Bus Stops - February 8, 2012

Return this Jedi’s lightsaber! (Brooklyn Paper) 

(The force is no longer with him. Jedi Master Flynn Michael is searching the galaxy far and wide for his stolen lightsaber — and you, Brooklyn Paper readers, may be his only hope. The Bedford-Stuyvesant engineer was at a Myrtle Avenue bar last fall when a thief snatched what Obi-Wan Kenobi once described as “an elegant weapon for a more civilized age” — a $400 custom sword Michael used to teach young Jedi honor and self-esteem.)

Here’s your chance to be chased by zombies! (AJC) 

(In reality, being chased by a ravenous zombie would be an activity best avoided. But thousands of people are ready to “run for their lives” for fun March 3 in Union City. And they’re willing to shell out $87 for the privilege. Inspired by the Atlanta-based AMC TV drama “The Walking Dead,” which returns Feb. 12, run organizers have created a five-kilometer obstacle race featuring hundreds of make-believe zombies chasing as many as 10,000 humans.)

Judge Sentences Man to Take Wife Out on Date Night (My Fox NY) 

(A Florida man was sentenced Tuesday to one date with his wife that included dinner at Red Lobster and a trip to the bowling alley. Joseph Bray, 47, got into an altercation with his wife Monday after he forgot to wish her a happy birthday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.)

Staten Island mom hits city with $900 trillion suit (Brooklyn Paper) 

(A $900 trillion suit. That's trillion with a "t," and it's the amount in damages which a West Brighton woman seeks from the city for, she alleges, improperly placing her two sons in a Queens foster home more than three years ago. Fausat Ogunbayo, 46, recently sued the city and its Administration for Children's Services (ACS) in Brooklyn federal court, claiming the defendants had violated both her civil rights and her children's by removing the boys from their home here in June 2008.)

Mushroom-picking family lost for six days in Oregon forest describes ordeal (News AU) 

(A FAMILY of three mushroom pickers missing for six days after getting lost in an Oregon forest described how they survived by sleeping in a hollow log and snuggling close to their pet dog for warmth. Daniel and Belinda Conne, both 47, and their 25-year-old son Michael were rescued from a wooded ravine located 12 miles (19km) upriver from Gold Beach, Oregon, by a helicopter search team on Saturday morning after getting lost during a mushroom-picking trip six days earlier, the Curry Coastal Pilot said.)

Randy Travis: 'I Apologize' for Public Intoxication Arrest (Reuters) 

(Country singer Randy Travis has switched into "sorry" mode after being arrested for public intoxication in Texas -- and he blames the incident on his overenthusiasm for Sunday night's big game. "I apologize for what resulted following an evening of celebrating the Super Bowl," Travis said in a statement provided to TheWrap. "I'm committed to being responsible and accountable, and apologize for my actions.")

Garage Door Openers Stop Working On Entire Missouri Block (CBS) 

(It’s a puzzling phenomenon: On one street in St. Charles County, garage door openers have stopped working. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that no one knows what exactly is going on at Westhampton View Court. The garage door openers at all five homes on the court stopped working shortly after Christmas.)

Rash of school tuba thefts continues as Bell High loses two (LA Times) 

(Two more tubas have been stolen from an area high school, extending a rash of thefts of the expensive instruments at Southern California campuses in recent months that instructors say is likely related to the popularity of Mexican banda music. This time thieves hit Bell High School, which lost two King brass sousaphones -- marching-band tubas -- sometime over the weekend, said Ligia Chaves-Rasas, the school’s band director.)

Kevin Smith presents his 'Comic Book Men' (USA Today) 

(If you follow Kevin Smith's movies, podcasts or other projects, then you know the writer/director is fond of employing his friends. With his latest effort, the AMC reality series Comic Book Men, Smith allows cameras inside the comic-book shop he owns, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, N.J. Some of its employees have known Smith for more than 20 years.)

