New York subway romance hits end of the line (Reuters)

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A modern-day love story of a man spotting the girl of his dreams across a New York subway train and tracking her down over the Internet has failed to have a fairytale ending with the relationship over.

For Web designer Patrick Moberg, then 21, from Brooklyn, it was love at first sight when he spotted a woman on a Manhattan train last November. But he lost her in the crowd so he set up a website with a sketch to find her -- www.nygirlofmydreams.com.

Unbelievably in a city of 8 million people, it only took Moberg 48 hours to track down the woman, with his phone ringing non-stop and email box overflowing as usually cynical New Yorkers took sympathy on the subway Romeo and joined his hunt.

The mysterious brunette was named as Camille Hayton, from Melbourne, Australia, who was working as an intern at the magazine BlackBook and also lived in Brooklyn. One of her friends spotted the sketched picture on the Web site and recognized her.

But after finding each other, appearing on TV and getting international press, the couple took their romance out of the public eye, with Moberg closing down the Web site and with both refusing to making any more comments -- until now.

Hayton told Australian newspaper The Sunday Telegraph that she dated Moberg for about two months but it just didn't work out.

"I say we dated for a while but now we're just friends," Hayton, now 23, told the newspaper. "It's really nice that people embraced the story. It is part of my life now."

Hayton said she is still recognized about three times a week on the streets of Manhattan as "that girl"' and the question is always the same: "So what happened?"

"I think the situation was so intense that it bonded us," she said, adding it "bonded us in a way that you could mistake, I guess, for being more romantic than it was. I don't know. But I wanted to give it a go so I didn't wonder what if, what if?"

Hayton told The Sunday Telegraph that she is enjoying single life in New York, keeping busy with acting classes, working in two vintage clothing stores and as a waitress.

Last week she had a small role as a waitress in the long-running daytime soap "As The World Turns" and last year she was an extra in a "blink and you'd miss it" scene in the hit movie "Sex And The City."

"I just can't believe it happened. It feels like a long time ago," said Hayton.

Moberg, however, was still refusing to comment on the relationship.

"We've decided not to do any more press," he wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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'Monkey from Mars' on display at Georgia crime lab's museum (AP)

DECATUR, Ga. - Other museums might have more or flashier items to display. But only the mini-museum of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can boast of possessing such an other-world oddity as the monkey from Mars.

The bureau's state crime lab lobby has its requisite displays on forensic science, including an illegal moonshine still and the microscopic fibers that solved the 1981-82 Atlanta child murders. But tucked away in a glass cylinder are the preserved remains of a monkey that three pranksters passed off as an alien 55 years ago in a UFO hoax that drew headlines worldwide.

At the height of UFO hysteria then sweeping the nation, two young barbers and a butcher took a dead monkey in 1953, lopped off its tail and applied a liberal dose of hair remover and some green coloring to the carcass.

Then they left the primate on an isolated road north of Atlanta in the pre-dawn hours of July 8, 1953, burning a circle into the pavement with a blowtorch before a police officer came around the curve in his patrol car.

"If we had been five minutes earlier, we would have caught 'em in the act," said Sherley Brown, the officer who happened on the scene.

The barbers, Edward Watters and Tom Wilson, and the butcher, Arnold "Buddy" Payne, told the policeman they came upon a red, saucer-shaped object in the road that night. They said several 2-foot-tall creatures were scurrying about and the trio hit one with their pickup before the other creatures jumped back in the saucer and blasted skyward — leaving the highway scorched.

Brown took down the strange account and filed a report at police headquarters before going home.

Soon after his shift ended, he said, "the phone started ringing off the hook."

"They had the Air Force and everybody else trying to find out about it," said Brown, since retired in 1985.

Word of the discovery spread like wildfire.

Just the night before, some Atlanta area residents had reported seeing a large, multicolored object flying in the sky. A veterinarian who examined the corpse said it looked "like something out of this world." A newspaper put out an artist's drawing of the saucer that the men described.

But within hours the monkey business unraveled.

Dr. Herman D. Jones, the founder and director of the GBI lab, and Dr. Marion Hines, an anatomy professor at Emory University, examined the creature that evening and proclaimed it to be a hoax.

"If it came from Mars, they have monkeys on Mars," Hines was quoted as saying in an article at the time by The Associated Press that is set beside the monkey in the appointment-only museum.

Where the men got the monkey is not clear. Watters, Wilson and Payne eventually admitted to the hoax and Watters paid a $40 fine for obstructing a highway.

As for Jones, his name is now on the GBI crime lab as the man who introduced modern forensic science to the state.

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And the world's happiest country is.. (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world, researchers said on Monday.

Zimbabwe, torn by political and social strife, is the least happy, while the world's richest nation, the United States, ranks 16th.

Overall, the world is getting happier, according to the U.S. government-funded World Values Survey, done regularly by a global network of social scientists.

It found increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries analyzed.

"I strongly suspect that there is a strong correlation between peace and happiness," said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, who directed the study.

And, said Ingelhart, there is a strong correlation between happiness and democracy.

"Denmark is the happiest country in the world in our ratings," Inglehart said in an audio statement released by the National Science Foundation, which paid for the analysis.

"Denmark is prosperous -- not the richest country in the world but it is prosperous."

Puerto Rico and Colombia also rank highly, along with Northern Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.

"Though by no means the happiest country in the world, from a global perspective the United States looks pretty good," Inglehart said. "The country is not only prosperous; it ranks relatively high in gender equality, tolerance of ethnic and social diversity and has high levels of political freedom."

The survey, first done in 1981, has kept to two simple questions:

"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"

Writing in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, Ingelhart's team said they have surveyed 350,000 people.

"Ultimately, the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives," Inglehart said.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Philip Barbara)

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Don't ask Olympic tourists' age or wage or . . . (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) - Don't ask a tourist's age or wage, steer clear of sex and avoid religion: what many Chinese consider idle chit-chat has now become the latest area of censure in Beijing as it prepares for an influx of Olympic visitors.

Posters displayed on bulletin boards in the neighborhood which includes tourist magnet the Forbidden City, and which will host Olympics boxing events, counsel locals against a wide range of potentially awkward conversation topics with foreigners.

The list of "eight don't asks" was issued by the Dongcheng district Propaganda Department as a guide for locals about how to show proper hospitality, a department spokesman said.

"Don't ask about income or expenses, don't ask about age, don't ask about love life or marriage, don't ask about health, don't ask about someone's home or address, don't ask about personal experience, don't ask about religious beliefs or political views, don't ask what someone does," the Olympics logo stamped poster advises.

Several etiquette guidelines have already been issued in the run-up to the Games, as China prepares to put its best foot forward with a faultless event.

The government has campaigned to curb queue-jumping, spitting, littering and even speaking loudly in public, fearful such behavior could mar Beijing's image.

While some said the guidelines may make people feel nervous about chatting with the 500,000 overseas visitors expected in Beijing for the August 8-24 Games, others questioned the need for them in lively discussions on the Internet.

"Other than the weather what else are you suppose to talk about?" asked one blogger, posting on the New York Craiglist website in response to the list.

"Are there also eight 'don't tell's'?" asked another on the popular Shanghai blog, Shanghaiist (http://shanghaiist.com.)

