Mickeys

2009 is coming to an end and we’re wondering who had the biggest influence on the news in 2009?

Who’s your news maker of 2009?

What do you recon was the news story/occurence for 2009?

Many people are sceptical about the existence of ghosts, but lately, their stories seem to be making headlines.

In fact, a woman in PE actually won an epic battle with her insurance company after her home burnt down in a suspected case of arson. She was cleared of any wrong-doing and the probable cause of the fire was attributed to a… wait for it… a poltergeist.

So we thought it was high time to give the ghosts of PE the recognition they deserve.

The ghost of Richly House

Some call Richly House “the most haunted house in PE”.

Built by William James Wills in 1906, Richly House has been used for many different purposes over the years, from a general nursing home to a World War II brothel and a post-war boarding house – giving it many different resident ghosts.

People have had encounters with a nun, who is accompanied by the chilling cries of an unseen baby. A woman and a child in period clothing are often passed in the hallway and a grumpy man in a grey coat storms through the dining room to the kitchen where he rattles pots and pans in an unknown frustration.

Most of these ghostly inhabitants are fairly oblivious to their human onlookers, except for the one that appears in the domestic quarters and tries to strangle the staff members…

The ghost of the PE Library

The PE public library is one of the oldest buildings in the city, but was not the first to stand where it is today. In 1896 the building that stood there was destroyed in a raging fire. Police Constable Maxwell was one of the first on the scene, but was killed when a stone coping broke away from the burning building and fell onto him.

The imposing building of the Port Elizabeth Library

When construction on the new library began, the remembrance stone that had been placed on a low wall was removed to the library gardens.

This clearly upset the Constable who then haunted Room 700 and was very disruptive, until eventually the stone had to be returned to its original place.

But the haunting of the PE Library did not end there…

The library had a dedicated caretaker for 31 years. Robert Thomas devoted his life to the upkeep of the beautiful building and passed away in 1943.

His attachment to the building didn’t let him move on and today he goes around banging doors and stacking books only to knock them over again – just so that no one forgets his presence.

The ghost of Cradock Place

Cradock Place is said to be haunted by the uneasy spirit of a young slave girl who was horrifically murdered by her lover.

Nobody knows why, but one day her lover was overcome by insane jealousy and attacked the young woman. In a fit of rage her threw her into the great oven in the kitchen, locked the door and built a huge fire to power the oven.

The girl died an agonising death.

She had been employed in the house and had quickly impressed with her care and thoroughness, which won her the task of dusting the drawing room. Her favourite item was the room’s piano with which she took particular care.

After her death, the piano’s keys seemed to take on a life of their own and soft music was often heard to fill the drawing room – without anyone there to take credit for it.

The ghost of Old Mount Road Power Station

In the 1880s, there was serious conflict between the British and Irish. A group known only as ‘The Invincibles’ took it upon themselves to protect Irish interests from interfering Britain. When the seemingly incompetent Lord Frederick Cavendish was chosen as the new Chief Secretary to Ireland, the group was enraged and Cavendish was assassinated in a heinous manner.

However, Dublin-based James Carey turned state witness against the assassins and sent five of ‘The Invincible’ leaders to their deaths. In exchange, he was granted a new name and life in South Africa.

When he boarded the Melrose Castle bound for Durban, Carey was followed by an ‘Invincible’ assassin. The loud and large Carey did not keep to his cabin, but rather celebrated his escape on the lower decks. The assassin simply shot him when a passing fishing boat caused a distraction.

The assassin was arrested, but Carey’s body was left on the ship and eventually buried in a pauper’s grave in Port Elizabeth.

Shortly after his burial, the cemetery was moved to make way for the new power station. An employee tasked with the moving the remains from the cemetery took a liking to Carey’s skull and its clean bullet hole, using it for many years as an ashtray and candle holder.

The long-dead Carey still finds this offensive and refuses to leave the boiler room or the site where the cemetery once was, instilling fear in all those who work there.

info from GoTravel24

Thanks to the sometimes ferocious ocean and the towering Table Mountain, Cape Town is a natural breeding ground for myths and legends.

But this doesn’t mean that our man-made structures come without their own stories. A long and sometimes bloody history has left its imprint on the buildings of the Western Cape – an imprint that emerges at night and takes a rather ghostly form…

The ghosts of Cape Town Castle

Started in 1666, Cape Town Castle is one of the oldest buildings in the Western Cape. It was also home to many alleged criminals and a ‘donker gat’ (dark hole) that served as a windowless torture chamber. The walls were witness to too many deaths to count and are scrawled with the graffiti of the damned.

