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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Lawn-Chair Balloonist Plans Flight Over Iraq

Kent Couch will lift off from Baghdad later this month

(Newser) - If all goes well, an Oregon gas-station owner will fly over Iraq in his balloon-powered lawn chair later this month. Kent Couch boarded a flight today to the Middle East in preparation, reports the Los Angeles Times . An Iraqi man plans to go up with him on his own chair...

Confused Cleaner Scrubs 'Stain' Off $1.1M Sculpture

Kippenberger work damaged beyond repair: museum

(Newser) - She thought she was just doing her job; instead, she was forever altering a $1.1 million artwork. A cleaner in a German museum spotted what she thought was an unintended stain on a sculpture and decided to wash it off. The piece by the late Martin Kippenberger, “When...

Man Pretends To Be Illegal Immigrant to Skirt Jail

He was deported to Mexico instead

(Newser) - It’s not every day an American citizen gets charged with pretending to be an illegal immigrant, but that’s what happened to one Utah 27-year-old this week. The man was originally arrested for dealing drugs in February 2010, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. He told the judge he was...

California Flier Stranded in Airport 8 Days

Cash-strapped woman marooned by baggage fees

(Newser) - All she wanted was to get out of town to start fresh. But California would-be flier Terri Weissinger ended up stuck in San Francisco International Airport for eight days, marooned by unexpected baggage fees. Cash-strapped Weissinger was down to three bags, a ticket and $30 when she arrived at the...

Historian Lived With 26 Female Corpses

Grave-robbing Russian was writing a book about cemeteries

(Newser) - Somewhere along the way, Russian historian Anatoly Moskvin's interest in cemeteries went from academic to twisted. Police probing grave desecrations found the corpses of 26 women in the 45-year-old researcher's apartment, the Telegraph reports. The skeletal remains had been dressed up in new clothes. Moskvin was in the...

Groom Sues Photographer, Wants Wedding Re-Created

... there's just one catch

(Newser) - It's hard to truly capture the weirdness of this lawsuit recounted by the New York Times . Is it because a Manhattan groom is suing a photography studio over what he says are lousy wedding photos? Not at all. Because he waited six years to file the suit? Nope. Because...

Woman Passes Driver's Test— During Labor

First trip is to the hospital

(Newser) - Contractions 10 minutes apart didn’t stop a woman in Scotland from getting her driver’s license—and then speeding off to the hospital to give birth. She’d woken that morning at 4am after her water broke, but ignored her family’s advice and went through with the test...

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...

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