News of the Weird / Pro Edition (October 24, 2011)
News of the Weird/Pro Edition
You're Still Not Cynical Enough
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
October 24, 2011
(datelines October 15-October 22) (links correct as of October 24)
Cooking with Blood (On Purpose, Not, Like, When the Chef Cuts His Finger), Plus More Things to Worry About
★ ★ ★ ★!
"You eat meat, so why not blood," asks The Globe and Mail, describing several Toronto restaurants' favorite sanguinary cuisines. Torta di sanguinaccio, a custard of dark chocolate and slow-tempered blood, cauliflower marinated in pig's blood, spaghetti al nero di maiale, with blood-blackened noodles. You get the picture. The Globe and Mail
A day earlier, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni had recounted various "loopy" instructions received over the years from self-puffed restaurant chefs on how their delicacies should best be enjoyed. The latest (at New York City's Romera) demands various ridiculously subtly-flavored waters to be paired up with various ridiculous dishes. [ed.: Sorry to offend readers who have a grave need to be cool. I know it's not your fault.] New York Times
London's Daily Mail profiled nurse Melinda Arnold, 34, from Melbourne, Oz, who happened to be born without a womb and will soon get a transplant--donated by her own mother, which means that Melinda's kid will make him/herself at home in the very same uterus that Melinda once inhabited. Daily Mail
"Support Our Troops": The dirty secret is that, for want of $65 apiece, the Pentagon could've helped every male soldier avoid the catastrophic scrotal injuries inflicted by IEDs. There was enough in the budget for colostomy bags, but not for the double-Kevlar-enforced armored underwear. Recall that there were pallets of freshly-minted $100 bills literally thrown at Iraqi locals and opportunistic U.S. contractors, but $65 a head was not doable? Talking Points Memo IdeaLab
Absurdities
Recurring Theme (this time, Canada): An in-hospital injury could not be treated by the staff . . who told the woman who had just then fallen and broken her hip that she'd have to call an ambulance to pick her up and take her around back to their ER. Toronto Star
A plastic surgeon waxed rhapsodic about the intricacies of breast shape . . for professional reasons, of course, but you've got your "upper pole" (and "slope" thereof) of the breast and the "lower pole," and the angle at which the nipple points, at its "meridian," and the "convex lower pole"--. Contrasting View: You know it when you see it. Daily Mail (London)
Take a look at the delightful cover page of the Opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 10-14-2011, in the case of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif v. Obama. Oh, wait, it's not the cover page; it's the whole thing. Opinion [pdf] /// Law Fare Blog [background of case]
The Nigerian government suspected a popular actor, "Baba Suwe," of trying to smuggle drugs out of the country and detained him at the airport. Search turned up no drugs. He must've swallowed them. That was over a week ago. At press time, they're still hoping that bowel movement number 4 will turn up what numbers 1, 2, and 3 did not. If it doesn't, they'll wait for bowel movement number 5. Agence France-Presse via Google News
Real Buffalo Bills' fans won't be stopped from searching for free tickets . . just because a radio station promotion has placed them down in a vat of buffalo droppings--just to see how far real fans will go. Yahoo Sports
Losers
A court in Northern Ireland sentenced Paul Moran, 30, to three months in jail for setting a dangerous fire in his row house. He had burned some feces, which he was certain would produce . . gold. Belfast Telegraph
Dale Foughty, 56, was arrested in a robbery attempt at a convenience store in Jacksonville, N.C., despite his intimidating Spider Man mask. The clerk won by jabbing Spider Man in the gut with a broom. Associated Press via Alabama Live
The Pervo-American Community
Boo Boo, 38, was arrested in Chickasha, Okla., for being a weirdo, especially propositioning little girls while naked and slathered in cooking oil. Boo Boo is also known as Joseph Branom. KFOR-TV (Oklahoma City)
Martin Soto, 43, went to the aid of a woman who had fallen in Chandler, Ariz., but the "aid" consisted of licking her knee (and, subsequently, attempting to lick her face). Tucson Citizen
Your Weekly Jury Duty
[In America, you're presumed innocent . . . until the mug shot is released]
From The Smoking Gun's weekly collection: (1) Charged with domestic battery [ed.: and you know how I love hair-fashion risks]. (2) Arrested on a traffic charge [ed. probably on his combine!]
