.5K Race

Registration for a .5K race in a small Texas town has already filled.  Organizers had set May 4 as the deadline to register but it quickly filled and they are apologizing on their website to those that can't sign up saying that they are already looking into ways to increase the number of participants next year.  The run is aimed at "underachievers" and will last about 10 minutes.  A beer is promised at the beginning and a sticker at the end along with a doughnut and coffee break in the middle.  Now, that's my kind of race!  Source: UPI

Wedding Meal

A newly married couple decided to treat their guests to a meal from McDonald's.  300 cheeseburgers were brought to surprised guests.  A traditional meal was served earlier in the evening.  The couple's love of fast food prompted the late night snack.  Their wedding planner suggested the treat and sent workers at the venue to the restaurant in a van to bring the food back for guests.  Now that's my kind of wedding reception.  Source: UPI

A Dog and a Goat

It happened in Minnesota on Highway 61 near Hastings.  Motorists spotted a dog and a goat walking together alongside the road.  They managed to keep the two animals safe until an officer arrived.  The animals were transported to an animal shelter.  Only in Minnesota can a dog and a goat be friends and then get busted for walking near the highway lol.  I'm hoping they either found their home or got a new one where they can stay together.  Source: UPI

Ride a Harley

The Harley Davidson Company has announced that they are looking for interns.  The company will teach interns to ride, give them a bike, and let them travel for 12 weeks.  When it's all done, the person will be able to keep the bike and all they have to do along the way is post about it on social media.  What an amazing adventure.  Source: UPI

Baby Human?

A woman on Facebook congratulated her friend for giving birth after seeing pictures of the "baby."  But it wasn't a human baby at all.  It was a baby wombat found on the road after it's family had been killed by a motorist.  What followed was a very awkward apology.  The lesson here is to look closely at the pictures before commenting.  Source: Mirror

Ocean Clean-Up

A machine has been created that will hopefully clean up the Pacific Garbage Patch.  It's a tube that will collect the garbage and bring back debris every month so that it can be recycled.  The plan is to have it all cleaned up within 5 years.  It will be towed to the patch this summer.  It will be nice if it truly can do the job.  Source: Fast Company

Tarantula Burger

Would you eat a tarantula burger?  There's a restaurant in North Carolina that makes burgers with exotic meats in April of every year.  They've used iguana, camel, alligator, python, turtle, and various insects.  This year it was a crunchy, full-grown, oven-roasted tarantula on top of a burger.  Not my idea of a good burger but each to their own.  Source: Yahoo News

Chupacabra

Does the evidence show that the Chupacabra is real?  A large animal has killed two dogs in Argentina.  Some say it looks like a camel and others say it is half human, half animal.  Witnesses have gotten a picture of the creature.  It's been called a demon and has been seen before in other places.  Chupacabra or something else?  Source: New York Post

Prom and a Blizzard

In Forest Lake, MN, the local fire department came to the rescue of prom.  They opened their firehouse so that kids could have their prom pictures taken inside.  Because of 15" of snow forecast for Saturday night, prom pictures couldn't be taken outside.  So for three hours, students had their photos snapped in and around the equipment.  It was so popular, they've asked the fire department to do it every year even if there isn't a blizzard.  Source: Yahoo News

Texas License Plate

A man in Texas thought he could get away with making his own license plate.  He may have gotten away with it except the cardboard he used was obvious...seriously?  Cardboard?  What was he thinking?  Even a child would recognize that was wrong.  And the magic marker was sloppy.  I just have to laugh and the stupidity.  Source: UPI

Who Stole the Pot?

Eight Argentina cops are in trouble for some missing pot.  They were all interviewed about the missing marijuana and all told the same story.  It was carried off by mice.  But the evidence doesn't add up to that.  If mice would've carried off almost 1200 pounds of pot for food, there would be a lot of dead mice around the warehouse.  I'm sure it seemed like a good story in the beginning.  Source: Fox News

Don'ts of Applying for a Job.

A woman applying for a job at a New Hampshire County Jail was arrested.  Not for applying but because there was a warrant for her arrest in Maine.  Kristina Hoefs applied at the Hillsborough County Department of Corrections on Friday where workers realized that she had an outstanding warrant.  So instead of being hopeful of a job, she's now hopeful of being released from jail.  Source: Yahoo News

Commemorative Plate

The upcoming royal wedding has given rise to a lot of commemorative items.  One of them has people scratching their heads and wondering why?  On the right side is a picture of Meghan Markle and on the left side, it's supposed to be a picture of Prince Harry. But instead, it's a picture of Ed Sheeran going by the name of Prince Henry.  The creator said that it's supposed to be a joke but some are saying it's in poor taste.  Source: Mirror

Would You Stay?

