A woman in Seattle was recently surprised to find a black widow spider—the deadliest of American arachnids—at the bottom of a Costco container of California grapes. “I got to the bottom of it and all of a sudden…a spider came out! When I went online, it told me what it was—a black widow spider in my house.”
If the story sounds familiar, that’s because cases of spiders found nestled among California grapes have been growingmoreprevalent as farmers increasingly use the eight-legged freaks instead of pesticides to keep insects off of crops. “Some place in the U.S., almost every day of the year, somebody finds a black widow in a package of California grapes,” says spider expert Rod Crawford. Like those odds, organic produce fans?
The good news is that, despite their potential lethality, no one has actually died from a Black Widow bite in America since 1960. Those who would rather not encounter a venomous visitor from Cali should keep an eye out for suspicious webs when purchasing the fruit. Make sure you wash your produce in warm water—spider webs are poisonous, too!
This post was not brought to you by the grape industry.
After reading the details of Jennifer Garner’s court case against Steven Burkey, Scandalist is scared of her stalker, too! In the papers, Jen says that, “Mr. Burkey has been stalking and harassing me,” and sending “packages and letters containing delusional and paranoid thoughts and following me around the country …”
Burkey’s been after Jen since 2002, but his antics have escalated recently. He once approached her at an event with a rose and his contact info; another time he showed up at her house and said that, “God has sent him a vision of her being persecuted in some manner that may result in her death.”
Jen also expressed her anxiety in the document, stating, “I am currently pregnant and fear for the safety of my second child once born.” The actress currently has a temporary restraining order against the guy, and tomorrow a judge will decide whether or not to make it permanant. We’d say it’s probably a good idea. [TMZ. Photo: GettyImages]
Lindsay Lohan can’t resist ruining a good thing. Samantha Ronson is sweet, stable and has hot legs, and yet all Lindsay can think of is flirting with her ex-boyfriend Calum Best. That’s the story out of London today, where Lindsay ruffled her girlfriend’s feathers after she apparently danced with former flame Calum Best at the Boujis nightclub. Shouldn’t a maneater like Linds know better than to pit her current flame against her ex?
The result was the usual routine Sam and LiLo go through just about every night: Sam got jealous. They fought inside their car after leaving the club at 3:45 AM. Lindsay cried. Sam stomped off into their hotel. Lindsay sat in the car for ten minutes.
We’ve got ‘em pictured above leaving the club right before the shizz hit the fan. Sam sure looks pissed, but Lindsay’s smiling. Thinking sweet thoughts of Calum, perhaps? [Photo: Splash News Online]
Miley Cyrus, stop the madness. When Ellen DeGeneres cornered you about alleged beauJustin Gaston (the interview is to be aired on Ellen Thursday), you were reduced to giggly hysterics, even lying sideways on her chair. You praised his cuteness, niceness and Christianity—we love how his Jesus bling is supposed to make us think the 20-year-old wouldn’t commit statutory rape with you—but you still wouldn’t call him your boyfriend.
Get over it, girl! If this college-aged studmuffin isn’t your boyfriend, it’s even more creepy that he’s always by your side. Just as Chris Brown should avoid suggesting he’s a platonic friend of Rihanna who loves to pick out her underwear, Justin’s country career won’t benefit from the implication that he just likes to hang out with pubescent girls. It’s not like we’re going to make more underage sex jokes if you two come out—we’re already making them whenever possible!
One other thing: your voice. Get that rasp checked out, unless you want to lookandsound like Rachael Ray before you graduate high school.
Miley Cyrus and Justin Gaston are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Justin Gaston and Billy Ray Cyrus are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Miley Cyrus and father Billy Ray are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Miley Cyrus and sister Noah Lindsey are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Miley Cyrus and Bolt co-star John Travolta are just friends. [Photo: AFP]
Miley Cyrus and her sunglasses are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Miley Cyrus and these furries are just friends. [Photo: WireImage]
Seriously, Miley is...just friends...with that man dressed like a dog. Just friends... [Photo: WireImage]
Wait a second...is that Justin Gaston hiding in there? [Photo: WireImage]
Gwyneth Paltrow is apparently doing everything in her power to convince tabloids that she is this close to dumping her husband Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. She’s doing the usual stuff that most women do to signal a marriage is over: filming a reality show in Spain with fat chef Mario Batali, chilling in Miami for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, and hanging out with billionaire hotelier Jeff Soffer. “Gwyneth doesn’t have anything to do with Victoria’s Secret,” hissed one envious spy. “If things were so great with Chris, why wouldn’t she be with him?” Another added, “she certainly didn’t act like a happily married woman.”
Wow ladies, jealous much? If Gwynnie is thinking of leaving her British hubby, we’d suggest she time the split to happen when he ends things with his band. Chris told the Daily Express that Coldplay is trying to cram as much playing into 2009, as he’s not interested in turning out snoozey hits much longer. “I’m 31 now and I don’t think that bands should keep going past 33,” he said.
Neither should marriages, Chris! [NME. NYP. Photo: GettyImages]
Although parts of the country have been experiencing chilly temperatures in the 20s this week, Hef’s twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon keep things hot all year long. Karissa and Kristina recently flew to Miami for a photo shoot and later celebrated with a jet skiing trip with some of their new Playmate pals. Although there were no signs of Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, or newly engaged Kendra Wilkinson around, Karissa and Kristina met up with another of Hef’s former girlfriends, Cristal Camden, who sometimes makes appearances on Girls Next Door. Check out our gallery of Hef’s twins having fun in the sun! [Photos:MySpace]
When champion egoist Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 in 2005 to take the long way to Uranus with Angels & Airwaves, it didn’t look like the popular pop-punk trio would ever work together again. But following the recent death of producer Jerry Finn and drummer Travis Barker’s plane crash, the former friends were inspired to patch things up. Bassist Mark Hoppus spilled the beans on his blog.
in the midst of everything else that has happened lately, tom, travis, and i have all spoken together. first through a number of phone calls, and then a couple of weeks ago we all hung out for a few hours. they’ve all been great, very positive conversations. we’re just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking. it’s a good thing. obviously the first question for a lot of people will be “does this mean a blink-182 reunion?” the answer is none of us know. we haven’t talked about it at all. right now it’s just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect, and let the past be the past. the events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. life is too short.
Both Angels & Airwaves and Hoppus and Barker’s band, (+44), plan on releasing albums next year, so there probably won’t be any full-on reunion soon. But if both acts bomb in ‘09, it’s hard to imagine what would keep them from reviving such a sure thing.
