Posts filed under 'Odd Stuff'
A man in Florida was halfway through an order of steamed clams when he bit down on something hard, it was a rare, iridescent purple pearl. George Brock and his wife, Leslie, had been spent the day at the beach Friday in South Florida and stopped at Dave’s Last Resort & Raw Bar for a bite. Their discovery is thought to be valued at $6,000 US or more. The gems are found most frequently in large New England quahogs, clams known for violet coloring on the inside of their shells. The clams in the $10 plate came from Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle, said restaurant manager Tom Gerry.
January 1st, 2008
An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son “Friday” and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on. “I think it is ridiculous they even opened a case about it,” the family’s lawyer, Paola Rossi, told Reuters by telephone from the northern city of Genoa on Tuesday.
Friday/Gregory Germano was born in Genoa 15 months ago. The parents registered him as Friday in the city hall and a priest even baptised him as Friday — unusual in Italy since many priests insist that first names be of Christian origin. “We named him Friday because we like the sound of the name. Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday,” the boy’s mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters.
When the boy was about five months old, a city hall clerk brought the odd name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving “ridiculous or shameful” first names to children. The tribunal said it was protecting the child from being the butt of jokes and added that it believed the name would hinder him from developing “serene interpersonal relationships”.
The Germano family appealed but lost their case this month and the story was carried on the front page of a national newspaper on Tuesday. When ordered to change the name, the parents refused and the court ruled the boy would be legally registered as Gregory because he was born on that saint’s feast day.
“I really doubt this would have happened to the child of parents who are rich and famous,” the boy’s mother told Reuters, recalling that some famous Italians had given their children unorthodox names such as “Ocean” or “Chanel”. The appeals court ruled against Friday because it recalled the servile savage in Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe and because superstitious Italians consider Friday an unlucky day.
“I am livid about this,” the boy’s mother said. “A court should not waste its time with things like this when there is so much more to worry about.” “My son was born Friday, baptised Friday, will call himself Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory,” she said. I hope he has not siblings named after the other days of the week.
December 23rd, 2007
Japan says, “UFOs do exist”, a top Japanese government spokesman said Tuesday. The comment by chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura drew laughter from reporters at his regular briefing on government policy.
Machimura, asked about the government’s view on UFOs at a regular press conference, told reporters that the government can only offer a simple response. “Personally, I definitely believe they exist,” he said, apparently tongue in cheek.
But the prime minister stuck to the official view. “I have yet to confirm (that UFOs exist),” Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters later in the day. I guess it is possible but why is there only grainy hard too see photos if they really exist?
December 19th, 2007
Sorta makes me think of Wonder Woman and her magic bracelets but police say a man’s wedding band deflected a bullet and likely saved his life. Police Sgt. Jeffrey Scott says two men walked into Register’s shop at The Antique Market on Saturday and asked to see a coin collection.
When Register retrieved the collection, one of the men pulled a gun and demanded money. A shot was fired as Register threw up his left hand, and his wedding ring deflected the bullet, police said. His wife Darlene Register says the bullet managed to go through two of his fingers without severing the bone.
A part of the bullet broke off and is in his middle finger - the other part is in his neck, lodged in the muscle tissue. She said she gives God all the credit. Police were searching for the robbers, who Scott said “stole a substantial amount of cash.” The whole thing still sounds quite messy.
December 8th, 2007
Rumours of gold lying buried beneath a Malaysian beach have sent scores of villagers digging in the sand in hopes of striking it rich. People have flocked to a beach in the Mersing district of southern Johor state since residents reported finding gold deposits there last week. Police say the prospectors, including housewives and children, are combing the beach with flashlights at night.
District police chief Harun Idris told The Associated Press “people are really excited.” Harun said natural gold deposits have been found in Mersing in recent years.
But another police officer, who didn’t want to be identified, said people were exaggerating the size and value of gold discoveries. He said “it’s gold dust actually,” and not worth the time and trouble to search for. I bet there is gold there and these rumors of dust were just started by some big company that want to get their greedy hands on it.
December 6th, 2007
There are rumors floating around the net that, Robert Hawkins, age 20 actually blogged about his desire to go out with a bang! What a sick way to gain notoriety. The current update is the 8 are dead and 2 are in critical condition, with three others injured. This gutless murderer was dead on the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
December 6th, 2007
Dominican Republic - A politician in the Dominican Republic wants to ban the bikini - on television at least. Opposition congressman Nestor Julio Cruz Pichardo says the skimpy swimsuits are contrary to the tropical Caribbean country’s traditions and harm impressionable youngsters.
Yet Dominican resorts commonly lure visitors to the Caribbean’s top vacation destination with advertisements portraying bikini-clad women on white-sand beaches fringed with palms.
Bikinis also have become an increasingly common sight on Dominican television, whether in news shots of tourists sunning on the beach, daytime fashion shows or in soap operas. The bill would set fines of up to $15,000 for broadcasters who violate the ban.
Cruz said Monday that images of women in revealing swimsuits “are limiting the intellect and deforming the vocational interests” of children in the Dominican Republic. It was not clear if Cruz had significant support from other legislators and besides that many Dominican women look very hot in bikinis!
December 3rd, 2007
I thought this was a very funny cartoon and it sure fits the ’strange but true’ category.
December 1st, 2007
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