This is why I love the brits (NYT, today)
LONDON JOURNAL
Car Owners' Hero Dresses for the Job
By SARAH LYALL
Published: October 7, 2003
ONDON, Oct. 2 — As is so often the case, the trickiest part came when he had to explain himself to his family.
"I got kind of a lukewarm response," said the masked Englishman who calls himself Angle-Grinder Man and who has been trawling London for four months dressed in a homemade superhero outfit, complete with gold lamé underpants and cape, removing the security boots from people's illegally parked cars.
...
Needless to say, the police are not amused. "Both Angle-Grinder Man and the owner of the vehicle could be charged with criminal damage if the driver admitted they consented to the act," a Scotland Yard spokesman told The Evening Standard.
...
Long-haired and lanky, he is becoming well known in some parts of south London. About a month ago, 25-year-old Petite Tendai arrived home to find a boot on her illegally parked car. ("There were no signs saying `no parking,' " she declared.) She had barely begun to rail at the injustice of it all when Angle-Grinder Man suddenly appeared.
"Basically, he jumped out of his car in his outfit and said, `If anyone can, Angle-Grinder Man can,' " Ms. Tendai said in a telephone interview. "Then he just started sawing it off. It was wicked." He was gone almost as quickly as he came. "It was just a `good luck,' and what-not, and then he was off," she said.
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It took him some time to hone his look, and he rejected a number of color schemes before settling on blue and gold. "There's no school you can go to to learn how to be a superhero,"His Web site and his hot line for distressed car owners have drawn hoax messages, threats and dozens of fan notes, including one from a man who noted approvingly, "It's time we had a gay superhero."
For the record, "I'm a heterosexual superhero," Angle-Grinder Man said, "although I have no problem being a gay icon."
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"I think he's extraordinarily attractive," Ms. Smith said. "Especially the golden knickers."
LONDON JOURNAL
Car Owners' Hero Dresses for the Job
By SARAH LYALL
Published: October 7, 2003
ONDON, Oct. 2 — As is so often the case, the trickiest part came when he had to explain himself to his family.
"I got kind of a lukewarm response," said the masked Englishman who calls himself Angle-Grinder Man and who has been trawling London for four months dressed in a homemade superhero outfit, complete with gold lamé underpants and cape, removing the security boots from people's illegally parked cars.
...
Needless to say, the police are not amused. "Both Angle-Grinder Man and the owner of the vehicle could be charged with criminal damage if the driver admitted they consented to the act," a Scotland Yard spokesman told The Evening Standard.
...
Long-haired and lanky, he is becoming well known in some parts of south London. About a month ago, 25-year-old Petite Tendai arrived home to find a boot on her illegally parked car. ("There were no signs saying `no parking,' " she declared.) She had barely begun to rail at the injustice of it all when Angle-Grinder Man suddenly appeared.
"Basically, he jumped out of his car in his outfit and said, `If anyone can, Angle-Grinder Man can,' " Ms. Tendai said in a telephone interview. "Then he just started sawing it off. It was wicked." He was gone almost as quickly as he came. "It was just a `good luck,' and what-not, and then he was off," she said.
...
It took him some time to hone his look, and he rejected a number of color schemes before settling on blue and gold. "There's no school you can go to to learn how to be a superhero,"His Web site and his hot line for distressed car owners have drawn hoax messages, threats and dozens of fan notes, including one from a man who noted approvingly, "It's time we had a gay superhero."
For the record, "I'm a heterosexual superhero," Angle-Grinder Man said, "although I have no problem being a gay icon."
...
"I think he's extraordinarily attractive," Ms. Smith said. "Especially the golden knickers."