"While 'Eight Don't Asks' is a general practice in the States ... I don't understand why Chinese living in China should follow this rather western guideline," wrote "LC" on another English-language site carrying photos of the posters.

Others online defended the list as a way to bridge cultural gaps and avoid confused reactions from visitors to questions often asked in China and that some might find too intrusive.

"Many Chinese coming to Beijing from around the country have had little or no contact with laowai," said "Ni hao Aussie" on the Thorntree website, using the Mandarin word for foreigner.

"We are a strange breed to many locals, whose curiosity may take them over the bounds of what many foreigners consider decent."

But for at least one blogger, the suggestions struck a chord.

"I want one of these posters!!" wrote "littlepoem" enthusiastically on Shanghaiist.

"I think my Aiyi (housekeeper) needs to read it. Perhaps then she can stop asking me how much everything is."

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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The bride wore dart launchers at Comic-Con wedding (Reuters)

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The bride and groom grasped one another's dart launcher-clad wrists and stared into each other's starry eyes.

Fifty armour-clad guests, including several "Jedis" and a white caped "Elvis" in a rhinestone-studded ammo belt, stood reverently at attention. A couple of superheroes showed up late.

What better place to hold a "Star Wars" themed wedding than a green patch of grass just outside the famed Comic-Con convention where thousands of fans have congregated this week to revel in all manner of superhero and sci-fi lore?

Friday's wedding ceremony, based on the language, costume and lore of a fictional Mandalorian race in the "Star Wars" movies, was the brain child of Tenille Kuhlman, 30, and Thomas Kuhlman, 39, avid fans who decided that the convention was a perfect place to gather far-flung members of their close-knit "Star Wars" fan club to celebrate their special day.

The couple met online two years ago, said Tenille Kuhlman, who said she was at first was hesitant to embrace the Mandalorian lifestyle. "When I met him I knew what every Joe Blow knows about 'Star Wars.' It just sort of turned into life for us."

Last winter they married in a civil ceremony and settled in Yuma, Arizona, yet Thomas Kuhlman longed to receive a Mandalorian blessing of their union. "I said, 'Hey, that's never going to happen,'" Tenille Kuhlman said.

But according to clan creed, Mandalorians don't make threats, they make promises. The wedding quickly began to take shape. Yet 10 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, despite her careful planning, Tenille found herself still wearing her "I Love Nerds" T-shirt, nervous and without makeup.

Friends stepped in to help. "Hey, come on guys I've got jobs for you to do!" one Mandalorian shouted. "Bounty hunters are all about jobs!" an eager warrior replied.

With that friends quickly set up a makeshift arch and helped the bride, blushing from the heat of the hot summer sun, into her homemade armour, which included metal thigh plates, metal collar, cape, belt, and plastic cuffs known as gauntlets which in movie lore, are capable of shooting darts.

The guests -- in full regalia including helmets, boots and jet packs -- formed two lines and created a light sabre arch leading toward the altar.

"I don't have my fake gun!" somebody shouted. "That's OK," said another guest. "This is a wedding ceremony. I left mine in the car."

The crowd fell silent as Tenille, escorted by armour-clad P.J. Reindel, a police officer from California who she met online, walked her down the aisle toward Thomas, who stood under an archway decorated with white faux roses.

The bride and groom held their helmets in their hands, a solemn sign of Mandalorian respect. As they grasped wrists, Tom Hutchens, a 30-year-old IT professional and erstwhile Mandalorian preacher, began the ceremony.

"Vodas," he said, using the Mandalorian word for "friends," "Outsiders, Jedis, everybody, welcome. This is a contract between two Mandalorians who made a journey and future together and bled together and will continue to bleed together until their last day," he said.

After reciting their vows in both Mandalorian and English translation, the jubilant crowd shouted: "Oya!" which in Mandalorian language means "celebration."

"I now pronounce you Mandalorian husband and wife," Hutchens said.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

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Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross actors wed in Philly (AP)

PHILADELPHIA - Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross celebrated the eve of the Fourth of July not with fireworks but with wedding vows.

Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, who portray the historical figures, tied the knot Thursday evening in a public ceremony in front of Independence Hall, where the real Franklin helped draft the nation's founding documents.

The bride and groom, as well as the entire wedding party, were in costume for the event.

"Ralph and Linda, the entire city could not be happier for you," said Mayor Michael Nutter, who performed the brief ceremony.

After exchanging vows, Archbold and Wilde were given a standing ovation by the crowd of several thousand as the Philly Pops played the wedding march.

The couple boarded a horse-drawn coach for the trip to a private reception at the historic City Tavern, where Franklin dined along with such notables as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

The 66-year-old Archbold, who has portrayed Franklin since 1973, and Wilde, 50, met Sept. 1 after she hired him for a friend's wedding toast. The couple discovered a mutual love of history and education, and they announced their engagement this spring.

Patty Duffy, 37, said she came to watch the ceremony because she remembers seeing Archbold playing Franklin when she was a little girl.

"My grandmother used to bring me down here all the time. I had to come and see him get married," said Duffy, who was accompanied by her boyfriend, Marty, and four children.

Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, is credited in many history books with stitching the first American flag. But historians cite a lack of proof, and some believe that the flag may actually have been designed by Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey.

A real wedding between the historical figures would have been quite a May-December affair, given the 45-year age difference (Franklin was born on Jan. 17, 1706 — coincidentally, also Archbold's birthday — while Ross was born on New Year's Day 1752). Both lived to the age of 84.

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Superhero fans, Hollywood execs flock to Comic Con (Reuters)

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Like wannabe Dark Knights answering the call of the "bat signal," throngs of grown men wearing tights and capes converge this week to revel in all manner of superhero lore and merchandising at the 39th annual Comic Con Convention.

More than 125,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event, which opens Thursday, to indulge in a veritable feast of the latest in comic-related books, movies, toys, games and memorabilia.

Tickets to the convention, which has grown to encompass large doses of science-fiction, fantasy and comedy fare as well as the more traditional comic book genre, sold out months ago and are being scalped on the Internet for upward of $400 apiece, organizers said.

Many attendees admit they come for the traditional Superman fan club soirees, rare memorabilia exhibits, and panel discussions on topics such as the "Klingon Lifestyle," derived from the famous "Star Trek" TV series.

However "the Con," as it is known among fans, has changed considerably since its inaugural meeting nearly four decades ago, when about 300 geeky fans milled around piles of musty comic books. Long catering mostly to men, many of whom dress as their favorite superheroes, the event has sought in recent years to attract more women and families.

Hollywood studios in particular have turned Comic Con into a major event for various film and television promotions that now account for about a quarter of the convention's offerings.

HOLLYWOOD PULP

With blockbuster films like Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" heating up the summer box office and rocketing the superhero genre to new heights, Comic Con has become a key marketing platform for studios seeking to tap the media-savvy, word-of-mouth enthusiasm of comic book devotees.

"When fans are excited about something, they become evangelists and, in turn, they become buzz-builders at a very grass-roots level, and that is an extremely valuable asset in this cluttered environment," Warner Bros. Television Group executive Lisa Gregorian told Reuters.

For example, Warner is going all out to promote J.J. Abrams' upcoming sci-fi TV thriller "Fringe," which debuts this fall on the Fox network. An extended pilot for the series will be shown at two different venues, Gregorian said.

