http://www.redorbit.com Oddities http://www.redorbit.com/modules/news/images/tools/rss_logo.gif http://www.redorbit.com There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth -- a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1382885/mayan_legend_gains_new_interest/index.html?source=r_oddities Tue, 13 May 2008 09:00:00 -0500 Oddities The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends' activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said."I just doubted it because it's very morbid, and I couldn't see anybody doing something like this," Adkins said Thursday.Not until police went to the home of another Kingwood 17-year-old, Matthew Richard Gonzalez, did the officer believe the tale."He regurgitated in his plate of food when I asked him about it," Adkins said. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1378063/teens_accused_of_smoking_pot_in_corpses_head/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 09 May 2008 09:10:00 -0500 Oddities No more dogs behind the steering wheel. Canines don't have to be back-seat drivers, but they'd better stay away from the gas pedal under legislation passed Monday by the Assembly. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1372138/bill_would_take_pets_off_drivers_laps/index.html?source=r_oddities Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:00 -0500 Oddities By Tony Paterson Mother and children in police care after emerging from dungeon Austrians were in a state of shock last night after the arrest of a 73-year-old man suspected of sexually abusing his daughter and fathering her seven children. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1360794/austrian_locked_up_daughter_for_24_years_and_fathered_seven/index.html?source=r_oddities Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:00 -0500 Oddities A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize Thursday, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1377723/man_hit_twice_by_katrina_claims_97_million_jackpot/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 09 May 2008 09:00:00 -0500 Oddities American Idol judge Paula Abdul made headlines after she critiqued contestant Jason Castro for his performance of two songs when he had only sung one. Jason, the first song I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1364613/abduls_idol_critiques_cause_stir/index.html?source=r_oddities Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:00:00 -0500 Oddities It's the morning after and we're still digesting the chaos created by Papa John's 23-cent pizza deal. On the plus side, the chain issued a news release saying the one-day promotion raised more than $17,500, with proceeds going to the LeBron James Foundation . http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1378082/so_how_long_did_you_wait_pizza_chaos_nets_17500/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 09 May 2008 12:00:00 -0500 Oddities MONTREAL - Usually it's the police who flag down motorists, but this time a 40-year-old man pulled over a Montreal police cruiser seeking help for his wife who was about to give birth. There was no time to make the trip to the hospital around 2 a.m. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1375262/two_montreal_cops_help_father_deliver_baby_on_side_of/index.html?source=r_oddities Wed, 07 May 2008 15:00:00 -0500 Oddities Voters in Muskogee made Oklahoma history by electing a 19-year-old college freshman as their mayor. John Tyler Hammons of the University of Oklahoma received nearly 70 percent of the vote Tuesday beating out three-time former Mayor Hershel McBride, 70, the Tulsa World reported. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1385247/oklahomans_elect_teen_mayor/index.html?source=r_oddities Wed, 14 May 2008 12:00:05 -0500 Oddities By The Associated Press DETROIT - A Girl Scout sold 17,328 of the group's signature cookies this year by setting up shop on a street corner, shattering her troop's old mark and probably setting a national record. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1388093/girl_scout_sells_17328_boxes_of_cookies/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:03 -0500 Oddities By Associated Press VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- An immigrant family left a 23- month-old boy in the Vancouver airport and learned he was missing only when contacted during the next leg of the trip. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1386660/toddler_is_left_behind_at_vancouver_airport/index.html?source=r_oddities Thu, 15 May 2008 09:00:05 -0500 Oddities n Holywead, Wales A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1385801/buckling_up_the_beer/index.html?source=r_oddities Wed, 14 May 2008 18:00:04 -0500 Oddities World News IN BRIEF *DARWIN An Australian driver who secured a case of beer in his car with a seatbelt but left a five-year-old child unprotected has been fined 360. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked" when he pulled over an unregistered car in Alice Springs on Friday. