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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Offbeat

Man declared dead feels 'pretty good' - Yahoo! News: Four months after he was declared brain dead and doctors were about to remove his organs for transplant, Zach Dunlap says he feels "pretty good."
Message arrives 21 years later - Yahoo! News: After slicing the bottle open, Brandell found a message from an elementary school student in a suburb of Seattle. The fact that the letter traveled 1,735 miles without any help from the U.S. postal service is unusual, but that's only the beginning of the mystery.
Snake eats family dog as kids watch - CNN.com: A 16-foot python stalked a family dog for days before swallowing the pet whole in front of horrified children in the Australian tropics, animal experts said Wednesday.
Termite hunters find 200-year-old mummy - Yahoo! News: Exterminators looking for termites in a monastery in Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo found a mummy and a skeleton believed to be at least 200 years old
Even your dog has a blog - CNN.com: It goes without saying that Max, a 3-year-old golden retriever can't talk. But that doesn't stop him from chronicling his dog's life -- as told to his owner Aubrey Jones -- on the blog Max the Golden Retriever.
4 Awesome Unfinished or Abandoned Structures in Florida: Here are just 4 examples of local sights that have either been abandoned since completion or never finished and which serve as a perfect destination for tourists looking for unique photo opportunities or parts of Florida that contain more character and history than Mr Disney’s theme park.
World's tallest man struggles to fit in - Yahoo! News: Stadnik's stature has earned him worldwide attention, but it has mostly a burden to him. He has to battle to lead anything close to a normal life.
Canadian gophers notch a win in man-rodent battle - Yahoo! News: A war on gophers waged by two Canadian men went awry this weekend when a device used to blast the rodents in their holes sparked a massive grass fire in a rural area near Calgary, Alberta, causing more than C$200,000 ($197,000) in damages.
Biologist hooks fish he stocked in 1983 - Yahoo! News: Some people catch fish and release them. Bill Wengert releases them and then catches them — a quarter-century later.
EWU prof.: Obama wins presidential name game | Seattle...: English professor Grant Smith contends that — taking no other factor into consideration than the sound of candidates' names — the person with the most pleasing moniker has won 84 percent of presidential elections in the nation's history.
Sri Lanka Guardian: German police dogs to wear shoes: The unusual footwear is not a fashion statement but rather a necessity due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty.
LA man gets long-stolen Mustang back - Yahoo! News: A Los Angeles man is getting his stolen Mustang back -- 38 years after it was stolen. The vehicle has an extra 300,000 miles and a different paint job, but Eugene Brakke's 1965 Mustang is evidently running just fine.
Big Spanish Castle: Optical illusion - The image will look like it's in color until you move your eyes.
He Wrote 200,000 Books (but Computers Did Some of the Work) - New York Times: Mr. Parker has generated more than 200,000 books...
Robot as good as real dog at easing lonely hours - Yahoo! News: ...to his surprise, both dogs provided virtually equal comfort after seven weeks of visits.

Posted by KenW at 6:05 AM
Edited on: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:06 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Offbest

