Meet the criminal mastermind who plans to go whale-hunting in Utah

[emad]

Times
By A Correspondent



A STUDENT is planning to carry out a crime spree by travelling across the United States and breaking weird local laws along the way.

Richard Smith, 23, will risk being arrested for falling asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota and going whale-hunting in landlocked Utah. He intends to break about 40 strange state and town laws as he crosses America, starting from the notorious former prison island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.

His 18,000-mile journey across the continent will end in Hartford, Connecticut, where it is illegal to cross the road while walking on your hands.

Mr Smith, from Portreath, Cornwall, said: “I am not really one of those people who likes going away and sitting by a pool. I want a purpose, and this seemed perfect.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1500532,00.html

[Hugin]

1. Cool story!

I'd join him if I were younger!

Sounds to be a hoot.

I think the one I'd break first is one I heard about years
back. In Kansas I think, if you shower with someone you're
married.

LOL!

=)

[emad]

2. Florida widows forbidden to parachute Sundays etc:

The inspiration for his criminal crusade came while he was playing a board game which included details of a law forbidding widows in Florida from going parachuting on Sundays.


TOWNS WHERE LAW IS AN ASS

Laws that Richard Smith intends to break include:
It is illegal to play cards against a Native American in Globe, Arizona
It is illegal to drive around the town square in Oxford, Mississippi, more than 100 times on a single occasion
It is illegal to say “oh boy” in Jonesborough, Georgia
It is illegal to play golf in the streets of Albany, New York
It is illegal to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats and other pets in Zion, Illinois
It is illegal to take a lion to the cinema in Baltimore
In Carmel, New York, a man cannot go outside while wearing a jacket and trousers that do not match
In Miami, it is illegal for men to be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown

[havocmom]

5. About the lion in the cinema one...

ever try to see the screen over the mane of a lion sitting in front of you? What a hassle!

[emad]

7. It's the fleas and ticks. Plus they are such noisy popcorn eaters

and can't control their flatulence.....

[havocmom]

9. And all the roaring back at that lion at the start of the movie

Shhhh! Sir, can you keep your friend quiet?

[emad]

10. It is illegal to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats and other pets in Zion,

So let's hope them lions are non-smokers.........

[havocmom]

12. My daughter had a cat who lit up his tail on a candle once.

That was NOT pretty. Funny, but not pretty. (Hey, don't flame me. The cat had thick fur and didn't feel the flame, just singed his fur. He was amused by it, "Wow, it never did THAT before!" Good thing she managed to douse him before he had any flatulence.)

[Hugin]

13. If you look into the histories of these laws...

Most of them are tied into a freak episode.

Like the theater lion in Baltimore is maybe
a case where some show had lion performers who went
amok in a theater there.

Someone said, "Never again!"

Or the "Oh,boy" in GA was probably made because
some legislator didn't take kindly to being called
"Boy".

It would be interesting to track down some of
the origins of these things.

[Hugin]

8. Oh BOY!

LOL!

Why aren't I in jail yet? ;)

"In Miami, it is illegal for men to be seen publicly in any kind of
strapless gown."

I guess I'll be avoiding Miami. ;)

Thanks!

[NV Whino]

14. Has Bush ever been to Carmel, NY?

"In Carmel, New York, a man cannot go outside while wearing a jacket and trousers that do not match."

[signmike]

3. The Times site does not accept my registration. I'd like to read

the rest of his plans - can someone post a few more of them, please.

There are a TON of silly and outrageous laws that are somehow still on the books after many years of disue. Funny stuff - if they couldn't still arrest one for breaking them.

on edit; Thank you, emad :D

[emad]

4. Put it up of google and it's free.

[emad]

6. Guardian: Underwater bike ride to launch students' eight-week crime spree

Gerard Seenan
Saturday February 26, 2005
The Guardian
Snip:

Starting in the liberal state of California, they hope to evade the attention of local police officers when they ride a bike in a swimming pool and curse on a crazy-golf course.

In the far more conservative - and landlocked - state of Utah, they will risk the penitentiary when they hire a boat and attempt to go whale-hunting.

If they manage to outwit state troopers in Utah, and perhaps federal agents on their trail, they will be able to take a deserved, but nevertheless illegal, rest when they have a nap in a cheese factory in South Dakota.

"There are thousands of stupid laws in the United States, but we are limiting ourselves to breaking about 45 of them," said Richard Smith, from Portreath, Cornwall.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1425731,00.html

[Hugin]

11. BTW... I bookmarked, "The Spoof"...

I'm a huge fan of "The Fortean Times".

Kind of a nut I guess. :)

Now *that* is Journalism.

Thanks again.

[emad]

15. Kinda cheers up a shitty weekend in ole smokey...

Fortean Times should be compulsory reading in all schools, IMHO...