"This is a way to reach audiences intrigued by genre films," said producer Joel Silver of Dark Castle Entertainment, who will attend with cast members in tow to promote several movies, including "Ninja Assassin" and the Guy Ritchie-directed thriller "RocknRolla."

Lionsgate's upcoming action drama "The Spirit," based on Will Eisner's comic strip about a dashing ex-cop who returns from the dead to fight crime, also will be showcased.

"Star Wars" fans will get their fix from a presentation for next month's release of the computer-animated movie "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and a related TV series slated for the fall.

Jeffrey Godsick, marketing president for specialty studio Fox Walden, said Comic Con is "bigger than Sundance" and "more like Cannes" in terms of the variety and the worldwide exposure it offers as a showcase for new films.

Fox Walden is renting two cars of a passenger train to ferry critics and reporters to the convention from Los Angeles a day early while immersing them in a "pre-event" featuring the sci-fi film "City of Ember," which opens in October.

This year at least four major film comedies will be added to the preview mix at Comic Con, including "Disaster Movie," "Tropic Thunder," "Pineapple Express" and "Hamlet 2."

"We always made movies that had a countercultural youth side to them, and we've always been closer to that kind of alternative, cutting-edge side of Comic Con," Focus Features executive James Schamus said.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Philip Barbara)

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Brazilians chase civil servants' "train of happiness" (Reuters)

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Late into the night, students diligently rehearse exam questions at dozens of schools in downtown Brasilia that offer people the chance for a better, more prosperous life -- that of a Brazilian bureaucrat.

Generous pay, stability, and often easy hours will attract applications from as many as 10 million people this year for civil service jobs. Brazilians often refer to getting a government job as catching the "train of happiness."

In a country with glaring poverty, grossly inadequate public services and a towering public debt, civil servants do very well, as the many luxurious homes with pools, servants and shiny cars in the capital Brasilia's residential areas show.

There are an average of 700 applicants per job and some candidates study for years to pass an entry exam.

"My parents are civil servants and I want the pay and security they have so I can buy a house and other things," said Rodrigo Hugueney, a 19 year-old law student in the capital Brasilia. He is applying at one of the two state-owned banks.

The problem is that Brazil's bloated public sector is a burden on business and the economy, leaving little money to invest in education or infrastructure.

Business leaders frequently complain about excessive red tape and the complex maze of requirements they face in getting environmental licenses of even filing their taxes. Rather than slashing jobs, the government is adding more.

Despite an economic boom in recent years, Brazil ranks poorly in international competitiveness comparisons, due mostly to an unwieldy state apparatus that consumes about 38 percent of gross domestic product.

An accountant or administrator in one of the gray-green ministries that flank the main avenue of Brasilia's government quarters can earn more than 10,000 reais (3,165 pounds) a month, or roughly 20 times the minimum wage.

A police inspector or public prosecutor can bring home twice as much, the equivalent of around $150,000 a year. In contrast, Brazil's per capita national income stands well below $10,000 annually.

In addition, most civil servants cannot be fired unless they break the law and many receive pensions worth 100 percent of their last salary upon retirement.

Such benefits resulted mostly from years of pressure by unions and politicians eager to satisfy their constituents.

In some government agencies, such as the Federal Police or National Revenue service, rigorous hiring, training and performance controls improved efficiency.

But many areas remain plagued by incompetence, overstaffing and corruption, says Jose Matias Pereira, a public administration professor at the University of Brasilia.

"The public sector needs a major reform, a more corporate management. But, unfortunately, that's not in sight," he said.

TWO-HOUR LUNCHES

Experts say the work ethic has improved in recent years but remains lax, and two-hour lunches still cause traffic jams at midday in Brasilia.

"People don't hang their coats and leave for the day anymore -- things have changed," said Jose Wilson Granjeiro, who was a civil servant for 17 years and runs a school to prep candidates in Brasilia.

"Now you work six hours or whatever and then do another job, you can easily double your income," he added.

Only a public outcry this month stopped ruling party and opposition senators from appointing themselves another well-paid staffer each, posts widely thought to favour friends or political allies.

Opinion polls show that less than 1 percent of Brazilians trust Congress, which has been plagued by corruption scandals.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former union leader, cut some pension benefits during his first year in office but since has hired as many as 95,000 civil servants and is expected to hire 56,000 more by next year in part to help replace cheaper, outsourced labour.

Despite the tax burden, union leaders are pleased.

"We're rolling back privatization, which wanted to cut our benefits," said Sergio Ronaldo da Silva, director of the Condsef civil servants confederation.

(Additional reporting by Ana Paula Paiva; Editing by Kieran Murray)

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Couple claim mysterious noise plagues their house (AP)

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Bob and Leona Ehrfurth say the noise that's been plaguing them for two years sounds something like a rumbling motor, with a subtle vibration that won't quit. Then it stops — especially when they try to show city officials or acoustic experts what they're hearing.

It's enough to keep 76-year-old Leona from sleeping.

"It's like there's a semi parked right outside with the engine running, but when you look out, there isn't one," she said.

She and her husband, who is 75, have lived in the same house for 42 years. The problem only developed over the last two years.

Her husband can sleep through it but also finds it irritating.

"It doesn't matter if the windows are open or closed — you still hear it," he said. "It's worse in the winter."

When they leave, the don't hear the noise, he said, so they know it's not some health problem the two share.

City officials hired a company for $1,000 worth of testing in the house this spring, but the tester came up with no noise and no significant vibration.

Alderman Andy Nicholson knows exactly what's bugging the Ehrfurths.

"Yeah, I've experienced it," Nicholson said. "It's like an engine thing, a low-frequency vibration. I think it would be an annoyance."

He had hoped the testing equipment could be used inside one of the factories in the area, but Municipal Judge Jerry Hanson wouldn't sign the inspection warrant because there was no reasonable suspicion of a violation.

The Ehrfurths' immediate neighbors haven't complained, although some people, like Nicholson, have said they heard the sound.

The couple said the noise started soon after St. Bernard's Parish across the street had the roofing, chimney and ductwork on a wing of its school redone. However, when the parish staff turned off all of its equipment as a test, the noise continued.

The city's Protection & Welfare Committee planned to take up the matter Wednesday night, when it discusses a report from Predictive Technologies Inc., which did vibration testing at the home.

Leona Ehrfurth said she's had to go to the basement or try to sleep in the sunroom to escape the noise.

"I try to stay in bed, but I get such a bad headache, I can't take it," she said. "We could move, but why should we have to? We didn't cause it."

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Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com

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Soccer in slow motion at swamp world cup in Finland (Reuters)

HYRYNSALMI, Finland (Reuters) - Mud up to her waist and the yellow wig hanging sideways, swamp-soccer veteran Tuula Brocke reached for the ball just barely a metre in front of her, but her foot would not move an inch.

Playing ball in the swamp is like a slow-motion movie coming to a halt every time a player sinks in a hole, she said.

"Your opponent snatches the ball right in front of your nose, but you are stuck in the mass of dung and cannot move at all," she said, while wiping dried crust of her arms and face.

Brocke's team, the G-Spots, is one of 340 which competed in this year's Swamp Soccer World Championships, held in northern Finland for the 10th time in a row.

Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Russia were among the growing number of foreign teams. Organisers estimate some 10,000 people attended the event each of the three days.