Oh! Dear!
The surveillance video inside St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Winson Green, England, was clear: The guy who stole that valuable church lamp was devout--in that he had crossed himself before he took off with it. Birmingham Mail
Arizona has water shortage. Thus, Arizona ski resort uses recycled sewer water to add to snow coverage. Arizona Hopi Indians: Bad enough the white man uses our sacred land for recreation but now he's putting poop water on it. BBC News
Headline: "Lingerie Football League Wants to Start a Youth League" KING-TV (Seattle)
Below The Fold
Ultra-Orthodox Jews on a rampage over immodesty in Jerusalem: One target is ice-cream shops that sell cones because girls and women go around in public, licking them! Reuters
A district in Maharashtra state in India had a ceremony that allowed girls to legally change their names. This was a big deal because these 285 girls were scourges of Indian society, according to their parents. (That is, the parents had all named the girls "Unwanted.") Associated Press via Yahoo News
In Chicago, an unnamed woman was charged with assaulting her husband by throwing cupcakes at him. (The Tribune's policy of not naming victims of sex crimes apparently also applies to baked-goods crimes.) Chicago Tribune
Cliché Come to Life: Frank Pence, 48, didn't really do this, did he? Really? He extorted money from a food store owner by having the owner leave the cash in a bucket out in an open field (No cops!). Then, hours later, lying-in-wait cops noticed that Frank was using a long, long, long rope that had been mostly buried, and was slowly dragging the bucket across the field. Cincinnati Enquirer
Updates & Recurring Themes
No Longer Weird: Thieves steal scrap metal. Still Weird: They dismantle and steal an entire, 15-ton steel bridge. (Bonus: By the time they got 'er done, steel prices had fallen; they only got $5,100.) Wall Street Journal
Too Soon! A California lady-lady couple has authorized hormone-blocking regimen for theirson no, daughter well, boy, who wants to switch up. "Tom"'s 11 now, wants to be "Tammy." CNN [9-27-2011, but other versions appeared last week]
No Longer Weird: "Blind reliance on SatNav," when combined with "Not particularly brilliant at thinking on his feet to begin with," and you get an 18-wheeler driver who wedges himself into an alley (and must spend the night in the cab because he can't get a door open). Daily Mail (London)
Update: The most recent adult (diaper) baby we reported [Pro Edition, 5-23-2011] has theoretically been cleared by the Social Security Administration and does, indeed, qualify for his disability benefits (despite U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn's skepticism, in view of the man's furniture-making skill, e.g., building his own adult-sized crib, etc.). Washington Times /// Washington Times [5-17-2011]
Editor's Notes
Time-Wasters: (1) A 6,810-bottle shelf-collapse at Superior Discount Liquors in Sheboygan, Wis. (2) A Siberian tiger, getting a root canal. (3) An evergreen video display (this one was posted in October 2010) of Mexico's "Island of the Dolls" WISN-TV (Milwaukee) /// AOL News /// WebUrbanist.com
Good to Know: When a long-distance Continental flight suffered a triple-restroom malfunction in flight, passengers had a mighty unpleasant time, and Continental was apologetic. And then, it says here, the passengers were assisted in their criticism by Mr. Robert Brubaker, "of the American Restroom Association, a Baltimore-based advocacy group for toilet users." [Seriously?] Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Newsrangers: Chris Porter, Jeff Brown, Dan Clark, John Ayer, John Votel, Telaraj Webster, and Jonal McBrien, and the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors
You're Still Not Cynical Enough
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
October 24, 2011
(datelines October 15-October 22) (links correct as of October 24)
Cooking with Blood (On Purpose, Not, Like, When the Chef Cuts His Finger), Plus More Things to Worry About
★ ★ ★ ★!