No wonder it is haunted.

The Lady in Grey is the one ghost of Cape Town Castle who has made the most appearances over the years. No one really knows who she was, but it is assumed that some tragedy befell her as she is often seen with her hands covering her face, as though she is weeping.

The skeleton of a woman was found during excavations done at the castle – fuelling speculation that the bones belonged to the Lady in Grey. She has barely appeared since the bones were laid to rest, adding credence to the theory that she had finally been released from the castle’s clutches.

Among the many beings said to haunt the Castle, the ghost of Governor van Noodt is one of the most infamous. During his time as the governor of the Cape in the 1720s, he was a harsh leader who believed in strict discipline and ruthless punishments for soldiers who disobeyed him.

Four soldiers, who made the fatal mistake of trying to escape his iron-clad rule, were caught and swiftly sentenced to a beating and deportation to Batavia.

Seemingly without warning or reason, Governor van Noodt changed the sentence – to death. Despite being called cruel, the Governor would not change his mind and didn’t even pay the men the courtesy of attending their hanging.

As the final soldier was brought forward to receive his sentence, he loudly cursed Governor van Noodt and challenged him to appear before God to answer for what he had done.

After this last man was hanged, officers went to Governor van Noodt’s rooms to tell him that the deed was done. But instead of the praise they expected, they found the Governor dead in his chair, an expression of absolute horror on his face. His ghost is said to still roam the castle, forever condemned by the dying soldier’s curse.

The ghost of Tokai

Deep in the Tokai Forest Plantation in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, lies the well-known Tokai Manor. This house was completed in 1796 and in the early 1800s was owned by Hendrik Oswald Eksteen, an exuberant and indulgent man.

Hendrik and his son were both fond of entertaining and New Year’s Eve was an especially big night at Tokai Manor. The house’s high stoep and its twin flights of steep steps were overflowing with guests. The vintage wine was flowing and it wasn’t long before things got out of hand.

Hendrik’s son, Petrus Michiel was prone to bragging, and was deep into describing what a fine rider he was when someone urged him to prove it. The wager required the young man to ride his horse up the steep steps, on to the stoep and into the dining room.

Petrus completed the task without too much difficulty, but as he began to celebrate, the horse took fright and bolted, slipping on the steep steps and both man and horse plunged to their deaths.

Years later, News Years Eve remains a frightening time to be in Tokai Manor. Drunken laughter and the neighing of horses can often be heard, carrying on the breeze from the nearby forest. Some even claim to have heard the sounds of thudding horse hooves and a sudden, high-pitched whinny before the air falls deathly silent.

Besides the ghostly stories, the only tangible evidence left of Petrus and his horse is one solitary hoof print ingrained in the dining room floor.

The ghost of the Lord Milner Hotel – Matjiesfontein

The year was 1899 when James Douglas Logan built the Hotel Milner – a hotel that still stands today and is said to be home to a myriad of ghostly beings.

Kate is the most poignant of all and can often be seen staring out of the window of the top turret, her white dress flowing in the breeze.

She was a young woman who worked as a nurse in the hotel’s earlier days. She loved to play cards with the convalescent patients and was a popular young woman.

At only 19, she died suddenly without cause or reason in a mystery that is unsolved to this day.

At the top of the second floor, a steep staircase leads to a tiny room, known only as “Kate’s Card Room” – here the noises of cards being shuffled and soft crying can often be heard.

Kate sometimes comes out of her room and be seen floating around one of the lower passages, always in her nurses uniform…

The ghost of Verlatenbosch

Even though it is mostly the buildings of the Western Cape that are frequented by ghosts, her national landmarks are not free of a spectre or two.

The ghost of Verlatenbosch (Bush of the Forsaken) is a mournful Table Mountain tale.The governor at the time made a mortal enemy of one of his citizens, who took the worst revenge he could imagine. Taking a beautiful flute, once used by an old leper, the citizen presented it to the governor’s son as a gift. Within days the poor boy contracted the horrible disease and was forced into exile by his own family. A lonely hut in the forests of Table Mountain became his home until the day he died.

