Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Prisoner dupes guards, grows pot in cell

PORTLAND, England, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A British prisoner convinced guards his marijuana plants were tomato plants -- and they even allowed him to decorate one as a Christmas tree, a source said.

Mohamed Jalloh, 28, of Brent, North London, grew his pot plants at Verne Prison in Portland, Dorset, in southern England, and for five months, guards admired his gardening, The Sun reported Saturday.

But after another inmate told guards what the plants really were, they checked out photos of marijuana plants on the Internet, and the jig was up.

"You could see the plants from the grounds, as his cell looks on to the education department and communal outside area," a source said. "They were on show for the world to see."

Jalloh is serving eight years for supplying drugs.

Woman claims sex change to use ski lift

KEYSTONE, Colo., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Summit County, Colo., allege a woman pretended to be a man undergoing a sex change in order to use her boyfriend's ski pass.

The Summit County Sheriff's Office said the woman, identified only as Wanda, attempted to use a ski pass belonging to her boyfriend, identified only as Daniel, last weekend at Keystone Resort and was stopped by a local deputy, The Aspen (Colo.) Times reported Saturday.

Authorities said she allegedly told the deputy she was in the middle of a sex change, but was unable to offer personal information regarding her boyfriend's identity beyond his middle name and birthday.

"The female stated her parents knew of her sex change, and she stated they disowned her when she told them," the sheriff's office alleges in a report.

The Times said after the deputy called a phone number on the ski pass and spoke with the real Daniel, Wanda was arrested and charged with theft of more than $500 and criminal impersonation.

Dallas man ordered to lose fake grass

DALLAS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A Dallas man who installed artificial turf in his yard after failing to grow grass said he is giving up his battle with City Hall to keep his faux lawn.

Jose Escobedo, who said each of his three attempts to grow real grass in his yard had failed, had appealed orders by the Dallas city staff and the city Landmark Commission to remove the turf, which officials said was inappropriate for the historic district, to the City Plan Commission, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

Brandy Escobedo, Escobedo's daughter and his translator at Thursday's commission meeting, said her father decided to give up the fight a short while after members voted 12-1 to uphold the order to remove the turf.

"It was just going to cost him too much, and it was just better to let it go," she said.

The order gives Escobedo 30 days to remove the turf or face fines.

"He said he's not going to try to plant any more grass there," Brandy Escobedo said. "It's just going to be dirt."

British photogs told to leave royals alone

LONDON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The British royal family wants intrusive photographers to back off and stop using long lenses to catch the royals in private moments, officials said Saturday.

Aides to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles told The Daily Telegraph the royals plan to use British privacy laws to pursue paparazzi, even if they avoid trespassing on royal property. In the past, they have ignored photographs taken from public roads around the estates of Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Scotland.

A solicitor has reportedly been instructed to begin legal action if photographers stray from the rules.

The queen spends Christmas at Sandringham with her husband, children and grandchildren, so the new policy will get a quick test. Several freelance photographers typically haunt the area when she is in residence, hoping for material.

Some candid long-lens pictures snatched by photographers have become fodder for anti-hunting and animal rights groups. Those include photographs of the queen giving the coup de grace to birds -- one showed her wringing a pheasant's neck -- and a snapshot of Prince Edward, her youngest son, apparently hitting a dog with a stick.