AN A TO E OF SILLY STORIES.

A is for aliens. A short story competition to celebrate the life of HG WELLS failed to attract a single entry after organisers banned science fiction writing.

The contest challenged fans of the author, considered by many as the father of science fiction, to write stories about contemporary life in his home county of Kent rather than aliens or time travel.

Another condition was that the story had to be handwritten rather than typed in an effort to challenge the modern over-reliance on computers. - the Daily Telegraph.

B is for Boomer. A man who often dresses up as a ... dog has been denied his request to legally change his name to Boomer The Dog after a judge said it could "put public welfare at risk".
Mr Mathews,44, an unemployed computer technician regularly wears a shredded-paper dog costume.
But judge Ronald Folino said the name change could cause "confusion", for example, if he ever needed to make an emergency call he would not be taken seriously. - Thanks to C for that article.

C is for Cornetto. A motorist rammed a car and threatened to run over the driver's mother because ..... her ice-creams were melting.

Jacqueline Griffiths came face-to-face with another driver on a single-track road and refused to turn around because the Cornettos on her back seat were melting. - the Daily Telegraph.

D is for desert. Even the most sweet-toothed among us may struggle with this desert - it contains 300 dishes and a gut-busting 320,000 calories.
The towering mix of sugar, custard tarts, jams and candies includes gilded jelly and 20 sugar sculptures.
The sugary feast, first served to Queen Elizabeth I more than 400 years ago, was re-created by KENILWORTH CASTLE, Warwickshire, for the first anniversary of the opening of its Elizabethan Gardens. - the Metro.

E is for escape. Two prisoners have escaped from a prison in Argentina after guards placed a dummy with a football for a head in the watch tower because of a shortage of manpower.

Prison workers said that a shortage of staff meant they were only able to man two of the 15 guard towers, so they had to resort to using a stand-in. A prison source said "We've made a dummy out of a football and a prison officer's cap, so that the prisoners see its shadow and think they're being watched."

(Obviously not so easily fooled) Two armed robbers, Walter Pozo and Cesar Andres, leapt over a fence before scaling the perimeter wall and making their escape, unnoticed by their remaining guards.