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Boston tandem parking spots sell for $560,000

Thursday, June 13, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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Realtor Sean Sullivan poses at the $82K spot near AT&T Park in San Francisco. (Katie Meek / San Francisco Chronicle)

Realtor Sean Sullivan poses at the $82K spot near AT&T Park in San Francisco. (Katie Meek / San Francisco Chronicle)

In San Francisco on Thursday, there was an uproar over a parking spot that sold for $82,000. But San Franciscans, you ain’t parked nothin’ yet.

That’s because an IRS auction in Boston just netted $560,000 for two spots in the Back Bay neighborhood. The tandem spots were seized by the IRS from a tax cheat. The auction started at $42,000 before skyrocketing, as two neighbors got in a bidding war Thursday. But the prices aren’t out of character: The Boston Globe says single spots in Boston have gone for $300,000 and $250,000.

According to a recent survey, London has the world’s most expensive parking rates, followed by Zurich. Third is Hong Kong, where a man owns two parking spots valued at $640,000 each. New York (of course) topped the U.S. rankings, and a spot there was set to be listed for $1 million in May 2012.

No word if that million-dollar spot ever sold, but it won’t be long before luxury spots go for even more than we can imagine. Why own an expensive car if you don’t have an expensive place to park it?

Rare two-faced kitten dies

Thursday, June 13, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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WGN

WGN

A “Janus cat” born in Amity, Ore., has died after causing an online sensation this week.

The cat, named Deucy by its owner Stephanie Durkee, was born with one body and a healthy set of organs, but two faces. It was meowing from both mouths this week as video spread across the Internet. The cat was rejected by its mother and Durkee was feeding it through a syringe. But Deucy died of health complications Thursday morning.

Janus cats are rare, and don’t often survive until adulthood. In February of 2012, similar complications struck a two-faced cat named Harvey Dent in Florida. In August, a cat named Frank and Louie was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-living Janus cat at 12 years old.

RIP RIP, Deucy.

Grumpy Cat could get her own movie

Thursday, May 30, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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The cats have taken over your computers, and soon they’ll take over Hollywood.

Grumpy Cat, the perma-frowning star of many Internet memes, could now star in her own movie. The Wall Street Journal reported talent manager Ben Lashes helped Grumpy Cat’s owners negotiate a film option with Broken Road Productions this week. According to Deadline, the pitch was for a “a Garfield-like feature film” and Grumpy Cat “will be given the power of speech.”

Maybe the craziest part of the story is that Lashes is building a career out of managing famous Internet cats. He has helped Keyboard Cat’s owner make about $300,000 and recently helped sue Warner Bros. over their use of Keyboard Cat in a video game. Christopher Torres, who owns the rights to Nyan Cat, told the Wall Street Journal: “when it comes to cats, Ben knows who is going to be big.” Hint for Lashes: Check out Hamilton the Hipster Cat.

So now Lashes is banking on Grumpy Cat, real name Tardar Sauce, who lives in Arizona. Grumpy Cat was a hit at this year’s SXSW festival, has a forthcoming book and a clothing line at Hot Topic.

But not everybody is convinced Grumpy means gold. Broken Road has produced mega-flops like Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill,” and CNET’s Amanda Kooser writes: “I can see this squeezing every last drop of fame out of what was once a thoroughly enjoyable online phenomenon.”

Whatever happens, you know Grumpy Cat won’t like it.

‘Prancercise’ gallops online, creator is thrilled

Thursday, May 30, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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Go crazy, Prancercise! (YouTube)

Go crazy, Prancercise! (YouTube)

“Let’s stop talkin’ and do some walkin’!”

With those words, Joanna Rohrback introduced her 1980s, horse-inspired fitness creation “Prancercise” to the Internet. This week, the Internet responded, and Florida native Rohrback says she doesn’t care if people poke fun.

“Let them laugh,” Rohrback told CNBC’s Jane Wells. “Who would pay any attention to a boring, average, everyday video? I am so glad.”