"You eat meat, so why not blood," asks The Globe and Mail, describing several Toronto restaurants' favorite sanguinary cuisines. Torta di sanguinaccio, a custard of dark chocolate and slow-tempered blood, cauliflower marinated in pig's blood, spaghetti al nero di maiale, with blood-blackened noodles. You get the picture. The Globe and Mail
A day earlier, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni had recounted various "loopy" instructions received over the years from self-puffed restaurant chefs on how their delicacies should best be enjoyed. The latest (at New York City's Romera) demands various ridiculously subtly-flavored waters to be paired up with various ridiculous dishes. [ed.: Sorry to offend readers who have a grave need to be cool. I know it's not your fault.] New York Times
London's Daily Mail profiled nurse Melinda Arnold, 34, from Melbourne, Oz, who happened to be born without a womb and will soon get a transplant--donated by her own mother, which means that Melinda's kid will make him/herself at home in the very same uterus that Melinda once inhabited. Daily Mail
"Support Our Troops": The dirty secret is that, for want of $65 apiece, the Pentagon could've helped every male soldier avoid the catastrophic scrotal injuries inflicted by IEDs. There was enough in the budget for colostomy bags, but not for the double-Kevlar-enforced armored underwear. Recall that there were pallets of freshly-minted $100 bills literally thrown at Iraqi locals and opportunistic U.S. contractors, but $65 a head was not doable? Talking Points Memo IdeaLab
Absurdities
Recurring Theme (this time, Canada): An in-hospital injury could not be treated by the staff . . who told the woman who had just then fallen and broken her hip that she'd have to call an ambulance to pick her up and take her around back to their ER. Toronto Star
A plastic surgeon waxed rhapsodic about the intricacies of breast shape . . for professional reasons, of course, but you've got your "upper pole" (and "slope" thereof) of the breast and the "lower pole," and the angle at which the nipple points, at its "meridian," and the "convex lower pole"--. Contrasting View: You know it when you see it. Daily Mail (London)
Take a look at the delightful cover page of the Opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 10-14-2011, in the case of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif v. Obama. Oh, wait, it's not the cover page; it's the whole thing. Opinion [pdf] /// Law Fare Blog [background of case]
The Nigerian government suspected a popular actor, "Baba Suwe," of trying to smuggle drugs out of the country and detained him at the airport. Search turned up no drugs. He must've swallowed them. That was over a week ago. At press time, they're still hoping that bowel movement number 4 will turn up what numbers 1, 2, and 3 did not. If it doesn't, they'll wait for bowel movement number 5. Agence France-Presse via Google News
Real Buffalo Bills' fans won't be stopped from searching for free tickets . . just because a radio station promotion has placed them down in a vat of buffalo droppings--just to see how far real fans will go. Yahoo Sports
Losers
A court in Northern Ireland sentenced Paul Moran, 30, to three months in jail for setting a dangerous fire in his row house. He had burned some feces, which he was certain would produce . . gold. Belfast Telegraph
Dale Foughty, 56, was arrested in a robbery attempt at a convenience store in Jacksonville, N.C., despite his intimidating Spider Man mask. The clerk won by jabbing Spider Man in the gut with a broom. Associated Press via Alabama Live
The Pervo-American Community
Boo Boo, 38, was arrested in Chickasha, Okla., for being a weirdo, especially propositioning little girls while naked and slathered in cooking oil. Boo Boo is also known as Joseph Branom. KFOR-TV (Oklahoma City)
Martin Soto, 43, went to the aid of a woman who had fallen in Chandler, Ariz., but the "aid" consisted of licking her knee (and, subsequently, attempting to lick her face). Tucson Citizen
Your Weekly Jury Duty
[In America, you're presumed innocent . . . until the mug shot is released]
From The Smoking Gun's weekly collection: (1) Charged with domestic battery [ed.: and you know how I love hair-fashion risks]. (2) Arrested on a traffic charge [ed. probably on his combine!]
Oh! Dear!
