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Shoelace News Stories
Shoelace News Stories Shoelaces are common, useful items. Here's some links to recent news stories, where you'll discover some of the good and bad, happy and sad events either caused by or involving shoelaces.
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Shoelace News Stories
Fox steals more than 100 shoes
Retuers, 12-Jun-2009
Fox culprit in shoe thefts
"Although many were missing laces, the shoes were in good condition and their owners were delighted to reclaim them, he said, adding that no reprisals were planned against the culprit."
Full story on Reuters web site
A lacrosse oddity
Baltimore Sun (USA), 17-Mar-2009
"Somehow as these two players collided, their shoe laces had become so entangled that they literally could not get up off the ground."
Full story on Baltimore Sun web site
Grad student uses unicycle as main transportation
LSU Daily Reveille, Louisiana USA, 03-Mar-2009
Matthew Huber unicycling
"But one day on his way to class, Huber's shoe laces got caught in the spokes of the wheel, throwing him on his back and leading to a crash that resulted in a broken shoe lace and backpack strap."
Full story on Daily Reveille web site
Ian's Comment: I seriously recommend that unicycle riders adopt Hiking / Biking Lacing.
What they do for LOVE
Electric News, Singapore, 03-Mar-2009
"In the last leg of the contest, when the men had to read out a love declaration that they had written, Mr Koh got on his knees and, to everyone's amusement, started to tie his shoelace instead of launching into his love speech."
Full story on Electric News web site
Girl survives punctured trachea
UPI, USA, 25-Feb-2009
"A 6-year-old student at an elementary school in Tennessee fell on a pencil when she tripped over her shoe lace and put a hole in her trachea."
...
"School officials said the girl was carrying the pencil when one of her laces became untied."
Full story on UPI web site
More records broken in the Guinness World Record pavilion at Global Village
Dubai Chronicle, 12-Feb-2009
Guinness World Records pavilion
"As of 03 February 2009, there were about 70 records continuously set and broken in the Global Village. ..."
"... 21 shoes tied in one minute by Khaled Abdul Aziz in Shoelace category, ..."
Full story on Dubai Chronicle web site
Ian's Comment: Believe it or "knot", the Guinness Book of World Records knocked me back six years ago when I first proposed my "World's Fastest Shoelace Knot" attempt on the gounds that it was: "... a little too specialised for a body of reference as general as ours."
Iraq veteran relies on guides to stay course
Houston Chronicle, USA, 18-Jan-2009
Doug Earle guiding blind runner Ivan Castro
"For Castro, a visually impaired captain in the U.S. Army, a shoelace is what keeps him racing. Castro holds one end of a shoelace while a guide holds the other, and together they run marathons, half-marathons and 10Ks."
Full story on Houston Chronicle web site
One of the most important figures in science has at last been honoured in Edinburgh with a statue made by an equally unsung Scottish sculptor
The Scotsman, UK, 05-Dec-2008
Clerk-Maxwell's statue features a broken shoelace
"The lace on Clerk-Maxwell's right shoe has broken. As we all do, he has simply knotted the shortened lace, missing out an eyelet."
Full story on The Scotsman web site
Patron’s car smashes into restaurant storefront
Denton Record-Chronicle, USA, 29-Sep-2008
"Andaman Thai Restaurant, in the 500 block of South Elm Street, had its first guest Sunday around noon when a compact car smashed through the faux brick and glass storefront, according to a witness."
...
"The driver told a server at the restaurant that her shoelace had become tangled with the accelerator."
Full story on Denton Record-Chronicle web site
Ian's Comment: There's got to be a joke in there somewhere about how not to "Thai" your shoelaces. (*grin*)
Burglar left hanging upside down after trapping shoelace
Telegraph, UK, 22-Aug-2008
Burglar John Pearce trapped by his shoelace
"An hapless burglar was left hanging upside down against a window after trapping a shoe lace during a break-in."
Full story on Telegraph web site
Bolting to a World Record
Time, USA, 16-Aug-2008
Usain Bolt's loose shoelace during his 100m sprint
"Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke his own world record in the 100 meters to win the Olympic gold medal."
...
"And he did it with his shoes untied: his left laces were flopping around at the finish."
Full story on Time web site
Man hit by police cruiser was tying shoe, friends say
The Columbus Dispatch, USA, 05-Aug-2008
Boback Pourfarhadi accident scene
"But the friends -- two women and a man -- told the elder Pourfarhadi that Boback had bent over to tie his shoelace and that they were waving at the officer to slow down because they thought he was speeding, he said."
Full story on Columbus Dispatch web site
Robbing Crew Steals Thousands from Victims
Fox 5 News, Atlanta USA, 18-Jun-2008
Shallowford Road house where robberies occurred
"The man says he woke up in a room with about twenty other victims, who had also been beaten and tied up with shoe laces."
Full story on Fox 5 News web site
Tangled shoelace leads to a collision
The Times-Tribune, USA, 24-May-2008
"Three cars collided and a man sustained minor injuries when a driver’s shoelace got caught on a gas pedal Friday evening."
Full story on The Times-Tribune web site
Dad delivers his own daughter in a van
Chippewa Valley News, USA, 04-Apr-2008
Newly delivered baby Nora Weindorfer and family
"At one point, he asked a doctor there if they had anything he could use as a makeshift shoelace. The doctor handed him something, and Jason laced up the loose shoe."

