According to MSNBC.com, bride-to-be Kelly Gray and her fiancé, Karl Gau, were planning a modest wedding in their hometown of Virginia Beach. With a combined income of $32,000 annually, the young couple had decided they could only spend $7,000 on the wedding and would have to find some creative means to generate money to pay for it all. That’s when Kelly and her bridesmaids came up with a clever plan that produced some surprising results.
Gray had considered doing a bake sale to help pay for some of her wedding expenses when a bridesmaid suggested trying an auction on eBay. Gray explained that her bridesmaid had said, “’We need to auction something (on EBay). There’s Dr. Pepper cans and Cheetos bags for sale, so let’s just go ahead and do a bridesmaid.”
Gray and her bridesmaids decided that the winning bidder would not only be a bridesmaid during the ceremonies, but would also receive the dress, shoes, and a reception invitation for the “bridesmaid” and one guest. Gray did not expect the auction to receive much attention. In an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, she commented, “put it up for a penny, and I thought, it wouldn’t sell at a penny, I thought that was it. When I started seeing some bids, I couldn’t believe it.”
To everyone’s surprise, the auction caught the attention of media nationwide. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group took interest and decided to pitch in – the company placed the winning bid of $5,700, then upped the ante to $10,000.
Now, instead of baking their own wedding cake and using an iPod instead of a DJ, the couple can afford to have the wedding of their dreams. In addition, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group will provide their beverages and select the bridesmaid to be in Gray’s and Gau’s wedding ceremony. Gray and her bridesmaids agreed they hope the company would consider having Ellen Degeneres in the ceremony because, as Gray stated, Degeneres “would dance and have fun…I could see her dancing down the aisle.” more
The Church of Sweden now offers express wedding services to couples via drive-thru service, according to Reuters. The church decided to offer the services to auto enthusiasts in Vasteras who are attending the car rally.
According to priest Jerker Asterlund, 36 couples have applied to have their nuptials held at the rally. The priest designed the idea to promote making marriage more accessible.
Asterlund commented, “Weddings are getting more and more commercialized and that is not something we have any interest in. We would like to make things simpler and more down to earth when people take the plunge and get married. This is not just for fun, but also a way for the Church of Sweden to show we can take part in celebration and happiness and not just in crisis and catastrophes.”
Ten priests will conduct the ceremonies alongside a central event of the rally, a motorcade of 1950s and 1960s cars. more
NEW YORK (AP) — At Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in New York’s Times Square, six contestants displayed their wedding dress creations to compete for the grand prize of $1,000. What makes their designs so exceptional is that each intricate dress was fashioned completely out of toilet paper.
Representatives from Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Charmin and Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com acted as judges for the competition. In the fourth year of competitions, increasing numbers of entries have shown some remarkable talent in design.
Katrina Chalifoux of Rockford, IL won the grand prize this year with her entry of a sheath dress with a raised flower pattern from molded toilet paper. Chalifoux spent more than two weeks creating her design. Terri Glover of Marlin, Texas won second prize, followed by Ann Lee, of Honolulu, Hawaii, placing third. more
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – When night clubs and dating sites didn’t help this single mom find love, Deven Trabosh decided to take a new approach and offer her real estate and her heart on eBay. Trabosh, a 42-year-old mother, has spent more than a year trying to sell her four bedroom home. Trying to find a new approach, she decided to make a real estate posting on eBay and include a shot at marrying her.
Trabosh commented, “I figured let’s combine the ad because I’m looking for love and I’m looking to sell the house.”
In Trabosh’s ad, posted to eBay and Craigslist, she describes “a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts,” according to MSNBC.com. The woman’s ad originally offered the home for $340,000, but then raised the price to $500,000 when she added the possibility of her lifelong companionship.
Trabosh hasn’t received any serious offers, but she has received for than 500 responses to her ad. Responses have been mixed, including those of her daughters, who in part are happy for her but also a little embarrassed.
“I’m not selling myself. I’m selling love…to meet that true love,” Trabosh stated. “Of course, it’s gonna take more chemistry and connection. It’s not going to be instantaneous that I’m just going to be automatically for sale…it’s a package deal for true love.” more
Comments Off
 Date: September 16, 2007
Location: Northwest Pennsylvania
Camera: Bushnell trail camera (automatic) with infrared (invisible) flash. Camera placed by R. Jacobs.
Figures in images: Bear cubs in first image; Possible young sasquatch in two subsequent images.
Bait used: Strong aromatic deer attractant mix and a mineral lick block.
