EDIT: Source: http://www.theage.com.au/oddspot/index.html
OddSpotFriday November 10, 2006
New Zealand's first national Nutters' Conference this month aims to value the experience of madness, organisers say. Susie Crooks of mental health group, Lighthouse Trust, said the title had offended some but many others were supportive. She said the event was "run by nutters for the whole mental health sector".
Thursday November 9, 2006
Two police officers in New Mexico have sued Burger King, alleging personal injury and negligence after they were served hamburgers sprinkled with marijuana. "It gives a whole new meaning to the word 'whopper'," their lawyer said.
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The German Army has called up a dead dog for national service. Helga Koehlke, 53, of Rostock, received an official army letter demanding that her pet Pekingese Tommy Jakob, who died almost blind in 2002, report for a military medical examination with his ID card and a pair of swimming shorts.
Tuesday November 7, 2006
Urinals shaped like a woman's lips went on sale on eBay after being removed from a public toilet in Vienna following protests from women's groups, which said they were sexist. The lips have a red tongue and gleaming white teeth.
Monday November 6, 2006
Turkish education authorities have decided students in the nation's public schools will be able to study chess as an official part of the curriculum, a move welcomed by Russia's former world champion Garry Kasparov.
Saturday November 4, 2006
Hundreds of people protested in Muzaffarpur village in eastern India after police arrived to arrest a three-month-old boy for robbery. The infant's name was subsequently dropped from a list of people accused of robbing bus passengers last week.
Friday November 3, 2006
Saundra Naifeh, the Mayor of Edmond, Oklahoma, was left footsore and red-faced this week after personally distributing thousands of flyers discouraging under-age drinking only to find they mistakenly contained the number for a phone sex line.
Thursday November 2, 2006
An armed man went to the home of a drug dealer to collect on a debt and, when the dealer couldn't pay, he made off with the man's pet alligator. "I think he was going to hold (it) for ransom," said a sheriff in Frederic, Michigan.
Wednesday November 1, 2006
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's former hide-out is being converted into a tourist resort, overlooking Tora Bora in Afghanistan. One-time warlord Gul Agha Sherazi, now a local governor, said: "We want it to be known for tourism, not terrorism. It was known as a picnic spot long before anyone had heard of Osama bin Laden."
Tuesday October 31, 2006
An Auckland car salesman has written off a $170,000 Audi on a demo drive. Philip Pottinger was trying out the new Audi S6 Avant, which has a 5.2-litre, V10 motor. He rolled it six times, injuring a passenger. The car was the only one of its type in New Zealand. Pottinger, 27, faces a charge of reckless driving causing injury.
Monday October 30, 2006
A man accused of robbing a bank in San Diego on Saturday made an unusual choice for a getaway vehicle. Police responding to reports of the robbery of a branch of the Union Bank of California arrested the man, carrying a backpack, after he boarded a bus.
Saturday October 28, 2006
The building and a fire engine were destroyed in a blaze at Arundel Fire Station, which West Sussex fire commanders admit was not fitted with a smoke alarm. Fire crews from neighbouring towns were called to fight the fire.
Friday October 27, 2006
Paranoia is alive and well in Michigan, US. A plastic bottle with foul-smelling contents, found in a men's bathroom at Swartz Creek High School two weeks ago sparked an evacuation and a bomb squad visit. But lab results show that the bottle contained spoiled chocolate milk
Thursday October 26, 2006
A pigeon got stuck with a big bill when it became a pelican's lunch in London. The frantic pigeon struggled for more than 20 minutes before the pelican closed its bill and swallowed the smaller bird, shocking people strolling through St James' Park.
Wednesday October 25, 2006
Two prisoners in an Ivory Coast jail who courted and fell in love through a peephole have been released for a few hours to get married. Roland Bouabre, who was serving a three-year term for stealing a bicycle, married Emilie Yobouet, who was serving a year for kidnapping a child.
Tuesday October 24, 2006
The hunt is on for a member of the public who will become the new voice of Britain's Speaking Clock. People calling a hotline can have their voice recorded. The winner will be picked by judges, including current Speaking Clock Brian Cobby, 77, an actor who has had the job for 21 years. Organisers promised every accent would be considered.
