A warehouse on Chicago’s West Side is “the world capital of fake (latex) vomit, where it’s still made the old-fashioned way, ladle by ladle, formed and coagulated,” reported the Chicago Tribune in December. Though it is not as popular as 50 years ago (7,000 units sold yearly, compared to 60,000 then), Fun Inc. President Graham […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
Urban Legends Come to Life
In Bayonne, N.J., in October, Lindsey Millar’s car burned up after a squirrel, chewing on an electric line, caught fire, and its flaming carcass fell down beside the car and rolled underneath it. Jacqui Dean, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, apparently became the latest prominent person to publicly fall for the H2O hoax. […]
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Armed and Clumsy (all-new)
More people who accidentally shot themselves recently: Opherro Jones, 32, shot himself in the stomach while allegedly pistol-whipping a man (Honolulu, June). A 23-year-old San Francisco police officer accidentally shot himself to death while demonstrating police training techniques to friends at a party (August). A 24-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the foot while aiming […]
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Least Competent Criminals
Failed to Master the Art of the Getaway: Robert Hickey Jr., running from a Hamilton County (Tenn.) sheriff’s deputy in October, dashed into nearby woods, fell into a well and had to be rescued. Rudy Aguas, 25, running from a Reno, Nev., police officer in November after a failed carjacking, ducked into a building but […]
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Creme de la Weird
Mr. Sandy Wong, 45, was sentenced in November in Edmonton, Alberta, to 90 days in jail for three counts of indecent exposure, including masturbating with his pants down while sitting on the roof of a BMW at a local agriculture fair. According to a psychiatrist, Wong said he is sexually attracted to the BMW’s roof […]
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Update
What was an edgy, unconventional treatment of a severe diarrhea when News of the Weird mentioned it in 2000 is now catching on as a remedy for the potentially deadly C. difficile bacteria infection, according to a November report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “Good” bacteria in the stomach are often depleted by the antibiotics […]
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Undignified Deaths
A 32-year-old man was found dead, stuck in the cat door of his girlfriend’s St. Augustine, Fla., house after she had kicked him out. Said a friend, “(H)is head was caught … like he was (trying) to reach up and unlock the door …” (A 46-year-old construction worker fell to his death in November in […]
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Readers’ Choice
Twins Jared and Justin Serovich, age 8, of Gables Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio, made it to the finals of a state inventors’ competition this year with their special boxer shorts. The twins’ knickers used fabric fasteners to hold the seams together thus making it nearly impossible for the wearer to be given a “wedgie.” […]
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Least Competent Criminals
Not Ready for Prime Time: Francis Rocca, 24, was arrested in Pittsfield, Mass., and charged with robbing a gas station in November after being identified by his victim, who pointed out that Rocca’s distinctly pimpled face was easily visible underneath the clear plastic bag he wore as a “disguise.” Michael Chatman, 35, and two others […]
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People Different From Us
Australian Wayne Scullino, 30, quit his telecom job in Sydney in early 2007, and, after convincing his wife, they sold their house and moved to Wisconsin for the sole purpose of rooting for the Green Bay Packers, about which he had enjoyed an almost inexplicable fascination since age 15. Said Scullino, “At some point, you’ve […]