21st Edition - Friday October 2nd 2009

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  For the official opening of Oprah Winfrey’s 24th Season (2009-10) the Black Eyed Peas performed “I Gotta Feeling” for 21,000 fans on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. What Oprah didn’t knew in advance, that al these fans suddenly started one big flash mob dance…

Thousands of people showed up on Michigan Avenue downtown Chicago, which was shut down for the Oprah Block Party.

The dance started from single women and rapidly it spread among all of the people, gathered there. See the video here:

Oprah was much surprise on this out class reaction of the crowd. She was completely unaware with such kind of response by the public.  She commented on the performance: “That was the coolest thing ever” and we definitely agree on that. The producer, Michael Gracey, was also responsible for the famous flash mob dance at a Liverpool train station that was used for T-Mobile,  but the Oprah flash mob was much larger in scale.

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman were reading a Daily Mail newspaper article about which nationalities' brains were for sale for transplant purposes. An Irishman's or a Scotsman's brain could be bought for £500 but an Englishman's brain cost £10,000.

"That proves," said The Englishman, "that Englishmen are much cleverer than Irishmen or Scotsmen."

"No it doesn't," said The Irishman, "it just means that an Englishman's brain has never been used."

Toiletries and teabags may be considered "fair game". But some hotel guests have made a habit of stealing everything that isn't nailed down. Coat hangers, alarm clocks, slippers, sheets and bath mats are fairly common targets for light-fingered visitors. But it gets much worse...

Grand piano - Colin Bennett, a former general manager for the Starwood Hotel Group, recalled the most brazen theft he encountered during nearly 20 years in the business: "As soon as I walked into the lobby of one hotel," he said, "I immediately realised something was missing - but I couldn't put my finger on it. It transpired that three people had strolled into reception, dressed in overalls, and had wheeled the grand piano out of the hotel and down the street, never to be seen again."

Television - Other seemingly immovable objects he remembered being taken included overhead projectors and innumerable televisions.
"Looking back over the CCTV footage, we would see a guest walk through a busy reception struggling under the weight of a television set, yet no one would bat an eyelid," he said.

Stuffed boar - At the Hotel du Vin in Birmingham, one tired and emotional guest was caught trying to pilfer a mounted boar's head from the hotel's billiard room. Some weeks later, friends of the embarrassed would-be thief purchased the stuffed head from the hotel to present to him as a wedding gift.

Sex toys - "Beyond the usual things, such as shampoos and bath towels, the most frequently stolen items are our sex toys," said a member of staff at the Residence in Bath, which offers kinky accessories - at a price - to adventurous travellers. "I would call them up to explain that they had been caught. A rather long silence would inevitably follow," she added.

Curtains - The glamour-free world of Travelodge - where televisions and hairdryers are often nailed to the wall for safe keeping - is not immune to passing kleptomaniacs. A survey by the no-frills hotel chain found that thousands of Britons have made off with sections of carpet, light fittings, mirrors and even curtains.

Room number - At the Franklin Hotel in Knightsbridge, one guest decided to unscrew the number from their door. "We only noticed it had gone missing when the next guest was found wandering up and down the corridor looking for his room," general manager Karen Marchant was reported to have said.

Crockery - A regular guest at the same hotel helped himself to an entire dinner service - one piece at a time - over a period of several months.

Busts - Two busts are said to have disappeared from outside the entrance to the Chesterfield Hotel in Mayfair. They were returned the following morning in the back of a black cab.

Flowers - At the Sheraton Park Tower, management are said to frequently spend a fortune on fresh flowers each week to replace those that go missing.

Weaponry - According to a survey by Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine, other items to have been relieved from British hotels include a medieval sword, door hinges and a 4ft wooden bear.

Pet dog - One incident even saw a hotel owner's pet dog stolen, according to the survey.

The good book - Bedside bibles are also said to have a habit of vanishing.

Famous artwork - Other thefts reported over the years include chandeliers (taken from Hong Kong's Shangri-La), an entire minibar (the old Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur), showerheads (the old Crowne Plaza Bangkok) and a $300,000 Andy Warhol artwork (Hong Kong's W Hotel).

Fireplace - Thieves across the Atlantic have really upped the ante when it comes to audacious appropriation. One gentleman staying at the famous Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel - which featured in the film Pretty Woman - is alleged to have taken the entire marble fireplace.

Everything - Finally, and perhaps most barefaced of all, a couple staying at an American Holiday Inn specifically requested a room near the car park. They then proceeded to empty the entire contents of said room (bed, furniture, the lot) into their handily-parked U-Haul.