UpdateFlorida: Man shoots self while out walking dog: A Central Florida man was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself while walking a dog on a busy roadway.
Man's '91 pickup passes the 1M-mile mark - Yahoo! News: Frank Oresnik's trusty pickup truck — he calls it "the old girl" — passed the 1 million-mile mark with a camera crew filming the event and a public-radio audience listening in. "I can't tell you how much fun it was," he said.
Company seeks tax exemption for bribes - Yahoo! News: Some companies request tax deductions for philanthropy, others for restaurants bills. But one Israeli business tried to push the envelope by asking to deduct nearly $860,000 it paid in kickbacks.
Yes, ‘the Patty Hearst’ a winner at Westminster - Westminster Dog Show- msnbc.com: Dog of famed hostage-turned robber claims ribbon for Best of Opposite Sex
JFK's 'secret love child' had affair with President Bush's sister-in-law ... and she backs up his claims to the Kennedy bloodline | the Daily Mail: The Texas tycoon who claims to be John F Kennedy's secret love child had an affair with President Bush's sister-in-law, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
6 Bad Habits That May Be Good For You: 6 Good Bad Habits
BBC NEWS | India court in moustache notice: India's Supreme Court has issued a notice to a state-run airline asking it to explain why an air steward was sacked for wearing a big moustache.
Secrets of the Great Seal revealed - USATODAY.com: Conspiracy theorists take note: The myths surrounding one of America's oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked ... if you believe the government, that is.
Pyramid power: awesome electric car - SlipperyBrick: Looking eerily like something out of old low budget Sci-Fi movies, this pyramid electric car weighs 8,000-pounds and is powered by 80-batteries, with four engines.
Weird News Room: Seashell House Is Unbelievably Awesome: This seashell inspired abode was built by designed by Senosiain Arquitectos for a couple in Mexico City. It's amazing. It has to be seen to be believed, so there's a bunch more pictures
Alleged speeder never makes it court - Yahoo! News: An Oregon man who was speeding through Baker County at 130 miles per hour to get to court in Portland didn't make it on time.
Solar Sensations - Solar powered bullet clitoral vibrator at Libida.com: First solar powered vibrator.
Spurned lover makes 10,000 calls to ex: Timothy Mortimore, 37, received the equivalent of one call or message every eight minutes...
Marketers Salivate Over Lickable Ads - WSJ.com: Marketers are excited about the prospects for lickable ads, but also have to deal with the "ick" factor.
Cool Hunting: Fish Reflexology Spa: ..."the sensation feels somewhere between tickling and short electric shocks, and as time goes on, the shocks become harder. By the end your feet will be very smooth and relaxed." It's a truly symbiotic relationship.
Topless Robot - The 20 Most Awesome but Tremendously Geeky T-shirts: Here are the 20 greatest shirts for nerds that look great, don’t automatically prevent you from getting laid, and are kind of stylish to boot.
The Amazing Staircase: London-based Levitate Architects came up with this ingenious solution to a book storage problem and created a loft-like bedroom nestled under the roof of the top-floor apartment.
Techdirt: The Naked Cowboy Has A Trademark And A Lawyer... And He's Not Afraid To Use Either: ...It appears that "The Naked Cowboy," a Times Square institution (he's basically a guy who plays a guitar in Times Square in a cowboy hat and underwear) not only has a trademark on the concept, but he's suing the Mars Company for a video billboard it put up in Times Square (of course) showing animated M&Ms prancing around in cowboy hats and underwear in a virtual Times Square.
CrunchGear » Archive » The $30 device to replace all my cookware: It’s a healthier way to cook! Did you read that part? Maybe I’ll go on an all hot dog, eggs, and popcorn diet and see how much weight I can drop by Memorial Day.
Stores Use Sonic Devices to Chase Kids: England's commissioner for children and a civil liberties group joined in on a campaign Tuesday to ban high-frequency devices intended to drive misbehaving children away from shops and other areas.

Posted by KenW at 9:16 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Offbeat

Good food on the go! I'm not sure what to say about this one...: Cheeseburger in a can - the experience...
Fake Target Clerk Steals $17K In iPod Touches From Stores Across Florida: ..a man who likes to pose as a Target employee while stealing pricey iPods and the man knows so much about the store, he's even helped customers who thought he was a real employee. ...It's believed he has stolen more than $17-thousand worth of iPods.
Mexico cops offered cash to slim: Heavyweight police officers in one Mexican city could soon be offered cash bonuses if they slim down.
Take off and strip off: At a travel agent 10 minutes from the beach, I find a manager processing online ticket requests for a very unusual journey - a flight for nudists.
'Flesh-eating' amphibians filmed: One of the strangest meal-times in the animal kingdom has been caught on film by a BBC crew. The team recorded footage of a female worm-like amphibian, called a caecilian, allowing her young to peel off and eat her skin.
Automatic writing: When a professor invents a machine that writes books, and then uses that machine to write more than 200,000 different books, there arises the question, "Why?"
Court: Mom Can't Sue Over Circumcision: The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that a mother who didn't like the way her baby's circumcision looked cannot sue a Fridley hospital for medical malpractice.
Heels boost sex life: STILETTOS can be good for a woman's sex life, says a study which claims wearing them ``directly works the pleasure muscles linked to orgasm''.
The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005
Baby sucks out woman’s brain: ...Marge Shrivinton, 28, from Brisbane, Queensland says she intends giving up breast feeding because her baby boy is sucking out her brain, diminishing her capacity to think straight and remember things.
Uncle of miracle baby hurled from a blazing flat: 'I kissed him and then let him fall': Kamil Kaplan, 32, was photographed throwing his nephew Onur Calar 40 feet from a third-floor window as he and his sisters and brother-in-law were trapped...
Frozen Grand Central at Improv Everywhere: ...in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station.
Boy has a `special bond' with huge pet python: The boy and his snake have become a tourist attraction in Setbo village, about 12 miles south of the capital Phnom Penh, as well as a source of wonder to the locals.
What a Nasty Letter for a $16.96 Debt!: A collection agency tried to collect a $16.96 debt with an letter that addressed its recipient with a four-letter word for excrement. "Dear S---," began the letter ...The word was spelled out in the letter, which arrived in an envelope addressed to "S--- Face."
Gas-pumping robot: what could go wrong?: Motorists nostalgic for the time they could sit tight while attendants braved windswept garage forecourts to fill their tanks may yet see those heady days return -- compliments of a Dutch robot.
Uncarriable Carrier Bag by Mother London: ...Mother London created a series of Uncarriable Carrier Bags: bags that you don’t want to be seen carrying around. And proving that reverse psychology (or lack of common sense) works in mysterious ways, people love them!
Ronnie Polaneczky: Oh, brother!: A judge threatened a man with arrest if he didn't pay twin's 17-year-old traffic tix
No Pants 2k8 at Improv Everywhere: ...nearly 2,000 people took off their pants on subways in 10 cities around the world.
The 6 Strangest Tales of Celebrity Body Part Insurance: Granted, in some cases it's money well spent.
Restaurants as obesity cops doesn't sit well: Nutrition experts are burning up calories in expressing their outrage over proposed legislation in Mississippi that would prohibit restaurants from serving obese customers.
Skeletal Systems Of Popular Cartoon Characters: Michael Paulus decided to render the skeletal system of popular cartoon characters. Here we have dexter, powerpuf girls, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and many others. The results of rendering skeletons are pretty funny check them out.

