Here’s a memo to drivers who hate cyclists: If you hit one, don’t Tweet about it.
That’s just what Brit Emma Way apparently did. On Sunday, she Tweeted: “Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier – I have right of way he doesn’t even pay road tax #bloodycyclists.” (She has since deleted her account, but here’s a screenshot of the Tweet.)
The post quickly spread around the Internet, and caught the attention of Norwich police, who Tweeted saying she should contact authorities.
@emmaway20 we have had tweets ref an RTC with a bike. We suggest you report it at a police station ASAP if not done already & then dm us
The Guardian newspaper reported that the cyclist involved turned out to be Tom Hockley, who responded to Way’s tweet by writing on her Facebook page: “Oh hi! That was me you hit and FYI, you didn’t knock me off, I’m too hard to be hurt by a pissy micra or whatever it was you were driving.”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment, stupid Tweet,” she said, adding: “If I knew that he was hurt I would never have driven off. … I don’t want any cyclist to think I have hatred against them, because I’m a cyclist myself.”
Way said she has been suspended from her job as a trainee solicitor. Her lawyer said police are still investigating the incident.
Outraged fans have launched a petition against Disney’s makeover of Princess Merida from “Brave” for her induction into the Disney Princess pantheon.
In the movie, Merida resisted expectations for princesses to be docile and wear uncomfortable gowns, preferring to ride off on her horse with her bow and arrows.
The new-look Merida retains her trademark red hair, but the locks are notably less wild. She’s also skinnier, with a thinner face, poutier mouth and eye makeup.
“I think it’s atrocious what they have done to Merida,” Brenda Chapman, writer and co-director of “Brave,” said in an interview reported by Change.org.
When little girls say they like it because it’s more sparkly, that’s all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy ‘come hither’ look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It’s horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.
The makeover of Princess Merida from 'Brave'
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Carolyn Danckaert, co-founder of girl empowerment website A Mighty Girl, launched the petition against the makeover a week ago.
“Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for — a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready. She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the ‘imperfections’ that all people have,” it says.
The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls’ capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.
The petition has drawn more than 119,000 supporters.
“The tremendous reaction to our petition shows just how eager parents are for strong and courageous role models like Merida for their daughters,” Danckaert said in a news release.
Model Lily Cole, who inspired Merida’s look, signed the petition and tweeted her support, writing: “I need to personally defend Merida!”
Disney did not respond to a request for comment, but a company spokesperson told Yahoo! Shine: “Merida exemplifies what it means to be a Disney Princess through being brave, passionate, and confident and she remains the same strong and determined Merida from the movie whose inner qualities have inspired moms and daughters around the world.”
UPDATE
After Disney removed the redesigned Merida from its website, Danckaert wrote:
While this is very exciting news, it’s still too early to declare victory in our effort to keep Merida brave and preserve her original image. Making changes to a website are easy and easily undone; the true test will be how Disney plans on depicting Merida on merchandise now that she is part of the official Disney Princess collection.
To know that Disney is truly committed to preserving the Merida we all know and love, we need to keep the pressure on until we receive an official statement from them promising to keep Merida brave! Given how quickly news stories fade, it’s easy for a company like Disney to wait until public attention shifts to roll out their planned design changes.
That’s why the grassroots pressure from you and our 198,000+ petition signers is so important. Thanks to everyone who signed and shared A Mighty Girl’s petition and helped spread the word about our effort to Keep Merida Brave! Let’s keep the momentum going!”
Margaret Groening, wife of Homer, and mother of Patty, Matt, Mark, Lisa and Maggie, died on March 23 in her Portland, Ore., home, according to an obituary in The Oregonian.
Do some of those names sound familiar? They should. Matt Groening created “The Simpsons,” which featured parents Homer and Marge (short for Margaret, yes?), and children Lisa, Maggie and, well, Bart (don’t know where that came from).
Another Simpsons connection: Margaret Groening’s maiden name was Wiggum, as in Chief Wiggum and son Ralph.
Margaret’s parents, Matt and Ingeborg Wiggum, met on the boat coming to America from Norway and settled in Everett, Wash., according to the obituary.
Margaret was high school valedictorian, Miss Everett and May Queen of Linfield College. She married Homer “because he made her laugh the most,” according to the obituary.
Homer certainly has made us laugh, as well. Bon voyage, Marge.
Customer image on Amazon.com of the Wheelmate steering wheel desk.
“It’s hard to believe this product even exists,” the actor, best known for playing Hikaru Sulu in “Star Trek,” and now an Internet sensation, wrote on Facebook. “So I’ve added my own review. I couldn’t resist.”
Takei’s gave the Wheelmate five stars, writing:
My husband Brad always warns me not to try and update my Facebook page while I’m driving. “You’ll hit another pedestrian,” he says. “This isn’t the Enterprise, there isn’t a deflector array.” Then along comes a miracle product like this! I can now happily fly at warp speed down the streets of Los Angeles, laptop or mobile device perched right in front of me, so I can keep both eyes right on it AND on the road. It’s so much easier to ignore all the frightened screams and annoying honking when you’ve got Facebook to look at while driving. Thank you, Wheelmate!