A natural swamp outside the town of Hyrynsalmi was converted into 22 playing fields -- marked with yellow tape, more resembling pig pens than a world cup site.

Each time six players were trotting and crawling through the muddy field. There was no offside, no definite penalty box an unlimited substitutions were made on the fly.

Even so, each team looked for their own tactic to bring the ball forward in this chaotic and largely uncontrolled game.

"We have been training how to walk in the swamp on our fours and to kick from the side -- that's the only way we could move it, when the ground got this soft," Brocke said, adding it was guts and always a bit of luck that decided the better team.

The sport was conceived by Finnish cross-country skiers looking for a way to train during the snowless summer months.

Portuguese Olympic cross-country skier Danny Silva joined one of the teams looking for exactly that kind of exercise.

"You can't run normally, and the swamp makes your legs very heavy -- that boosts your heart rate and it pumps your upper leg strength," he said, adding it was the Finnish training methodology that was the best part of it all.

"Athletes get way too serious when they train -- this is bizarre, but makes training so much more fun."

Shoes and socks were taped with duct tape. Supermen outfits, wigs and men in dresses were common, as were men dragging women through mud and the latter kicking back twice as hard.

The swamp is much cleaner now than when it was still full of tree stumps and branches a decade ago, one player said.

But bruises, cuts and strained muscles were always part of it all, especially when extreme fatigue sets in after playing several games in a row. Not drinking water from the swamp and insurance protection were rules organisers emphasised most.

For most of the team the weekend-long event was a fun mud bonanza for as long as the midnight sun shone. Winning the trophy in the men's, women's, mixed or hobby category was secondary, at least for most.

When Anatoly Korchagin on the Russian team Sputnik head-shot the deciding 1:0 goal against Finland and snapped the golden trophy from its neighbour for the second time in a row, it was as calculated and serious as soccer gets in the real world.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Tiny carp nibble dead skin from feet in 'Dr. Fish' pedicure (AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your tootsies in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

"This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet," Ho said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.

Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable footbath. And he didn't know if customers would like the idea.

"I know people were a little intimidated at first," Ho said. "But I just said, 'Let's give it a shot.' "

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was "the best pedicure I ever had" and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

"I'd been an athlete all my life, so I've always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely," she said.

First time customer KaNin Reese, 32, of Washington, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: "It kind of feels like your foot's asleep," she said.

The fish don't do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind.

Ho believes his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time.

Dennis Arnold, a podiatrist who four years ago established the International Pedicure Association, said he had never heard of the treatment and doubts it will become widespread.

"I think most people would be afraid of it," he said.

Customer Patsy Fisher, 42, of Crofton, Md., admitted she was nervous as she prepared for her first fish pedicure. But her apprehension dissolved into laughter after she put her feet in the tank and the fish swarmed to her toes.

"It's a little ticklish, actually," she said.

Ho said the hot water in which the fish thrive doesn't support much plant or aquatic life, so they learned to feed on whatever food sources were available — including dead, flaking skin. They leave live skin alone because, without teeth, they can't bite it off.

In addition to offering pedicures, Ho hopes to establish a network of Doctor Fish Massage franchises and is evaluating a full-body fish treatment that, among other things, could treat psoriasis and other skin ailments.

Ho spent a year and about $40,000 getting the pedicures up and running, with a few hiccups along the way.

State regulations make no provision for regulating fish pedicures. But the county health department — which does regulate pools — required the salon to switch from a shallow, tiled communal pool that served as many as eight people to individual tanks in which the water is changed for each customer.

The communal pool also presented its own problem: At times the fish would flock to the feet of an individual with a surplus of dead skin, leaving others with a dearth of fish.

"It would sometimes be embarrassing for them but it was also really hilarious," Ho said.

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On the Net:

http://www.yvonnesalon.com/

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Big cheese carving celebrates Independence Day (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sculpture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence made from a one-tonne block of cheddar cheese glistened on the sidewalk of Times Square in New York on Thursday as an artist's tribute to the Fourth of July.

"It's very patriotic, using the signing of the Declaration of Independence, bringing Americans together for the Fourth," said Troy Landwehr, who carved the sculpture for cracker company Cheez-It to celebrate U.S. Independence Day.

He worked eight hours a day for a week in a 40-degree cooler carving the block of Wisconsin cheddar.

"The cheddar has been pasteurized and will not melt," Landwehr said. "What I spray on it is cooking oil and that stops it from drying out and cracking," he said. "That's why it looks sweaty. It actually preserves the cheese."

The replica of an iconic painting by John Trumbull shows John Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin and others standing around a table signing the historic document.

The work is not the first time Landwehr has recreated U.S. history with cheese. Last year he carved a cheese version of Mount Rushmore, which depicts U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln.

This year he took on another version of America's first "big cheeses" -- Trumbull's oil painting, which hangs in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and shows 42 of the 56 signatories of the 1776 Declaration of Independence from Britain.

"I scanned the painting into the computer, drew a 3D mapping of it and basically did lines and grids," said Landwehr, who has been carving cheese since he was 12 and owns a winery in Wisconsin.

"The hardest part was trying to keep everybody in proportion," he said.

He said putting the cheese on display in New York and Philadelphia would help it age faster and then it would be taken back to Wisconsin to be donated to food pantries.

(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Last tsar leads Stalin in poll on greatest Russian (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ninety years after Bolshevik revolutionaries shot dead the last tsar, Russians are fighting over who to lionise: Tsar Nicholas II or Josef Stalin.

They are vying for first place in an online poll organised by Russian television to choose the greatest hero in the country's history. Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin is third.

By Friday lunchtime, the last tsar led the survey with 419,476 votes, followed by Stalin with 381,361 and Lenin with 201,285. Some 2.8 million votes had been registered.

Russia's penchant for strong leaders is evident in the poll. Tsars Peter I and Catherine the Great feature in the top 10, along with crusading mediaeval prince Alexander Nevsky. Ivan the Terrible, who murdered his own son, is in 12th place.

Stalin, blamed by historians for 20 to 40 million deaths in political purges and agricultural famines during his 31-year rule, is popular with some Russians for defeating Nazi Germany, industrialising the Soviet Union and building a strong state.

The poll may not be all it seems. Alexander Lyubimov, the contest's organiser, has openly encouraged online groups to form and campaign for particular candidates. The contest website www.nameofrussia.ru encourages participants to vote as many times as they like for any of the 50 candidates.

"What is happening on the Internet is entertainment, and that's beyond my scientific responsibility," said Efim Galitskiy, a sociologist at the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), a pollster which oversaw an earlier stage of the contest.

When Lyubimov noticed Stalin surging into the lead, apparently after the opposition Communist party encouraged its members to vote for him, he decided to organise what he called a "flash mob" online in support of the last tsar.

A flash mob is a large group which assembles quickly, performs an unusual act and then suddenly disperses again.

HACKER ATTACKS

The contest began when state television channel "Rossiya" released in May a list of 500 significant Russians and asked FOM to whittle the names down to the 50 most influential, using private polling. Stalin and Lenin figured second and third.

"Peter the Great was first, but that list was research, conducted in people's homes across Russia," Galitskiy said.

In June "Rossiya" opened voting online at www.nameofrussia.ru to narrow the 50 to 12 for September's broadcast. Within days Stalin jumped into the lead.

