Attack of the Sith

Star Wars comes to Holyhead as Darth Vader strikes back in Jedi's back garden

By Tom Chivers

Last Updated: 1:12am GMT 29/03/2008

A Star Wars fan got closer to his idols than he would perhaps have liked when he was attacked in his garden by Darth Vader.

How About That? Because news doesn't have to be serious Aliens, Star Trek and King Kong: Hollywood memorabilia goes under the hammer Use the force: Star Wars spoofs take off Jedi Master Jonba Hehol - known to family and friends as Barney Jones, 36, of Holyhead - was giving a TV interview in his back garden for a documentary when a man, dressed in a black bin-bag and wearing Darth Vader's trademark shiny black helmet, leapt over his garden fence. How the assailant may have looked Wielding a metal crutch - his lightsaber presumably being in for repairs - the Sith Lord proceeded to lay about his opponent, whose Jedi powers proved inadequate for the task of defending himself. After besting Master Hehol in single combat, Vader, who The Sun reports was under the influence of alcohol, went on to assault the camera crew and a hairdresser. Master Hehol, a hairdresser, who founded the first-ever British Jedi Church in loving homage to the world-famous science fiction franchise with his brother Daniel, was unimpressed by the revenge of the Sith. "This wasn't a joke. This was serious," he said. Police are investigating a claim of assault. The Jedi "religion" was born as a joke in the 2001 census, when almost 400,000 people claimed to believe in the Jedi faith. Based on the teachings of Yoda, the crinkly green dwarf of the films, the "church" has a branch in Florida and plans to open another in the Philippines.

A Knight out on the town

Owner reuinited with stolen Knight armor

Last Update: 2:44 pm

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SALEM, Ore. - The owner of a suit of armor police found at a Salem bus shelter claimed her porch decoration after seeing it on TV.

Police said the suit was found inside a Salem bus shelter about 6 a.m. Friday on Wheatland Road North, just south of Parkmeadow Drive Northeast.

The owner was not able to give a dollar value but did state it was taken from her front porch sometime during the early morning hours of March 28^th.

After a local television news station aired a photograph of the suit, a woman saw it and claimed it. Police delivered it to her around 9 a.m. Saturday.

Wikipedia 10 Million!!!

Wikipedia Hits Milestone of Ten Million Articles Across 250 Languages

Nicholas Hilliard, subject of the 10 millionth article

Hungarian biography of 16th century painter Nicholas Hilliard declared ten millionth article

San Francisco, California, March 28, 2008

Earlier this week the Wikimedia Foundation reached a significant new milestone: on Thursday, March 27, at 00:07 UTC the official article count for all Wikipedias combined reached 10 million. The ten millionth article, a short biography of 16th century English goldsmith and painter Nicholas Hilliard, was created in the Hungarian Wikipedia by user Pataki Márta.

Wikipedia now boasts articles in more than 250 languages, with the English Wikipedia having the largest number, followed in descending order by the German, French, Polish, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish Wikipedias. The project is also experiencing rapid growth in many young Wikipedias, including Marathi, Tagalog, and Cantonese.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation remarked on the occasion of this milestone, "It's incredible to think that we've grown from one Wikipedia in English to over 250 language Wikipedias. Ten million articles is something we could never have imagined happening so fast when we embarked on Wikipedia in 2001. This is a testament to the incredible dedication of our volunteers around the world."

In December 2007, the German magazine Stern announced in an independent study of 50 articles that the German Wikipedia was more accurate, complete and up-to-date than the longstanding print encyclopedia Brockhaus. In April 2007, a study conducted by the Hewlett Packard Information Dynamics Laboratory found that the best articles on the English Wikipedia are those that have been edited the most frequently, by the largest number of people. It concluded that the correlation between article quality and the number of edits validates Wikipedia as a successful collaborative effort.

Similar studies around the world continue to point to the increasing accuracy and quality of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that is written, edited and maintained by a global community of thousands of volunteers.

Wikipedia is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, a charitable, non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California.

Murder in London town

Murders in London mapped after latest death

By staff and agencies

Last Updated: 4:40pm GMT 29/03/2008

Figures from the Metropolitan Police Service have revealed the density of murders occuring on London's streets, as officers investigate the latest killing of a teenager in the capital.

