The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 2

A-2 Friilay. Novfmlx-r 2ft, 1997 SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER mm 7. Handlers itrug- gle to control a wind-whipped Peter Rabbit balloon Thursday during the 71st annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. 3 "Vjt 'flf 4 tit IhfM 1 WW r. 1 'J rit -i 1 U--r? i 3 r- -tvr I nagged Macy's officials the night before.

"It was a concern of ours all night," said spokesman Tim Ray. "At 8:30 this morning, it was a rather wonderful day to fly balloons, and in agreement with the New York City Police Department, ITaIvl IvK. tin. 'CT A pulsing question: What's your type? in Oil V4UUg) Mm Balloons run amok; spectators injured during 7 1 st annual Thanksgiving Day spectacle By Rum Buettner, MicheleMcPhee and Kimberly Schaye NEW YORK DA1Y NEWS NEW YORK Whipping winds wreaked havoc with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, turning the classic event into a free-for-all and injuring four spectators when the careening Cat in the Hat balloon knocked down a lamppost Struggling volunteers grappled desperately with ropes along the route as "oohs" and "aahs" from thousands of onlookers occasionally changed to screams of fear when errant balloons veered too close. 1 A 7 the One woman was in critical condition after being struck by an ornate street lamp that snapped off when it was hit by the 18-foot Cat in the Hat in the day's most serious accident Few balloons escaped the day unscathed.

The towering Dr. Seuss character was taken out of the 71st annual parade at 36th Street its trademark red-and-white-stripe hat in tatters. The purple dinosaur Barney went out of control at 51st Street, prompting scissors-armed cops to puncture and deflate the beast as scores of frightened, teary-eyed children looked on in confusion. And the Pink Panther blew up over 42nd Street, sending shreds of pink rubber confetti raining on bystanders. "Everyone might love a parade," said one police officer who witnessed the Pink Panther's demise.

"But not today." Fears that the wind would ruin the city's most popular parade i macys joan and david shops at macy's union square and whom we consulted with, it was deemed that we could fly," he said. "The winds at that time seemed to be dying down," he added. But once the parade kicked off at 9 a.m., the gusts picked up again. "I'm kind of worried about the wind," said Sylvia Wainio, a Macy's employee from Glen Bur-nie, who was helping to carry the Pink Panther. "They say he's hard to control." At about 10 a.m., everyone's worst fears were realized when the Cat in the Hat struck the lamppost at 72nd Street and Central Park West, just a few blocks from the starting point.

The heavy arm of the lamppost came crashing down on horrified spectators. John Morley of New York City was standing under the pole with his 4-year-old daughter Soeurette on his shoulders when it fell. "It missed me by about a foot only because I dove out of the way," he said. "It was very scary. One lady was hurt very badly.

There was blood everywhere." Four people were injured. After the accident, officials took the last two balloons, Eben Bear and Ms. Petula Pig, out of the parade as a safety precaution. Despite the accident, plenty of paradegoere were delighted. "I think it's wonderful," said Ge-raldine King, from Chorley, England.

"Only the Americans could put on something like this." Thursday's Cat in the Hat accident was not the first time a windswept balloon struck a light pole, causing injuries. In 1993, Sonic the Hedgehog crashed into a lamppost, knocking parts of it onto an off-duty police officer and a 10-year-old child who were injured slightly. valley fair MEMU WAMSTEKEfl Although Japan is famous for technological wizardry and education, superstition still has a powerful hold on many aspects of everyday life. Fortune-teller stands line the streets in busy shopping districts, and the Chinese zodiac has great sway over the behavior of many people. Medical experts have insisted for years that there is no scientific correlation between character and blood type, but to no avail.

Many Japanese remain hooked on the idea. "It's a modern superstition," said Hiroyoshi Ishikawa, a professor of social psychology at Seijo University. "But it's also a powerful social lubricator. Talking about blood type is the easiest way to establish contact with a stranger." Although trust in the power of blood type is by no means espoused by all, Ishikawa sees it as an enduring and mainstream belief in a country where fads often flare up suddenly only to fizzle. "Blood type isn't just the latest boom.

For many years, it's been a fixed belief in society for young and old alike," he said. Some generalizations The finer points of branding by blood type vary, but there is a consensus on its broad outlines: If you're an you probably get uptight when the silverware's out of place or if trains run off schedule. Attention to detail combined with a desire to please others are other hallmarks. Hear a single, raucous voice booming across the room at a party? You can bet it came from one of those pushy B's. O's are said to be highly motivated and intent on controlling group situations.

AB's are a bundle of contradictions, but are also believed to produce original ideas. According to the Japan Red Cross Central Blood Center, about 40 percent of Japanese have type A blood, 30 percent are 0, 20 percent are and 10 percent have AB. shocked gays to indulge in homosexual behavior." The newspaper did not report when, during the 1950s, the trial was carried out, or on how many people. It said the experiments were conducted at four prisons in England. The Guardian also said the documents showed the government was concerned that legalizing homosexuality would encourage greater numbers of people to try it "Would homosexual conduct spread, or, losing the glamour of rebellion, decline?" the paper quoted a government report as saying.

In 1957, the government ordered a review of Britain's homosexuality laws, resulting in their liberalization 10 years later. 1 In Japan, blood can bring positive or negative results to budding relationships By Joji Sakurai ASSOCIATED PRESS TOKYO A man and woman are talking in a bar, and things are looking up. Suddenly she asks: By the way, what's your blood type? There's a slight intake of breath after he replies. A bit of small talk rounds off the conversation. And then, she's gone.

Forget Virgo vs. Scorpio, or the alignment of Mars and Venus. In Japan, the letters and spell out success or doom for many a budding relationship, because of a widespread belief that blood type determines character. Tomotaka Kajiya, a bartender, has witnessed such encounters countless times among the customers he serves in the fashionable Naka-Meguro district of Tokyo. Used by matchmakers, tabloids "Say a couple comes in on a first date.

They'll talk about the drinks they like for a while. Then the subject often turns to blood type to keep the conversation moving along," Kajiya said. Type A blood is thought to produce nitpickers, while people are seen as freewheeling and O's as driven. Matchmaking agencies often weed out potential partners on the basis of blood type. In tabloids, blood type is used to chart the ebb and flow of celebrity fortunes, and it's the most vital statistic in profiles of up-and-coming stars.

"I would never develop a long-term relationship with a said Yoshiko Yamazaki, a boutique owner with type A blood. "They're so tiresome. B's tend to be sloppy, so I'd always have to clean up after their dirty underwear." Report: Britain ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON Gay prisoners in Britain were given electric shocks in government-sponsored tests in the 1950s to see if homosexuality could be controlled, according to a published report Friday. Documents released by the British government showed male inmates were given shocks if they stared at pictures of men for more than eight seconds, the Guardian newspaper reported. Other inmates were given the female hormone estrogen.

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