The Fringe

October 1, 1995
Web posted at: 8:15 a.m. EDT

Elephant fingerpaints on her birthday

ATLANTA, Georgia -- The Picasso of pachyderms was celebrating her 13th birthday Sunday. The elephant Starlet O'Hara gave a special performance of her fingerpainting, or perhaps we should say trunk-painting, skills at the Zoo Atlanta. As a present, she received a birthday cake, but she was more interested in a pot full of garden goodies (1.15M QT movie).

An elephant home page

Two-year-old obsessed with vacuums

FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin -- A 2-year-old didn't get sucked into anything, he just loves vacuum cleaners. The tot, Mitchell O'Hearn, got 10 of the appliances for his birthday, mostly used ones. His aunt says Mitchell is obsessed with the machines. She says, when he visits relatives, he goes to the closet to say "hi" to the vacuum cleaner, and asks to have it plugged in.

Stark's museum of vacuum cleaners

Pope doughnuts get holed

YORK, Pennsylvania -- A Pennsylvania man won't have "papal donuts" for sale during the Pope's upcoming visit to Baltimore. He had wanted to crank out doughnuts shaped like the pontiff. But his plans to get a special cutter fell through and shaping the doughnuts by hand turned out to be too massive a job. The man still plans to make a small batch and try to deliver them to the pope during his visit.

Casket-makers face protesters

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- A casket-makers meeting has drawn protesters. The Rainforest Action Network is demonstrating against the manufacture of mahogany caskets. The group says the wood is taken illegally from the Amazon rainforest. The same hotel is hosting the casket makers and the "state of the world forum" demonstrators say they'll ask world leaders at the forum to pledge not to be buried in mahogany caskets (910K QT movie).

New men's cologne offends women

MIAMI, Florida -- A new men's cologne is causing a stink in Miami. A department store had planned to promote the fragrance with the slogan, "Havana: The way it was when sin was the name of the game, and the night never ended."

The chain decided to change their campaign after getting about a hundred complaints from Cuban women. The new slogan is, "Havana: The new fragrance for men. A sensuous new fragrance. It makes passion catch fire and romance beckon. Feel the heat."

Dead writer wins Oscar nomination

BEVERLY HILLS, California -- A blacklisted screenwriter will get a long-overdue Oscar nomination. The late Michael Wilson co-wrote the 1962 movie "Lawrence of Arabia." The film did not win the screenwriting award that year, but did get the best picture Oscar. Wilson's contributions were kept secret because he was on the infamous Hollywood blacklist as a suspected communist. The Writers Guild of America recently recognized Wilson as the script's co-author.

New Christmas stamps launched from North Pole

NORTH POLE, New York -- If you want to get an early start on mailing your Christmas cards, the first Christmas stamps were issued Saturday at North Pole, New York. North Pole is a substation of the Lake Placid Post Office. Every year it postmarks thousands of pieces of Christmas mail. The new stamps feature four Victorian-style images of Santa Claus.

Postmaster General Marvin Runyon calls Santa Claus an inspiration for postal employees, because he always makes his deliveries on time.

Giant lobster spared from steamy death

HOLLYWOOD, Florida -- Guiseppe the lobster is getting a reprieve from the boiling pot. Until recently, the 28-pound crustacean lived in a restaurant tank, under the hungry eye of many a customer. But because of his size, Guiseppe is now the newest attraction at the Miami Sea-Quarium. Now Guiseppe will only feed those who hunger for knowledge.

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