Current Analysis: The debate about these images revolves around whether the figure is a skinny, mangy bear or a healthy primate. The experts we have spoken with about these images say the anwer to the skinny-mangy-bear vs. primate question may be found in the third image –”Jacobs Image 3″… moreEight-year-old twin inventors have been making the headlines in the US - for their wedgie-proof underpants… moreBERLIN (Reuters) - Passengers on a German train mistook a Halloween reveller dressed up as a gore-covered zombie for a murder victim and called the police… more HELL, Mich. (AP) - Life in Hell just got a little easier for John and Sue Wilson. The couple, who live in the unincorporated town 45 miles west of Detroit, were blessed with a $115,001 windfall from the Michigan Lottery… more
Comments Off
A South Carolina man who stored his severed leg in a barbecue smoker that was later auctioned off is locked in a custody dispute with a North Carolina man who found it… moreA British aristocrat has been forced to warn visitors to his manor home not to park cars painted a particular shade of blue on his property, after his “gay” peacock caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a luxury car it mistook for a mate… moreThe Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology… more
Comments Off
Ahoy me hearties! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! more
When it comes to a man’s body odour, the fragrance — or stench — is in the nose of the beholder, according to U.S. researchers who suggest a single gene may determine how people perceive body odour… more
A man and woman robbed a busy Starbucks early yesterday morning and wound up serving coffee through the drive-up window for at least 30 minutes to make additional cash. They then waited until business slowed enough to make a getaway… more
Comments Off
A “Spiderman” suit that enables its wearer to scale vertical walls like the comic and movie superhero could one day be a reality, according to a study… more
LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A London bar is launching a series of index-linked vodka cocktails in a bid to promote Russian business in Britain… more
Comments Off
According to Reuters, Daad Mohammad Murad Abdul Rahman has set a goal to have fathered 100 children by 2015. The one-legged Emirati father is well on his way. Abdul Rahman has 78 children ranging in age from 20 days old to 36 years old, and two of his wives are pregnant.Abdul Rahman has had 15 brides to date, though he has had to divorce most of them to remain within the legal limit of four wives. The United Arab Emirates mandates that men may only marry as many as four wives at any given time.
Abdul Rahman commented to local reporters, “In 2015 I will be 68 years old and will have 100 children. After that I will stop marrying. I have to have at least three more marriages to hit the century.”
Taking care of his family is no small task. Abdul Rahman’s family lived in 15 houses, and he supports them with his military pension and government assistance from the Ajman emirate. more
Work on the cubicle farm at Flickr, a photo sharing website, can be stressful and demanding. Tensions can build between peers as they plow through the workday, so Flickr employees came up with the game of Faceball to have fun and relieve tensions.The game is simple. Flickr’s Faceball rules state, “Two people sit 10 feet apart. They take turns throwing a beachball aimed at their opponent’s face. Each hit to the face earns a point and the right to shoot again. The player with the most points after 5 rounds is the winner.”
There are some rules aimed at safety and fun. No heavy or hard balls are allowed in play, and hats, glasses, and goggles are forbidden for the players’ safety. For fun’s sake, there’s no dodging or ducking allowed, and, by Flikr’s published rules, “Only clean hits to the face result in a score. Glancing blows or hair-whiffs count as a miss.”
The antics of Flickr’s office staff is supported by management, who claims it is good for stress relief and office morale. Faceball has grown in popularity to such a degree that Flickr has dedicated a website to the game at www.faceball.org. more
USA Today noted that a legislative snafu has removed the minimum age for marriage in Arkansas, which means that children may now marry with parental consent. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette noted that the legislation “”authorized women ‘not pregnant’ to obtain parental consent to marry. That would remove from Arkansas law any minimum marriage age, allowing even infants to marry if their parents OK it.” The inclusion of the word “not” made this possible in a bill that was intended to update the minimum marriage age for the state.
The state attorney general, after analyzing the 2007 bill, wrote: Act 441 of 2007 indeed appears to amend A.C.A. § 9-11-102 to place no limit on the age at which parties may obtain a marriage license with parental consent. In my opinion, the clerk must issue the license if the statutory requirements, including parental consent, are met. … It therefore appears that on July 31, 2007, the law is modified to allow any person under the age of 18 to marry with parental consent, irrespective of age. This follows from the plain language of the statute.
