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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Hungary Warns Residents of Disasters ... in Middle-earth

Emergency broadcast system tested using 'Lord of the Rings' locales

(Newser) - Hungary had a conundrum: How to test its emergency broadcast system, but not alarm residents by mentioning real towns? The solution: Use Middle-earth instead, the AP reports. The country’s disaster management agency is warning citizens today about severe weather in Gondor, Rohan, Rivendell, and Helm’s Deep, all locations...

Angry Birds Soar Into Reality

Birds, pigs, explosions come to life in Spanish setup

(Newser) - You’ve played the game, you’ve seen the “movie” trailer —now, witness Angry Birds in real life. A giant replica of the game’s birds, pigs, and barricades was set up at Plaça Nova de Terrassa in Spain in an effort to promote Deutsche Telekom. The...

School Robocalls Late Kids at 6:30am
 School Robocalls 
 Late Kids at 6:30am 
TERRIBLE INNOVATIONS
May 17, 2011 10:13 AM CDT

School Robocalls Late Kids at 6:30am

Sleepy and cranky?! It's time to rise and shine!

(Newser) - As if having to get up in the morning, five mornings a week, wasn't burdensome enough on the teenage soul, it just got worse. One Iowa high school is upping the annoying ante, notes Sam Biddle at Gizmodo, by introducing automated wakeup calls. Chronically late kids will get a...

25K Big Macs? Man Marks Milestone Today

Don Gorske will celebrate at McDonald's

(Newser) - Don Gorske ate his first Big Mac on May 17, 1972. Today, 39 years later, he will eat his 25,000th. Gorske, 57, normally eats two of the McDonald’s classics a day, but has eaten just one on a number of days this year so that he could hit...

Couple Names Kid After Facebook's 'Like'

If ever there was a time for that elusive 'dislike' button

(Newser) - Let's see if this kid gets kicked off Mark Zuckerberg's website: The Huffington Post tells the tale of an Israeli couple who have named their defenseless infant girl "Like"—like, as in Facebook. But rather than trying for a cheap 15 minutes of fame, Lior and...

Olympic Swimmer Nearly Dies in Beach Burial Stunt

Swim team digs 7-foot hole, collapse buries Jakub Maly

(Newser) - An Austrian Olympic team swimmer is recovering after nearly being buried alive on a Florida beach. After three weeks of training at Pompano Beach, Jakub Maly and his friends dug a huge hole at the beach—"big enough to bury a golf cart," according to a fire department...

City Punishes Store Owner for Too Many Patriotic Flags

Linda Downey flies six, but Florida city only allows three

(Newser) - Apparently, in Crystal River, Florida, it’s possible to be too patriotic. Linda Downey, owner of Taste of Philly Cheesesteak and Hoagie Shoppe, was notified by the city of a “violation” because there are too many flags flying in front of her store. Downey, who has two sons in...

Man Charged for Keeping Alligator ... as Chick Magnet

Dewayne Yarbrough only fed it 10 mice a month ... you know, so it wouldn't get too big

(Newser) - A suburban Chicago man thought he had the perfect chick magnet in his pet alligator. Authorities were not wooed. A charge of possession of a dangerous animal has been filed against 43-year-old Dewayne Yarbrough of Ford Heights, who claims he kept the four-foot alligator to impress women.

Does a Racehorse Pee Like One?

Yep: The animals drop gallons per day

(Newser) - If you’ve gotta pee like a racehorse, you’ve got some serious peeing to do: Racehorses urinate up to 2 gallons a day. Yes, as you sit down to watch the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, know that the idiom is accurate, Slate explains. An average man urinates 1 to 2...

Woman Passes Out, Wakes Up, Runs Over Husband

Texas driver charged with DWI

(Newser) - A Texas woman passed out at a red light, awoke as her husband tried to rouse her, then drove off dragging him along outside the car, KDAF-TV reports. Police suspect 50-year-old Mary Jane Lane (yes, her real name) passed out while under the influence of prescription drugs at the stop...

How Did Ex-Playmate Turn Into a Mummy?

Arid climate, lack of moisture all helped

(Newser) - How did Yvette Vickers, former Playboy playmate and cult horror film star, turn into a real-life mummy ? After all, she didn't have anyone to wrap her in linen bandages. But mummification does not actually refer to the process undertaken by ancient Egyptians—it refers to the effect that...

Thief Steals Car—Along With Grandma's Ashes

Ga. woman's car stolen on way home from memorial service

(Newser) - A Georgia woman would like a thief to return her Nissan Altima—and her grandmother's ashes. Ebony Simpson stopped off at a supermarket on her way home from her grandmother's memorial service and a thief made off with her car, along with the urn in the trunk, after...

Japanese Gadget Allows Long-Distance Smooching

Tech students design boxes for online kissing

(Newser) - In a long-distance relationship? Now you don’t need an airplane to kiss your partner: Japanese students have created a gadget for online snogging. The device looks like a box with a straw attached. One kisser turns the straw with his tongue, prompting the straw on the other end of...

Ex-Playmate Found in Home, Mummified

Yvette Vickers had apparently been dead for nearly a year

(Newser) - Yvette Vickers, a former Playboy playmate and B-movie star, was found dead in her Los Angeles home last week, the Times reports. A neighbor, concerned when she noticed yellowing letters and cobwebs collecting in Vickers' mailbox, found the 82-year-old woman's mummified body. Police say she could have been dead...

Iowa Student Graduating After 19 Years of College

48-year-old took single class each semester

(Newser) - She’s been in college since Bill Clinton was elected, taking approximately one class each semester—and now, she’s finally graduating. “I've been doing this so long, I don't think I'll know how not to do it,” says Kathy Vitzthum, 48, a senior accounting...

America's 5 Weirdest Drive-Thrus

Why get out of the car to pay your respects if you don't have to?

(Newser) - Drive-thru fast food makes sense, but drive-thru funerals? The Week rounds up five of the weirdest drive-thru options found around America:
  • Funerals: The owner of a mortuary in Compton, Calif., explains : "You can come by after work, you don't need to deal with parking, you can sign the
...

PETA Fumes Over Goldfish Racing

Bar patrons squirt fish along canals

(Newser) - A Seattle bar has ended its weekly goldfish races after PETA unleashed its fury—but other hangouts “are saying screw you to the PETA folks,” says the bar owner halting the practice. What, you ask, is a goldfish race? It means plopping fish into plastic tubes of water,...

Plan for Florida's Jobless: Let Them Wear Capes

Shockingly, jobless not impressed with the $14K move

(Newser) - File under "questionable ways to tackle the topic of unemployment": A Florida group wants to fight crushing unemployment with a "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" that would bestow 6,000 red superhero capes on the area's jobless. Unfortunately, would-be recipients aren't thrilled with the idea of Workforce Central Florida...

NZ Pol Tweets About Breaking Her Own Law

Melissa Lee votes for strict file-sharing law, tweets about listening to mixtape

(Newser) - This week's installment of "lawmakers ignoring their own laws" comes to you from New Zealand, which recently passed one of the world's strictest file-sharing laws. Melissa Lee voted for the "three-strikes" law, which says people can be fined up to $15,000 and lose Internet access...

Bizarre Trend: Extreme Ironing

TV camera catches man pressing shirt on empty highway

(Newser) - It’s thrilling, it’s dangerous—and it’s efficient. To get their kicks and get things done, some are turning to extreme ironing, a bizarre new "sport" in which thrillseekers smooth out their wrinkled clothes in exotic locations. The sport made UK headlines after a TV camera caught...

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