It's claimed that The Queen Mary is haunted.  Many visitors have said that they have seen spooky apparitions along with lights and faucets turning on and off randomly.  Several ghost hunters have done investigations on the cruise ship and found evidence of the paranormal.  Now the most haunted room on the ship is being opened to overnight guests.  Stateroom B340 can be rented for $499 a night starting this coming Friday the 13th.  Would you stay there?  Source: UPI

Blake Shelton's Book

7-year-old Marley Parker was issued her Reader in school.  She discovered that when Blake Shelton was 6, he had the same book.  Marley was so proud to add her name to the list of owner's of the book.  Her mother wasn't quite as excited because it only showed that the school desperately needed to update it's materials.  Aw mom, let Marley enjoy her brush with someone famous.  Source: Yahoo News

Want to Live in Space?

If you're interested in staying in space, your chance is coming.  The Aurora Space Station will open in 2021 and will allow 6 people to stay in the luxury accommodations.  It's going to cost a bunch though.  $80,000 to reserve a spot with a $9.5 million price tag.  The cost includes three months of training before blasting into space.  Would you do it if you had the money?  Source: Space News

Need a Prom Date?

If you can't find a date for prom, why not ask your boss?  That's what a Florida teen did.  Tanner is 17, a senior at Winter Springs High School, and an employee at the local Chick-fil-A.  He asked his manager to prom because he couldn't find a date.  She declined but offered to advertise on their sign. 

Tanner is hoping for good results.  Source: UPI

Weird Scene at Playground

Residents and police in a North Carolina town were surprised to find a mock concert set up at a local playground.  Dolls and toys were arranged in a semi-circle as if they were watching a saxophonist perform.  Police determined that there was no criminal intent and left the display where it was even including two lit candles.  One little boy at the park wondered if the toys come to life at night when no one is there.  Source: UPI

Need an Off-ramp?

If you needed an off-ramp but were in a disagreement with the government about fines imposed for selling cigarettes on Native American land, what would you do?  Well one Native American decided to build a ramp for himself that led right to his business where he sells cigarettes.  The Federal Highway Administration in New York isn't sure if there needs to be approval for the off-ramp because it's on Native American land.  I guess that's one way to get customers to a business.  Source: UPI

What's in a Name?

A comedian name Ross Smith got an invitation on Social Media to go on a guy's weekend.  The only odd thing was that it came from 3 complete strangers.  Their friend, Ross Smith, backed out and they needed someone with the same name to use the ticket.  After some consideration, The comedian decided to take them up on their offer.  Just because of his name, he got a free weekend trip to Hamburg.  Sometimes it's nice to have a common name.   Source: Mirror

UFO

Two pilots in separate incidents saw something fly over the top of their planes.  The first happened about 3:30 pm on February 24 as a Learjet flew over Arizona.  The pilot asks if any plane flew over them and the FAA responds with "negative."  With another plane in the area, the FAA in Albuquerque alerts them to the object.  American Airlines Flight 1095 replies within a minute that the object just flew over them as well.  This all happened about 500 miles from Roswell, New Mexico, where UFO stories are plentiful.   The controller, the FAA, and the pilots have no idea what it was.  This all comes three months after the Navy released videos taken by Navy pilots that gave an inside look into the secret investigation into UFO's.  So, was it really a spaceship or some other ordinary object?  Source: CBS News

Carpool

A mom took carpooling to a new level when she put her car in park to go back inside her apartment to get something.  Her husband and daughter were still in the car when it popped out of park and rolled into the apartment complex swimming pool.  Both managed to get out and there were no injuries but it's a somber reminder to make sure the car will not roll forward when it's put in park.  Source: UPI

T-Rex

A T-Rex at an amusement park was really blowing smoke and flames.  The animatronic dinosaur caught fire possibly from an electrical problem.  It is a total loss but one of the owners said that it made for some spectacular imagery as it burned.  He hopes to replace it soon.  Now that would be the day to go to a dinosaur park!  When else are you going to see a dinosaur go extinct?   Source: Yahoo News

Whales

About 150 whales have beached themselves in Australia.  When rescuers arrived they unfortunately found that about half of them were already dead.  They're doing everything possible to save the rest of them.  Warnings have been issued telling people to stay away from the beach because the dead whales could attract sharks to the area.  Rescuers say that they're waiting for the right conditions to get the whales back out to sea.  Source: BBC