When the sun sets, the hauntingly sad sounds of this flute can be heard, carried softly on the breeze that rustles the trees on the slopes of Table Mountain…

info from GoTravel24

Michael Schumacher will make a shock return to Formula 1 to replace injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

The seven-time world champion, 40, retired at the end of 2006 but has agreed to drive at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on 23 August.

Schumacher will stand in for Massa, who fractured his skull at the Hungarian GP, for as long as he is sidelined.

The German, who is a Ferrari advisor, said: “For team loyalty reasons I can’t ignore this unfortunate situation.” “

His spokesman Sabine Kehm told the BBC on Tuesday that although Schumacher was not willing to make a full-time return to F1 he would not rule out standing in for Massa.

Now, the German racing legend has decided to come out of retirement and make a sensational return despite admitting: “It is true that the Formula 1 chapter has long been closed for me.

“The most important thing first: thank God, all news concerning Felipe is positive, and I wish him all the best again.

“This afternoon I met with team principal Stefano Domenicali and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.

“As the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge.”

The German racing legend has not driven an F1 car since April 2008 and now has just over three weeks to prepare himself for Valencia.

The ban on in-season testing means Schumacher will not be able to turn a wheel of the 2009 specification Ferrari before first practice on Friday 21 August.

However, the team have chosen Schumacher ahead of test drivers Marc Gene and Luca Badoer to drive for Ferrari whilst Massa continues to recuperate.

“Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race,” a statement said.

“Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix.”

Schumacher will undergo an intensive training programme to determine whether he is fit enough to return to the rigours of F1 racing.

Since retiring the German has occasionally taken part in motorcycle events but in February he suffered neck and back injuries in a bike accident.

Those injuries could affect his ability to drive an F1 car which places huge pressures on the neck because of the varying G-forces.

Massa could be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a fractured skull sustained when a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn hit him on the helmet when he was travelling at more than 160mph during qualifying in Hungary on Saturday.

The Brazilian is due to leave intensive care and is making progress, though there is also concern about damage to his left eye.

Schumacher is close to Massa, who was his team-mate in his final season, and has taken a close interest in the Brazilian’s career.

BBC Radio 5 Live F1 commentator David Croft believes Schumacher is coming back because of his close relationship with the Brazilian.

“I think he’s coming back because it is to replace Felipe Massa, temporarily. He is very close to Felipe, they’ve had a great relationship over the years,” Croft told 5 Live.

“I think it’s his way of doing something to help Felipe, and doing something to help Ferrari at the same time, because if you look at the alternatives Ferrari had, they weren’t really alternatives.

“Who else is there who could come into Ferrari and hit the ground running, who knows the car, who knows the team, who could give them a podium?

“The European Grand Prix, which was not one we were looking forward to at the start of this year, has now got a real spice to it.

“Lewis Hamilton against Michael Schumacher for the first time ever? Jenson Button up against Michael Schumacher? How will Kimi Raikkonen respond? It’s going to be fascinating.”

story from BBC

There once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a large forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would probably provide a cure for cancer if only someone took the time to study them.

Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as “mother”, although she didn’t mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist. Nor did she intend to denigrate the equal value of nontraditional households, although she was sorry if this was the impression conveyed.

One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water to her grandmother’s house.

“But mother, won’t this be stealing work from the unionized people who have struggled for years to earn the right to carry all packages between various people in the woods?”

Red Riding Hood’s mother assured her that she had called the union boss and gotten a special compassionate mission exemption form.

“But mother, aren’t you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?”

Red Riding Hood’s mother pointed out that it was impossible for women to oppress each other, since all women were equally oppressed until all women were free.

“But mother, then shouldn’t you have my brother carry the basket, since he’s an oppressor, and should learn what it’s like to be oppressed?”

Red Riding Hood’s mother explained that her brother was attending a special rally for animal rights, and besides, this wasn’t stereotypical women’s work, but an empowering deed that would help engender a feeling of community.

“But won’t I be oppressing Grandma, by implying that she’s sick and hence unable to independently further her own selfhood?”

But Red Riding Hood’s mother explained that her grandmother wasn’t actually sick or incapacitated or mentally handicapped in any way, although that was not to imply that any of these conditions were inferior to what some people called “health”.

Thus Red Riding Hood felt that she could get behind the idea of delivering the basket to her grandmother, and so she set off.

Many people believed that the forest was a foreboding and dangerous place, but Red Riding Hood knew that this was an irrational fear based on cultural paradigms instilled by a patriarchal society that regarded the natural world as an exploitable resource, and hence believed that natural predators were in fact intolerable competitors.

