In ancient Rome, a trivium was an intersection of three roads (tri, “three” + vium, road).When people met at a trivium, what did they tend to do? According to the Romans, they would shoot the breeze and discuss trivialis (“inconsequential things”) – which eventually helped give trivia its modern meaning.
Our bozo for today from Peoria Arizona may be a criminal in the eyes of the law but we can certainly sympathize with his actions. Peoria police were called to a band camp where 52 Peoria high school students were practicing until late in the evening. According to reports, our unidentified bozo got out of his vehicle waving a gun and yelled at the students, “Stop making noise! Morning and afternoon is OK, but nighttime is not.†He then then got back into his car and left. Police are still looking for our bozo. No word on whether evening practices have been curtailed.
Man admits making up story to get rid of snake
By Reuters
REUTERS FILE
VIENNA – An Austrian applauded for capturing a 2.3-metre (7.5-foot) boa constrictor he said he discovered on a riverbank has admitted he made up the story to get rid of a pet snake he found too big to handle, an animal rescue group said on Thursday.
“It turns out he could not get to grips with the snake and wanted to get rid of it this way,” said Susanne Hemetsberger, head of the Austrian Animal Protection Association. The owner handed over the reptile to an animal shelter.
She said in hindsight the tale originally told by the Salzburg man, who has not been identified, that he had happened upon and bagged the 7-kg (15.5-pound) boa last week, seemed suspicious.
“No passer-by who isn’t familiar with snakes would ever grab a boa constrictor. On the contrary, they would scream, run away and call the police,” she said.
The man has two other two-metre snakes that he wants to give away as well, Hemetsberger said.
“The snake owner dished up one lie after another and I hope he gets the proper punishment for this. He can’t just release a snake and then pose as its finder,” she said, calling for curbs on the sale of exotic pets that inexperienced owners often find overwhelming.
“[Greece] flouted European Union rules on the limits to budget deficits; its national accounts were a moussaka of minced statistics, topped with a cheesy sauce of jiggery-pokery.” – Jeff Randall, The Telegraph, May 20, 2010
About the word:
Jiggery-pokery is an alteration of joukery-pawkery. Both joukery and pawkeryare English regionalisms for “trickery.”
There’s No Place Like…Jail?
Bozo criminal for today comes from Wentworth, North Carolina, where bozo Rodney Warren was due to be released from jail after serving his time on a misdemeanor charge. When it came time to go, our bozo said he wasn’t leaving unless the cops gave him a ride to a motel. After they informed him the police department wasn’t running a taxi service, he again refused to leave. If he really wanted to stay, he got his wish. He’s still in jail, with new second degree trespassing charges against him.
Poor farmer cycles from China to London to see Olympics
By QMI Agency
A poor Chinese farmer has cycled 60,000 km across the world to London to “spread the Olympic spirit,” reports say.
Chen Guanming, 57, spent two years on his three-wheeled rickshaw travelling from China through floods and freezing temperatures in 16 countries to arrive at his destination earlier this month, BBC reports.
John Beeston of London said he spotted Guanming looking lost and downhearted in the city’s west end alongside his rickshaw. The farmer didn’t speak any English and “burst into life” when Beeston spoke to him in Mandarin.
“I’m a big fan of Olympic Games,” the humble man from Jiangsu province in eastern China said. “I wanted to come here because I wanted the whole world to support the Olympics and be part of it.”
His painstaking journey — supported by donations and delivering packages en route — took him through floods in Thailand, up 7,000-metre-high mountains in Tibet and bone chilling -30 C temperatures in Turkey.
He eventually arrived in London July 6 with dreams of attending the opening ceremonies.
Guanming has previously cycled to the Olympic Games in Beijing from his hometown and plans to travel to Brazil for Rio in 2016.
“It’s like telling people that a Martian has landed in the garden,” Beeston told BBC News. “But, what he’s done isn’t dissimilar to what Marco Polo did and the Italians named an airport after him.”
Why is titanium used in the production of aircraft parts?
In which year did the following events take place, Richard Nixon died at the age of 81, Tony Blair was elected leader of the British Labour Party and Nick Price won the British Open Golf Title.
What is heartsease?
Which musical is based on ‘The Taming of the Shrew’?
Which adhesive musical groups name stems from the Greek word meaning ‘to hate’?
ANSWERS
It is very highly corrosion-resistant
1994
A flower. Viola Tricolour or love-in idleness, kiss-me-quick or pansy.
“Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread” Who’s bones?
Who released the following cult albums from the 1950’s:
a. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
b. Birth of the Cool
c. Songs for Swingin Lovers
d. Brilliant Corners
Name the three types of rocks?
Who were the only 3 men to beat Joe Louis?
Which American jockey was nicknamed ‘the shoe’?
ANSWERS
1.    Jack’s. From Jack and the beanstalk. “Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread”
Four Answers
a. Marty Robbins
b. Miles Davis
c. Frank Sinatra
d. Thelonious Monk
a man looked upon with humorous contempt or mock pity
About the Word:
Originally pilled garlic (pilledmeans “peeled”), pilgarlic refers to “a bald head” or “a bald-headed man,” which it resembles. The mocking or humorous aspect followed.
