Bizarre
Musician Falls and Breaks $1M Violin
February 15, 2008 | Filed by Boner | 
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In London, musician David Garrett tripped while carrying his 18th century violin as he was leaving London’s Barbican Hall after a performance, breaking it to pieces.
“I had it over my shoulder in its case and I fell down a concrete flight of stairs backward,” Garrett said Thursday. “When I opened the case, much of my G.B. Guadagnini had been crushed.”
Garrett said he bought the 1772 violin for $1 million in 2003, and he is now hoping to get it repaired in New York, where he is based.
The 26-year old musician is hoping and praying that it can be fixed. But if it can’t be fixed, hopes his insurance policy will compensate him and allow him to get another really expensive fiddle.
Celebrity
Naked Cowboy Sues M&Ms
February 14, 2008 | Filed by Boner | Leave a Comment
The NYC street performer known as “The Naked Cowboy” is suing Mars, Inc. for millions of dollars because an M&M candy on a Times Square billboard sports the same look he does – cowboy hat, cowboy boots and white briefs.
For nearly a decade, Robert Burck has been a fixture in Times Square, where he strums a guitar on a street corner while dressed in his skimpy signature costume.
In a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan federal court, Burck said that two oversized Times Square billboards that promote M&Ms used his look without compensating him.
The billboards depict a blue M&M with a white guitar overlooking views of New York City, including the Statue of Liberty. He is suing the candy maker and the ad agency that created the ad, for trademark infringement.
Burck had trademarked his signature look and has made several television and movie appearances in costume, including American Idol.
Amazing
Baltimore Cop vs Skateboarder
February 13, 2008 | Filed by Boner | Leave a Comment
Baltimore police officer Salvatore Rivieri was suspended when a YouTube video surfaced showing him roughing up a teenage skateboarder. The burly officer grabs the 14-year old kid, drags him into the ground and puts him in a headlock.
When the boy denies doing anything, Rivieri responds: “First of all, you’re disrespecting me, my badge and this department.” The bully then launches into an angry tirade and threatens him repeatedly.
Rivieri, a 17-year veteran of the force is now suspended pending an internal-affairs investigation.
When Rivieri spots the kid with the video camera, he can be heard making a threat until the video shuts off. Kudos to the brave boy who secretly recorded the incident.
Bizarre
Vii Review
February 12, 2008 | Filed by Boner | Leave a Comment
A full review of the “Chintendo” Vii, the Chinese knock-off the of the Nintendo Wii. Our reviewer takes one for the team and purchases a unit so we can learn how it actually works.
Celebrity
Tyra Banks Threatens Lawsuit Against Cancer Survivor
February 11, 2008 | Filed by Boner | Leave a Comment
Tyra “Kiss My Fat Ass” Banks is threatening to sue a cancer patient who was invited on the show.
Thirty-nine year old Jodi Hughes was ecstatic when she discovered that her children, seventeen year old Jordan and ten year old Nick, had secretly submitted her name for a “Holiday Girl Party!” makeover on an episode of the Tyra Banks Show after she’d been diagnosed with Stage Four cervical cancer and lupus. Jodi has been left begging for an apology after what she claims was humiliation and mistreatment at the hands of Tyra.
The details:
- The two boys, one of them legally blind, were left sitting on a curb outside the studio lot for hours with no food, no phone, and no money while their mother was getting her makeover.
- The makeover was simply a new dress and a hair weave. The hair weave turned into a disaster and the mother had to have it surgically removed in the emergency room because her scalp became infected.
- The Tyra Banks Show threatened litigation because the cancer survivor violated a gag-order that prevents her from discussing the show for a year.