicizing anti-depressants in her book “Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum
Depression” in a 2006 TV interview. He has since personally apologized to the actress for his
remarks and now admits he regrets the comments he made, saying he was wrong to suggest
postpartum depression could be controlled by taking nothing stronger than vitamins. In an exclusive
interview with Oprah Winfrey, Cruise went on to say he felt “pressed” by the media during that period
of his life and regrets saying a lot of things on TV.

The $100 Million ‘Iron Man’
“Iron Man” grossed $100.8 million over the weekend, a number that makes the Robert Downey Jr.
film second only to “Spider-Man” for comic-book movie debuts. The estimate does not include the
movie’s Thursday night sneaks. If it did, it would be about $3.5 million higher. The estimate also
doesn’t include overseas ticket sales, which would have jacked it up nearly $100 million. In all, by the
close of business last night, “Iron Man” was predicted to have taken in $104.3 million domestically
and $201 million worldwide.

Jennifer Aniston Harassed By Snapper
A zealous photographer was escorted from Saturday’s Florida Marlins game for getting too close to
Jennifer Aniston. The unnamed snapper had to be warned by officials to keep his distance, but that
didn’t work. Police were forced to physically remove him from the stadium. No charges were filed.
Aniston was shooting a scene for her new movie, “Marley & Me.”

Montag And Pratt Traumatized As Horse Euthanized At Derby
Reality TV couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt were among the celebs left traumatized at the end
of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday when a horse was euthanized in front of them. Filly Eight Belles
had to be put down after she collapsed on the track. The horse broke both her front ankles after
coming in second to Big Brown.

Today is National Rowdy Friends Day, a time to check up on your old rowdy friends to see if they’re okay.
Today is No Pants Day. It's okay to wear something, just not pants.
Today is National Truffles Day.

History 101:
This is the 338th anniversary of The Hudson's Bay Company -- one of the world's oldest corporations, it has succeeded in business from seventeenth century wilderness fur trading to twenty-first century Internet sales.
1878 The U.S. stops minting the 20 cent coin.
The first modern day sighting of the "Loch Ness Monster" was reported in the newspaper "Inverness Courier" 74 years ago today -- a local couple claimed to have seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface."
1989: A mall security guard in Simi Valley, California, followed a mysterious window shopper who obviously was wearing false hair and a moustache and ratty-looking clothes. Turned out to be singer Michael Jackson.
1994 A judge in Los Angeles dismisses criminal charges against Jack Nicholson, who had shattered the windshield of a car with a golf club.
2001: A 77-year-old man who admitted holding up three banks to pay for dates with his 79-year-old girlfriend was sentenced to three years in federal prison. The defendant said he couldn't believe he did it.

101 number one song of the day was on the charts once before – in 1960 - when it peaked at number seven but by the time it reached number one for a different performer it had a different title too.   The song was written by three men – each of whom had recording success as individuals.  Curtis Mayfield, founding member of the Impressions, scored two singles from the Superfly Soundtrack.  Clarence Carter was known for Slip Away and Patches and Jerry Butler – known as the “Iceman” had 34 chart singles including the song “He Will Break Your Heart” which was covered in 1975 by a group that by this time, had a new TV show– and a new title for the song – it’s your 101 number one song of the Day for Tony Orlando and Dawn “He Don’t Love You Like I Love You.” 

Doctor says French must dare to fart (101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge)
A French doctor is urging his countrymen to take a more relaxed view to bodily functions for the good of their health.  Frédéric Saldmann says they should give free rein to farting, burping and sweating to reduce the risk of cancer, reports the Daily Telegraph.
In his book, Le Grand Ménage, Dr Saldmann invites them to embrace the stereotypical British view of the French.  The French, he says, should "dare to fart". Getting rid of the two litres of gas produced each day is a "natural process" and retaining it can be harmful to the intestines.  Similarly, he says his countrymen should feel free to belch at will and certainly after each meal.  This, he says, is the best way to reduce the risk of getting a hiatal hernia, an ailment which affects almost a third of French people.  Keeping air in the stomach leads to more heartburn, which increases the risk of cancer of the oesophagus. The rise of this disease in France, he says, is due to "the burp that we no longer do".
Dr Saldmann also recommends throwing out anti-perspirants.
"To block sweat not only stops the elimination of toxins," he writes, "but also a certain number of messages that are potentially very attractive to the opposite sex."
Dr Saldmann also recommends cutting down on chewing gum, never eating while walking and reducing the intake of fizzy drinks.

Man tried to cash a very big check
A Texan man has been arrested for trying to cash a fake check at a bank - for $360 Billion.  Employees at the Chase Bank in Fort Worth grew suspicious after seeing the huge check and called the account holder.
The woman said the suspect, Charles Ray Fuller, 21, was her daughter'