Some cultural giants appear in the top 20, but with much lower votes than those of Stalin, Lenin or the last tsar.

Nineteenth-century poet Alexander Pushkin's 126,600 votes put him in sixth place and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, is eighth with 112,400. Composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky trails in 22nd place with just 19,700 votes.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the former president, is excluded because he is still alive. So is the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Nicholas II, caricatured in Soviet times as the face of imperial Russia and symbol of its social inequalities, has become for many Russians a martyr and symbol of lost glory. The Bolsheviks shot Nicholas II and his family in July 1918.

(Editing by Michael Stott and Timothy Heritage)

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Builder discovers "priceless" Tolkien postcard (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) - A demolition man stripping a fireplace from the former home of "The Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled across a postcard to the writer dated 1968, and hopes to sell it for a small fortune.

Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth on the south English coast, was working in the house in the nearby town of Poole before it was bulldozed to make way for a new construction project.

"Before we demolish a house we do an internal strip out," Malton said Tuesday.

"One of the main features was a fireplace, and upon removing that we came across three postcards. The third one was a postcard dated 1968 and addressed to J.R.R. Tolkien."

Malton said research on the Internet suggested that the carved wooden fireplace with marble inlay, a feature of the house when Tolkien lived there from 1968 to 1972, was already worth up to $250,000.

"To tie in both the fireplace and the postcard, we are talking about a price of around $500,000 for the combined pair," the 42-year-old told Reuters by telephone.

He contacted the Tolkien Estate, which manages the author's copyrights, and said that they had given him the all clear to sell the fireplace and postcard. The estate could not immediately be reached for comment.

Malton said he would probably sell the items at auction, although according to local newspaper the Dorset Echo, he has already had an offer from a Tolkien enthusiast in Belgium.

The postcard was addressed to Tolkien at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, where he and his wife Edith often stayed.

It is from "Lin," which Malton believed could be fellow fantasy author Lin Carter who wrote "Tolkien: A Look Behind 'The Lord of the Rings,'" published in 1969.

Depicting a scene from Ireland, it reads: "I have been thinking of you a lot and hope everything has gone as well as could be expected in the most difficult circumstances."

Malton was not sure what the "difficult circumstances" might be.

Tolkien had achieved fame by the time he moved to Poole in 1968. His epic "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, already popular before the hugely successful film adaptations appeared, was published in 1954-55.

He remained in Poole until his wife's death, when he moved back to Oxford. Tolkien died in 1973, aged 81.

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)

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Minn. teen charged with offering his vote on eBay (AP)

MINNEAPOLIS - A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall's presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay. But prosecutors didn't see the humor.

University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder's preferred candidate.

"Good luck!" Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. "You're (sic) country depends on You!"

Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state's office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.

The student told investigators he made the eBay posting, adding, "That was a joke. It's no longer listed," according to the complaint.

"We take it very seriously. Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote," said John Aiken, a spokesman for the office. "There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, 'I can be bought.'

"It's a real shame," he said. "I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not."

The scarcely used law had its heyday in the 1920s, when many people sold their votes in exchange for liquor, Assistant County Attorney Pat Diamond said.

"There are two things going on here in terms of why it's a crime," he said. "One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out 'I can buy your vote.' The second notion is that everybody gets one vote, and you don't get to buy another one."

Sanders and his attorney, Steven Levine, declined to comment Thursday. The charge carries up to five years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

As for the offer on eBay? It got no bids.

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Man rips head from Hitler wax figure (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) - A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum Saturday, police said.

Just minutes after the museum opened, the 41-year-old German man pushed aside two security men guarding the figure before ripping off the head in protest at the exhibit, a police spokesman said. The police were alerted and arrested the man.

The waxwork figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life was criticized as being in bad taste. A media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds Thursday was overshadowed by a row over the exhibit.

Critics said it was inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

Dressed in a grey suit, the figure of Hitler gazed downwards with a despondent stare, his arm outstretched on a large wooden table with a map of Europe on the wall of his gloomy bunker.

About 25 workers spent about four months on the waxwork, using more than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of the "Fuehrer" in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where he is standing upright.

It is illegal in Germany to show Nazi symbols and art glorifying Hitler and the exhibit was cordoned off to stop visitors posing with him.

Unobtrusive signs asked visitors to refrain from taking photos or posing with Hitler "out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War Two." Camera surveillance and museum officials were meant to stop inappropriate behavior.

Institutions such as the foundation for Germany's central Holocaust memorial site condemned the idea of the exhibit as tasteless, saying it had been included to generate business.

The wax figure is the latest in a gradual breaking down of taboos about Hitler in Germany more than 60 years after the end of the war and the Holocaust in which some six million Jews were killed.

The 2004 film "Downfall" provoked controversy as it portrayed the leader in a human light during the last days of his life and last year a satire about Hitler by Swiss-born Jewish director Dani Levy was released in Germany.

(Reporting by Paul Carrel and Sabine Ehrhardt; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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1851 gun used in Civil War returns to Arkansas (AP)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - An 1851 artillery gun carried into battle by Arkansas military school students who joined the Confederate Army was unveiled in its home state Thursday after nearly 150 years.

The 570-pound cast bronze Alger Cadet Gun is on display at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History inside the Little Rock Arsenal. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was born in the building in 1880.

Built by Cyrus Alger & Co. of Boston, the artillery piece was used to help train cadets at the privately run Arkansas Military Institute in Tulip, 50 miles south of Little Rock.

Alger built 10 of the light artillery guns, which fired 6-pound projectiles. Four guns were sent to the Virginia Military Institute, four were sent to the Georgia Military Institute and two were sent to Arkansas' school. Only seven guns survive.

This gun is owned by the Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia and is being lent to the MacArthur Museum for three years.

The Alger gun is numbered and has "Arkansas Military Institute" etched on the barrel. The Petersburg battlefield has owned the gun since at least the 1970s; the Arkansas museum has worked since the 1990s to bring it home.

When the Civil War broke out, the school's 150 cadets quit their studies, enlisted in the Confederate Army and selected their headmaster as their captain.

"They just took the guns they had been training on," said Stephan McAteer, the MacArthur Museum's executive director.

"This gun left the state in 1861 and only came home last year when our staff went to Virginia to oversee its return."

Company I of the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Tulip Rifles," fought at Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; Chickamauga, Ga.; and Gettysburg, Pa. Of the 150 men in the unit, only 13 survived the war.

"The guns were lost in battle — at what point, we don't know. Records don't indicate that," McAteer said. At Petersburg, the gun was part of a scene showing the aftermath of a battle and was not central to its collection, the museum director said. At Little Rock, it is a featured exhibit.

"This predated the war and is from the state's first military academy," McAteer said.

The Arkansas Military Institute never reopened after the war.

___

On the Web:

MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History: http://www.arkmilitaryheritage.com

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Irish woman seeks "husband" for 120 litres of beer (Reuters)

SONKAJARVI, Finland (Reuters) - Julia Galvin came to Finland looking for a man that would carry her 120 kg over a 253-metres track -- the incentive being the chance to win the wife-carrying world title and beer worth her body weight.

In the end the Irish woman was carried by an English man through a pool and across hurdles. She did not make the gold, but said she would keep trying until the title and the beer was hers.

"I think I am worth carrying because I am a walking party," she said.

