LAGOS (Reuters) - Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.
Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.
"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat," Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.
"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said.
Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.
Ok, so I know that I haven't been around for a hot minute. Just wanted to post up the new shows for this month.
Stop by if you can...
(Christmassy with a hint of the diva - on Lovari's part)
Saturady - December 6th @ 4PM
Lovari with guest performance by me.
Bent Pages Bookstore
391 Van Duzer Street
Staten Island, NY
No Cover
917-952-2448
myspace.com/bentpagessi
(If you want a spiked punch and confetti with your christmas)
Saturday - December 6th @ 7PM (yes, a double feature)
AIDS Is A Drag, Wrap It Up - Christmas Ball for The Our Youth Charity
155 North St.
Jersey City, NJ
$20 Cover - all proceeds benefitting the Our Youth charity
myspace.com/our_youth
(yes, this is for the charity single I'm in - and if you hear it on KTU again, CALL ME)
(If you want your Christmas played out in contemporary a cappella)
Wednesday December 10th @9:30
The Red States @ Unwined in Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York, NY
No Cover
http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/2866?source=genre_music
(If you want your Christmas fruity, and I mean REALLY FRUITY)
Wednesday December 17th, @ 7PM
Fresh Fruit Playhouse
Nuyorican Poets Café 236 E. 3rd Street
Cover unknown
Look up on google for more details.
Also, just a friendly reminder, if you've got a facebook, join the fanclub!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6166601165
Oh, and just a note, The Red States were on newsweek online. Check it out.
The Smurfs are hitting the half-century mark, and Papa Smurf and Smurfette helped kick off a year of celebrations Monday with sarsaparilla juice and — naturally — Smurfberry cake.
The late cartoonist Pierre Culliford — best known by his pen name, ''Peyo'' — first introduced the tiny blue figures in a comic strip in October 1958. He called them Schtroumpf; they became known worldwide as the Smurfs.
The Smurfs, forest dwellers who live in little white-capped mushroom homes, developed their own ''Smurf'' language in which nouns and verbs were interchanged.
Their debut on U.S. television in 1981 launched their global rise to stardom and made the Smurfs a household name. A Smurf is a Pitufo in Spanish, a Schlumpf in German, Nam Ching Ling to the Chinese, a Sumafa in Japan and Dardassim in Hebrew.
''I think that if he could see all that has been done with his characters since his death and the success and interest that the Smurfs still attract, he would be very, very, very, very happy and very proud,'' said Peyo's son, Thierry Culliford.
To mark 50 years of Smurfdom, organizers are planning everything from a 3-D animation feature film expected to be released next year to new comic book collections and a remastered release of the popular 1980s television animated series, Peyo's family said.
Peyo's widow and two children will help kick off a European birthday tour in Brussels. The Smurfs celebration will continue in Paris and Berlin.
The Smurfs also will team up with the UNICEF to promote children's rights and education worldwide, said Yves Willemont of UNICEF Belgium.
''The Smurfs and UNICEF have a lot of values in common — values about joy, happiness and respect,'' Willemont said. ''We also have in common the fact that we are dedicated to the cause of children and to the promotion of every child and the right of every child to survive.''
UNICEF and the Smurfs joined forces two years ago to raise the plight of ex-child soldiers in Africa.
Born in Brussels, Peyo worked as a movie projectionist before entering the world of comic strip drawing.
The Smurfs appeared as a supporting cast of characters in Peyo's 1958 ''Johan and Pirlouit'' cartoon, which was set in the Middle Ages.
The Smurfs quickly grew in popularity and by 1960, the Smurfs had their own comic strip series and. With the help of the Hanna-Barbera Productions, the Smurfs became an animated cartoon in 1981.
Thierry Culliford said the Smurfs promote love and friendship. He said many who grew up watching the Smurfs on TV during the 1980s and 1990s now are parents and want to introduce the Smurfs to their children.
Demand for Smurf stories continues, said Hendrik Coysman, managing director of IMPS, which controls the rights of the Smurf brand worldwide.
''Thousands of fans are asking for more stories and these will be based of course on the fantastic asset that Peyo has left us,'' Coysman said.
Peyo, who died 15 years ago, ''would be very happy if he were here today'' to see Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Handy, Jokey and the troop of 96 others celebrate 50 years of Smurfmania, daughter Veronique Culliford said.