Posted by KenW at 7:18 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Offbeat

Chinese Man Shows World What Real Love is by Carving 6,000 Steps Up a Mountain for Wife: The tale of a 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has moved millions of people in 2006, Wednesday morning the man passed away in the cave, which has been the couple's home for the last 50 years.
Did God give O.C. woman backstage pass to 'American Idol'?: After so many "Idol" encounters, Leesa is launching a Web site, aiministryresource.com, on Feb. 14, the day after the top 24 are announced, to offer them spiritual encouragement and financial support as they sing for votes and a shot at a life-changing record deal.
Food: Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen: ...is it the greatest achievement of mankind thus far, or is it an abomination of foodstuffs that deserves to be hucked back into the gaping maw of whatever food processing plant it was spewed from?
Rampaging deer trashes house: But it left quite a mark indoors. No room was left untouched. There are drips of blood on the floor and on furniture and smears on walls (freshly painted last fall), window treatments and even the washing machine.
Ten extraordinary burial techniques: Here are some extraordinary ways the dead have been dealt with through the ages.
Married to a mob: Port Jervis woman charged with bigamy: A Port Jervis woman faces felony bigamy charges for being married to four men at the same time, police say. [see the picture; find four guys that would marry her]
160 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms seized in Corning drug bust: After making the biggest drug bust of its kind in county history Tuesday, Tehama Inter-agency Drug Enforcement agents displayed on Wednesday most of the 160 pounds of processed hallucinogenic mushrooms they seized from a Corning home. "This would make a pretty nice-sized salad," TIDE Commander Vic Lacey said.
Dog-lead goths 'hounded off bus': A goth who leads his girlfriend around with a dog lead and collar was stopped from getting on a bus amid fears for passenger safety, a bus firm confirmed.
Dolly fan gets the boot: A country and western fan who plagued neighbours by playing Dolly Parton songs around the clock is to be kicked out of her home, council officials said today.
Catholics Asked Not To Celebrate St. Patrick's Day On March 17: Roman Catholic clergy in Columbus are asking Irish worshippers to refrain from celebrating St. Patrick's Day on March 17 this year. [huh?]
Ga. cop accused of shootout with colleague: Two off-duty officers from different police departments wounded each other in a gun fight in the middle of a road in an Atlanta suburb
Money Pubs: Home of the World's Most Expensive Wallpaper: some of the best Money Pubs in the US
Pot vending machines to offer quick fix in L.A.: The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.
Military's report of planes flying in area of UFO reports is fueling debate: The U.S. military has owned up to having F-16 fighters in the air near Stephenville on the night that several residents reported unusual lights in the sky. But the correction issued Wednesday doesn't exactly turn UFOs into Identified Flying Objects.
Voices made me do it, says schoolgirl who filmed herself 'trying to kill her parents': A schoolgirl accused of filming herself attempting to murder her parents claimed a voice inside her head insisted that she kill them.
Well Done: ...an annual report from the food company Podravka. The book is empty or so it seems. In order to see the text and images the book has to be wrapped in foil and baked at 100°C for 25 minutes.
Sometimes, Scientists are A-Holes: ...whatever scientist came up with a bra that makes boobs bounce LESS

