VIDEO: Boy Falls from Top of Escalator, Man Catches Him

Virginia woman develops Russian accent after falling down stairs

Some people fall on their heads and wake up with their memories wiped out. A few revive with their personalities totally changed. Others die. Robin Jenks Vanderlip fell down a stairwell, smacked her head and woke up speaking with a Russian accent.

Vanderlip has never been to Russia. She doesn't remember ever hearing a Russian accent. She lives in Fairfax County, was born in Pennsylvania and went to college on the Eastern Shore. Yet since that fall in May 2007, the first question she gets from strangers is: "Where are you from?" "They say your life can change in an instant," she said in what sounds like a thick Russian accent. "Mine did."

For 42 years, Vanderlip, whose case is being studied at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Maryland, spoke with what NIH neurologist Allen Braun called a typical mid-Atlantic American accent. But since the fall, her clipped way with consonants - dropping the final "s" from some plural words, saying "dis" and "dat" for "this" and "that" or "wiz" instead of "with" - and her formation of vowels - "home" sounds more like "herm," "well" sounds like "wuhl" - identify her more like a transplant from Moscow. The more fatigued she becomes, the thicker her accent grows.

What she has, Braun and other doctors say, is Foreign Accent Syndrome - a legitimate though rare and little understood medical condition that can follow a serious brain injury. "It does sound strange," Braun said. "It certainly does sound like someone has a foreign accent." The syndrome was first described by a neurologist in the closing days of World War II, when a Norwegian woman injured by a shrapnel hit to the head fell into a coma and woke up speaking - most unfortunately for her - with a German accent. (Fellow Norwegians ostracized her as a result, according to the medical literature.) Since then, fewer than 60 cases have been reported worldwide.

JOKE: A man finally gets his prescription for Viagra

A man finally gets his prescription for Viagra. Anxious to try it out, he takes one as soon as he gets home, and waits for his wife to come home from work, but, in his excitement he forgets and leaves the package open on the table and his parrot eats all of them.

Seeing the results and panicking the man grabs the bird and stuffs him into the freezer to cool off.

Just as his wife comes home, the Viagra kicks in and it's hours later before he remembers the parrot. He runs and looks in the freezer expecting the worst, only to find the bird breathing heavily, drained with sweat and totally exhausted.

"What happened?" the man asks, "You were in there for hours and yet you're not only alive but you're sweating like crazy?"

The parrot gasps: "Man, have you ever tried to pry apart the legs of a frozen chicken?"

VIDEO: WOW..THIS IS ANOTHER WEIRD ONE..WHAT DO YOU THINK?

ABC 7's Dan Noyes was probing allegations that Laguna Honda administrators used money from the Patient Gift Fund -- funds donated to patients -- to buy catered meals and airline tickets, among other things. According to Noyes, "Hospital Director Mivic Hirose ignored our phone calls for an interview. So, we showed up at her town hall meeting at the hospital." That's when the chief of community relations director Marc Slavin stepped in and repeatedly patted Noyes with a hand. Each time, Noyes warned, "Do not touch me," and one point Noyes threatened to call the cops. But like a brother bugging his little sister, Slavin continued his touchy-feely ways with Noyes and the camerawoman.

The World's Most Tattooed Woman

What began as a bid to cover up a nasty skin condition has resulted into a Guiness World Record for an American who has been named the most tattooed woman in the world.
Julia Gnuse - nicknamed the 'illustrated lady' - has 95 per cent of her body covered in ink, ranging from jungle scenes and cartoons to her favorite actors.

Miss Gnuse, from California, started getting tattoos on her legs after developing a skin condition called porphyria, which causes the skin to blister when exposed to sunlight.

She then turned her attention to her stomach, arms and back and before long was addicted to body art.

In an interview, Miss Gnuse said although the ink did not stop her skin from blistering, it covered up the scars and allowed her to be exposed to the sun.
'I did this for the reason of covering scarring from the blisters. They get as deep as three degree burn,' she said.
'I had a friend who is a plastic surgeon, who suggested tattooing my skin the same color to the scarring that I had, seeing if we can match my just pale-looking skin that I had.'

'That didn't work. We tried it. It was very difficult to match that. So I had the idea of a colorful tattoo, then I got hooked. I got addicted.'

Miss Gnuse said there was medication available for her condition, but said taking it could have placed her at risk of blindness.