Lawmakers are now considering if a simple correction may be executed. If not, a new version of the legislation will have to be drafted and submitted to vote to amend the error. more
Comments Off
What started off in 1996 as a goofy radio station promotion has evolved into a nationwide phenomenon. Redneck Games creator Mac Davis explains, “Back in 1996, Atlanta was going to host the Olympics and a lot of jokes were being made about a bunch of rednecks hosting the Olympics. So I figured, if that’s  what people expect, let’s give it to them!”… more
A bank robber whose cunning plan consisted of taping foliage to his arms to disguise himself as a tree has been arrested… more
AT LEAST 35,000 skygazers descended on the town of Roswell at the weekend to mark the 60th anniversay of the purported flying saucer crash on a ranch… moreWhen neighbours complained about a bad smell coming from a darkened flat, police in the southwestern German town of Kaiserslautern were prepared to find a dead body… more
Comments Off
 A large crowd of fans and press anxiously assembled around the Kiwanis Park Stage at the Sonoma-Marin Fair well before 6:30 pm Friday night in anticipation of a favorite annual event, The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. In the end, that same crowd went wild when their clear favorite, Elwood, took not one but three prizes—first place in the Mutt Class, Ugly Dog of 2007, and finally the coveted position of World’s Ugliest Dog in this 19th annual event. To claim the big title, Elwood had to out-ugly two former champions, Archie (2006 winner) and Rascal (2002 winner)… more
Penguins were waddling and swimming in warm locales tens of millions of years earlier than previously thought, according to scientists who described on Monday fossils of two previously unknown types found in Peru… more
Police said inmates used pancake batter and toothpaste to cover a hole they made to allow a female inmate to slide into the next cell and join a male inmate. Now steel plates are being added to the Missouri jail’s interior walls… more
Comments Off
(02-24) 12:18 PST Los Angeles (AP) –
Farfrompoopen Road, the only road to Constipation Ridge, lost to Divorce Court and Psycho Path, which placed No. 1 in an online poll of the nation’s wildest, weirdest and wackiest street names.
Mitsubishi Motors sponsored the poll on the Web site
and more than 2,500 voters cast their ballots during a week of voting that ended this month. Winners were announced Friday.
“Our readers really stepped up with some insane street names,” said Web site publisher Paul Eisenstein. “Our panel had a difficult time narrowing several hundred down to the 10 our readers voted on.
“But we learned a lot about the byways of this country, not to mention the collective sense of humor of city planners everywhere.”
In first place was Psycho Path in Traverse City, Mich., followed by Heather Highlands, Pa.’s, Divorce Court in second and Tennessee’s Farfrompoopen Road in third. Eisenstein said all the roads were verified, although some are private and hard to find.
The complete top 10 list included:
10. Tater Peeler Road in Lebanon, Texas
9. The intersection of Count and Basie in Richmond, Va.
8. Shades of Death Road in Warren County, N.J.
7. Unexpected Road in Buena, N.J.
6. Bucket of Blood Street in Holbrook, Ariz.
5. The intersection of Clinton and Fidelity in Houston
4. The intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Albany, Ga.
3. Farfrompoopen Road in Tennessee (the only road up to Constipation Ridge)
2. Divorce Court in Heather Highlands, Pa.
1. Psycho Path in Traverse City, Mich. Comments Off
HEAT GUN THAT WARNS: “DO NOT USE AS HAIRDRYER” WINS TOP PRIZE IN M-LAW’S NINTH ANNUAL WACKY WARNING LABEL CONTESTA heat gun and paint remover that produces temperatures of 1,000 degrees and warns users, “Do not use this tool as a hair dryer” has been identified as the nation’s wackiest warning label in M-LAW’s annual Wacky Warning Label Contest.
The contest, now in its ninth year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, to reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products.
Grand prize winner chosen from hundreds of entries
The winning labels were selected from a list of M-LAW’s finalists by listeners of the Dick Purtan show on Detroit radio station, WOMC-FM. The label on the heat gun was found by Tom Brunelle of Holland, Michigan. He receives $500 and a copy of the national bestselling book, “The Death of Common Sense,” by Philip K. Howard.
OTHER WINNERS:
“Caution: Not to be used for navigation,” says the warning on a cocktail napkin displayed here by Radio Hall of Fame personality, Dick Purtan. The napkin has a small map of the waterways around Hilton Head, South Carolina printed on it.
For those people who aren’t “the sharpest knife in the drawer.” The $250 second place award went to Jam Sardar of Grand Rapids, Michigan for a label on a kitchen knife that warns: “Never try to catch a falling knife.”
“Hurry up, bartender! I’m late for the regatta.” The $100 third place award goes to Alice Morgan of La Junta, Colorado who found a very wacky warning on a cocktail napkin. The napkin has a map of the waterways around Hilton Head, South Carolina printed on it along with this: “Caution: Not to be used for navigation.”
And don’t eat the yellow snow, either. Kirk Dunham of Seabrook, Texas gets an honorable mention for a warning label he found on a bottle of dried bobcat urine made to keep rodents and other pests away from garden plants. It says: “Not for human consumption.”
But will it get cold in the refrigerator? Another honorable mention goes to Lyne Anton of Elk, California who found the following warning label on a baking pan: “Ovenware will get hot when used in oven.”
“Warning labels are a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times,” said Robert B. Dorigo Jones, M-LAW president. “An unpredictable legal system – in which judges allow anyone to file a lawsuit on almost any theory – has created a need for product makers to plaster wacky warnings on everything. When judges see it as their job to dismiss cases that are rooted in frivolous theories, we’ll see fewer wacky labels and more fairness in the courts.”
M-LAW is a non-partisan organization working to increase awareness of how litigation is hurting America. Dorigo Jones is writing a book entitled “Remove Child Before Folding, The 101 Stupidest, Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever” that will be published next year by Warner Books. Comments Off
|
|
|
|