Posted by KenW at 8:33 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Offbeat News

A toilet for two; now you can spend quality time with your loved one: Enter, the toilet for two.
Bill Clinton ‘has a dream’, falls asleep during MLK speech: The campaign is taking its toll on former US president Bill Clinton. He fell asleep yesterday during a ceremony to honour Martin Luther King Jr at a church in New York.
Man Catches Piles of Fish using a Torch Video: These guys use flashlights to attract fish and end up getting attacked by flying fish!
Top 10 Candy Urban Legends!!!: Countdown of the Top 10 Candy Urban Legends
Sweden to Study Belching Cows: A Swedish university has received $590,000 in research funds to measure the greenhouse gases released when cows belch.
World's 1st All-Glass Undersea Restaurant: Sitting five meters (16 feet) below the waves of the Indian Ocean, the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views.
Mr Potato Head makes octopus pal: A giant Pacific octopus living in a Cornish aquarium has formed an unlikely bond with a child's plastic toy.
4 Steps To Pick Up Women Like a Genius: Step by step here’s how he did it.
The Astonishing History of Vibrators: The history of vibrators is a strange tale that provides insights into both the history of sex toys, and cultural notions about women's sexuality
Vidoes: Shank Found Inside Mattel Polly Pocket Toy: A "shank" (a blade wrapped in electrical tape, to be exact) was found inside a sealed Polly Pocket toy purchased at Walmart.
PETA Requests Vegetarian Diet in Jail for Cannibalism Suspect: Sheriff's officials were astounded Thursday by a letter requesting the man accused of murdering his girlfriend and possibly participating in cannibalism be placed on a vegetarian diet to keep him from being "involved in any senseless killing" while incarcerated.
Bodies Fall Out of Sky As Planes Collide: 'There Were Bodies Falling Out of the Sky' -- at Least 5 Dead As Planes Collide Over California
Don't send in the clowns: "We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
FBI Wiretaps Dropped Due to Unpaid Bills: Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.
Sleeping Australian run over by train and lives: A drunken Australian man who took a nap between railway tracks has had a miraculous escape after he was run over by a freight train and received only minor injuries and a bump on the head.
Polish teen derails tram after hacking train network: A Polish teenager allegedly turned the tram system in the city of Lodz into his own personal train set, triggering chaos and derailing four vehicles in the process. Twelve people were injured in one of the incidents.
The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa Mystery: The truth: No one knows for sure exactly how these rocks move - although a few people have come up with some pretty good explanations. The reason why their movement remains a mystery: No one has ever seen them in motion!
Unknowing twins marry each other: British twins who had been separated at birth learned they were related only after they had become husband and wife, a senior British lawmaker said.
'Fallen' tree of logs: Somebody's been busy with that ax.
10 Things You Did Not Know You Could Buy On Amazon: no kidding...
Hospital wrongly records blood group of kidney transplant patient : Health: The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust has come under the scanner after staff wrongly recorded the blood group of a kidney transplant patient. The error was noticed after the patient had received a new kidney of the wrong blood group.
Surgeons 'are better after playing Nintendo Wii': Trainee surgeons will soon be practicing operations from the comfort of their sofas after a study found they performed better after playing games on the Nintendo Wii.

Posted by KenW at 7:49 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Friday, January 11, 2008

Offbeat News

18 People Stuck On Roller Coaster: Strong winds brought a roller coaster to a halt at the top of its loop at a fun park in Anhui province in east China, leaving 18 people hanging upside down for about half an hour with six of them falling ill, an official said.
Top 15 Amazing Coincidences: Life is full of coincidences, some very minor, but occasionally - extraordinary. This is a list of 15 of the most incredible, unbelievable coincidences.
As Seen on TV: The 10 Most Laughably Misleading Ads: ...you've just created a product that actually sucks quite a bit more than the ones people are already using. How do you sell it? Why, by creating a cornball TV ad ...
7 Craziest Conspiracy Theories: Conspiracy Theories
Teen Claims Shock At McDonald's Birth: Employee Says She Didn't Know She Was Pregnant
Want To Sell Your Wants?: 2007 saw the successful launch of Wants For Sale. The innovative project by New York artist Justin Gignac and his girlfriend Christine ...The premise is simple: Justin and Christine paint pictures of things they want and then sell them for the exact price of the item.
Interesting Real Facts (Strange but True): interesting Real Facts (Strange but True)
Baby trained to give evil eye: Parents have trained baby to "give 'em the evil look" on command.
Zombie Food Pyramid: Food Pyramid for Zombies
Librarian nabs nation's coveted couch potato title: A Manhattan librarian emerged as a champion couch potato after three rivals gave in to sleep deprivation or nature's call.
Mouth Eyes Pictures - Strange Mouth Eyes Pics: Advanced Photoshop Pictures Contest - 78 image entries
Hofbrauhaus Catastrophe: Cheers! oops...
Who On Earth Built This?: These massive arc-shaped features are located at the Geographical Center of four continents. Did humans build them?
T-shirt Talk: In Addition to the Message on Appearance Is the Message on Personality and Behavior
What? Pakistan airlines ad: Pakistan airlines ad, 1979, scan from the newspaper
Real Time Death Counter Deaths per second, per minute,...