Thanks to Bozo News Hawk Glen Snow for sending in today’s report from Coventry, Connecticut. It seems bozo David Carlton was out for a little drive when he came upon a police DUI checkpoint. Which might not have been a problem except for one thing. Our bozo was drinking a beer at the time. And he took a swig of it as an officer approached his car to ask for his drivers license. Bad idea. He’s busted!
Our new mascot isn’t Pedobear: Nestle
By QMI Agency
A photo of a man in a bear suit as part of a Kit Kat promotion has been compared to Pedobear. (HO)
Nestle has issued a statement to clarify that its new mascot isn’t Pedobear — the Internet symbol of pedophile behaviour — after publishing an image that resembles the notorious cartoon.
The move comes after the food company posted a photo to Instagram, a popular picture-sharing application, of a man in a bear costume drumming with two Kit-Kat bars.
Before long, folks were drawing comparisons between the costume and Pedobear, a cartoon image used to mock people who display a sexual interest in minors online.
“We produced this photo — of a real guy in a bear suit — to launch Instagram through our Facebook community,” a spokeswoman for the company told The Age newspaper.
“We had never heard of Pedobear,” she said. “But when the possibility of its similarity to the so-called ‘Pedobear’ was raised with us, we immediately removed it.”
Popularized by the 4chan — the message board from which many Internet phenomena originate — Pedobear is generally used to signal to moderators and users that someone has posted illegal porn, or to call someone out on their creepy behaviour.
In recent years, it has turned up in all sorts of unlikely places, usually by accident, including CP Distributor newspaper flyers, a Polish newspaper article about the 2010 Olympic mascots and an iPhone game called “Dancing Cuddle Bear.”
“Get it together,” wrote David Kiefaber on AdWeek.com. “If more companies would start hiring people under 35 again, we wouldn’t have to go through this every six months.”
Ancient Egyptians loved cats and honored them by depicting gods and goddesses in feline form (for example, the goddess Bastet); still, the prefix ailur-(meaning “cat”) crept into English as a gift from the Greeks.
Next Time Buy Your Own
Posted on July 24, 2012 by dave
Thanks to Bozo News Hawk Fred McKinney for sending in today’s report from Belleville, Illinois, where bozo Shannon White called 911 to report a problem. Or at least she considered it a problem. The cops might not agree. When asked what her emergency was, our bozo told the operator that her boyfriend was hogging all the beer and wouldn’t give her any. Uh, OK. She’s been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and false use of 911.
CANDIDATE NAME CHANGE
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Thomas Jefferson is running for Congress in Kansas. Of course, it’s not the Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence and was the third president. This Thomas Jefferson used to be Jack Talbert. He’s legally changed his name. Talbert-now-Jefferson says it’s a tribute to his idol. Jefferson tells the Topeka Capital-Journal he hopes to win some votes with his new name, too. Jefferson is the Libertarian candidate for Congress in Kansas’ 4th District.
NARRAGANSETT BEER-RETRO
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The “Jaws” beer is going retro. Remember the scene in Jaws, where Quint crushes a can of ‘Gansett with one hand to intimidate Hooper? Well, Narragansett Beer is reintroducing the design it used in the 1970s. It has a ship and a red diagonal stripe. But Rhode Island’s best-known beer says the retro look will be temporary.
SOLAR COOK
GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Marilou Johnstone has a bright idea — cooking with the sun. She calls herself a solar cooking nut. She bakes bread in a solar oven, simmers spaghetti sauce on a parabolic cooker and even smokes ribs. As for the smoking, she uses a magnifying glass like device to set wood chips on fire. But if you want fast — don’t try the solar method. Johnstone tells the Green Valley, Arizona, News that it takes about 15 minutes just to cook an egg.
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS-STRIPPERS DETAINED
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (AP) — Four male strippers from Florida are finding they’re unwelcome in the British Virgin Islands. The Fort Lauderdale men are pleading guilty to illegal entry. But they contend a promoter had assured them that proper work permits had been arranged. Andre Baker, Reginald Billings, Asa Ambrister and Alesian Rolle had been hired to dance at a BVI hotel. They face up to $1,000 fine or a year in jail each. The male strippers are set to be sentenced today.
STATE POLICE-MOTORCYCLES
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State Police are going German. Some motorcycle troopers will be riding BMWs instead of Harleys. Nine BMW R1200s have been bought to join the Harleys in the MSP’s fleet of 24 motorcycles. State police spokeswoman Shannon Banner says the beemers performed better in annual tests. The Detroit Free Press reports the BMWs are also a little cheaper than the American-made Harley-Davidsons.
PAINTED PIG PILFERED
GARDEN CITY, Mich. (AP) — Willie the pig is going to need some work. The sculpture of a plump porker was stolen last month in a Detroit suburb. Willie was found along a bike trail by a family, which took the pig home. They didn’t realize it was stolen until later and then called police. The Garden City Downtown Development Authority says the shiny, red sculpture is worth more than $6,000. Willie is missing three hooves and his snout. Officials are trying to determine if Willie can be fixed.
In ancient Rome, a trivium was an intersection of three roads (tri, “three” + vium, road).When people met at a trivium, what did they tend to do? According to the Romans, they would shoot the breeze and discuss trivialis (“inconsequential things”) – which eventually helped give trivia its modern meaning.
