The sleepy suburb of Scarborough in Perth, Australia, has been rocked by the brazen theft of a large display plant from a local shopping center by a menacing clown. Unwilling to allow this criminal jester’s reign of botanical larceny to continue unabated, the local constabulary has called for anyone with knowledge of this clown prince of crime or his bearded accomplice to come forward. It’s unclear if a reward is being offered at this time. 

@ScarboroughPol would like your help to identify the below ? and his friend in regards to an incident in Innaloo IR 090518 1830 89466 pic.twitter.com/UUzf9juDDu

— Scarborough Police (@ScarboroughPol) May 10, 2018

According to Sergeant Tony Clark of the Scarborough police force, CCTV tracked the nefarious harlequin as he somehow managed to infiltrate the Innaloo Shopping Centre, steal the plant, and escape on his bicycle unchallenged in just five minutes.    

“He has come on a bicycle and left it at the entrance to the shops before walking through, taking the pot plant and riding off,” he told the local press.

Should you spot this villainous punchinello, report the encounter to the police immediately, and do not, under any circumstances, smell his flower.  

  

Chris Ramsay’s 1st playing cards are finally finished and will be making their way into punters’ hands in the coming month, but is the deck worth the wait? Yes, according to Chris Ramsay, who, I am reliably informed, is completely trustworthy and unbiased.

It’s quite amazing that Ramsay has managed to create a deck that is completely without flaws* and manages to be bold, subtle and boldly subtle*. It looks great, fans incredibly well, and has at least three different parts that Ramsay refers to as his “favourite.” 

In fact, Chris Ramsay’s 1st Playing Cards appear to be Chris Ramsay’s favourite playing cards, an amazing feat given that this is Chris Ramsay’s first solo foray into deck design. 

For what my non-Ramsayian opinion is worth. I think 1st looks great. There’s contrast between the muted back design and the splash of gold foil. The comparison to Louis Vuitton’s famous monogram pattern is spot on, and there’s been just enough work done on those royals to assuage my usual give-me-custom-or-give-me-death orneriness. It’s a shame there’s only one run of these beauties, though Ramsay did imply a marked version might be in the cards, so to speak.

* One out of one Chris Ramsays agree. 

John Nevil Maskelyne is one one of England’s most notable magicians and ardent skeptics. His lifelong feud with the Davenport brothers, a pair of fraudulent spiritualists from the States, is the stuff of legend. But, as The Magic Circle explains, not only was Maskelyne a master magician, professional watchmaker, groundbreaking author and gifted inventor, he was also indirectly responsible for a British term for relieving oneself that persists to this very day.

One of Maskelyne’s many inventions was the first mechanical toilet door toll lock. The device required the user to deposit a penny before they could deposit the contents of their bladder, leading to the popular euphemism for urination, “to spend a penny.”
 

While Maskelyne may have invented the first mechanical pay toilet, the concept had been tried as early as 74AD, when Roman Emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, tried to charge citizens to use Rome’s public toilets. He was roundly mocked for the decision by critics, to whom he responded with the now famous phrase, “Pecunia non olet,” or, “money does not stink.” Maskelyne may have felt the same way.