Monday October 23, 2006
Two Massachusetts schools have joined a growing list of US schools to ban the age-old game of tag for fear that children may get hurt and their parents will sue. McCarthy and Willett elementary schools have ordered children to invent a new no-contact version of the game for safety reasons.
Friday October 20, 2006
Forget champagne and chocolates, the best food to perk up your sex life is cheese. A US study reveals that it contains more of the "love drug" phenylethylamine than chocolate.
Thursday October 19, 2006
Xiamen University in China is forcing its law and business students to take golf lessons as part of their studies to prepare them for a business world where deals are made on the golf course.
Wednesday October 18, 2006
School cook Theresa Topping has to be driven to work at the Derwent Infant and Junior School in York, England, by taxi each day because she is in fear of parents who have complained about her meals.
Tuesday October 17, 2006
To avoid spoiling commuters' breakfasts, Beijing has banned TV ads for the treatment of anal and intestinal ailments on morning rush-hour buses. The ads had caused numerous complaints, the Beijing News said. The ads will be replaced by public interest programs and Olympics publicity.
Monday October 16, 2006
A Florida man, annoyed at cheese or bread going mouldy or being taken by a rodent without triggering a mousetrap, has been issued with a US patent for a scented bait that can be sprayed or brushed onto a trap, retaining its scent for 20 years.
Saturday October 14, 2006
American bride-to-be Marcy Gant, 31, tried to part-exchange her four-year-old son - for her wedding dress. She had paid a deposit but twice offered her son as payment for the $320 balance. Iowa police were called and she was charged. She faces 10 years' jail and her two children have been taken into care.
Friday October 13, 2006
A British inventor cracked the riddle of how to boil the perfect egg - get rid of water. Simon Rhymes uses light bulbs instead of boiling water to cook an egg in six minutes inside a device about 30 centimetres tall called the Bulbed Egg Maker.
Greeting cards signed for a colleague's birthday have been banned by a company in Bournemouth, England. Alan and Thomas Ltd stopped the card signings, as jokes or comments about someone's age could be offensive under new age discrimination laws.
Wednesday October 11, 2006
A teenager was locked up by a magistrate yesterday after farting in court in Blackpool, England. Flatulent Joseph Wildy was thrown in the cells for 90 minutes after fuming magistrate Simon Bridge took exception to his foul-smelling outburst.
Tuesday October 10, 2006
A Chinese man serving 12 years for corruption has written a book to help police catch his old mistress. Huang Shishan, 42, former deputy director of a commercial bank, embezzled more than 600 million yuan ($A100 million). The book, Hongchun Zhouwen, literally means The Cursed Kiss of Rosy Lips.
Monday October 9, 2006
Croatian woman Natasha Timarovic, 27, received burns to her mouth and backside after lightning struck her and passed through her body. Lightning struck her building in Zadar. She was wearing rubber soles and experts believe the bolt shot out of her rear to a nearby shower curtain, sparing her life. Her pet gerbil was killed in the incident.
Saturday October 7, 2006
A Chinese man wanted by police on gun charges has given himself up after hiding for eight years in a cave at the back of his house. Liu Young, 35, from Fuzhou, dug a cave in a hill behind the bedroom of his house and put a wardrobe in front to hide the entrance.
Friday October 6, 2006
They are probably the world's most unusual "wanted" posters. German plastic surgeon Michael Koenig, cheated out of payment by women, has handed pictures of their enlarged breasts to Cologne police, in the hope the photos will help trace them. Bild newspaper has already printed a five-column picture of one "wanted" pair.
Thursday October 5, 2006
Women's skin ages faster than men's, says a German study that used lasers to measure damage from sun exposure and ageing. The study, published in a journal of the Optical Society of America, was based on a new technique in which doctors shine infrared light to look at the deeper layers of the skin.
Wednesday October 4, 2006
Ruben Filimon, the principal of Mihai Viteazul High School in Oradea, Romania, is to buy a breathalyser to test students and teachers in the mornings, after noticing that many appeared to be "very tired" when they came to school.
Tuesday October 3, 2006
Iranian Ahmadreza Nouri says a new computer game he designed gives players the chance to cut an oil shipping route to the US and is retaliation against US games that attack his country. Nouri says the game allows players to sink a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Monday October 2, 2006
A statue of former British PM Margaret Thatch...