Toilet Clogging Mystery

Sheboygan police have a mystery on their hands.  Actually a mystery in one of their public restrooms.  Someone has been plugging a toilet in a woman's restroom by inserting a plastic bottle into the toilet's pipe.  It's happened several times over the last three years.  They've had to hang a unique sign in the restroom

showing that no trash should be put in the toilets.  The security cameras show a man in the area so he may be a suspect but no one knows for sure.  Why would anyone do that?  Source: Fox News

Getaway Car

What is a bank robber supposed to do if he doesn't have a getaway car?  Call a taxi of course.  An Indiana man did just that.  He called a cab to take him to the bank, robbed it, and then rode home in the cab.  He even paid the driver with some of his ill-gotten gains.  It took police less than an hour to find and arrest the 19-year-old.  The dumber the criminal, the quicker they get caught.  Source: Yahoo News

Wrong Driver's License

A driver in the UK was stopped by police and handed over a fake driver's license.  For some reason he thought that the officer wouldn't recognize Homer Simpson.  The driver was arrested for not having insurance and no license. Doh!  Don't hand over Homer Simpson's license to a police officer...they know even if they don't live in the US.  Source: SkyNews

Flippy the Robot

The owners of the Robot that could make 2000 burgers in one day have shut it down.  It's not because the robot couldn't handle the job, it's because it's human helpers couldn't keep up on prepping the burgers.  The owners say that Flippy will be back.  I guess they have to make some improvements to the humans.  Source: NY Daily News

Mistaken Text

A woman went shopping for a dress by herself and decided to take a couple pictures to text to her friend for an opinion.  The text went to a complete stranger instead.  The man receiving the text took a picture of his kids giving the dress a thumbs up.  It all went viral on Twitter.  The father then sent a picture of one of his sons also giving a thumbs up.  The boy hadn't been there for the original picture because he was in the hospital for chemo.  Because of the social media exchange, the young boy's gofundme page exceeded it's goal that night.  The father thanked everyone for helping in their time of need.  And all of this happened because of a text.  So heartwarming!  Source: Yahoo News

Alexa Laughs

Alexa is Amazon's voice-based digital assistant.  She is programmed to laugh but only if asked to do it.  So when Alexa started laughing for no reason, it was creepy.  Amazon is working on a fix but if I had one of those things, I'd be turning it off until the fix was in place.  Source: UPI

A New Album

Ever wondered what message was sent up into space on Voyager I and again on Voyager 2 in 1977?  Recordings were offered in 1992 on CD and have also been available on SoundCloud for a while.  But now humans can order it on vinyl from Light in the Attic and Ozma Records.  Source: Huffpost

Robot Cooks

A robot is flipping burgers at a fast food joint.  A human has to put the burgers on the grill but then the robot takes over.  The future is upon us.  Only one of the restaurant's stores will be using the robot flipper for now.  Source: UPI

Drunk Uber Ride

How drunk do you have to be to order a $1600 Uber Ride?  A man got drunk in West Virginia and ordered a ride home to New Jersey.  He thought that he was going to the place where he was staying in West Virginia but that's not what happened.  Two hours into the ride, the driver woke him up.  He didn't know who the driver was or where he was.  That's an expensive night of drinking.  Source: ABC News

Elvis

A man named Elvis Presley has entered the race for an Arkansas congressional seat.  Elvis D. Presley had his name legally changed to that of the late rock and roll star.  He is an Elvis impersonator as well.  So even though Elvis A. Presley will not be on the ballot, Elvis D. Presley will be and may even win the election.  Source: UPI

Is It a Ghost?

A mom was checking on her baby with a monitor when she noticed something a bit creepy.  An image of another child is lying behind her baby.  She doesn't know exactly what it is but other people have an idea.  They say that it is a family member who has passed that is watching over the baby.  The mom lost her son when he was 9 years old and people think it may be him protecting his sister.  It sure looks creepy.  Could it be a ghost or a guardian angel?  Source: Mirror

Riding Naked

Some guy thought it was ok to go out riding his ATV while naked.  He then compounded stupidity by leading police on a chase for an hour.  It started in Kansas and made a turn in Missouri.  He was apprehended and officers believe drugs were involved.  You think?  Source: Kansas City Star

Ketchup Lover

I have said many times that french fries are an excuse to eat ketchup.  However, I am not going to drink a whole bottle of it.  A man from India did it though to achieve a world record.  He downed the bottle of ketchup in under 30 seconds to make it into the Guinness World Records book.  And it's not his only record surrounding food.  Source: UPI

T-Rex Loose

A concerned citizen in Philadelphia called the police after spotting a dangerous Tyrannosaurus loose in the neighborhood.  The police were dispatched to investigate the situation.  What they found was a father walking his kid to school. 

