Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Pinball fanatic plans a museum

SILVER SPRING, Md., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A Silver Spring, Md., man who owns about 800 pinball machines has 50 displayed in his home and says he has donated nine to a museum.

David Silverman has been collecting arcade pinball machines for 25 years. He told the Baltimore Sun he hopes to create a National Pinball Museum -- complete with a research library, themed restaurant and gift shop.

For now, his home serves as a museum. He says he donated nine music-themed pinball machines to the new Music Pinball Hall of Fame at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, a concert venue in Columbia, Md.

Silverman said the machines are good for his 22-year-old son, Zackary, who is autistic. The constant sounds and flashing lights, help engage him.

"Having different outlets for him is very important," Silverman said.

His wife of 25 years, Mimi, tolerates his passion very well, he told The Sun.

Music Foundation gives kids guitars

SHREVEPORT, La., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A gathering of 878 guitarists in Shreveport, La., gave children a chance to jam with artists such as James Burton and Al Di Meola, event organizers said.

The James Burton International Guitar Festival, held Saturday in Shreveport, is sponsored by the James Burton Foundation. Many children were able to participate in the festival because the foundation donates guitars and services to schools, the Shreveport Times reported.

The foundation provides technical training, free guitars and music lessons to young musicians, it says on its Web site.

The festival is a fundraiser for the foundation, which has donated more than 1,800 instruments to area schools since it started in 2003, the newspaper reported.

"He's been a really good help to our school," Chase Rogers, 11, said of Burton. "Because of him, we've gotten a lot more guitars."

Burton, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, has recorded with such musicians as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Denver, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell and Ricky Nelson.

Truck driver may become clan chieftain

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A "semi-retired" truck driver is considering applying to head a Scottish clan that has been without a chief for more than 200 years.

William Murray Gunn's claim to the chieftainship of Clan Gunn appears to be a legitimate one, The Scotsman reports. Genealogists say he is descended of Donald Gunn, a clan chieftain who died in 1709.

The last Gunn chieftain, Morrison, died childless in 1785.

Gunn's next step would be to apply to the Lord Lyon, who regulates heraldry in Scotland.

"My dad was the direct line. The only thing that puts me off is that I'm just working class and I'm used to being myself and doing my own thing," Gunn said. "But I'm semi-retired just now. Of course, it does excite me that I'm descended from clan chiefs. It is hard to put into words. But I'm just an average person."

The Gunns, descended from Viking raiders, once controlled a territory that included part of the Orkneys and areas on the northern mainland of Scotland. The title came with three castles and clansmen who could be called on to fight.

The clan's main function now is to hold an annual gathering.

Pogopalooza athletes jump for 'going huge'

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Pogo stick athletes came from the United States, Canada and England for the sixth annual Pogopalooza near Pittsburgh, event organizers said.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported about 50 pogoers competed before a crowd estimated at 300 in such events as the high jump, best trick, best run, and least jumps per minute competitions.

"I was going huge the whole time," said Biff Hutchison, 15, from Burley, Idaho, winner of the Big Air Professional stunt competition.

Hutchison said "going huge" involves an athlete getting to a point high enough to perform various contortions while airborne.

Mike Hughes, 16, of Grand Blanc, Mich., won second place in the Big Air Amateur competition. He called the "going huge" experience his "moment of perfect weightlessness."

"It's been a great success," said Nick Ryan, 20, a junior at Carnegie Mellon University and a Pogopalooza 6 organizer.

All Pogopalooza athletes wore helmets, the newspaper said.