xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

British Army officers examining highly motivated potential recruits in the Commonwealth’s Pacific island of Fiji reported in November encountering an alarming number of the men with marbles sewn under the skin of their penises, apparently to heighten pleasure during sex. According to an Agence France-Presse report, Capt. Sarah East said that the marbles were not an automatic disqualifier.

Several news outlets in Johannesburg, South Africa, reported in November that, in front of several witnesses, a 20-foot-long African rock python swallowed a 10-year-old boy in the brush near Lamontville (which is near Durban). Some experts, including snake park owner Craig Smith, said the evidence and the witnesses’ accounts were credible, especially since the snake had probably recently awakened from hibernation and was famished. According to the boy’s terrified playmates, it took about three hours for him to completely disappear.

Humming Rage: Sheila Raven Lord, 49, stabbed a companion with a steak knife because he was humming a Megadeth song louder than the Celine Dion song she was listening to (Glenview, Ill., November).

Mailbox Door Rage: George Krushinski was charged with planting small bombs in a mailbox and a letter carrier’s vehicle because a weekend carrier had been leaving Krushinski’s mailbox door down (Lexington, Ky., November) (“I’ve warned you bastards many times about leaving my mailbox open,” Krushinski wrote, “(and) now you will pay.”)

Wrong Socks Rage: High school student-musician Trevor LeBlanc won $25,000 in a lawsuit against his band director, Tom Cole, who, at the 2001 Tournament of Roses Parade chewed out LeBlanc for wearing the wrong-color socks (San Diego, November) (“I ought to wring your (expletive deleted in original story) neck,” Cole reportedly said as he grabbed LeBlanc by the throat.)
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd

NEWS OF THE WEIRD