Jockstrip: The world as we know it

Solid coffee, 'Espesso' debuts in Chicago

CHICAGO, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A solidified version of espresso coffee called espesso made its debut from Europe in three Chicago coffee shops Tuesday.

Joerg Oberschmied, vice president of operations for Lavazza, the 111-year-old Italian coffee company, said espesso has been popular in Europe since 2002.

He said it was the creation of Spanish super-chef Ferran Adria, and is made with traditional espresso coffee and a secret ingredient. The mixture is placed in pressurized containers and allowed to set for 12 hours, before being sprayed into a cup to be eaten with a spoon, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

"When you first extract it, you can literally hold the cup upside down and it won't move," Oberschmied told the newspaper.

A cup of espesso -- whose name is a play on the Italian word "spesso," for thick -- costs $2.49, the report said.

$299 sex flights don't include partner

ATLANTA, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Those in Atlanta seeking to join the "Mile High Club" by having sex in an airborne aircraft can now do it for $299, but partners are not provided.

Corporate pilot Bob Smith says he and his business partner conceived the idea for a flying love nest five years ago as a weekend income supplement. His Mile High Atlanta service has now gone up 75 times for couples to get down, ABC News reports.

In the past only the very wealthy in private jets had the luxury, while the more common person had to make do with fumbling in tiny aircraft lavatories, said Gloria Brame, a clinical sex therapist in Atlanta.

"Having sex on airplanes has been around for almost as long as flights have existed," she told ABC News.

Smith said couples get a custom-fit bed, brand new sheets and a complimentary bottle of Champagne, and he pulls privacy curtains and dons headphones as a courtesy.

Smith told ABC he also provides couples with a kitchen timer to keep track of their hour and avoid being interrupted.

GPS saves day for car-less cab driver

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A Seoul cab driver whose taxi was stolen decided before he called police, he'd call his Global Positioning Satellite service provider and got quick results.

The satellite service that pinpoints the location of the transponder planted on vehicles is increasingly being used before people call police, the Korea Times said.

In the unidentified cabby's case, the T.On Telecom company tracked the stolen cab, then called police, the newspaper said. The tracking indicated the cab was on an expressway headed for Kangnung, and police had an easy job of intercepting it, less than 90 minutes after the cab driver called it in, the report said.

In 2008, South Korea will have 30 more satellites available for locating people and items in return for its financial contribution to the European Galileo program, the Times said.

Undone homework blamed on raccoon

LARGO, Fla., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Unfinished homework is often blamed on a dog eating it, but a Largo, Fla., girl could honestly tell her teacher a raccoon was to blame.

Double trouble befell Stephanie King's family. They were unaware a family of raccoons was living in their attic and a leak in the roof caused the animals to crash through the weakened bathroom ceiling.

As the family scrambled, the mother raccoon ran into the 13-year-old's bedroom, WKMG-TV, Orlando (Fla.) reported Tuesday.

Someone slammed the door shut to keep the frightened raccoon at bay and animal control officers were called, but by the time they arrived with a trap it was too late for the girl to do her homework, the report said.

The girl's grandmother accompanied her to school the next morning to assure teachers the tale was true, the report said, and assure them the homework would get done.