If you’re not hip to Prancercise, it’s a workout system where you walk, trot and shadowbox with weights on your ankles or wrists. On YouTube, Rohrback describes it as “a springy, rhythmic way of moving forward, similar to a horse’s gait and … ideally induced by elation.” She told several media outlets this week that she came up with the idea in 1989, but was forced to shelve it due to health concerns. In 2012 she published a book, launched a website, and posted the now-sensational video.

Of course there are already spin-offs, including a perfect mashup with “You’re the Best” from “The Karate Kid” and one with a unicorn.

And lest you think Prancercising is the next “Gangnam Style,” Rohrback is ready to punch through that bubble. According the New York Daily News, she wrote “This is not to be confused with the fad ‘Gangnam Style Dance’…this is the real deal a fitness program for those serious about looking their best, not like a FAT KANGAROO!”

Life-size ‘Star Wars’ X-wing fighter is the largest Lego sculpture ever built

Thursday, May 23, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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An X-wing fighter that could fit Luke Skywalker in its cockpit landed in New York today. But this one was made from 5.3 million Lego bricks.

Sure, it’s a marketing stunt, but it’s an impressive one. Thirty-two Lego ‘master builders’ spent about four months constructing the X-wing, which is based on a Lego model. But it’s 42 times larger than the model you can buy in stores. And weighs 23 tons.

Lego builders used special 3D modeling software to make it, and Gizmodo has more photos of the sculpture being built. Wired says the model is actually two feet longer than the X-wings used in the Star Wars movies. It’s the largest Lego sculpture ever built, about 2 million bricks bigger than a robot sculpture at the Mall of America.

The X-wing was constructed at a Lego facility in the Czech Republic, then shipped in pieces to Times Square. It will be there until Saturday before being moved to Legoland in Carlsbad, Calif., where it will reside for the rest of the year.

Here are some photos of the sculpture and the unveiling in Times Square:

Man mauled by dogs while others take video

Thursday, May 2, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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An Australian man suffered severe injuries after being attacked by four dogs earlier this week, and he can’t believe witnesses didn’t help him.

According to the Herald Sun, the man was pinned up against a fence and attacked by four American Staffordshire terriers near his apartment. The attack occurred in Carlton, a Melbourne suburb, on Tuesday night.

The Herald Sun says the incident lasted 15 minutes, and passers-by took video instead of helping. The victim’s son, Vi, told the paper: “My father was very upset when he saw that they were taping the attack and not helping. … My father is very big and tall. Imagine if it was a child the dogs went for.”

Here’s some of that video. Warning: It’s graphic.

Eventually, a security guard took a stick to the dogs and two other men helped get between the dogs and the victim. He was taken to the hospital as “his clothes were ripped to shreds,” according to one witness.

9 News reported that the dogs and the owners are still being sought.

Comedian’s hilarious prank: Texting parents about ’2 grams for $40′

Thursday, April 25, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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Canadian funny guy Nathan Fielder, host of the Comedy Central show ”Nathan for You,” took to Twitter on Wednesday to ask his followers to do his bidding:

“Experiment: text your parents ‘got 2 grams for $40′ then right after ‘Sorry ignore that txt. Not for you’ Then tweet pic of their response.”

And they sure did. Below are some of the results. See Fielder’s Twitter feed for other, NSFW responses and some similar pranks.

Between this and the blunders on parentsshouldnttext.com, it might be time for the parents to step away from their phones permanently.

Video: Fan catches foul ball in beer cup, chugs the beer

Thursday, April 11, 2013 by:Peter Hockaday
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At Safeco Field on Wednesday, there was one bad catch and one good catch. The bad: Mariners right fielder Michael Saunders ran into the outfield wall making a catch and sprained his shoulder in an 8-3 loss to the Houston Astros. The good: A Seattle fan made a spectacular catch with his beer, and chugged the beer with the ball still in the cup.

The guy gets high marks for creativity, low marks for execution, as he ended up with about $5 worth of beer on his shirt. Plus he made quite the impression on the kid behind him, who looks excited enough to try the move himself. Not ’til you’re 21, young man!

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