The surveillance video inside St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Winson Green, England, was clear: The guy who stole that valuable church lamp was devout--in that he had crossed himself before he took off with it. Birmingham Mail
Arizona has water shortage. Thus, Arizona ski resort uses recycled sewer water to add to snow coverage. Arizona Hopi Indians: Bad enough the white man uses our sacred land for recreation but now he's putting poop water on it. BBC News
Headline: "Lingerie Football League Wants to Start a Youth League" KING-TV (Seattle)
Below The Fold
Ultra-Orthodox Jews on a rampage over immodesty in Jerusalem: One target is ice-cream shops that sell cones because girls and women go around in public, licking them! Reuters
A district in Maharashtra state in India had a ceremony that allowed girls to legally change their names. This was a big deal because these 285 girls were scourges of Indian society, according to their parents. (That is, the parents had all named the girls "Unwanted.") Associated Press via Yahoo News
In Chicago, an unnamed woman was charged with assaulting her husband by throwing cupcakes at him. (The Tribune's policy of not naming victims of sex crimes apparently also applies to baked-goods crimes.) Chicago Tribune
Cliché Come to Life: Frank Pence, 48, didn't really do this, did he? Really? He extorted money from a food store owner by having the owner leave the cash in a bucket out in an open field (No cops!). Then, hours later, lying-in-wait cops noticed that Frank was using a long, long, long rope that had been mostly buried, and was slowly dragging the bucket across the field. Cincinnati Enquirer
Updates & Recurring Themes
No Longer Weird: Thieves steal scrap metal. Still Weird: They dismantle and steal an entire, 15-ton steel bridge. (Bonus: By the time they got 'er done, steel prices had fallen; they only got $5,100.) Wall Street Journal
Too Soon! A California lady-lady couple has authorized hormone-blocking regimen for their
No Longer Weird: "Blind reliance on SatNav," when combined with "Not particularly brilliant at thinking on his feet to begin with," and you get an 18-wheeler driver who wedges himself into an alley (and must spend the night in the cab because he can't get a door open). Daily Mail (London)
Update: The most recent adult (diaper) baby we reported [Pro Edition, 5-23-2011] has theoretically been cleared by the Social Security Administration and does, indeed, qualify for his disability benefits (despite U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn's skepticism, in view of the man's furniture-making skill, e.g., building his own adult-sized crib, etc.). Washington Times /// Washington Times [5-17-2011]
Editor's Notes
Time-Wasters: (1) A 6,810-bottle shelf-collapse at Superior Discount Liquors in Sheboygan, Wis. (2) A Siberian tiger, getting a root canal. (3) An evergreen video display (this one was posted in October 2010) of Mexico's "Island of the Dolls" WISN-TV (Milwaukee) /// AOL News /// WebUrbanist.com
Good to Know: When a long-distance Continental flight suffered a triple-restroom malfunction in flight, passengers had a mighty unpleasant time, and Continental was apologetic. And then, it says here, the passengers were assisted in their criticism by Mr. Robert Brubaker, "of the American Restroom Association, a Baltimore-based advocacy group for toilet users." [Seriously?] Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Newsrangers: Chris Porter, Jeff Brown, Dan Clark, John Ayer, John Votel, Telaraj Webster, and Jonal McBrien, and the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors
Comments
Eating Blood I offer you..... TA DUM!!!! Blood Sausage! Amongst other "normally accepted" delights.
Loopy Instructions Yo! Dude! Did you want cheese on that burger???? Nuff said!
Support Our Troops If that were he worst of the atrocities committed on our own by our own!
The Purrrrfect Titty On the one hand..... Well, really, on either hand will do.
U.S. Court of Appeals Kiddies, can you spell T-R-A-N-S-P-A-R-E-N-C-Y?
Buffalo Poop And for only $135.98 + Tax you can get a body wrap made from the same stuff! (Ain't that the sheets!?!)
Jury Duty #1: He's all yours.. #2: He'd be innocent if he were in The "F" State.
Lingerie Football League YEA!!!!!!!!!
Cliché Come to Life Without looking at the article, I'll bet the cops caught him by following the rope. Am I right???
Time-Wasters Chuck, you've made the top of Patty's list this week. :grrr:
Loopy Instructions Yo! Dude! Did you want cheese on that burger???? Nuff said!
Support Our Troops If that were he worst of the atrocities committed on our own by our own!
