Wha? News of the Weird

[tabby]

I debated which thread to put this story in, but decided that the twist is pretty weird...

A pair of the red shoes Judy Garland wore as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was stolen from the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota back in 2005. (Garland was born in Minnesota, in case you're wondering why there's a museum in the state.) The shoes were recovered in 2018, and the suspect was scheduled to go to trial today. He decided to plead Guilty, and we got the story about the theft.

Seems he thought, when he stole the shoes, that they were made of real rubies. He tried to sell them to a jewelry fence, who told him they were glass and sequins. He left the shoes with the fence, because he thought they were worthless (they were worth at least $1 million then).

People, if you're ever feeling bad about yourself, remember that you never thought that the prop shoes worn in a movie were made of real precious stones.

You can read the story on the Minnesota Public Radio website.

[cremetangerine82]

Tesla beer, anyone?

The new product, designed to be reminiscent of the Cybertruck's particularly angular design, costs $150 for just two bottles of beer, described by Tesla as "a Helles Lager with European Noble Hops Saaz and Hallertau Mittlefruh." The set comes with two ceramic beer steins, which, like [Elon] Musk's SpaceX rockets, are reusable.

The beer is brewed by Buzzrock Brewing Co., a California brewery not far from Tesla's Torrance showroom.

I just don't know how many cyber bros and rich assholes are actually going to buy this.

[MrsOldManBalls]

Gives a Trump Steaks vibe

[ladyboy]

Look at the success of Liquid Death. It could sell.

[cremetangerine82]

First-ever "Florida Man Games" to be held next year.

It ain’t the Olympics, but a group of Floridians plan to host competitions themed according to the collective antics of the beer-loving, gator-possessing, rap-sheet heavy, mullet-wearing social media phenomenon known as “Florida Man.”

Organizers of the “Florida Man Games” describe the competition as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth.” The games will poke fun at Florida’s reputation for producing strange news stories involving guns, drugs, booze and reptiles — or some combination of the four.

Among the contests planned for next February in St. Augustine, Florida, according to organizers, are the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course in which contestants jump over fences and through yards while being chased by real police officers; the Category 5 Cash Grab in which participants try to grab as much money in a wind-blowing booth; and the self-explanatory beer-belly wrestling.

Who wants to go?

[tazmin]

Bugs Bunny had it right.

[cremetangerine82]

Ha! I've always joked after the 2000 presidential election (my first; what a mess!) that we should sell Florida back to Spain!

US Customs officials seize giraffe feces from woman at Minnesota airport.

Federal customs agents pooh-poohed the plans of an Iowa woman who wanted to make jewelry from giraffe feces she picked up on a trip to Kenya and brought back to the U.S. in her luggage.

The woman declared the small box of feces when she was selected to have her belongings inspected upon arriving at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport on Sept. 29, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The woman, who was not identified, told officials she planned to use the waste to make a necklace, as she had done in the past with moose poop.

I...I give up on the human species.

[chiqui]

Bringing two topics together in this thread, you used to be able to buy bags of dried gator poop in Florida as souveniers.

[cremetangerine82]

Does it make good fertilizer?

[chiqui]

Don't know -- they were just little pieces, like two small lumps of charcoal.