Traveling Cats, Cannibal Cops & Lego Property

The Traveling Cat

     Bisou the cat flew from Cairo to Radcliffe-in-Trent after climbing into the suitcase of her owner who was going to visit her sister.  The 7 year old Persian cat was NOT detected by airport security, or right away by family members in Cairo.  Bisou’s stow away was discovered when her owner, Mervat Ciuti, reached into her bag to answer her ringing phone while in a cab.  A family member that believed Bisou was lost had called and stated, “When she realized what had happened, she said she was trembling.  She thought she would be dead.”

     Bisou is currently quarantined at the Calagran Kennels in Chesterfield awaiting clearance in order to be returned to Cairo.

Cannibal Cop Cries

     Former NYPD officer, Gilberto Valle, cried out in court just after his attorney wrapped his defense.  Valle contends that he was merely using a website for fictional, fantasy play and was not intending to act upon what he wrote about.  The US attorney’s office contends that Valle conspired with three others from NJ, England & Pakistan, to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women (including Valle’s own wife).  Valle met his alleged cohorts on a website co-founded Sergey Merenkov for those who have extreme sexual fetishes to intermingle “no differently than on FaceBook.” Merenkov (during a video deposition from Russia) does admit that the images featured on the site are graphic, but are simply FANTASY. 

                “Everything that you see on FaceBook, basically, you can encounter on the website.  These are private chats, groups, the ability to publish photo albums on the site.” – Merenkov

     According to the prosecutor in the case, Valle used the profile name “girl meat hunter” and Merenkov’s testimony could not confirm that his site was free from criminal activity, “That the site can be used for illegal activity, yes, there is a possibility of that.” 

   It is unclear at this point if Valle’s tears resonated with the jury, but it is crystal clear that the graphic sexual images affected his family that has been present throughout the trial.  As they have sat in the courtroom, they have all been seen shaking their heads (most notably his mother) as the details of his online escapades were revealed. 

   Closing arguments are scheduled to take place this Thursday.

Hogwarts: Lego Style

     Alice Finch (38) has built a scale model of the Hogwarts School using 400,000 Lego pieces.  It took 12 months to complete the school for the characters of the Harry Potter series.  Finch’s model features the recreation of scenes from the films within its various rooms……including meal time in the Great Hall. 

                “It is designed to be architecturally accurate and completely playable.  There are about 10,000 bricks just in the big central staircase to give you a sense of scale.  At one point I over-stressed my knees by leaning over my work table for hours upon hours and I’ve worn off my fingerprints several times.”