The Odd Truth, July 8, 2003

(CBS/AP)  The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Burglary Botched

STOCKHOLM - In the future, these Swedish burglars may want to have their glasses checked.

Police said three men tried to break into an electronics store selling TVs and stereos Tuesday by drilling a hole through the wall from a neighboring suite of offices.

The would-be burglars broke into a local newspaper's office housed in the same building early Tuesday morning in Vara, 200 miles southwest of the capital, Stockholm.

Police believed they bored a hole into the wall using a power drill, but ended up breaking through into an optician's office, police spokesman Johan Svensson told The Associated Press.

"They tried again on another wall, with the same result. And a third time," he said.

When they punched through a fourth wall, they finally broke through to the store, but alarms went off and they fled without grabbing anything, Svensson said.

Police are still searching for the men and no arrests have been made.

Life Without A License

COPENHAGEN - After 57 years of making his way across northern Europe's roads, a 74-year-old retired Danish trucker pulled over by police confessed to never getting his driver's license.

"We were pretty stunned," Thisted Police Sgt. Bo Hansen said Tuesday.

The driver, who wasn't identified in line with Danish privacy rules, was stopped Sunday by police in Thisted, 205 miles northwest of the capital, Copenhagen, because he was driving erratically.

Police said he failed an alcohol test and charged him with drunk driving. Then he told the police he didn't have his driver's license because he never got one.

A former truck driver, he told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that he started driving when he was 17 because he didn't want to wait to get his license. In Denmark, a person has to be 18 to get a driver's license.

He was employed as a truck driver for most of his life, hauling cargo between the Nordic countries and into Germany and was never stopped by police.

"Nothing happens when you drive properly," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

It was unclear how much the man would be fined for driving drunk, pending the results of a blood test. He faces a fine of at least 5,500 kroner ($869) for driving without a license.

Glowing 'Frankenfish' Prepare For U.S. Debut

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Their weird glowing green color makes them look like they've been swimming in a nuclear plant's spent fuel pond.

But the zebra fish on sale in Taipei shops have an even stranger background: They're the latest in genetically modified fish, and their bodies contain DNA from jellyfish, which makes them shimmer in the dark.

Shopkeepers call them "Night Pearls." Some have nicknamed them "Frankenfish." Their makers at the Taipei-based Taikong Corp. use the less catchy name of "TK-1" and say they are the world's first genetically engineered fluorescent fish.

They've been on the market in Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia for about three months, said Bill Kuo, a spokesman for Taikong, which owns a chain of pet stores.

Now the fish are getting ready to cross the Pacific and swim into the U.S. market this month.

Kuo says the company anticipated fears that the genetically modified animals might spread uncontrollably and harm the environment, so it made sure that they were unable to produce offspring.

In April, the company turned out 10,000 fluorescent fish, and that figure has been doubling every month since, Kuo said. Beginning in August, monthly production should stabilize at more than 100,000, Kuo said.

So far, only the greenish TK-1 has been on sale. But next year, they should get the company of a red mate, the TK-2. Later, the two colors will be combined in the TK-3, Kuo said.

Drunk Man Recruits Little Girl As Driver

MOSES LAKE, Wash. - A Washington state man is in hot water for allowing a designated driver to take the wheel of his car.

The Grant County sheriff's office says a 45-year old intoxicated passenger allowed a nine-year old girl to drive his car.

The child lost control of the vehicle and crashed through a campsite and struck the awning of an occupied tent where a family was staying.

Fortunately, police say the two people injured are expected to make a full recovery.

Blood Donation Record Set At 127 Gallons

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian man has set a Guinness World Record for being the world's most generous blood donor, wringing out enough to fill the gasoline tanks of 10 small cars, the Australian Red Cross Society said Monday.

James Harrison, 66, began donating blood just days after his 18th birthday.

"I was inspired to become a donor after I received a life-saving blood transfusion at the age of 15," Harrison said in a statement. "I decided then to give back to those unnamed heroes who helped save my life."

The head of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Dr. Robert Hazel, said in a statement that Harrison was an "Australian hero" who donated 127 gallons in more than 804 visits to the Blood Bank. That was enough to fill the tanks of 10 small cars or fill 1,200 soda cans, he said.

Hazel said almost half a million Australians, or just under 3 percent of the population, gave blood each year, but more donors were needed.

Harrison's record was announced as part of National Blood Donor Recognition Week 2003.

