Fun_People Archive
27 Oct
WhiteBoardness 10/23/95 

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 95 19:38:44 -0700
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: WhiteBoardness 10/23/95

Excerpted-from: WhiteBoard News for October 23, 1995

[Note from SuperChef: This following item was covered in a previous
WhiteBoard News broadcast.  This is a followup story.]

Santa Cruz, California:

Mr. Twister the clown wasn't kidding when he took on City Hall over a law
forbidding the feeding of other people's parking meters.

The professional clown, who was cited for dropping change in about-to-expire
meters, planned to battle what he called the "anti-good-Samaritan law."

But the city, embarrassed by being the butt of jokes nationwide, is backing
down.

City Manager Richard Wilson said last week he has asked the court to dismiss
the infraction against Mr. Twister and is seeking a repeal of the ordinance.

"The intent of our ordinance isn't to punish clowns," Wilson said.

Mr. Twister, whose real name is Cory McDonald, was cited October 9 for
feeding other people's meters without their permission, a $13 infraction.

"I was just being nice to people," said Mr. Twister, who wears his clown
garb and make-up, complete with big red nose, in public.

The clown got a lawyer, Ben Rice, to take his case for free -- "pro-Bozo."
They planned to flight the citation and start a campaign to change the law,
complete with "Free Mr. Twister" postcards and bumper stickers requesting,
"Mr. Twister Feed My Meter."

But the city didn't think it was funny and decided to revise the
meter-feeding law.

==========

"Growing up, you dream of being liked and being successful.  You imagine
that fame can fill your needs.  You just think, let me scale that pinnacle.
But nothing outside of yourself can make you feel whole.  Not fame, not sex,
not drugs, not money.  None of those things work.  Nothing can fill you up.
And believe me -- 'cause I've tried them all.  In some ways, I am the modern
Elvis."

Rocker Boy George.
==========

Rockville Centre, New York:

Screen goddess Marlene Dietrich had a passion for boas and black stockings,
tuxedos and top hats, lovers of both sexes -- and penicillin mold.

That last tidbit of trivia proved valuable at an auction In Rockville Centre
Thursday night, where two petri dishes owned by Dietrich, both filled with
mold that is purportedly part of the world's first batch of penicillin,
fetched $19,800.

The mold was a gift to Dietrich from Scottish bacteriologist Alexander
Fleming, who discovered penicillin in 1928, according to biographers and
Dietrich's memoirs.

Dietrich, who took penicillin to cure life-threatening pneumonia during
World War II, placed the petri dishes in a frame with a signed photograph
of Fleming and hung the ensemble in her Manhattan apartment, near her Renoir
and Cezannes, auctioneer Herman Darvick said.

"You're talking about what may be the most important medical discovery of
the 20th century, combined with the romance and drama of Marlene Dietrich,"
Darvick said of the petri dishes, which were sold in their frame during the
auction.
[=] © 1995 Peter Langston []