Wife-carrying is one of a host of bizarre contests that Finns, who can tend to gloominess in the long winter dark, have devised for the scant months of summer when the sun hardly sets and people's mood turns frolicsome.

Forty-eight couples from 13 countries, including Kenya, Australia and Canada, gathered in the remote Finnish village to complete the track.

Estonia reigned supreme once again, as Alar Voogla sprinted home in just over one minute to win the Baltic country's 11th title, with Kirsti Viltrop clinging upside-down to his back.

"Yesterday we have had a really bad luck, because we fell and we lost our first place in the sprint and today it's super," Viltrop said, after completing the main track.

Germany took away the silver and England the bronze, while hosting Finns had to do with a win for the 100-metre sprint, organised as a side-competition to the world-known event.

While some competitors are nearly professional athletes, others do it for fun or as a hobby. Third-place winners Ash Davies and Aila Bruce put extra thought in designing their costume, to get the extra edge.

"We came with our costume designer all the way from England -- she has designed this especially, so we can compete, streamline you know, aerodynamic tuning," Davies said.

Some 5,000 people came to view the event, set deep in forests and lakes a couple of hours' drive from the Arctic Circle.

The contest is rooted in the legend of Ronkainen the Robber, said in the 19th century to have tested aspiring members of his gang by forcing them to lug sacks of grain or live swine over a similar course.

It also purportedly stems from an even earlier tribal practice of wife-stealing, in honour of which many contestants now take up the challenge with someone else's wife.

It has also inspired others to organise events such as sauna sitting, swamp football, cell phone throwing or karaoke singing. All are part of a summer bonanza of events that rake in visitors and cash for as long as the midnight sun shines.

(Reporting by Attila Cser, Writing by Agnieszka Flak)

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"Spiritual" effects of mushrooms last a year? (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "spiritual" effects of psilocybin from so-called sacred mushrooms last for more than a year and may offer a way to help patients with fatal diseases or addictions, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

The researchers also said their findings show there are safe ways to test psychoactive drugs on willing volunteers, if guidelines are followed.

In 2006, Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues gave psilocybin to 36 volunteers and asked them how it felt. Most reported having a "mystical" or "spiritual" experience and rated it positively.

More than a year later, most still said the experience increased their sense of well-being or life satisfaction, Griffiths and colleagues report in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

"This is a truly remarkable finding," Griffiths said in a statement. "Rarely in psychological research do we see such persistently positive reports from a single event in the laboratory."

The findings may offer a way to help treat extremely anxious and depressed patients, or people with addictions, said Griffiths, whose work was funded by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"This gives credence to the claims that the mystical-type experiences some people have during hallucinogen sessions may help patients suffering from cancer-related anxiety or depression and may serve as a potential treatment for drug dependence," Griffiths said.

WIDELY OUTLAWED

While psilocybin is widely outlawed, many U.S. states and some countries overlook its use by indigenous people in religious ceremonies.

Supervision of its use is key, the researchers noted.

"While some of our subjects reported strong fear or anxiety for a portion of their day-long psilocybin sessions, none reported any lingering harmful effects, and we didn't observe any clinical evidence of harm," Griffiths said.

Hallucinogens should not be given to people at risk for psychosis or certain other serious mental disorders, the researchers said.

But Griffiths stressed that even those who reported fear said a year later they had no permanent negative effects.

Of the volunteers who took the one-day test of psilocybin, 22 of the 36 had a "complete" mystical experience, based on a detailed questionnaire.

Griffiths said 21 continued to rate highly on this standardized scale 14 months later.

"Even at the 14-month follow-up, 58 percent of 36 volunteers rated the experience on the psilocybin session as among the five most personally meaningful experiences of their lives and 67 percent rated it among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives," the researchers said.

The report included some comments from the volunteers.

"Surrender is intensely powerful. To 'let go' and become enveloped in the beauty of -- in this case music -- was enormously spiritual," one volunteer said.

(Editing by Will Dunham and Vicki Allen)

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Wichita manager suspended over tirade with ump (AP)

Sensing his team needed a kick in the pants, Wichita Wingnuts manager Kash Beauchamp set out to get ejected on purpose. He even told his pitching coach to get ready.

Beauchamp held true to his word, but took it a little too far, letting loose a spit-flying, shoe-slamming, armpit-showing tirade that left him standing on the field in his red socks and earned him a four-game suspension.

"I regret it, I really do," Beauchamp said Friday after the independent American Association handed down the suspension. "I don't regret getting ejected and I don't regret trying to fire up my team, but I think I went too far, there's no doubt about it."

Beauchamp's meltdown came in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Sioux Falls on Wednesday in Kansas.

The Wingnuts had lost a blowout to the Canaries in the series opener, followed by a disheartening 2-1 loss in the first game of the doubleheader. Believing his team was still flat, Beauchamp warned pitching coach Luke Robertson that he was probably going to get ejected on the next bad call in an effort to bring some life to his players.

He followed through after a check-swing call by plate umpire Blake Felix in the second inning, throwing down his hat and letting loose a flurry of expletives as he charged from the third-base coaching box.

Beauchamp then went nose-to-nose with Felix at the plate, bobbing his head around like some kind of pregame giveaway as he argued.

"Looking back at the video, I didn't realize my head was bouncing around like that," he said. "I'm lucky I didn't dislocate my freakin' neck."

But the bobblehead move was only the beginning.

After kicking dirt around the plate, Beauchamp ripped off his shoe and waved it in front of Felix, then pulled back his sleeve and stuck his armpit in the umpire's face — two gestures meant to tell Felix that he stinks.

The mostly one-sided argument continued with Beauchamp accidentally kicking off his other shoe, leaving him to dance around in red stocking socks, then throwing his chewing tobacco to the ground.

"I did not spit like Roberto Alomar — it was nothing even remotely close to what Roberto Alomar did — but in talking some of it (the chew) flew out and hit him in the face," Beauchamp said. "When I saw that, I backed off and took my dip out. That was probably the only moment of sanity I really had because I wouldn't spit on my worst enemy."

It didn't slow him down, though.

Beauchamp picked up his second shoe and slammed it to the turf, then went into the Wingnuts' dugout and fished out a batting doughnut from a bag, pairing it with another to make a mock pair of eyeglasses before slamming both weights down.

After more than a minute of rage, Beauchamp started to wind down. He retrieved his hat from near the coach's box, then shouted a few more choice words at Felix as he walked toward the dugout.

Beauchamp, still walking around in his red socks, waited momentarily at the rail for a bat boy to bring his shoes, then finally walked off the field.

"I just kind of melted down right there," Beauchamp said. "I just thought I could get the club fired up, but obviously looking at the tape, it definitely went further than I wanted it to go. I lost my focus, I lost my cool and I did some things I regret."

One reason Beauchamp took it a little too far was his emotional state.

He spent the previous night and most of that morning in a Tulsa, Okla., hospital with his 94-year-old grandmother, who was gravely ill. Beauchamp struggled with the death of his father, Jim, a former Atlanta Braves coach, this past Christmas and had a hard time seeing his grandmother in so much pain.

"It was just one of those days when I was emotionally raw to begin with," he said. "Then to lose a game like that to a team that had dominated us pretty much all season, it was just a really frustrating situation."