"It turned out to be umbilical cord tape - the stuff doctors use in the delivery room to tie off the cord."
Full story on Chippewa Valley News web site
Ian's Comment: I love the irony of Jason using his shoelaces to tie off the umbilical cord, then being given umbilical cord tape to tie up his shoes!
Bekele a shoo-in for title of best over cross country
The Independent, UK, 31-Mar-2008
Champion runner Kenenisa Bekele
"The world and Olympic 10,000m champion lost nearly 25 metres as he bent to untie the laces on his shoe and do them back up again."
Full story on The Independent web site
Andy's High Regard For Doctors
60 Minutes, CBS News, USA, 23-Mar-2008
CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney
"He did not know how to tie his shoelaces. His laces always ended up with the loops parallel to the shoe instead of with the bow across. This is a doctor who knows how to do the most sophisticated things with the organs inside a human body but can't tie his shoelaces?"
Full story on 60 Minutes web site
Ian's Comment: This sounds like a "Granny Knot", the solution to which can be found on my Crooked Shoelaces page.
25 years jail for escaped drug dealer
ABC News, Australia, 04-Mar-2008
Shoelace escapee Chuck Lau
"Lau was once dubbed the shoelace escapee because when he fled the state authorities claimed he used a shoelace to manipulate a lock on a door."
Full story on ABC News web site
Motoring News
Daily Record, Scotland UK, 18-Jan-2008
"The survey, which questioned nearly 800 UK drivers, found that more than one in seven drivers have asked the passenger to hold the steering wheel while they tie a shoelace or check a map."
Full story on Daily Record web site
'Shoe tree' toppled
Union Tribune, San Diego CA USA, 09-Jan-2008
Shoe Tree prior to falling
"All of the shoes were gone, but there were two pairs of laces - one turquoise, the other white - strung around the branch. And what looked like a black handkerchief was actually a pair of Victoria Secret panties."

" 'Somehow that's appropriate,' a nearby golfer remarked."
Full story on Union Tribune web site
Smashed vases go back on display
BBC News, UK, 09-Nov-2007
Restored Qing Dynasty vases
"Before they were smashed, the vases had been on display for 60 years in a window recess on the staircase of the museum."
"They were smashed into hundreds of pieces when Mr Flynn tripped over his shoelace."
Full story on BBC News web site
Ian's Comment: See also the original story at the bottom of this page.
Clinton told to "tie her shoe"
The Messenger, Fort Dodge IA USA, 10-Oct-2007
Hillary Clinton's shoes
" 'We've been at this, in Iowa especially, a year,' said the man, adding, 'And lastly, would you tie your shoe so you don’t trip over it?' "
...
"Then, proving that even a candidate seeking the highest office in the United States can take a bit of friendly advice, she sat down and tied her shoelace. The audience loved it."
Full story on The Messenger web site
Police release more details in accidental shooting
Capital News 9, Albany NY USA, 12-Sep-2007
Albany Police news conference
"The officers tied him up with shoelace because they didn't carry handcuffs into the field either. O'Reilly escaped the shoelace restraints and ran away before being caught."
Full story on Capital News 9 web site
Family Suing After Son Drowns
KNDO/KNDU News, Washington USA, Aug-2007
"Loch was sliding through a culvert with friends in the Beer Falls area off Clearwater in Kennewick last October when his shoelace got caught and held him under the water and he drown." [sic]
Full story on KNDO/KNDU News web site
Diana's wolf whistle to Simon
The Sun, UK, 26-Jun-2007
The late Princess Diana
"I jumped off a running machine because my shoelace was undone".
"She wolf-whistled at me across the room and yelled like a brickie, 'Nice legs!' "
Full story on The Sun web site
Driver caught on tape
The Bakersfield Californian, USA, 04-May-2007
Hit & run video
"Erica, her brother and their mother were on F Street crossing Poso Drive at 7 p.m. when Erica stopped, apparently to tie her shoes. The mother and brother continued across the street. Erica looked up, saw them ahead of her and ran to catch up."
"A westbound car hit Erica and briefly carried her on its hood before she fell beneath its wheels. Her body landed 80 to 100 feet from where she was first struck, Lee said."
Full story on The Bakersfield Californian web site
Drummer Bobby Jarzombek Breaks Wrist, Is Forced To Sit Out PainMuseum Festival Gig
BlabberMouth, 23-Apr-2007
Bobby Jarzombek, drummer
"Just one of those things - I was re-arranging my rehearsal studio in Hollywood when my shoelace got caught in the 'U' part of a guitar stand (the part that the neck sits into) that was laying on the floor."
Full story on BlabberMouth web site
Miami Woman Gives Birth To Son In Minivan
NBC6, USA, 05-Apr-2007
Miami baby being fed in hospital
"He needed something to tie the cord with," dispatcher Jasmine Fernandez said. "In a moment like that we need anything we can get so I said, 'Ask for a shoelace.' He asked, 'A specific shoelace?' I said, 'No, any shoe.' He grabbed the shoelace, tied the cord and waited for fire rescue."
Full story on NBC6 web site
Shoelace costs museum dear as vases are shattered
The Guardian, UK, 31-Jan-2006
Shattered Qing dynasty vases
"According to witnesses, an unfortunate visitor tripped over his shoelace and fell on to three Qing dynasty vases, shattering them."
...
"The man kept pointing to his shoelace, saying, 'There it is; that's the culprit.' "
Full story on The Guardian web site
Please Contact Me if any of the above links doesn't work or if you have another link that you feel would make a good addition to this list.

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This page last updated: 05-May-2009. Copyright © 2007-2009 by Ian W. Fieggen. All rights reserved.
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