And you thought firefighters were better than the rest of us

A man wearing a woman's wig and a string bikini was charged with taking a drunken afternoon romp through a park, officials said.

Steven S. Cole, a 46-year-old volunteer firefighter, told an officer he was on his way to a Dayton bar to perform as a woman in a contest offering a $10,000 prize, the arrest report said.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of drunken driving, public indecency and disorderly conduct.

Cole was arrested Tuesday after police received a report that an intoxicated man was walking and driving around Heritage Oak Park in Mason.



Police said Cole was wearing a blond wig, pink flip-flops and a red-black-and-white striped bikini with the top filled out by tan water balloons. The National Weather Service said it was around 60 degrees in the Mason area about the time he was arrested.

Cole's blood-alcohol test registered 0.174, more than twice Ohio's legal driving limit of 0.08, the arrest report said.

"He is obviously humiliated and embarrassed by the entire situation," said Cole's lawyer, Charlie Rittgers, who added that he is investigating the circumstances that led to the arrest.

Cole did not return a call seeking comment. He remained free on his own recognizance until trial, set for May 24.

Cole has been a Wayne Township firefighter since 2000. Township officials said he will be placed on administrative leave.

Keith Richards snorted his father

This is a hilarious story. For good measure, he rips a bunch of today's musical acts.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in an interview published on Tuesday that he once snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

Richards, 63, whose fondness for drugs has been openly acknowledged for decades, was quoted by British music magazine NME as saying his unusual experiment with paternally enhanced cocaine came after his father's death five years ago.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated, and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow," Richards said in the interview, which was posted on NME's Web site.

"My dad wouldn't have cared," Richards said, adding, "It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

An NME spokeswoman told Reuters the story was genuine and not a late April Fool's joke. She said the interview would appear on newsstands across Britain starting on Wednesday.

According to the report, Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002 at the age of 84.

The veteran rocker, who underwent emergency head surgery in New Zealand last year after falling off a tree stump, also took a swipe at some of the big musical acts of today.

"Everyone's a load of crap," he said. "They are trying to be somebody else and they ain't being themselves. Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of crap, load of crap. Posers, rubbish."

Richards said he was proud of his ability to survive despite the excesses of a rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

"I was number one on the 'Who's Likely To Die' list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list.

"Some doctor told me I had six months to live and I went to their funeral."

Richards' publicist in London was not immediately available for comment on the interview.

UPDATE: Richards' manager claims that this story is not true and that Keith's comments were said in jest. I'm going to ignore that denial and persist in my belief that this story is true. La la la la la I can't hear you!!