strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Bird Expert Convicted in Cat Poison Bid

Researcher wrote on the feline menace to birds

(Newser) - A Smithsonian bird researcher has been convicted of animal cruelty after she tried to poison the local cat population. Nico Dauphine, 38, was caught on a security tape standing in front of a bowl of cat food outside a DC apartment building, the Los Angeles Times reports. She said she...

Guy, 83, Busted for Prostitution

Victim says he wanted her to repay loan by letting him perform sex acts

(Newser) - The most recent entry in the Unlikely Crimes category: A City Council candidate from Centerville, Iowa—who just happens to be an 83-year-old man—was arrested and charged with prostitution. The 33-year-old victim accuses Ben Clifford Dawson of offering to let her repay a loan by allowing him to perform...

Franco's Latest Hobby: Ghost Whisperer

Actor will lead performance art séance

(Newser) - James Franco’s next project is a little weird, even for James Franco . The renaissance man will hold a séance in an attempt to contact dead playwright Tennessee Williams, according to the Hollywood Reporter . Of course, the whole thing is part of a New York City performance art festival...

Grocery Store Wouldn't Let Me Pay in Quarters: Woman

Woman mortified after Portland store refused to take her change

(Newser) - It's not a good week to be a grocery store. First, a Safeway in Honolulu got raked over the coals for arresting a pregnant woman who ate a sandwich while shopping and forgot to pay for it. Now, a woman in Portland says a Save-a-Lot wouldn't let her...

Himalayan Vulture Brings Down Paraglider

Man—and bird—survive collision

(Newser) - A bird of prey nearly made a Russian paraglider's first flight over the Himalayas his last one. Video from a helmet camera captured the moment when two Himalayan griffon vultures swooped on the Russian. One of them became entangled in the flier's parachute. Luckily, the 24-year-old paraglider was...

Music Changes Taste of Wine
 Music Changes 
 Taste of Wine 
study says
Nov 1, 2011 2:49 PM CDT

Music Changes Taste of Wine

Sippers say booze tastes like tune they're hearing

(Newser) - That glass of chardonnay may taste light and fruity now—but try sipping it while playing Rage Against the Machine. Wine drinkers tend to think their glass tastes like whatever music is on the stereo, a study suggests. Researchers in Scotland offered either a glass of red or white to...

University Demands Workers Sign 'Not Gay' Pledge

Sign 'lifestyle statement' or lose your job, Georgia school says

(Newser) - Georgia's Shorter University wants to know what's happening in its workers' bedrooms. The conservative Christian university is demanding that its 200 employees sign a "Personal Lifestyle Statement" rejecting homosexuality, adultery, and premarital sex, the New York Daily News reports. Those who don't sign the pledge face...

Giant Lego Man Washes Up in Fla.

 Giant Lego Man 
 Washes Up 
 in Florida 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 30, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Giant Lego Man Washes Up in Florida

And no, Lego is not behind it

(Newser) - Jeff Hindman was walking along Siesta Key Beach in Florida this month when he noticed a huge shape floating in the water. When he waded in, he found something decidedly odd—an 8-foot-tall, 100-pound fiberglass Lego man. “It doesn’t make sense,” Hindman tells the Herald Tribune . After...

Insane Clown Posse Fans Are 'Gang Threat': FBI

Listeners listed alongside Crips, Bloods

(Newser) - If rappers Insane Clown Posse have a show in your town, lock your windows and bolt your door: Their fans, who call themselves Juggalos, are officially a “gang threat,” according to the FBI. Their inclusion in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment apparently puts them in a league...

Ohio Mayoral Race Pits Brother Against Brother

Not surprisingly, they don't see each other much at family get-togethers

(Newser) - One reason it may not be a good idea to run against your brother for mayor: The political mud-slinging includes some odd details, like whether you regularly attend family functions. Councilman James Krumnow has been skipping family gatherings lately, brother Lowell says—perhaps because James recently decided to run against...

