There are many times in all our lives when we need news that really isn’t. Sometimes we need news that doesn’t report the number of home foreclosures in Michigan; the number of soldiers killed in Iraq; nor the number of sexual blunders by any elected official.
That, dear readers, is why when I need a little lightheartedness and or a chuckle, I hop on the web and search out News of the Weird (http://newsoftheweird.blogspot.com). News of the Weird is ‘Breaking News Culled for Your Eyebrow-lifting, Sanity-gauging Pleasure by America’s Weird-News Anchorman, Chuck Shepherd.?
Chuck’s the man when it comes to gathering all the weird news that’s fit to print. Why, just this week I went to Chuck’s place and was able to read about ‘Cypriot-born eccentric Stelios Arcadious.? What is weird about Stelios is not that he is a ‘performance artist,? rather that he has three ears. Yep, two on his head and a third . . . well, read below the story from the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail.
‘Performance artists are known for pushing the boundaries, but one Australian has astonished his contemporaries by having a third ear implanted onto his arm.
‘The Cypriot-born eccentric Stelios Arcadious spent 10 years searching for a surgeon willing to perform the controversial operation.
‘He got his wish after working as a Research Fellow at Nottingham Trent University’s Digital Research Unit. The ear was grown in a lab from cells and implanted into the 61-year-old’s left forearm in 2006.
‘Mr. Arcadious said he thought art ‘should be more than simply illustrating ideas.? Once the ear has fully developed, he hopes to get a microphone implanted as well.
?’It is more of a relief at present than an ear, but it is still recognizable as an ear,? he said.
?’The last operation was in September 2006 and it’s only now that I’m about ready for the next step.
?’I hope to have a tiny microphone implanted to it that will connect with a bluetooth transmitter; that way you can listen to what my ear is hearing.??
By the way, there are full-color photos of Stelios with his third ear, growing out of his left forearm. It actually looks like there is an ear under his skin, trying to pop out — sort of like the alien that popped out of peoples? stomachs in the Sigourney Weaver sci-fi flicks of the same name. Regardless, it wasn’t a good look in Sigourney’s movie and it is not a good look on this dude’s arm. I am sure I will have nightmares of this man and his third ear sometime in my future. I at least have this to look forward to as I grow older.
Chuck divides his news of the weird into categories. You read his commentary and then click on to and through a link to whatever news agency the original report came from. His reports fall, usually, into one of these categories:
Civilization in Decline
The Human Condition Today
NOTW Lite
Your Daily Loser
5-Star Special
Updates
The following was from the NOTW Lite (News of the Weird Lite), and little tidbits like this can make even the bluest boy smile.
Pepsi man punches out
Coke man during delivery
By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pepsi has been trying to best Coke for years in the world-wide cola war, but Pepsi seems to have landed a blow in a hinterlands skirmish recently at a Wal-Mart in Indiana County.
An employee from each company was delivering products to the Wal-Mart on Oakland Avenue in White Township on Monday morning and ‘apparently bickering back and forth? as they worked, state police said. It’s not clear exactly what the bickering was about, but as the Coke employee left the store, the Pepsi guy called him over to the side of the Wal-Mart.
There, police said, he ‘punched the victim three times in the face,? breaking his nose and giving him a black eye.
Police did not identify the Pepsi man except to say he is a ‘known suspect.? Troopers didn’t say if charges have been filed, although they characterized the incident as a simple assault, a misdemeanor.