A Piece Of The King

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - It's a lucky day for anyone who's ever wanted to own a piece of Elvis. Not Elvis memorabilia — a piece of Elvis. A tooth from the mouth of The King himself is being auctioned on eBay. The tooth was in the possession of Elvis' fiancee, Linda Thompson, until the Elvis Presley Museum got it and later sold it. The auction also includes a lock of Elvis' hair that was saved from his GI haircut and a gold record for "Love Me Tender." The collection's curator says he's been contacted by a European company that wants to extract DNA from the tooth, but the owner of the collection refused that arrangement. The opening bid is $100,000, and as of last night there were no bidders. The auction ends July 15th.

14-Foot Python On The Slither

GLOCESTER, R.I. - The police are looking for him, the town has been put on alert, but Slick remains on the lam.

The 14-foot-long yellow and orange Burmese python slipped out of his 300-gallon tank July 4.

Snake owner Jeffrey Fine called the police Friday morning to report that Slick had slithered away sometime after 11 the night before, when Fine checked on Slick before going to bed.

Fine said it was his fault that Slick got out. He hadn't tightened the clip on the right end of the 6-foot-long tank as much as he should have.

"I feel terrible that he's gone, and I want him back," Fine told The Providence Journal.

The snake worked his way out of the tank, onto the floor and up onto the computer table. Slick slid past the computer, knocked a picture frame down, nudged a clock out of the way and pushed up against the screen in the window that looks out on the lake.

The window is about 10 feet from the water. Slick moves very slowly on land, but if he has gone into the lake, he could move quickly there and there's no telling where he'd come out.

Slick is not venomous and doesn't have fangs, Fine said. The snake eats rats and rodents.

"He does not eat small children," Fine said. "He couldn't even eat a cat. He could eat a kitten, but not a cat."

Legal Stink Over Pooper-Scooper Slogan

TUCSON, Ariz. - Talk about a stink.

The owner of a pooper scooper business here sued a competitor to protect a company slogan.

"We're No. 1 in the No. 2 Business" is the slogan registered with the Secretary of State's Office by Loren's Pooper-Scooper Service.

"You kind of take a stinky job, and you kind of try to make something bad into something good," said owner Loren Hoppens, who is hired to pick up pet waste.

But when a competitor, Stinky's Pet Poop Pickup Service, allegedly started handing out business cards with the phrase "No. 1 in the No. 2 business," Hoppens filed a lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court claiming that Stinky's and owner Tracy Sartain were infringing on his trademark.

Sartain said Friday the matter was resolved. "It's been settled," she said, declining further comment.

No mention of the slogan or the lawsuit was on the Stinky's Web site.

Cubs Fan, 113, Remains Optimistic About Team

DIXON, Ill. - Mary Crombie marked her 113th birthday without ceremony but with familiar optimism about her beloved Chicago Cubs, notwithstanding their 94-year unlucky streak.

Following baseball's lovable losers for so long, though, has taught her not to predict a World Series victory. That hasn't happened since 1908, the year she turned 18 and Chicago beat Detroit in the fall classic.

"They will do well," Crombie declared, going no further.

Unlike the Cubs, the Dixon resident continues to impress those around her year after year. At 113, she remains largely independent while living at the Heritage Square retirement home in Dixon.

"She is remarkable," registered nurse Mary Taylor, who monitors Crombie and the other residents, said Wednesday. "She enjoys flowers and takes care of her own needs. She makes her bed every day — and it has to be done in just a certain way."

As much as anything now, she loves the Cubs, who recognized her support with a birthday letter in 2001. "She comes alive when those games are on," Taylor said. "And she knows the players."

Wrong Continent

MELBOURNE, Australia - Wrong airline. Wrong city.

A woman trying to fly to Hong Kong accidentally ended up in the Australian city of Melbourne after getting on the wrong plane in Los Angeles.

A computerized boarding system at the Los Angeles airport was not working at the time the woman boarded a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong and ground crew did not notice that she mistakenly got onto a Qantas jet instead, the Australian carrier said Tuesday.

The passenger, whose identity was not released, sat in an empty seat and did not realize her mistake until the plane was approaching Melbourne Airport, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

She said Qantas had arranged for the woman to stay in Melbourne on Sunday night and put her on a Qantas flight to Hong Kong on Monday. Her luggage, which remained in Los Angeles when she failed to board the Cathay Pacific flight, was on its way to Hong Kong to meet her.