A 16-year-old has been accused of the murder of a 14-year-old boy, another victim of London's violence crisis.

The boy, of Queens Park, will appear at West London Youth Court on Monday in relation to the death of Amro Elbadawi.

	Click to enlarge: Murders in 2007 by London borough

The news came as statistics compiled by the Metropolitan Police Service revealed that more than half of murder victims in the capital last year were from ethnic minority groups.

Amro crawled into a health centre bleeding heavily from his neck, apparently after a petty row with a friend escalated.

Despite the desperate attempts of employees and paramedics to save his life, the teenager died in hospital about an hour later.

The schoolboy was the second teenager to die from a knife wound in the capital that day, which was London's bloodiest day of youth violence this year.

The deaths brought the toll of teenage murders in the capital so far this year to 11.

A total of 26 teenagers were killed last year.

The attacks led to calls from all quarters for a renewed drive to force young people to stop carrying weapons.

Figures for 2007, seen by the Financial Times, show that the borough of Lambeth had the highest murder rate at 23, followed by Newham, which was the scene for 13 murders.

The murder rates, when mapped out, reveal that a large number of homicides take place in socially deprived neighbourhoods.

The middle-class enclaves of Harrow, Richmond, Merton, and Kensington and Chelsea, did not witness any murders last year.

Eddie Murphy's Funnies Movie...20 Years ago

Bark like a dog! 'Coming to America' turns 20

Anyone wondering why Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America" has been playing non-stop on cable movie channels lately? It's celebrating its 20th anniversary this year!

I'm going out on a limb here by saying this: "Coming to America" might be Eddie Murphy's best film ... period. Sure, you want rationale -- in list form, of course.

10 REASONS WHY 'COMING TO AMERICA' IS EDDIE'S BEST FLICK:

10. HELLO AGAIN AND GOODNIGHT: After two slightly subpar showings (Golden Child, Beverly Hills Cop 2), this movie is almost Eddie's swan song. So far, Eddie's only watchable flick after "Coming to America" is "Boomerang" (1992). It's also the last great flick by director John Landis.

9. MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES: This would be the first time Eddie played more than character, tackling Prince Akeem, Clarence the barber, Saul (the old white guy in the barber shop) and Randy Watson, the singer of the band Sexual Chocolate.

8. A NOD TO HIS HERO: Richard Pryor was a big influence on a young Eddie Murphy. So when it came time to pick a name for his fictional African country, Eddie chose "Zamunda" -- a name Pryor used in an old comedy bit.

7. BEST FAKE PRODUCT EVER: "Just let your Soul-Glo!" I dare say just about anyone who ever saw this movie can still sing along to the TV commercial. "Feeling all so silky smooth!" [Watch it again]

6. THEY CAN BE FUNNY TOO: Still not convinced? What about James Earl Jones playing a comedy role? Or future "E.R." moper Eriq La Salle as the "Soul Glo" heir? Brilliant. And you gotta love the cameo performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Louie Anderson. (And the kid getting his hair cut in the barber shop -- Cuba Gooding Jr.)

5. ARSENIO CAN ACT: Even Arsenio Hall, the Bud Abbott of the '80s, shows some rare acting skills here. Whatever happened to him?

4. THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH HIM: Star Wars freaks out there, did you catch James Earl Jones' "Darth Vader" homage? When King Jaffe Joffer comes looking for Akeem, he tells Mr. McDowell, "Do not alert him to my presence. I'll deal with him myself."

3. THE SEQUEL FACTOR: Our fond memory of two other great Murphy flicks -- "48 Hours" and "Beverly Hills Cop" -- is tainted by the criminally awful sequels they spawned. Thankfully, at the end of "Coming To America," everyone lives happily ever after -- sequel-free.

2. "WE'RE BACK!" One of the funniest scenes: The "Duke Brothers" -- Randy and Mortimer -- from 1983's "Trading Places" are bums on the street until former co-star Murphy hands them a bag of money.

1. THE GREAT LINES OF COURSE: "There is a very fine line between love and nausea" ... "Bark like a dog -- a big dog!" ... "My buns have no seeds" ... "The royal penis is clean, your Highness."