At least Beauchamp's original intention worked: Wichita beat Sioux Falls 5-2. But now the manager won't be eligible to return to the field until Tuesday at the start of a three-game series in Fort Worth, Texas, and he'll have to pay an undisclosed fine.

The tirade was similar to one made by Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman last season that was widely circulated on the Internet.

During his wild tantrum, Wellman piled dirt on home plate, pulled up a base and chucked it across the field, then pantomimed a military crawl to the edge of pitcher's mound, where he picked up the rosin bag and pretended it was a grenade.

The Atlanta Braves suspended Wellman for three games. They brought him back this season to run the Double-A affiliate.

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Cocoa catwalk: sacks are sweet for Ivorian designer (Reuters)

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cocoa runs in the family of Ivorian fashion designer Felicite Mai.

It was her father, a tailor-turned-cocoa planter, who gave her first sewing machine, a model dating back to 1952.

And for the last five years, this sewing-school graduate has been turning out eye-catching outfits made from the jute sacks used to ship Ivory Coast's top export - cocoa.

From her humble shop in the popular Treichville suburb of the economic capital Abidjan, Mai designs, cuts and fits clothes for men and women that use the natural beige colours and coarse fibre of cocoa and coffee sacks.

Normally stuffed to bursting with the cocoa beans that make Ivory Coast the world's No. 1 grower of the source of chocolate, Mai's creations are worn by a growing clientele of celebrities, artists and musicians, some even from abroad.

"Ivory Coast's economy is based on agriculture, especially cocoa and coffee. So I decided to promote these crops by creating these fashion designs," said Mai, whose real name is Maimouna Camara Gomet.

"For me, it's a way of drawing the whole world's attention to cocoa and coffee," she said.

Proud to wear her own designs, she sports a beige cut-off top with a frayed fringe, made from a jute sack, over blue jeans, a tape measure draped around her neck.

Her creations -- for both men and women -- include skirts, tops, trousers, shirts, waistcoats as well as caps, bags and accessories, mostly in the natural beige of the washed jute sackcloth, but sometimes also dyed darker brown or blue.

"PRODUCT OF IVORY COAST"

Her models say the "sack clothes" look good with traditional jewellery and ornaments, such as the cowrie shells that were the common currency of the West African coast during past centuries of the Atlantic slave trade.

Mai buys the sacks -- some stamped with the words "Product of Ivory Coast, Cocoa" -- from warehouses at Abidjan's bustling port. The jute material is washed and cut at her Treichville workshop, where a wax mannequin is used to help with fittings.

"I had this idea from when I was still at sewing school in 1987. Then I opened my own workshop in 1996 and I first launched these kind of designs in 2003 during a fashion contest at Divo (in the south of Ivory Coast)" said Mai, who has several assistants at her shop.

"My father was a tailor and he made jackets for the colonial settlers," she said, referring to Ivory Coast's former French colonial masters.

"Then he became a coffee and cocoa planter," she added.

Mai hopes that her sack fashion designs can serve as an attractive, enduring advertisement for her country's best known products -- cocoa and coffee.

"That was the livelihood of our parents," she said.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile)

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Fiddler looks for quick payday via eBay (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian fiddler who is no stranger to controversy has put half his future music earnings up for sale on eBay, the auction website.

Ashley MacIsaac, who says he declared personal bankruptcy in 2000, is seeking a minimum bid of C$1.5 million (744,000 pounds) from an investor who would in turn get half of what the Cape Breton musician earns during the rest of his career.

MacIsaac achieved international prominence and raised a few eyebrows in 1997 when he revealed more than his Celtic dance moves while taping "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." According to media reports, he exposed his private parts on the television show while kicking up his kilt during his performance.

"I'm 33, I have at least a good 40 years of earning power ahead of me and I think it's (C$1.5 million) a reasonable starting point," said MacIsaac during a phone interview.

The eBay auction is a variation on a trend started by rocker David Bowie in the late 1990s. Bowie teamed up with financier David Pullman to issue bonds using future royalties from his numerous hits as guarantee. The deal enabled Bowie to collect tens of millions of dollars immediately instead of waiting for the royalty checks to dribble in over the years.

Last year, pop singer Madonna signed a similar deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc., reportedly worth more than $100 million.

"I'm not David Bowie, I'm not Madonna, I'm not Eminem, I'm Ashley MacIsaac, so to set a price at that (C$1.5 million), I thought, was fair market value," he said.

In return, the successful bidder will receive 50 percent of the profits from MacIsaac's album sales, concerts, publishing, movies, DVDs and entertainment-related incomes until the end of his career.

His agent at Courage Artists Inc in Toronto says one bidder has expressed interest, and lawyers are looking into the matter.

Compared with David Bowie, who's sold millions of albums over the past four decades, MacIsaac's earnings potential seems modest.

According to MacIsaac, worldwide sales for his album "Hello, How Are You Today?," released in 1995, are approaching half a million copies. He says it was his most commercially successful album.

MacIsaac released his first 10 albums through labels backed by Universal Music Group, a unit of French media giant Vivendi.

The fiddler says he has regained total creative control over his work, and expects his next album, due next year, to be a commercial success.

(Reporting by Lionel Perron; Editing by Frank McGurty)

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Russian blogger sentenced for "extremist" post (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian man who described local police as "scum" in an Internet posting was given a suspended jail sentence on Monday for extremism, prompting bloggers to warn of a crackdown on free speech online.

Savva Terentiev, a 28-year-old musician from Syktyvkar, 1,515 kilometres (940 miles) north of Moscow, wrote in a blog last year that the police force should be cleaned up by ceremonially burning officers twice a day in a town square.

Convicted on charges of "inciting hatred or enmity", Terentiev was given a one-year suspended term on Monday, Russian news agencies reported.

Free speech campaigners said the ruling could create a dangerous precedent for free speech on the Internet, a vibrant forum for political debate in a country where the mainstream traditional media is deferential to authority.

"This was an absolutely unjustified verdict," Alexander Verkhovsky, director of the SOVA centre in Moscow, a non-governmental group that monitors extremism, told Reuters. "Savva for sure wrote a rude comment ... but this verdict means it will be impossible to make rude comments about anybody."

The verdict was discussed in Russian blogs on Monday. "I don't know now if I should be writing here or not," blogger Likershassi posted on one website.

"The fact that Terentiev got a conditional sentence is unimportant. What's important is the precedent," a blogger named Puffinus wrote.

BONFIRE

Contacted by Reuters on Monday, Terentiev confirmed the sentence but said he was unable to make further comment.

The blog entry for which he was prosecuted has been removed from the Internet. Russia's Kommersant newspaper quoted him as saying in the post: "Those who become cops are scum," and calling for officers to be put on a bonfire.

After the prosecution was launched, Terentiev wrote an open letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev protesting his innocence.

"It is our duty to take responsibility for words on the Internet but ... I did not call for the inflaming of social hatred towards the employees of the police department," he wrote in the letter, posted at one of his sites, www.zasavva.ru.

Most Russians receive their news and information from television stations and newspapers controlled by the state or by businessmen with links to the Kremlin, with opposition voices confined largely to the Internet, talk radio and low-circulation publications.

Medvedev has said he views freedom of speech and a flourishing civil society as essential and that Russia should use a light touch when policing the Internet.

"Thank God we live in a free society," Medvedev said last month in an interview with Reuters.

