T-Rex

A man in North Dakota decided to plow snow in an interesting way.  During a snow storm that dropped about 40 inches in Bismarck, he plowed in a T-Rex costume.  He got the job done and delighted the neighbors.  dinosaur

DUI reversal

An Oregon man in a motorized wheelchair was arrested and convicted of DUI after hitting a vehicle in a crosswalk.  It was determined that he was under the influence and the police charged him in accordance with a law that equates motorized wheelchairs with bicycles.  The man appealed and said that he should be considered the same as a pedestrian. appeal works

Go Fund Me

A man in South Carolina is determined to keep Betty White safe from 2016.  He started a Go Fund Me account and has raised over $2000.  He's offered to fly to wherever Betty is and stand guard until January 1.  And if Betty isn't having any of it, he plans to donate the money to a local theater group in the hopes that they will find the next big star.  Betty White

free pizza

A pizzeria in New York has announced that they will give a free slice of pizza to anyone wearing Star Wars costumes.  They teamed with NYC Star Wars Fans group and will likely hand out 10,000 or so slices during a 48-hour event.  The owner of the pizzeria had met Carrie Fisher once and was a huge Star Wars fan.  He is doing the giveaway in her honor.  Star Wars Cosplay

driving in snow

In California, there are chain control stops.  This is where the Highway Patrol makes sure that chains are fitted properly and in place when they need to be.  They got a surprise when a guy came into the area for inspection and had zip ties attached to his tires.  Those aren't legal in California.  Plus I don't think they're safe.  But he's definitely creative...have to give him that.  zip ties

Rogue One

Some characters in "Rogue One" are no longer with us.  Peter Cushing played Grand Moff Tarkin and he appears in Rogue One but he has been dead since 1994.  The combination of a live actor and visual effects brought his important character back to life.  A young Carrie Fisher appears at the end of the movie using the same techniques.  Some of the footage in the X-Wing fighters was actually footage from "A New Hope."  Disney did a great job of adding "Easter Eggs" in the movie as well.  I can't wait to see it again so I can catch some of the stuff that I missed.  special effects

 

only in Wisconsin

A young bear in northern Wisconsin was found wandering on a highway and interacting with cars.  It would put it's paws on the windows and lick the salt.  Because it was very comfortable with humans, it was taken to a rehab facility where it will finish it's hibernation.  In the spring, it will be evaluated to see if it can be released into the wild but probably will have to be taken to a zoo because it's too familiar with people.  black bear

May the Force be with you on your final journey

We have lost another great...Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60.  Her work on Star Wars VIII is finished so we will get to witness her awesome talent once again.  She will be missed.  Princess Leia

Teddy's Christmas adventure

Steven Laudeman learned that Teddy had been misplaced on a flight from Dallas to Detroit.  His 8-year-old owner's mother put out messages on social media in the hopes of getting Teddy back.  Steven went on a mission to find Teddy.  He retraced the little girl's steps and finally found Teddy sitting on top of a garbage can.  He took Teddy on an adventure and photographed his exploits before making sure that Teddy was returned.  lost bear...found

peanut butter and jelly

A suspect in some robberies in Cheyenne WY left a half-eaten pb&j sandwich behind after his first burglary.  The DNA from the sandwich led police to arrest Zachary Munoz.  That's just the same as leaving your ID behind.  In my law classes, one of my instructors always said that only stupid criminals get caught.  idiot

Chewbacca sings

Merry Christmas from Chewbacca as he sings "Silent Night" in his native language.  Scott Andersen is the brilliant mind behind this video.  Merry Wookie Christmas

alligator stays

A woman in Lakeland, FL has been fighting with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to keep her pet alligator.  She dresses him in costumes, makes public appearances,and even lets him sit on an ATV.  She has won her fight and will be allowed to keep "Rambo" but won't be able to make the public appearances anymore.  

Rambo

more snow

Seems like no place is immune to snowfall.  For the first time in 40 years, the Sahara Desert has been blanketed with snow.  Of course it didn't stay long.  After a day, it had all melted.  It was still there long enough to delight locals.  snow in the desert

irony

It's the time of year when businesses have Christmas parties.  The New Mexico Department of Health is no exception.  But after having their luncheon last week, about 70 employees reported getting sick.  I would think working for a health department would be a guarantee that no one would get sick.  I guess no one is safe.  ill employees

most annoying word or phrase

A poll in America has found that "whatever" tops the list of most annoying word or phrase.  It irritates 38% of the people polled losing a little bit of ground from last year when it annoyed 43% of those who answered the poll.  "No offense, but," "Ya know, right," "I can't even," and "huge" also made the list.  irritating word

unwanted Christmas presents

Did you ever get a present that you really didn't want?  Well Burger King in Miami is offering an option to get rid of it.  On December 26, they will exchange it for a Whopper because they feel that everyone should get something that they want for Christmas.  The gifts will then be donated.  gifts for Whoppers

