Banksy graffiti will be saved for public
A Brooklyn building owner has hired security guards and installed a metal gate to protect a work by the elusive British graffiti artist Banksy.
The rolling gate went up Friday over a wall in the Williamsburg neighborhood where Banksy spray-painted two geishas and a bonsai tree, the New York Post reported.
Cara Tabachnick, whose family owns the building, says the goal is to preserve the artwork “so it can be viewed and enjoyed.”
Banksy announced on his website that he would undertake a “residency” on the streets of New York this month.
Most of his works that have gone up have been tagged over by others, and some have been completely erased.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last week that graffiti ruins property and is “a sign of decay.”
Ellen repays waitress’s good deed
A New Hampshire waitress who picked up the lunch tab of two National Guard soldiers affected by the federal government’s shutdown has been repaid – more than 300 times over – by television star Ellen DeGeneres.
Sarah Hoidahl, a waitress in Concord, N.H., just wanted to do a nice thing for the soldiers, so she recently picked up their lunch tab. It cost her $27.75.
On Friday, DeGeneres squared the tab and then some, giving Hoidahl $27.75 in cash and a check for $10,000.
An emotional Hoidahl buried her face in her hands and thanked DeGeneres as the talk show host repeated “You’re a good person.”
Bush ‘crazy’ socks will raise funds
Former President George H.W. Bush says his wife is getting fed up with his flashy socks, so he’s donated a bright pair with a cactus theme to a church fundraiser.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland says the socks that Bush wore in a photo last month with former President Bill Clinton in Kennebunkport, Maine, will be auctioned off Oct. 26 at its Harvest Ball.
The socks include a letter of authenticity in which Bush wrote: “I absolutely love a crazy pair of socks. Barbara, on the other hand, has had enough.”
The Harvest Ball helps sustain the diocese’s Harvest magazine. The free magazine has a readership of about 70,000 in Maine.
The birthday bunch
Actor William Christopher is 81. Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson is 76. Singer Tom Petty is 63. Movie director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is 57. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 55. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 42. Actor Sam Witwer is 36. Actor John Krasinski is 34.