By the editors at Andrew McMeel
DIGITAL COCKTAIL
If you visit Dawson City in Canada’s Yukon Territory, you can’t skip one of its famous traditions: sipping on a Sourtoe Cocktail at the Sourdough Saloon. The drink, conceived in 1973, comprises the cocktail of your choice garnished with a pickled amputated human toe. (“You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips have gotta touch the toe,” says “toe master” Terry Lee.) On June 18, one of the saloon’s toes went missing when a patron, who identified himself as “a drunken fool,” took the digit (specifically, a second toe). Although the thief mailed the toe back with an apology, Travel Yukon has launched a campaign for an “insurance toe,” saying, “Our toe was returned, but we can always use backups!”
THE CONTINUING CRISIS
Demit Strato of New York took to Facebook on June 26 from his throne room to excoriate his local Starbucks for making his venti iced coffee with regular milk instead of soy milk, as he ordered it. “I’ve pooped 11 times since the A.M. My bottom hurts from all the wiping. Do you think I enjoy soy milk?… I don’t order soy milk because I’m bored and want my drink order to sound fancy. I order soy milk so that my bottom doesn’t blast fire for 4 hours.” For its part, Starbucks sent Strato a $50 gift card, and he told Buzzfeed that “many women are trying to go out on a date after this, too.”
PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM US
A China Southern Airlines flight between Shanghai and Guangzhou was delayed for five hours on June 27 after an 80-year-old passenger, identified only as Qiu, was spotted tossing coins into the engine as she boarded “to pray for a safe flight.” Passengers already onboard were asked to deplane while crews searched inside the engine and around the area, ultimately finding nine coins totaling the equivalent of about 25 cents. Local news outlets estimated the cost of the delay and the search at $140,000.
COMPULSIONS
Could it have been overconsumption of caffeine that provoked Londoner Kit Lovelace to scan all 236 episodes of Friends to chronicle how much coffee each character drank? Lovelace told the Huffington Post in June he was disappointed that no one had ever collected data about the characters’ coffee habits, so he meticulously studied how much they drank, how their consumption changed over the years and how much they spent on coffee. (Spoiler alert: Phoebe drank the most coffee, and collectively the group spent more than $2,000 on joe over the course of the 10-season series.)
GOOFY FAN
A California man’s 2,000th visit to Disneyland in Anaheim on June 22 made him a celebrity in the park. Jeff Reitz began visiting Disneyland every day after receiving an annual pass as a gift in 2012. At the time, he was unemployed, but he continued his habit even after finding a job, using the $1,049 Disney Signature Plus Passport. “Until today, cast members would think I looked familiar, but now they know who I am,” Reitz said. “It’s been positive, it’s been a motivator, it’s been my workout gym. This past year I’ve lost about 40 pounds.”
GREAT ART!
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida, were hunting in late June for the artist tagging buildings with butt cheeks. At least 20 downtown fanny paintings, sporting from two to seven buttocks, have been reported. “It’s not very creative,” sniffed one office worker. “The bottom line is, whoever is doing this is destroying property,” Assistant Police Chief Jim Previterra said. Property owners are wiping the butts away as fast as they appear, but police say the vandal, when caught, will have to pay for cleanup.
POLICE REPORT
A SWAT team from the Sumter County (Florida) Sheriff’s department raided The Villages retirement community on June 21, uncovering what they believe is a golf cart chop-shop operation, along with illegal drugs, in the sprawling complex near Ocala. Souped-up golf carts are a popular way to get around in the community, which is home to more than 150,000 people. Windshields, seat cushions, wheels and tires were found in the garage, along with drugs “in plain sight” in the home, Deputy Gary Brannen said. Five people, ranging in age from 38 to 63, were arrested.
ODD HOBBIES
The Wall Street Journal reported in June on a small group of enthusiasts who participate in the esoteric sport of container spotting–discovering and documenting unusual shipping containers. Spotting a distinctive box “is analogous to the satisfaction that bird-watchers get from spotting a very rare breed of bird,” noted Matt Hannes, who maintains the Intermodal Container Web Page. Unusual boxes, known as unicorns, include those with outdated names or logos, or sporting discontinued colors, and those from very small shipping companies. Charles Fox of Indianapolis may be an extreme hobbyist: On his honeymoon, he spent two 12-hour days taking photos of a variety of boxes in Belgium. Mrs. Fox was not amused.
WHAT WE’LL DO FOR LOVE
Brandon Thompson, 35, had just one request before Muskogee, Oklahoma, police officers took him into custody on July 4: “I asked the officer if I could propose.” Officers Bob Lynch and Lincoln Anderson agreed and moved Thompson’s handcuffs from his back to his front so he could put the ring on Leandria Keith’s finger. Thompson had six felony bench warrants out for his arrest, but he told CNN he has been “doing a lot to turn his life around.” Keith apparently agrees, as she said “yes.”
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