Quitting cold ape

Published 6:37 pm Sunday, July 8, 2012

Quitting cold ape

Monkey on her back: Zookeepers in Jakarta, Indonesia, plan to isolate a 15-year-old orangutan because the great ape is addicted to tobacco. For years, zoo visitors have thrown lit cigarettes to the orang, who then leisurely puffs on the smokes.

But getting visitors to change their bad habit will be tougher; keepers are posting signs asking people to throw piece of nicotine gum rather than cigarettes.

It’s a small, small world: North Korea watchers were surprised to see Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and other Disney characters in a special performance for new Dear Leader Kim Jong Un.

They were not surprised, when after the show, Dear Leader ordered Mickey and his friends arrested and held for ransom.

Try the Bat Signal: San Diego is bracing for Comic-Con, the four-day convention for 100,000 fans of comic books, movies and TV shows devoted to superheroes, zombies and Hobbits. Among the most-sought-after tickets is to a preview night where fans, mostly men 25 to 40 and dressed up as superheroes, zombies and Hobbits, can buy collectible toys and figurines.

This is when the world will be at its most vulnerable: Thousands of superheroes who refuse to save the planet because they’re next in line for a Boba Fett action figure.

—Jon Bauer, Herald staff