Miss Gnuse, who unveiled her tattoos at a BookExpo in New York yesterday, said every one of her designs had been created by the same tattoo artist.

VIDEO: Kia presents: A new way to roll in 2010

Maybe you've seen this but not being a tv watcher, this is new to me

VIDEO: First there was Iron Man..then came IRON BABY

First there was Iron Man..then came IRON BABY..a superb effort by the maker's of Iron Baby's uncle..brought to you by Huggies, strong enough even for Super Heroes

Car Hits Pepsi Truck, Causes Huge Wreck In Dallas Wednesday Morning

The driver of a Pepsi semi-truck is cut off by an out-of-control Nissan Sentra, overturned and then thrown across the median into oncoming traffic Wednesday morning in Dallas.

Video from the North Texas Tollway Authority shows an insane crash occurring on the northbound lanes of the Dallas North Tollway just after 10:00 am on Wednesday. In the video it appears as if the Nissan Sentra doesn't make the turn and hits the truck, bounces off and then over-corrects, causing the Sentra to then reconnect with the semi, sending the unladen truck into the southbound lanes.

http://jalopnik.com/5550345/video-car-hits-pepsi-truck-causes-catastrophic-wreck?skyline=true&s=i

JOKE: Paddy and Mick were both laid off

Paddy and Mick were both laid off, so they went to the unemployment office. When asked his occupation,

Paddy answered, 'Knicker Stitcher. I sew DA 'lastic onto ladies' knickers and tongs.'

The clerk looked up Knicker Stitcher on his computer and, finding it classified as unskilled labour, he gave him 80 pounds a week unemployment pay.

Mick was next in and when asked his occupation replied, 'Diesel Fitter.'

Since a diesel fitter was a skilled job, the clerk gave Mick 160 pounds a week.

When Paddy found out he was furious. He stormed back into the office to find out why his friend and co-worker was collecting double his pay.

The clerk explained, 'Knicker Stitchers are unskilled labour and Diesel Fitters are skilled labour.'

'What skill?' yelled Paddy. 'I sew DA 'lastic on DA knickers and tongs, then Mick puts 'em over his head and says: 'Yep, diesel fitter.'

Attempts to Bar Nevada Voters From Wearing Chicken Suits at Polls Lays an Egg

Protesters of a statewide ban to keep people dressed as chickens from coming closer than 100 feet to polling places are crying "fowl."

It seems Secretary of State Ross Miller's ban did not stop some peeps from flocking to vote Wednesday.

Clad in a bright yellow chicken suit, Michael Ginsburg voted at the Rainbow Library despite the ban, claiming the debate has transformed into a free speech issue rather than a jab at any one particular candidate.

"The concern is they could ban something else," said Ginsburg, an at-large board member for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "I understand the chicken outfit has become synonymous with a certain campaign, which we weren't actually discussing or out in opposition to. This really just interferes with someone's First Amendment rights."

For weeks, chicken jokes have permeated the news, with pundits chiding Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden for her remarks suggesting people could barter with doctors for medical care.

But Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said the Election Department cannot stop someone from voting as long as they are not interfering with the process.

"This whole thing is ridiculous," Lomax said. "You've got a state with a $3 billion deficit, a country that's bankrupt, and that's what we're dealing with. We instructed our workers to let them vote. They can vote.

"Then we get them out of there as quickly as possible."

Immediately after voting, Ginsburg was escorted from the polling place.

Miller has refused to lift his ban, saying state law prohibits "electioneering" or campaigning for or against a candidate closer than 100 feet to polling places.

But he also acknowledged that local election officials have discretion when it comes to voter dress at the polls.

The law that Miller cites as giving him authority to prohibit people in chicken suits from being in polling places does not specifically mention what people can or cannot wear.

Instead, it states people cannot buy, sell, wear or display "any badge, button or insignia which is designed or tends to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, candidate or ballot question."

Miller said it would not be unlawful for people to show up at polls dressed as Uncle Sam or even Freddy Krueger of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" fame as long as it did not interfere with other voters.

Miller said that despite the ban, people in chicken suits are showing up at polls and standing more than 100 feet away.

"Obviously, some people are trying to get publicity out of this issue," he said. "Their protest of my ban laid an egg."

Everyone knows that the chicken suit wearer is sending a message against one particular candidate, Miller added.

"I know they aren't at the polls to vote for Colonel Sanders," he quipped.