"Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.
Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.
That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.
The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.
She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.
Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.
One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.
Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.
"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.
"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.
"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."
Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.
©AAP 2007"
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263297
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HAHAHAHAHA.
Hilarious. I know what I'll be selling in Japan when I go again!
Wade
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
VulgarGrad
The Adelaide Fringe brings about many new and exciting displays of incredibly talented people, not to mention many veterans.
I won't go too much into detail, but essentially it's a month long event where actors and artists from around the globe come and strut their stuff.
If one has to choose an epicentre of the festival, many will indeed point to the East End setup in Rundle Park. Anyway, as Sachiko and I were walking around the area, one 'bouncer' suddenly offered us free entry into an elaborate makeshift tent of steel. Seeing we really had nothing else to do apart from wander the sea of coloured lights, we entered the unknown.
It is here we discovered VulgarGrad. As we walked in and heard the husky, deep tone of the lead singer we were certainly hooked. It's like we were transported via some mysterious force to a gritty Russian club in an area you probably wouldn't want to be in at night.
We enjoyed each moment listening, and enjoying the music.
So much so we actually went back a few days later and paid $5 to get in.
So much so we actually went back a few days later and paid $5 to get in.
Later research discovers VulgarGrad are a band who specialize in, and I quote, "Russian Criminal Sound". The lead singer is in fact Jacek Koman an actor/singer from Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rougue!
I'm in the process of editing some photo's I took on the night now, however here's one to get your blood pumping. And if that's not enough, here are some video's I took via mobile of the night.
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