Posted by KenW at 8:48 AM
Categories: Offbeat

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Offbeat

Wife killed by her pensioner husband and dumped among the Christmas presents 'feared for her life': A pensioner who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death by her mentally ill husband told police she feared for her safety days before the attack.
Tiger urine to scare killer elephant: Forest officials in eastern India have advised villagers to stock tiger urine and excrement to scare away a killer elephant and his marauding herd.
» 9 year old kid plays the hardest Guitar Hero 3 song on expert True Men OF Genius: A blog for men, by men: "...I must say watching this kid destroy the game makes me feel like a scrub barely scraping by on medium difficulty."
After 45 years, woman gets haircut: For 45 years, Darka Jakymchuk refused to cut her hair, growing the auburn tresses down to her ankles and pinning them up in an enormous bun each morning.
Drunk Santa Trashes Theatre: Ho, Ho, Ho you little $&#%er’s! This is what drunk Santa and his 49 clones were saying (and worse) when they invaded and trashed a theatre in New Zealand
Wheelchair-Bound Woman Left On Tarmac: A woman in a wheelchair traveling on U.S. Airways to Orlando was wheeled onto a tarmac in Las Vegas and forgotten about for hours, according to family members.
Officer helps deliver Christmas baby: Transit officer Steven Rocher got up before dawn on Christmas to deliver a few more presents to his mother's house. He ended up delivering a very special gift indeed.
Meet the man with breasts in his leg: For a man to have a boob job is unusual enough - let alone to have the silicone implants not in the chest, but in the leg.
Incredible Building In Paris ! Video: Was the designer drunk, or does it just look that way?
Man Claims Skin Treatment Turned Face Permanent Blue: Paul Karason puts a whole new spin on "feeling blue.” For more than a decade, the 57-year-old has been living with a blue face.
Brain tumour sufferer has surgery on knee: ...surgeons at Tanzania's main Muhimbili Hospital opened the skull of Emmanuel Didas to remove a non-existent brain tumour while Emmanuel Mgaya, who had the tumour, underwent knee surgery.
Fukuoka fruit salad literally grows on tree: A lemon tree that bears 11 different kinds of fruit ...including dekopon, hassaku orange, iyoyan, amanatsu, and banpeiyu, a variety of pummelo. (with picture)
Man Spends Christmas Eve Stuck In Opening Of Septic Tank: t was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff. The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above. "It wasn't good, I'll tell you what," Schoff said...
Bronze sculptures end up being sold for scrap in Vermont: Thirty stolen bronze sculptures are valued at $1 million - not by the scrap yards where most of them ended up.
Man Carves Wife a 6,000 Stair Path in Mountain: A weird love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half century.
Love Shak, Baby: Yet Another Reason To Skip McDonald's: "Oh, McDonald's, why do you vex me so? When you do the girl toy/boy toy thing it causes so much drama in my household."
Referee pulls out red card, then a gun: A Malaysian referee took out his gun and fired warning shots in the air after a local football match turned unruly following the suspension of a player...
Japanese Fears Raised As ‘Warlike UFO’ Targets Mars: Russian Security Analysts are reported to be joining Japan’s concerns over a series of ‘mysterious’ events occurring in space which, perhaps, suggests that the planet Mars is being ‘targeted’ by an ‘unknown’ alien spacecraft that has been transiting through our Solar System ‘disguised’ as a comet.
Man picks up NYC garbage, dusts it off and sells it for...: What does he sell? Garbage. New York City picked-out-of-the-gutter garbage. Rubbish, you say? It may well be, but it's a lucrative business.

Posted by KenW at 7:52 AM
Edited on: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 7:53 AM
Categories: Offbeat