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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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...

Latest Pet Craze: 'Affectionate' Skunks

They're friendly and clean, says owner

(Newser) - Busby walks on a leash, “follows the kids around,” snuggles with his owner at night, and rarely stinks up the house. It’s an impressive feat—for a skunk. He’s one of some 2,000 kept as pets, the Daily Mail reports. “He’s incredibly affectionate...

Another Toddler Served Booze
 Another Toddler Served Booze 
Apr 15, 2011 8:40 AM CDT

Another Toddler Served Booze

This time, Olive Garden is to blame

(Newser) - After learning that Applebee's served a 15-month-old boy a margarita last week, a Florida mother reveals Olive Garden served her 2-year-old son sangria last month. Jill VanHeest says she ordered orange juice for son Nikolai on March 31. When he started acting up and his eyes turned red and...

Vaclav Klaus: Pen-Stealing Czech President Might Have Purloined in the Past
Why Mr. President,
'You Have Taken My Gloves!' 
KLEPTO KLAUS?
Apr 14, 2011 8:40 AM CDT

Why Mr. President, 'You Have Taken My Gloves!'

Pen-swiping might not have been Czech prez's first time

(Newser) - When Czech President Vaclav Klaus got caught not-so-subtly purloining a fancy pen from Sebastian Pinera, it looks like it wasn't an isolated incident. Klaus dismissed the thievery, saying, "All I have to say is, it is not a pen but just a stylus," and added that he swipes...

Finally, a Human Specimen for Iceland Penis Museum

95-year-old's pickled member will go on display

(Newser) - Whale penises, seal penises, bear penises: Iceland's Phallological Museum has them all, but it was missing one thing: a human member. That all changed when 95-year-old Pall Arason died, leaving his penis to the museum, which opened in 1997. Sigurdur Hjartarson, Arason's friend who runs the museum in Husavik, says...

Applebee's Serves Margarita ... to Toddler

Mom says 15-month-old started 'saying hi and bye to the walls'

(Newser) - A family outing to an Applebee's near Detroit on Friday night took a turn for the weird after a 15-month-old was served a margarita in his sippy cup. The boy's mother, who thought the toddler was drinking apple juice, soon noticed him acting strangely. "He was saying hi and...

A Day After Cancer Kills Wife, Man Dies in Crash

Steven and Lana Tice had been married for 39 years

(Newser) - Less than a day after his wife of 39 years lost her long battle with cancer, a Michigan man died in a car crash. “I definitely think there was some divine plan that made my dad die 24 hours later," said daughter Kellie Ittner. Ittner and her two...

Stranded Women Saved By SOS in Sand

Nearby Navy rescues pair on hard-to-reach Hawaiian shore

(Newser) - An “SOS” note scrawled in the sand actually worked for two stranded women in Hawaii. A tour helicopter noticed the letters and notified naval aviators who were training nearby; they saw the inscription and flashes from a mirror and sent a helicopter and swimmer to pick up the stranded...

85-Year-Old Sails Atlantic ... on a Raft

Two-month journey for charity completed

(Newser) - Anthony Smith was in high spirits as arrived in St. Maarten yesterday, and why not? After all, he’d just realized a boyhood dream, sailing a 40-foot raft on a two-month journey across the Atlantic with the help of three of his friends—at the ripe young age of 85....

One Couple's Wedding March: 2.5K Miles

They'll start their trip down the aisle in Michigan, end in Nevada

(Newser) - Here's one idea for avoiding the travel costs associated with a destination wedding: Walk there. That's what Joseph Crist and Laura Brunett are doing. The 24-year-olds, who met in middle school, are leaving Michigan on April 15 so that they can make it to their wedding, at Nevada's Lake Mead,...

Woman Gets Indefinite Jury Duty for Racist Remarks

She got out of one trial, but she'll be back in court

(Newser) - You've probably heard stories about people getting out of jury duty by making outrageous statements—but that tactic, if in fact it was her ploy, most definitely did not work for one Brooklyn woman. Juror No. 799, up for duty in the death penalty trial of a crime boss, was...

Man Blows Nose, Goes to Jail
 Man Blows Nose, Goes to Jail 
Apr 6, 2011 9:31 AM CDT

Man Blows Nose, Goes to Jail

Of course, it didn't help that he allegedly punched a cop...

(Newser) - All Alfred Murphy wanted to do was blow his nose, and he ended up in jail. The problem? The paper towels Murphy chose to use Monday afternoon came off a maintenance cart at an Atlanta subway station. A MARTA police officer who spotted Murphy told him he couldn't take the...

Prom Cut Short Over Bad Pot Brownies

Four students got kind of a harsh buzz

(Newser) - The pot brownies that got passed around at a Massachusetts high school's junior prom did not agree with everyone. Four students got "violently ill" at the event last week, WCVB Boston reports, causing the dance to be cut short. Police don't know exactly how the students got their hands...

Rep. Peter King Sent Bloody Pig's Foot

...and rambling note

(Newser) - It's the modern-day version of the horse head in the bed: Rep. Peter King, he of the infamous Muslim radicalization hearings, was sent a bloody pig's foot, reports Luke Russert for MSNBC . It was accompanied by a note full of anti-Semitic language and a reference to King's controversial hearings. The...

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