Other people avoided the woods for fear of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all marginalized peoples would be able to “come out” of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models.

On her way to Grandma’s house, Red Riding Hood passed a woodchopper, and wandered off the path, in order to examine some flowers.

She was startled to find herself standing before a Wolf, who asked her what was in her basket.

Red Riding Hood’s teacher had warned her never to talk to strangers, but she was confident in taking control of her own budding sexuality, and chose to dialogue with the Wolf.

She replied, “I am taking my Grandmother some healthful snacks in a gesture of solidarity.”

The Wolf said, “You know, my dear, it isn’t safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone.”

Red Riding Hood said, “I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way.”

Red Riding Hood returned to the main path, and proceeded towards her Grandmother’s house.

But because his status outside society had freed him from slavish adherence to linear, Western-style thought, the Wolf knew of a quicker route to Grandma’s house.

He burst into the house and ate Grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator. Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on Grandma’s nightclothes, crawled under the bedclothes, and awaited developments.

Red Riding Hood entered the cottage and said, “Grandma, I have brought you some cruelty free snacks to salute you in your role of wise and nurturing matriarch.”

The Wolf said softly “Come closer, child, so that I might see you.”

Red Riding Hood said, “Goddess! Grandma, what big eyes you have!”

“You forget that I am optically challenged.”

“And Grandma, what an enormous, what a fine nose you have.”

“Naturally, I could have had it fixed to help my acting career, but I didn’t give in to such societal pressures, my child.”

“And Grandma, what very big, sharp teeth you have!”

The Wolf could not take any more of these specist slurs, and, in a reaction appropriate for his accustomed milieu, he leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her poor Grandmother cowering in his belly.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Red Riding Hood bravely shouted.

“You must request my permission before proceeding to a new level of intimacy!”

The Wolf was so startled by this statement that he loosened his grasp on her.

At the same time, the woodchopper burst into the cottage, brandishing an ax.

“Hands off!” cried the woodchopper.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” cried Little Red Riding Hood.

“If I let you help me now, I would be expressing a lack of confidence in my own abilities, which would lead to poor self esteem and lower achievement scores on college entrance exams.”

“Last chance, sister! Get your hands off that endangered species!

This is an FBI sting!” screamed the woodchopper, and when Little Red Riding Hood nonetheless made a sudden motion, he sliced off her head.

“Thank goodness you got here in time,” said the Wolf. “The brat and her grandmother lured me in here. I thought I was a goner.”

“No, I think I’m the real victim, here,” said the woodchopper.
“I’ve been dealing with my anger ever since I saw her picking those protected flowers earlier. And now I’m going to have such a trauma. Do you have any aspirin?”

“Sure,” said the Wolf.

“Thanks.”

“I feel your pain,” said the Wolf, and he patted the woodchopper on his firm, well padded back, gave a little belch, and said “Do you have any Maalox?”

Yes, there really was a Dr. Seuss. He was not an official doctor, but his prescription for fun has delighted readers for more than 60 years. Theodor (“Ted”) Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Theodor Robert, and grandfather were brewmasters and enjoyed great financial success for many years. Coupling the continual threats of Prohibition and World War I, the German-immigrant Geisels were targets for many slurs, particularly with regard to their heritage and livelihoods. In response, they were active participants in the pro-America campaign of World War I. Thus, Ted and his sister Marnie overcame such ridicule and became popular teenagers involved in many different activities.

Despite some financial hardship the Geisels encountered due to Prohibition, Ted enjoyed a fairly happy childhood. His parents were strict, but very loving. His mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, had worked in her father’s bakery before marrying Ted’s father, often memorizing the names of the pies that were on special each day and ‘chanting’ them to her customers. If Ted had difficulty getting to sleep, she would often recall her ‘pie-selling chants’. As an adult, Ted credited his mother “for the rhythms in which I write and the urgency with which I do it.”

These things happen…

Ian Bothwell, 63, suffered a serious nose-bleed because of his habit and died as a result.

Nigel Meadows, Manchester coroner, said: “There is no explanation for this death other than he died from a nose-bleed, consistent with picking his nose. I do not think for a moment he knew what he was doing was going to cause his death.” He recorded a verdict of misadventure.

A pathologist concluded that Mr Bothwell, who suffered from dementia brought on by alcoholism, had picked his nose so much that it had caused him to bleed to death.