In the interest of balance, here’s a one-star review:
This product failed the first time I used it. I went to the Dunkin Doughnuts drive up window and ordered a large coffee and 2 donuts. I placed them on the Wheelmate. Leaving the parking lot I made a right turn on to the street. The hot coffee and doughnuts slid off the Wheelmate, spilled and made a mess inside my car. The product is defective. The Wheelmate needs to have sides on it and secure holes for beverages. I will wait until a revised model is available.
The American Institute of Architects last week came out to defend famous architect Frank Gehry’s controversial design for a national memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Members of Eisenhower’s family have called Gehry’s design too extravagant. Others object to Gehry’s avant-garde approach, featuring statues of the president and World War II supreme Allied commander in Europe framed by metal tapestries depicting images of his boyhood home in Kansas. The tapestries would be held up by 80-foot-tall columns.
Monuments to Eisenhower and other presidents
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Earlier last week, Utah Rep. Rob Bishop introduced legislation calling for a new design competition for the memorial and eliminating $100 million in future funding for the current design.
“Representative Bishop’s legislation allows Congress to exercise governmental authority in a wholly arbitrary manner that negates the stated selection process,” American Institute of Architects CEO Robert Ivy said. “It is nothing more than an effort to intimidate the innovative thinking for which our profession is recognized at home and around the globe.”
Bishop responded that he was inviting more design ideas to create a fitting tribute to Eisenhower, saying: “This bill has nothing to do with influencing the innovative thinking of architects, and everything to do with the responsible management of more than $60 million of taxpayers’ money.”
This isn’t the first time a presidential memorial or Gehry building has drawn controversy. Click through the galleries to see other memorials and Gehry projects.
OK, wearing a T-shirt that says “prepare to die” on an airplane might not be the best idea.
But you’d almost have to have been living under a rock for the past 25 years not to get Wynand Mullins’ shirt, which is emblazoned with a large “Hello my name is” tag followed by: “Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
That, of course, is actor Mandy Patinkin’s iconic line from “The Princess Bride.” He repeats it as he finally avenges his father’s murder.
Apparently, some passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand didn’t get it.
“While other passengers took their seats, Mr. Mullins was approached by a flight attendant who said some people on board were intimidated by the words on his shirt,” New Zealand’s Stuff news site reports.
“The flight attendant said to me: ‘Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it,’” Mullins told the site, which has a picture of Mullins in the offending shirt.
Mullins didn’t have another shirt, so the flight attendant reportedly went off to try to find one, but never returned and didn’t make eye contact with Mullins again.
“In hindsight,” the account adds, “Mr Mullins says his T-shirt … may not have been the best clothing choice for a flight.”
Most iPhone owners say they couldn’t do without the gadget, and quite a few would sooner give up sex, according to a new survey.
It’s OK to love your iPhone. Just don’t LOVE your iPhone. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)
Ahead of the iPhone’s fifth birthday, on June 29, Electronics trade-in site Gazelle polled more than 1,000 customers who have traded in at least one iPhone.
It found that 65 percent said the iPhone was the device or platform they would not be able to live without, compared with just 1 percent opting for Facebook.
But the juicy stat is that nearly 15 percent of respondents said they’d rather give up sex than go for even a weekend without their iPhone. And nearly 4 percent of reported having used their iPhone during sex. Keep that up and you won’t have to choose between sex and the iPhone for long.
More than 25 percent said they ‘”almost always” use their iPhone in a social setting such a meal or party, while 58 percent said they do so “usually” or “occasionally.” Nearly 85 percent said they used their iPhone in the bathroom.
The iPhone has led nearly 70 percent of respondents to ditch their iPod or mp3 player, 55 percent to get rid of their camera and more than 40 percent to toss their GPS unit.
Finally, Gazelle reported that nearly 40 percent said a bigger screen is the feature they most want on the next iPhone. No word on how many want Siri to become more “full service.”
Former American Idol contestant Lauren Alaina made the best of it Thursday after she flubbed the national anthem on national television.
“I’m not a robot. I have No excuses. I messed up,” the singer wrote on her Twitter feed. “You know what can ya do. At Least didn’t fall down again.”
Alaina sang the national anthem before the start of the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions football game.
Lauren Alaina sings the national anthem before the NFL football game between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Lauren completely went silent for about five seconds in the middle of the song.
“What so proudly we hailed, through the twi…” she trailed off into silence. …
Lauren was able to jump back in on the line, “Whose broad stripes and bright stars…” and, with a smile on her face, finished to the delight of the patrons in the sold-out stadium, who cheered loudly.
FOX’s Joe Buck, the TV announcer for the game, summed it up best, saying, “It’s all about how you finish.”