Kevin Smith on Lack of Women on AMC Comic Book Show: ‘That’s Reality’ (The Observer) 

(Today over a long lunch at Caroline’s, actor/director/oversized advocate Kevin Smith discussed his new AMC reality show, Comic Book Men. The series, which focuses on Mr. Smith’s own New Jersey comic shop Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash (as well as the kooky individuals who both work at and patronize the store), has been given a prime spot on the channel: directly after the zombie drama The Walking Dead.)

Kevin Smith: 'My Dog Is On Medical Marijuana' (The Huffington Post) 

(Indie film guru Kevin Smith makes no secret of his love of pot. Turns out it extends to his dog, Scully, who is 14 years old and whosee body Smith says is "half-working." However, he smokes so much marijuana that the dog gets a contact high whether she wants it or not -- and he says now she wants it.)

Kevin Smith Reveals Animated Jay and Silent Bob Film Is In the Works (Paste) 

(Kevin Smith has revealed that there’s going to be a Jay and Silent Bob cartoon and that he’s been quietly working on it for a while now. “We just never told anybody, but it’s a cartoon movie that ends with live action,” Smith told Crave Online, “the idea is we’re going to take this Jay and Bob cartoon movie on tour like we did with Red State.”)

Kevin Smith’s Brand Extends to ‘Comic Book Men’ (Daily Beast) 

(Getting kicked off an airplane for being too fat turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Kevin Smith. At first, of course, he was humiliated. “It felt like they stripped me of all my accomplishments by reducing me to ‘fat guy in a little chair on a plane,’?” says the indie-film director and comedian, known for such mid-’90s slacker classics as Clerks and Chasing Amy. He figured he had two options: “Crumble, wither, die, and go away. Or fucking rise, man. Rise above it.”)

Tigers attack tourist bus in wildlife park (SMH) 

(A group of tourists visiting a wildlife park in eastern China had a narrow escape after Bengal tigers attacked their bus, puncturing its tyres and destroying the windscreen, state media said Tuesday. A worker in charge of the enclosure at Jinan Wildlife World in Shandong province was at lunch when the incident happened last Saturday and it took officials 10 minutes to open a gate so the tourists could escape, reports said.)

15 passengers hurt as two OC Transpo buses collide on Transitway (Ottawa Citizen) 

(Two buses collided on the Transitway near Tunney’s Pasture on Tuesday afternoon, sending 12 people to hospital and delaying commuters at the height of rush hour. The accident took place when two articulated OC Transpo buses — a route 61 bus and a route 98 bus — crashed into each other just west of Holland Avenue at about 4 p.m. It appeared from the position of the buses and the areas where they had damage as though one of them was trying turn left on the Transitway when the collision took place.)

Bus driver beaten after telling man not to smoke (Eastday) 

(CITY police are investigating the beating of a bus driver by a passenger on Monday. Witnesses said the driver was attacked after he asked the passenger to stop smoking onboard a bus route No. 950. The driver, Yin Weizhong, suffered light injuries to his right hand and arm, said the city bus operator, Shanghai Bashi Co. Yin left the hospital after treatment, said a spokesman with the company.)

Online dating has its pros and cons, meta-analysis says (Washington Post) 

(Social scientists have confirmed what most singletons have known for years: Online dating is a crapshoot. A new analysis of 400 academic studies explores whether online dating represents a dramatic shift in the way people seek mates (it does) and whether it is ultimately a good thing for daters (eh . . . sorta).)

Smoking deteriorates memory function in men (The State Column) 

(Researchers reported middle-aged male smokers experience more rapid cognitive decline, compared to non-smoking men. However over at least 10 years of no smoking, the male body can repair itself, lowering its risk of rapid decline in cognitive function. This study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.)

British Scientists Show Vegetables Can 'Talk' (RIAN) 

(A research team at the University of Exeter visualized on television the ability of plants to communicate, the university reported on its website. Injured plants are capable of releasing a gas that triggers responses in plants around them. But the team at Exeter, led by Professor Nick Smirnov, was the first to catch the process on film by infusing a plant with a firefly gene and using a special camera.)