Another Drunk Dad Has 9-Year-Old Drive: Cops

Parents: If your kid can count his age on his hands, he's not a designated driver

(Newser) - A few weeks ago, a boozed-up father had his daughter climb on a booster seat and take him shopping ; now childhood designated-driving is turning into a quasi-epidemic. A Wyoming man visiting Orlando felt he and his wife had had a few too many on Saturday, so he instructed his son,...

Texas Woman: Man Hit Me With Frozen Armadillo
Texas Woman: Man Hit Me With Frozen Armadillo
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 23, 2011 11:42 AM CDT

Texas Woman: Man Hit Me With Frozen Armadillo

Argument arose over price of animal, which woman wanted to eat

(Newser) - This may very well be the weirdest thing you’ll read all day: Dallas police are on the hunt for a man who is accused of attacking a woman with a frozen armadillo. The Sept. 29 altercation occurred in the parking lot of an apartment complex, where the 57-year-old was...

Psychic Predicted Moment Occupy Would Start— Correctly

...and other weird OWS news

(Newser) - If you thought a sitcom predicting Moammar Gadhafi’s death was weird, check this out: A psychic predicted when Occupy Wall Street would begin, almost down to the minute, Mediaite reports. At a psychic panel in Kansas City in January, Steve MacDonald said the lower and middle classes would revolt...

Poop-to-Gold Experiment Goes ... Wrong

Belfast alchemist jailed for arson

(Newser) - Human feces, mixed with fertilizer and other ingredients and left on top of an electric heater, will not turn to gold, an amateur alchemist in Belfast discovered. Paul Moran, whose experiment set his apartment on fire, was jailed for three months for arson and endangering the lives of others, the...

T-Mobile User's Phone Bill: $201K

Brother ran up some serious roaming charges

(Newser) - When a Florida woman put her college-student brother on her cell phone plan, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. After two weeks in Canada, he managed to run up a $201,000 bill, WSVN reports—and that's without even talking. Turns out he hadn’t...

Boozing Dad's Designated Driver: His 9-Year-Old

...who needed a booster seat to reach the steering wheel

(Newser) - Before you applaud a boozing guy for getting a designated driver to take him to the store around 2am on a Saturday, know this: said alternate chauffeur was his 9-year-old daughter ... who was sitting on a booster seat. The Detroit News reports that Shawn Weimer, 39, bought her a candy...

Scrabble Player Accused of Hiding 'G' at Championship

But officials refuse to perform a strip-search

(Newser) - The World Scrabble Championship wrapped up yesterday in Warsaw, and not without more than a little drama. A Thai player became convinced that England's Ed Martin had squirreled away a 'G' tile—and demanded that he be hauled to the bathroom and strip-searched. Officials declined, the Telegraph reports,...

Ben Fodor, aka Seattle Superhero Phoenix Jones, Appears in Court

 Seattle 
 Superhero 
 Makes Court 
 Appearance 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 16, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Seattle Superhero Makes Court Appearance

'Phoenix Jones' vows that arrest won't stop him

(Newser) - Even superheroes aren't above the law. Self-appointed Seattle crime-fighter Phoenix Jones was in court last week following his arrest in a pepper-spray debacle . No charges have yet been filed against Jones' mild-mannered alter-ego (read: real identity), one Benjamin Fodor; prosecutors told the judge they want more time to make...

Apple iPhone 4S: Weirdest Things Siri Says
 The Weirdest  
 Things Siri Says 
new iphone
Oct 14, 2011 12:48 PM CDT

The Weirdest Things Siri Says

iPhone Q&A tool may know meaning of life

(Newser) - The new iPhones are out today, and one tester has already explored the blog-worthy bizarreness of its question-and-answer function . Ask Siri a question and it'll tell you the answer, whether you want to know the location of the nearest Starbucks or the meaning of life, This is my next...

Oregon Man Surfs on Shark 's Back

Collision leaves man briefly atop great white shark

(Newser) - A surfer off the Oregon coast briefly rode the waves on the back of a great white shark—and lived to tell the tale. Doug Niblack says he was on his longboard when he hit something hard and suddenly found himself standing on the back of a thrashing shark he...

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