NEWS LITE : GRANNY SAYS, `I DID IT' AFTER LEAPING FROM PLANE.Minutes before the skydiving skydiving Sport of jumping from an airplane at a moderate altitude (e.g., 6,000 ft [1,800 m]) and executing various body maneuvers before pulling the rip cord of a parachute. Competitive events include jumping for style, landing with accuracy, and performing in teams (e.g. jump, instructor Harley Powell ran through his usual checklist: ``OK class, you need to take everything out of your pockets. Remove your rings. Watches. Anything that might fall off.'' Marianne Zimmer piped up: ``How about my false teeth?'' The great-grandmother and San Clemente San Clemente (săn klĭmĕn`tē), city (1990 pop. 41,100), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1928. Camp Pendleton, a large U.S. marine base, adjoins the city, which is chiefly residential. nanny commemorated her 70th birthday Sunday by leaping out of an airplane for the first time. ``I'm not doing this to brag about it,'' Zimmer said in her heavy German accent before boarding the plane. ``I just think that everybody should do something instead of sitting in a rocking chair.'' She admitted to a mild case of nerves, but nothing like her 25-year-old son, Fritz, also skydiving for the first time. He started yelling to release tension as the airplane climbed, but Zimmer told him to put a lid on it and calm down. Then the door opened. Attached to a skydiving instructor for a tandem jump, Zimmer tumbled out of the clouds above Perris in Riverside County. She fell at 120 mph for 50 seconds; then the parachute burst open. Five minutes later, she swooshed in for a landing on her knees. ``Wow! Hey! Oh my God,'' she shouted, clapping her hands. ``Oh, you guys. I did it! I was as calm as a cucumber. No kidding. Hey, it was nothing to it.'' Microsoft mansion may hit $50 million You'd better start shopping for that perfect housewarming house·warm·ing n. A celebration of the occupancy of a new home. Noun 1. housewarming - a party of people assembled to celebrate moving into a new home gift. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' home near Medina, Wash., is finally due for completion in the spring, just 10 years after he started planning it. The home initially was expected to cost about $10 million. Gates spokeswoman Shelby Barnes said the tab now is between $40 million and $50 million. That's unfurnished unfurnished Adjective not containing any furniture Adj. 1. unfurnished - not equipped with what is needed especially furniture; "an unfurnished apartment" . The main house features an arcade, a 60-foot pool, a 20-seat theater, an indoor-outdoor spa, a lakeside pavilion and a basketball-racquetball court. Outside, there is a 20-car underground garage, a $1.4 million caretaker's residence and a guest cottage. Gloved one's father-in-law `shocked' Did Michael Jackson Noun 1. Michael Jackson - United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958) Michael Joe Jackson, Jackson do it or didn't he? His new father-in-law says the pop star's baby was conceived by artificial insemination artificial insemination, technique involving the artificial injection of sperm-containing semen from a male into a female to cause pregnancy. Artificial insemination is often used in animals to multiply the possible offspring of a prized animal and for the breeding , not the old-fashioned way. Jackson got married last week to nurse Debbie Rowe, who is six months pregnant with his child. Gordon Rowe Charles Gordon Rowe (born June 30, 1915, Glasgow, Scotland, died June 9, 1995, Palmerston North, Manawatu) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in one Test in 1946 against Australia he was dismissed for a pair, being bowled by Bill O'Reilly in both innings. , 67, who lives in Cyprus, said he was shocked when his daughter called to say she was expecting Jackson's baby. ``I just couldn't help myself. I said, isn't this the same man who was accused of child abuse?'' Rowe told the London tabloid News of the World. He added that after a silence his daughter said: ``Come on, it's not so bad. We had the child by artificial insemination.'' ``I said, Debbie, why artificial insemination? Isn't he capable of fathering a child like anyone else? ``She laughed and said, `Michael doesn't do anything like anyone else.' '' Crystal set to host Oscars for 5th time After shying away from the Oscars for two years, Billy Crystal is coming back for another turn as host. ``Once Barry Scheck Barry C. Scheck (b. September 19, 1949 in Queens, NY) is an American lawyer. Although he received national media attention while serving on O.J. Simpson's defense team, winning an acquittal in the highly publicized murder trial, Scheck's more influential legal work lies in his turned it down, I had a feeling they'd come to me,'' Crystal said, referring to one of O.J. Simpson's lawyers. ``Send any Oscar jokes to my Web site at www.whyistheshowsolong.com.'' The March 24 show will be Crystal's fifth stint as Oscars host. He won Emmys in 1991 and 1992 for his writing of the Oscar show, and he got Emmy nominations for his performances in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Asteroid asteroid, planetoid, or minor planet, small body orbiting the sun. More than 10,000 asteroids have orbits sufficiently well known to have been cataloged and named; thousands more exist. gains Cronkite name America's trusted former newsman Walter Cronkite may one day have a truly global impact. An asteroid the size of Pike's Peak that could someday crash into the Earth was renamed Monday in honor of the veteran broadcaster. The California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. announced that the asteroid formerly known as 1990 WA would hereafter be called 6318 Cronkite. The renaming was a surprise timed to coincide with Cronkite's campus visit to deliver the first Lee A. DuBridge Distinguished Lecture. The asteroid, a piece of space debris that orbits in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, was discovered exactly six years ago at the Palomar Observatory by Eleanor F. Helin Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. . Because she discovered it she holds the right to name it. ``This is a mumber of a class of asteroids This is a list of numbered minor planets, nearly all of them asteroids, in sequential order. As of late September 2007 there are 164,612 numbered minor planets, and many more not yet numbered. Most asteroids are ordinary and not particularly noteworthy. that are normally named by tradition, for gods and goddesses,'' Helm said. He carries a heavy load Why put a hundred bricks on your head? To get your name in newspapers, of course - and into the Guinness Book of Records. John Evans, 49, from Heanor, England, secured his place in the Guinness Book of Records on Monday at a London Zoo event promoting the 1997 edition of the book. 'Twas nothing, said Evans, who has a 23-1/2-inch neck. ``I've done 200 pints of beer and balanced three people on my head before. The limit is endless. I've got the strongest neck in the world, and it never gets sore,'' he said. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) John Evans applauds himself after balancing a load of 100 bricks. Associated Press (2) Bill Gates: Home nears completion |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion