http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3209721

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A man who says he was severely burned when a portable toilet exploded after he sat down and lit a cigarette is suing a general contractor and a coal company, accusing them of negligence.

John Jenkins, 53, and his wife, Ramona Jenkins, 35, of Brave, Pa., filed the suit Tuesday in county circuit court seeking $10 million in damages from Chisler Inc. and Eastern Associated Coal Corp.

The lawsuit claims Jenkins’ face, neck, arms, torso and legs were severely burned last July after the cigarette ignited methane gas leaking from a pipe underneath the toilet unit.

“When I struck the lighter, the whole thing just detonated — the whole top blew off,” said Jenkins, a methane power plant operator with North West Fuels Development Inc. “I can’t tell you if it blew me out the door or if I jumped out.”

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3209418

The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s staging of the Lord of the Rings exhibit may stretch the boundaries of its science-education mission, but it fits a growing trend. More museums are booking high-profile pop-culture programs that push ticket sales.

The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition, which opens at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, is expected to pull in record attendance during its two-month stay. Blocks away, Grand Slam Summer, a series of baseball-related exhibits, is drawing crowds at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Since its opening in New Zealand two years ago, more than 800,000 people have seen The Lord of the Rings exhibit that has toured London, Singapore and Boston. At London’s Science Museum, it broke museum records, attracting 260,000 people in less than four months — more than its James Bond and Titanic exhibits combined, said Paul Brewer of New Zealand’s national museum.

The $1.9 million exhibit is expected to bring in even higher attendance than the touring Star Wars exhibition.

Hmmm… this definitely would be worth going to see…