real, live, Mer-Lady

A double amputee who lost both her legs as a child has turned into a mermaid with the help of an Oscar-winning special-effects workshop.

Once, when asked what happened to her legs, Nadya Vessey, from Auckland, told the little boy she was a mermaid.
She never gave up on that idea.

Two years ago, she wrote to special effects company Weta Workshop (Wellington, NZ) to ask them to make her a tail. They did.


It comes complete with a fitted suit, and covered with digitally printed sock with hand-painted mermaid scales.
'A prosthetic is a prosthetic, and your body has to be comfortable with it and you have to mentally make it part of yourself,' Nadya, who has been swimming in a pool and Auckland Harbour, told New Zealand media.

Aussies charged over attack on 75-year-old blind flamingo

Four Australian teenagers have been charged with attacking an almost blind greater flamingo that is believed to be the oldest bird of its kind in the world.

The flamingo's head and beak were injured and it was bleeding from an eye after the attack at Adelaide Zoo that left it in a critical condition, zoo staff said.

"The bird arrived at the zoo in 1933 and was a mature bird at that stage," a spokeswoman for the zoo told AFP. "So although we don't know it's exact age it is at least 75 years old -- much older than they grow in the wild."

The zoo's website describes the bird as "undoubtedly the oldest flamingo in the world," adding that despite its great age its quality of life was very good.

Police said four men aged between 17 and 19 were charged with aggravated ill-treatment of an animal and released on bail to appear in court at a later date.

The Greatest Jail Threats EVER

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian court has issued a blunt warning about the sexual predators a young driver faces in jail if he does not stop speeding, as authorities struggle to stop teenagers street racing.

"You'll find big, ugly, hairy strong men (in jail) who've got faces only a mother could love that will pay a lot of attention to you -- and your anatomy," said Magistrate Brian Maloney.

The 19-year-old male appeared in Sydney's Downing Center Court on Monday charged with driving without a license, failing to stop at a police alcohol check point and driving dangerously.
It was his third time before the courts for driving offences, prompting the magistrate's warning he would be jailed next time.

Breaching any of these conditions would see the teenager jailed where he would "shower with the gorillas in the mist down at Long Bay jail," said Maloney, his comments confirmed by the court on Tuesday.

Kidd is ok, but some baby names just won't do.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.

The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.

Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

Girlfriend makes man walk the plank

A Nelson man had to swim to shore after his date made him walk the plank and stole his boat following an argument on the vessel.

Sergeant Dave Gibbons, of Nelson, said the man was entertaining the woman on his boat when an argument developed, resulting in the woman pushing the man overboard.

The woman sailed off leaving the man to swim a short distance to shore.

However, things did not go swimmingly for the woman either who became stuck on a sandbank and was arrested when the tide went out, Gibbons said.

The Nelson Volunteer Coastguard was called by police to assist but the Haven was too shallow and surf rescue were called.

The boat was believed to be one of two anchored in the Nelson Haven by the Maitai Bowling Club.

Oh, New Zealand. Why do you do such silly things?