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1384767/man_buckles_up_beer_not_child/index.html?source=r_oddities Wed, 14 May 2008 09:00:04 -0500 Oddities By Suzanne Marta, The Dallas Morning News May 13--An Austin businessman was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly refused to stop using his mobile phone on a flight Monday from Austin to Dallas Love Field. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1382502/austin_man_charged_after_refusing_to_hang_up_cellphone_during/index.html?source=r_oddities Tue, 13 May 2008 03:00:03 -0500 Oddities By The Associated Press CALUMET, Mich. (AP) - Police in this Upper Peninsula town had forgotten about the $1 parking ticket written on Sept. 1, 1976. But the woman who had found it on her windshield hadn't. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1382359/woman_pays_off_1976_parking_ticket/index.html?source=r_oddities Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:03 -0500 Oddities DALLAS _ A 50-year-old Austin businessman was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly refused to stop using his mobile phone on a Monday flight from Austin to Dallas Love Field. Dallas police met the plane after the pilot radioed ahead to the Love Field tower. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1382231/man_charged_after_refusing_to_stop_using_his_phone_on/index.html?source=r_oddities Mon, 12 May 2008 21:00:03 -0500 Oddities European News IN BRIEF *VIENNA Hundreds of Austrians stripped yesterday for the photographer Spencer Tunick at the stadium that will host the Euro 2008 football final. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1380921/austrians_strip_at_euro_2008_venue/index.html?source=r_oddities Mon, 12 May 2008 09:00:05 -0500 Oddities European News IN BRIEF *BERLIN Post office staff found three pythons in a parcel after one of the snakes bit through the packaging. The parcel, handed in at Darmstadt for mailing to eastern Germany, contained two tiger pythons and an albino tiger python more than 3ft long. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1379255/three_pythons_found_in_parcel/index.html?source=r_oddities Sat, 10 May 2008 09:00:04 -0500 Oddities By THOMAS J SHEERAN By Thomas J. Sheeran The Associated Press UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio Maybe Cleveland Cavaliers fans can hope for cheap gas if an oil company insults LeBron James. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1377731/in_ohio_thousands_stand_in_line_for_their_piece_of/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 09 May 2008 09:00:05 -0500 Oddities By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VALPARAISO, Ind. - A man with a guitar and a megaphone climbed atop a convenience store roof to serenade commuters with his musical protest of high gasoline prices - until police halted the impromptu concert. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1377260/man_climbs_on_store_sings_to_protest_gas_prices/index.html?source=r_oddities Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:04 -0500 Oddities SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Police say they have discovered 300 dead cats stuffed into freezers at a man's Sacramento home. Animal control officers also removed 30 live cats from 47-year- old Michael Louis Vondueren's home over the weekend. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1372358/police_find_300_dead_cats_in_mans_freezers/index.html?source=r_oddities Tue, 06 May 2008 09:00:12 -0500 Oddities NEW YORK (AP) -- A pile of dinosaur dung 130 million years old sold at a New York auction Wednesday for nearly $1,000. The prehistoric deposit fetched $960, said a spokeswoman for Bonhams New York. Its pre-auction estimate was $450. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1366365/dinosaur_dung_sells_for_960/index.html?source=r_oddities Thu, 01 May 2008 18:00:05 -0500 Oddities By Associated Press LAYTON -- Perhaps he couldn't wait for his tax-rebate check. Police say a 27-year-old Clearfield man stole a U.S. Mail van that was parked but running Monday near a medical complex in Layton. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1366364/layton_police_catch_man_they_say_stole_mail_van/index.html?source=r_oddities Thu, 01 May 2008 18:00:05 -0500 Oddities By The Associated Press ST. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1365081/woman_pinned_by_dead_husband/index.html?source=r_oddities Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:03 -0500 Oddities By The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - They're proudly displayed by any self- respecting bull, but dangling big metal ones on the back end of a truck could be banned in Florida. http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1360436/bill_would_ban_ornamental_testicles/index.html?source=r_oddities Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:04 -0500 Oddities