"It's possible to go on to the Internet and get basically anything you want. In that regard, there are no problems of closed access to information in Russia today, there weren't any yesterday and there won't be any tomorrow," he said.

(Additional reporting by Aydar Buribaev; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One coffee drinker's bad news is another coffee drinker's good news, it seems.

Financial woes at Starbucks Corp., which is planning to close 600 underperforming U.S. stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favor small independent cafes.

"I'm so happy. I'm so not a Starbucks person," said Melinda Vigliotti, sipping iced coffee at the Irving Farm Coffee House in New York. "I believe in supporting small businesses. Starbucks, bye-bye."

"Amen," chimed in Keith DiLauro, a local caterer. "They went too big, too fast."

Seattle-based Starbucks burst onto the national scene in the 1990s and grew to more than 6,000 locations around the world. But with cups of coffee that can cost several dollars, it faces a slowing economy and slowed consumer spending.

"Starbucks has really created a coffee culture, raising awareness of good coffee, which is good for independents," said Carol Watson, owner of the Milk and Honey coffee shop in Chicago. "But on the other hand, they're on practically every corner, and that makes it tough on the little guy too."

In Birmingham, Alabama, retiree Peggy Bonfield, drinking coffee at the Crestwood Coffee Shop, said: "When a Starbucks closes, it makes room for a local business to start.

"I consider that good news," she said.

The schadenfreude of coffee drinkers drawing satisfaction from another's misfortune is part of the popular culture that enjoys the downfall of companies or celebrities, said Jim Carroll, a Canadian-based trends and innovation expert.

"There are a lot of people out there who take delight in seeing an icon torn down by the masses," he said.

Starbucks fell victim to a rapid change in attitude, fueled by Internet bloggers complaining endlessly about everything from layoffs to its breakfast sandwiches, he said.

"Starbucks was a cool brand, and then all of a sudden it's not a cool brand," he said. "There's this new global consciousness that is out there that can suddenly shift."

CAFE CULTURE

Indeed, said Pye Parson, who hails from Seattle and works at Birmingham's Crestwood, "Once it went corporate, it wasn't Starbucks anymore."

New York Web designer Zachary Thacher, who favors Greenwich Village's cafes, said he avoids Starbucks. "They've commoditized cafe culture, which is why I don't go," he said.

The environmental movement toward buying and appreciating locally grown products has helped neighborhood cafes and hurt the myriad look-a-like Starbucks stores, said Judy Ramberg, a consumer strategist at Iconoculture, a Minneapolis-based trend research company.

The company that began as innovative is now known for consistency and convenience, she said. "To me, that's a huge step down," she said. "You've built your franchise on people who are coming in because they know exactly what they want."

Precisely, said Justin Sergi, explaining why he preferred Lux, a cafe in Phoenix serving lattes with a fern-like pattern teased from steamed milk in ceramic cups, over Starbucks.

"The people that work there are very pleasant, but the stores are devoid of any kind of real charm or personality," he said. "They push a button, and a machine does everything from grinding the beans to brewing the drink."

It's not as though Starbucks doesn't have defenders,

"It's convenient," said Anthony Castro, sitting in a Starbucks near his job at New York's Museum of Modern Art. "I know what to expect."

In Birmingham, Crestwood regular Gary Adkins said he felt Starbucks gave employees good salaries and benefits. But now Starbucks' plans call for cutting up to 12,000 full- and part-time positions.

Not everyone felt strongly. "It's just coffee," said Marc Poulin, a systems administrator at Zibetto Espresso Bar in New York. "If I was an investor, I'd care."

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor, Andrew Stern and Verna Gates; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Man flying lawn chair lifted by helium balloons (AP)

BEND, Ore. - Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.

Couch kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart.

Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a crowd of spectators.

"If I had the time and money and people, I'd do this every weekend," Couch said before getting into the chair. "Things just look different from up there. You've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.

"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."

"He's crazy," said his wife, Susan. "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."

Couch hoped to ride the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east. He travels at about 20 mph.

Late Saturday morning, Couch reported via satellite phone that he had traveled about 100 miles, said Renee Sibley, manager of his gasoline station.

"He was fine, and everything was going good," Sibley said. "He was a little north (of his planned route) but figured he could still make it."

Each balloon attached to his chair gives four pounds of lift. The chair weighed about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more.

"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," Couch said.

For that job he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, Global Positioning System tracking devices, an altimeter and a satellite phone.

It was his third flight. In 2006, he had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.

"I'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.

Couch had to dump some of the 45 gallons of cherry Kool-Aid he carried as ballast before he was able to disappear into the distance. "We wanted some color, and it kind of reminded me of kid days," he said of the ballast.

Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.

Dozens of volunteers wearing fluorescent green T-shirts with the slogan "Dream Big" filled Couch's 5-foot-diameter latex balloons and fastened them to the rig carrying his chair. A few balloons popped, and one got away.

"I think it's wonderful he's got guts enough to do it," said retired commercial pilot Bob Banta. "I've owned 12 little airplanes, but I've never done anything like this."

Couch, a veteran of hang gliding and sky diving, estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.

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On the Net:

Couch: http://www.couchballoons.com/

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Ore. man completes flight of fancy - in lawn chair (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Idaho - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.

Kent Couch created a sensation in this tiny farming community, where he touched down safely in a pasture after lifting off from Bend, Ore., and was soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local plumber Mark Hetz said.

"My wife works at the City Market," Hetz said. "She called and said, 'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you look out the door you can see him.

"We go outside to look, and lo and behold, there he is. He's flying by probably 100 to 200 feet off the ground.

"He takes his BB gun and shoots some balloons to lower himself to the ground. When he hit the ground he released all the little tiny balloons. People were racing down the road with cameras. They were all talking and laughing."

Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an array of more than 150 giant party balloons.

Sandi Barton, 58, who has lived her whole life in this town of about 300, said she and her brother-in-law were the first ones to reach Couch and shook his hand.

"Not much happens in Cambridge," she said, adding that about half the town turned out.

"He came right over our pea field," she said. "He was coming down pretty fast."

She said Couch gave some of his balloons to local children.

It was not clear where Couch went after he landed.

It began after Couch, clutching a big mug of coffee, kissed his wife and kids goodbye, then patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, on the head.

After spilling off some cherry-flavored Kool-Aid that served as ballast, Couch got a push from the ground crew so he could clear light poles and soared over a coffee cart and across U.S. Highway 20 into a bright blue sky.

"If I had the time and money and people, I'd do this every weekend," Couch said before getting into the chair. "Things just look different from up there. You've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.

"Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they could ride on a cloud."

Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."

This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.

In 2006, Couch had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.

"I'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.

To that end, he ordered more balloons. Dozens of volunteers wearing fluorescent green T-shirts that said "Dream Big" filled latex balloons 5 feet in diameter, attached them to strings and tied clusters of six balloons each to a tiny carabiner clip.

Each balloon gives four pounds of lift. The chair was about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more.

"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," Couch said.

For that job, he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two GPS tracking devices. One was one for him, the other for the chair, which got away in the wind as he landed last year.

For food he carried some boiled eggs, jerky and chocolate.

Couch flew hang gliders and skydived before taking up lawn-chair flights. He estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.

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Associated Press writer Jeff Barnard contributed to this story from Bend, Ore.

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On the Net:

Kent Couch's flight: http://www.couchballoons.com

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