Casting call for 2,000 nudes in Oz

SYDNEY, Australia: Artist Spencer Tunick is looking for 2,000 Australians to pose nude for his newest installation The Base. Tunick is an American photographer known for his large installations of naked people. CBC News reports this effort is scheduled to take place on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on Mar. 1 and will coincide with the city’s gay and lesbian Mardi Gras. Spencer Tunick has created almost 100 installations all over the world. He considered the alternative location of the city’s Bondi Beach, but determined the location was too big a setting.

Man defrosts car by setting it on fire

BERLIN, Germany: In an effort to speed up defrosting his car, a German man incinerated his vehicle when he put a blow heater under the hood. The 76-year-old man placed the heater next to the frozen windshield washer tank and left the car unattended. According to Reuters, shortly after going indoors, the man heard two explosions and saw his car engulfed in flames. Police said he burned the car out, causing an estimated 40,000 euros in damage. The fire department was called to prevent the fire from moving to his house.

iPad and feminine products share similar slogans

SAN FRANCISCO, California: The Internet was barraged with jokes after the announcement of Apple’s newest invention, the iPad. Most of the jokes and mockery involved the promotion of the iPad as “small, lightweight and slim” and the obvious comparisons drawn to feminine products. A Los Angeles tech blogger asked if one can swim with it too. The technology community did know the launch of a larger version of the iPod Touch was ahead but expected the product to be called the iSlate. The iSlate also took criticism because the term slate brought about connotations of something ancient and primitive. CNN reported tech journalists expect the jokes to go away quickly, expecting the public to adopt the name very easily. One journalist recalled how odd iPod sounded in 2001 when it was launched and how it’s been accepted into everyday vocabulary.

Pakistan president slaughters goats daily to avoid misfortune

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari wards off evil by having a black goat slaughtered every day. The president’s spokesman confirmed the government leader has a goat killed almost every day at his residence to protect him from black magic. The slaughter of the goat is an act of Sadaqah, or voluntary charity. In Islam, Sadaqah is where one gives money or the meat of a sacrificed animal to the less fortunate to win Allah’s blessing and prevent misfortune. Reuters reports that hundreds of goats have been sacrificed at Zardari’s house since he took office in September 2008. Zardari is the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He rose to power after her assassination in 2007. Since coming to office, Zardari’s popularity has declined and he has faced growing Islamist militancy and political opposition.