I have to wonder, did that person really think that T-Rex's still existed?  Source: Fox News

Searching For Treasure

It might sound fun and exciting to search for buried treasure; especially if you're the one to find it.  But, it is worth your life?  Forrest Fenn claims that he hid a small box in the Rocky Mountains that is worth $2 million.  Four people have died searching for it.  Fenn wanted the search to be fun but has decided to release more clues so that people don't go looking in dangerous places.  Source: NPR

Statues at the Olympics

There are three statues at the Olympic games that are turning heads.  They're wearing a helmet or bullet that covers their entire head...that's it...nothing more.  And they are anatomically correct.

The artist is from South Korea and says that the statues represent the human desire for a wonderful body, wealth, and honor.  Source: Yahoo News

On The List

There's a list of must-see roadside attractions in the US.  When traveling, I love to see things like that so I thought I'd check through the list.  Imagine my surprise to see that the giant 6-pack in La Crosse made the list.  I've only seen two of the attractions so I'm thinking there's a road trip in my future.  Source: Offbeat

Family Fest Helps The Hunger Task Force

Family Fest is February 25 at the LaCrosse Center.  It goes from 11am - 4pm this year.  There is so much fun to be had while you're there.  Bouncy houses, entertainment on the stage, lots of booths with ideas for family fun, and food for purchase.  Free Mt. Olympus water park passes, goody bags, and a chance to get Showtime tickets and win WWE tickets are some of the benefits of going.  And it's FREE admission.  We only ask for a donation of a non-perishable food item if possible.  All of the food will be given to the Hunger Task Force to help your neighbors in need.  Join us in helping the Hunger Task Force at Family Fest on February 25.  Family Fest

Where was Scooby Doo?

Three backpackers found themselves in high water.  They were found on top of their van which is painted like the Mystery Machine after flood waters partially submerged their vehicle overnight.  Rescuers said that it was a good thing that they didn't try to get to dry land themselves because there could be crocs in the water.  Maybe those darn kids needed Scooby Doo to help.  Source: UPI

He's Going to Pay

The Eagles fan who took a souvenir from the big game has agreed to pay for it to be replaced.  He stole his seat from the stadium.  Why would anyone do something like that?  I've heard about all of the damage done by Eagles fans but seriously, go home and do it there.  When you're in another city, be courteous and respectful.  Don't destroy or steal property.  He's been identified and has offered to pay for the repair plus labor.  It's going to cost him $125.  I think that's too small of a price to pay for what he did.  It's surprising how he got out of the stadium and through airport security with the seat but he did.  Source: Star Tribune

McDonald's French Fries

There's hope for balding people all over the world thanks to McDonald's French Fries.  An ingredient used in the fries has been found to regrow hair in mice.  The chemical dimethylpolysiloxane is used in the oil to keep it from splashing.  It's had hugely successful results regrowing 5,000 hair follicles simultaneously so the scientists have hope that it will be just as successful in humans.  Source:  New York Post

Free Tickets

With all the snow and the cold that we've been having, it's always nice to take the family to have some indoor fun.  Once again, we'll be hosting the Family Fest at the LaCrosse Center.  We're taking over two huge sections and filling them with fun.  Vendors will be on hand with ideas for family activities, there will be entertainment on the stage, bouncy houses, and food for purchase.  It's entirely free and when entering, each person will receive a voucher for free Mt. Olympus water park passes.

Plus the first 125 families will get free Showtime tickets.  And we've got WWE tickets to give away.  Register while at Family Fest.  What a great way to spend a cold afternoon with the kids.  Family Fest

Puppy Bowl

The Pup-triots and the B-eagles will play in the big game on Sunday.  That would be the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.  I watch it every year as they feature adoptable pets in the big game.  It is just adorable and a good alternative to all that football nonsense.  Pre-game shows will start at 8:30am Eastern and the show starts at 3:00pm Eastern.  This year all of the animals are from areas hit by natural disasters.  I would love to go and adopt all of them.  Source: Sporting News

Blue, Super, and Total Eclipse

January 30 brought us a Blue Moon and a Super Moon.  The Blue Moon is called that because it's the second full moon in a month.  And it's a Super Moon because it's close to the earth and looks larger than it normally does.  On January 31 we're treated to a total eclipse of the moon.  The Western US will have the best view but the Midwest should be able to see a partial eclipse.  You can see NASA's video if you aren't up at 4:30am, there's too much cloud cover, or it's not a good viewing area.  Source: Express