Jedi-ism

The Religion of the Jedi is not a true religion.  That's according to the Charity Commission for England and Wales.  The Temple of the Jedi Order will not get charitable status because they're not a real organized religion.  The Commission ruled that the Texas based group is mainly an online organization and doesn't meet the criteria to be approved.  The group claims that they promote "goodwill, understanding, compassion, and serenity."  The Temple of the Jedi Order was ranked as the 7th most popular religion in 2011.  I may have to check that out.  Temple of the Jedi Order

snow

I went to Hawaii when I was a kid and spent two weeks there.  Never once did I see snow or even think about it.  But apparently they had a winter storm warning over the weekend and were expecting a foot of snow.  Sure, it's in the mountains on the peaks but still who expects snow in Hawaii?  The temps on the summits were in the 20s to mid 30s.  How crazy is that?  I guess Hawaii hasn't heard about global warming yet.  storm in Hawaii

walking the dog

St. Rose Hospital in Las Vegas is a rare place to see a dog in the hallway.  But it was even stranger to see a pooch walking like a human and decked out in a dress and bow. The dog was following it's owner down the hallway bringing amusement to all who saw it.  cute

driver's license picture

A man in Maine has won an appeal to wear a religious head piece in his photo for his driver's license.  Phelan Moonsong is an ordained Pagan Priest and wears goat horns except when he's sleeping or bathing.  He claims they are his antennae and help him educate others about his religion.  He's very pleased with his new photo.  headwear

Blue's Clues

Steve left the Blue's Clues over 10 years ago and many speculated why he did it. Some thought that he had died or was suffering from drug addiction. Others thought perhaps he left to pursue his music career. But Steve is finally setting the record straight...he was getting older and losing his hair and just thought that it was time to go.  
He says:

“People think I left the show to pursue a music career. That didn’t happen at all.. I left the show because it was just simply time to go. I was pretty much playing a boyish, older-brotherish kind of character on the show. I was getting older; I was losing my hair; a lot of the original gangsters on the show, like the people who created it, were all moving on to other careers. It just felt like time. I just had a gut feeling like it was time to go.”

why Steve left 

stealing soap

It was a comedy of errors for a couple of brothers in New Jersey.  They stole 30 6-packs of soap from a supermarket.  After putting the soap in a bag, they ran to getaway but were stopped by a trash can.  Once they were up and running again, it was a shopping cart that got in their way.  They got up again and ran around a corner where they encountered a police officer investigating an accident.  It just wasn't their day.  thieves' bad day

power outage

In Seattle, 172 electric customers were without power when a fish fell on a power line.  Best that the utility can figure out is that the suspect salmon was dropped by an eagle.  

"Something fishy about south Seattle outage: Bird dropped fish on power lines causing 2 hr outage for 172 customers," Seattle City Light tweeted.

They also tweeted that sadly the fish did not survive.  Seattle outage

Jimi Hendrix

A newly discovered plant is being named after Jimi Hendrix.  It's a rare species of succulent and is found in Baja, CA and Mexico.  The brilliant pinkish-white blooms die in the spring and re-sprout in the fall.  The people who discovered it were listening to a Hendrix song when they found it and decided to name it after him.  Dudleya hendrixii

above and beyond

A Postal carrier in North Carolina is a Christmas hero.  The engine of her mail truck caught fire and she sprang into action.  After pulling to the side of the road, she managed to save all of the packages.  With the help of a bystander, they rescued all of the packages from the burning vehicle with only a few of them getting wet from the firefighters.  Those will be returned to the sender to be repackaged and delivered later this week.  hero

bank robber

A man checked himself out of rehab and decided to rob a bank.  After checking himself out of the hospital, he got into a cab and went to a bank where he gave the teller a note. $5,000 was his bounty but he made several mistakes during his escape.  He wrote the note on the back of his discharge papers and left that behind.  Then he left a bag with over half the money along with his wallet, driver's license, and clothing worn in the robbery in the taxi.  It didn't take police long to arrest him.  stupid criminal

Christmas photo

A military wife in Colorado wanted to have a Christmas photo with her entire family but her husband was deployed and wouldn't be back until next month.  So she got creative and had her hubby have his picture taken with a sign that said "Merry."  She had a photo of her and the kids taken with her holding a similar sign that read, Christmas."  She then digitally put the two together and got her family Christmas photo.  She posted it to Instagram and it's since gone viral.  family together at Christmas

stolen car

A woman in DC was arrested for violating an order to stay away from a housing complex.  She was in handcuffs and placed in the back seat of the car but while the officer was outside of the vehicle, she managed to get in the front seat and drive away.  After a chase and a crash, she was apprehended.  Maybe they should keep the keys away from the prisoners.  cop chase

scary encounter

A Florida man felt some vibrations under his feet and went to investigate.  What he found was an alligator watching him from a storm drain.  It was hissing at him and he just backed away.  He's spotted the gator before behind his house and has taken video of a bear on his property.  The encounters have taught him to respect nature and give the critters their space.  alligator

police aren't always right

Police in Australia were embarrassed after they had a stand-off with an empty house.  Seven hours they waited for a suspect to come out of the house when they decided to enter it.  There was no one there.  They seized a car and a motorcycle that they believed to be stolen.  No word on where their suspect is.  stand-off

baby lion

A toddler visited a zoo in Georgia.  His name, Aryeh, which means lion in Hebrew, dressed as a lion on his visit.  He went up to the glass and interacted with the majestic creatures.  The lions were just as interested in him as he was in them.  The young child put his hand up to the glass and the lions did the same.  It only ended when Aryeh crawled down the ledge and away from the glass.  So cute

deer herd

A herd of deer delayed an Arizona woman from getting to her job.  Jane Adams was heading to work at 1:15am when she came upon a herd of deer in the street.  It's a residential neighborhood so she was completely surprised by the gathering. She recorded the scene on her cell phone and showed it to kids at the store where she worked as evidence of Santa being in town.  video

house drop

A man in Maine was having a dispute with his son and used a front-end loader to repeatedly pick up and drop his son's mobile home.  He was upset that the son wasn't paying the scheduled rent payments and about debris in the yard.  He learned that his grandson was in the home and decided to stop at that point.  Luckily the child wasn't hurt but grandpa is going to jail.  idiot

deer in town

Three deer have found their way to a park in Manhattan.  Residents are surprised to see them and wonder how they got on the island.  Some say that perhaps they took a swim to get there.  They've ventured outside the park looking for food and water but quickly return.  Some residents have left water for them and the deer are eating from the shrubbery. Rangers are monitoring the deer but under the law, cannot relocate them.  visitors to Harlem

Santa

A Santa in Pennsylvania paid off nearly $50,000 worth of layaway for 194 customers.  He called the store and offered to pay for all of the layaways that the store had.  After a check was delivered for the items, the store manager notified the customers who were very grateful to pick up their bounty.  Santa strikes again

modified car

A mechanic in Illinois decided to modify a child's Power Wheels toy car.  It now can go up to 40 mph.  He used a 5 horsepower 160cc Honda engine to soup up the car.  And he used parts he had laying around his garage to reinforce it. He's got a video of him driving it down the street. Luckily he's wearing a helmet.  car

crazy crash

A driver in Australia was caught on camera going backwards down a residential street.  It travels up a curb and along a sidewalk before ending up in a yard.  After getting back on the road, it does a backward U-turn and slams into the back of a parked car.  The drunk driver was arrested and the video was posted to youtube.  I'm surprised that the driver didn't cause more damage than they did.  drunk driver

Lowe's hires a dog

In Abilene TX, the local Lowe's was looking for a part-time employee.  One person who came for an interview was Clay Luthy who is a disabled Air Force Veteran.  He brought his service dog Charlotte with him.  Clay was the best for the job and was offered the position.  Lowe's also allowed Charlotte to be by his side.  She even has her own official Lowe's vest and is delighting customers.  Judy and Brian Rose took a picture and praised Lowe's for hiring both Clay and Charlotte.  They posted it on Facebook for their friends to see.  But the post went viral.  They've since returned to the store to apologize for bringing so much attention to Clay and his dog but he's not bothered by it.  Way to go Lowe's!

ice hotel

It's that time of the year when ice hotels pop up around the world.  Built entirely of ice, they offer a unique experience for travelers.  When the warm weather comes, they hotels melt.  But now there's permanent ice hotel in Sweden.  It's being built in a solar powered refrigerating plant.  Guests can experience the cold all year round.  sleeping on ice

car troubles

A car owner in Missouri heard a squeak coming from under the hood so naturally they took it to the mechanic to get it fixed.  The mechanic wasn't able to find anything wrong until he heard scratching when the engine wasn't running.  Thinking that it could be a rodent, he went looking.  But he found a small bird instead.  It was just hanging out in the air filter housing.  The bird was so friendly that it sat on his finger.  It was taken outside and let go.  Problem fixed!

odd shopper

A Maryland dollar store had a shopper that isn't normally seen in the aisles of a store.  Somehow a beaver got inside and wreaked havoc on the place.  Thankfully not much damage was done and animal control removed the pesky critter and returned it to a wildlife rehabilitator.  beaver

Otter joins party

Heather and her husband John were kayaking in Northern California to celebrate his birthday when they saw a raft of otters.  They stayed 50 feet away and were just observing when one of the otters decided to swim to the couple.  It got onto John's kayak and had a fun time rolling around and nibbling on some rope and a shoe.  John's visitor stayed for about 10 minutes before slipping back into the water.  visitor

Cat burglar

A would-be burglar got stuck in the entryway to a bank.  The poor cat somehow got in between the glass doors at the bank and was discovered peering longingly out the door.  A Twitter user named Jaimee posted that he had contacted animal rescue and the restaurant next to the bank where they assured him they would make sure that the cat was ok.  trapped inside bank

friendly Wisconsin deer

Brian Powers was hunting near Wausau over the weekend when he got an unexpected visitor.  A young deer walked up to him and wanted some affection.  Brian noticed that someone had given the deer an unusual accessory...an orange scarf.  Someone wants the deer to remain safe and is hoping the bright orange around it's neck will help.  Brian posted videos of his encounter with the friendly deer to youtube.  In one of the videos he can be heard telling the little deer to "keep your head low, man.  Make sure people see that orange, alright?"  orange scarf