A butt-pinching ghost is making an ass of himself at an English pub. The British tabloid The Sun reports that the groping ghost has had several close encounters with guests in the last six months. Now, the owners hope to nip things in the butt by hiring a medium to deal with the spook, who they believe is a former chef at the pub.

- Fireman's romance fizzles out

A deputy fire chief in Mesa, Arizona, was caught with his pants down having his way with a sheep that belonged to his neighbour. According to the Arizona Republic, Leroy Donald Johnson reportedly told the sheep's owner, "You caught me... I tried to **** your sheep," but denied making the statement when a sheriff's deputy showed up at his door.

- Trend for more sophisticated spirits

Americans are in a spirited mood these days - at least for wine and booze. According to the 2006 Adams Handbook Advance, consumption of distilled spirits increased 2.7 per cent this past year and wine consumption rose 2.2 per cent. However, domestic beers aren't cutting it for Americans because consumption dropped a half-per cent compared to last year.

- Leave piano tricks to the experts

A 57-year-old woman in Sarasota, Florida, who hurt herself while falling off a piano is now suing the restaurant where the accident happened. Theodora "Teddy" Picard fell off the piano back in January last year, and says she never would have been injured if the restaurant's manager hadn't pressured her to climb on top of the keyboard.

- Cash incentive to find out why we're all here

If you know the meaning of life, you might be in for some cold, hard cash. A website called TheMeaningOfLife.com is asking people to answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life?" in 25 words or less. The best entry will be chosen and announced January 1, 2007 and the all-knowing winner will get a US$10,000 (Bt390,000) prize.

- AMBIDEXTROUS IN EVERY WAY

The American education system really has some catching up to do. The Veena Vadini School in Singrauli, India, is teaching its 72 students to use both hands to write on different subjects simultaneously. Principal Virangat Sharma tells Asian News International, "Not just that, these children can use both their hands to write in two different languages on two different subjects at the same time."

- Blundering nixes test results

Didn't get into Harvard or Stanford because of low SAT scores? The SAT board is now saying "Oops, we goofed." Four thousand students who took their exams last October were given a lower score than they should have received because of a scanning error on the answer sheets. The error was about a 100-point difference. The College Board, which owns the exam, says it has notified college administrators of the mistake that could affect admission and financial aid.

- Weirdness a la mode

If you're tired of having the same old ice cream, some chefs are going way beyond 31 flavours. Chef David Myers of Sona restaurant in Los Angeles is serving up white beer, mustard, fennel and parsnip flavours, while Jon Snyder of Il Laboratorio Gelato in New York is known to whip up black sesame, liquorice and tarragon with pink pepper ice cream.

- Hardened criminal needs to loosen up

A 24-hour erection can't be good, but it's acting as a "Get Out Of Jail Card" for one German man. A 32-year-old thief, Maurice Baumann, was sentenced to one year in jail for robbing homes in the German town of Bielefeld, but the court ruled he won't begin his sentence until he takes care of his "problem" - a constant boner. Baumann told the court: "I woke up one morning with a hard-on. I didn't think anything of it - that happens to men a lot. But mine never went down."

- Delusions of grandeur

If "Star Wars" fans get their way, the Winter Olympics will be held in a galaxy far, far away in the very near future. According to Yahoo! News, a man named Shane Igoe has started a website petition to bring the games to Hoth - the icy planet in "The Empire Strikes Back". Although he was originally campaigning for the 2014 games, Igoe found out the deadline had passed and has set his sights on the 2018 games.