The Purrrrfect Titty On the one hand..... Well, really, on either hand will do.
U.S. Court of Appeals Kiddies, can you spell T-R-A-N-S-P-A-R-E-N-C-Y?
Buffalo Poop And for only $135.98 + Tax you can get a body wrap made from the same stuff! (Ain't that the sheets!?!)
Jury Duty #1: He's all yours.. #2: He'd be innocent if he were in The "F" State.
Lingerie Football League YEA!!!!!!!!!
Cliché Come to Life Without looking at the article, I'll bet the cops caught him by following the rope. Am I right???
Time-Wasters Chuck, you've made the top of Patty's list this week. :grrr:
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/24/11 at 08:41 AM
Black pudding or whatever. Dumbledoor is right.
Jury Duty #1 Can you stop laughing long enough to cuff him? #2 He'd be innocent in much of the plains states, too.
Lingerie Football League: Does the Youth League come with tiaras?
The perfect breast: I must allow, the diagram in the article does look good. I'm wondering how it went when the good doctor explained to the programming geek that he wanted to model the perfect bewb. On second thoughts, I don't want to know the answer to that.
Jury Duty #1 Can you stop laughing long enough to cuff him? #2 He'd be innocent in much of the plains states, too.
Lingerie Football League: Does the Youth League come with tiaras?
The perfect breast: I must allow, the diagram in the article does look good. I'm wondering how it went when the good doctor explained to the programming geek that he wanted to model the perfect bewb. On second thoughts, I don't want to know the answer to that.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 10/24/11 at 06:10 PM
blood dishes- My mom used to talk about grandma making blood pudding after butchering time. She said it was very good but I would never have tasted it!
flavored water pairings- Can you say pretentious?
uterus transplant- How wonderful that this could be done for the young woman.
$65- The Government comes out looking like Ford with the damn Pintos.
Canadian hospital- Wow, can't wait for national healthcare!
Boobs- Perfect boobs, we all better get a set, cuz, you fellas will never settle for our imperfect ones again. Right?
drugs- Some people just can not admit when they are wrong.
Bills- Browns fans damn sure wouldn't do that for a ticket!
poo/gold- You mean everyone should have looked in those bags on the porch after stomping them out?!
Jury Duty1- I saw a guy who looked like that at work the other day.
Catolic robber- Once he goes to confession he will be all clear.
Skiing- Couldn't the skiers tell by the brown snow??
Ultra Jews- Once again orthodox religion blames women for men's dirty thoughts.
assault by cupcake- Wow, its the guy who should want his name withheld, how manly to press charges over a few cupcakes.
stolen bridge- ...and if you believe that I have a bridge I can sell you...
SSI- For adult baby syndrome? Really??
advocacy group for toilet users- Unbelievable!
Gret week Chuck.
@Expat- What?
flavored water pairings- Can you say pretentious?
uterus transplant- How wonderful that this could be done for the young woman.
$65- The Government comes out looking like Ford with the damn Pintos.
Canadian hospital- Wow, can't wait for national healthcare!
Boobs- Perfect boobs, we all better get a set, cuz, you fellas will never settle for our imperfect ones again. Right?
drugs- Some people just can not admit when they are wrong.
Bills- Browns fans damn sure wouldn't do that for a ticket!
poo/gold- You mean everyone should have looked in those bags on the porch after stomping them out?!
Jury Duty1- I saw a guy who looked like that at work the other day.
Catolic robber- Once he goes to confession he will be all clear.
Skiing- Couldn't the skiers tell by the brown snow??
Ultra Jews- Once again orthodox religion blames women for men's dirty thoughts.
assault by cupcake- Wow, its the guy who should want his name withheld, how manly to press charges over a few cupcakes.
stolen bridge- ...and if you believe that I have a bridge I can sell you...
SSI- For adult baby syndrome? Really??
advocacy group for toilet users- Unbelievable!
Gret week Chuck.
@Expat- What?
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/25/11 at 01:06 AM
@Patty: See Time Waster's 2
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/25/11 at 01:13 AM
The tiger story, nice. I saw it hon.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/25/11 at 01:19 AM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Category: