The Odd Truth, April 6, 2005

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.

Jailed For Bad Directions

SANFORD, Fla. - A judge in Florida has charges of his own to worry about after he allegedly ordered the arrest of 11 traffic defendants who were mistakenly sent to the wrong courtroom.

The state Judicial Qualifications Commission on Tuesday accused Seminole County Judge John Sloop of being unfit to serve. Possible punishment ranges from a fine to removal from the bench.

The defendants were directed by summons and the court staff to a courtroom next door to Sloop's. When people realized they were in the wrong room, Sloop refused to listen to them or withdraw arrest warrants issued in their absence.

The defendants were handcuffed, taken to jail and held for about eight hours.

"Not to be mean, but he deserves it," said Irving Merced, 20, one of the defendants jailed in the Dec. 3 mix-up. "A judge like that shouldn't be allowed in the courtroom."

Another judge ordered their release and the chief circuit judge forced Sloop to give up all of his criminal cases. The arrests were expunged from the defendants' records.

"I made a mistake," Sloop said afterward.

Middle Name Auction Winner

UINTAH HIGHLANDS, Utah - A company that hosts Web sites will give Matthew Jean Rouse a new middle name.

The 31-year-old used eBay to auction the right to pick him a new middle name that would replace the despised "Jean."

The bidding was cut off Monday when LucaHost.com agreed to the $8,000 "Buy It Now" price.

The company has not yet told him his new name.

"I'm guessing it will be LucaHost.com," he said.

Rouse undertook the move to rid himself of the moniker Jean -- after his grandfather, Jean Stelter -- because the two didn't get along.

Just short of 40 bids were made before the bidding was cut off. The highest bid was $3,250, which eclipsed the top bid of $1,500 from Rouse's brother, Bill, who wanted his sibling to keep Jean.

"I guess I'm just surprised that this would generate that much interest," Rouse said.

Royal Wedding Bets

LONDON - Interested in betting on the next problem to befall Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles?

A British bookmaker is offering odds.

The wedding has already been postponed a day to allow the prince to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul. And that's just the latest in a series of glitches.

The bookmaker says since the royal wedding seems to be descending into what he calls "a parody of itself," he says he thought he'd allow bettors to speculate on what may go wrong next.

The odds are 33-to-one that Parker Bowles will leave Charles standing alone at the Windsor Guildhall, scene of the civil ceremony. And odds for the prince doing the same are 40-to-one.

And it's 25-to-one that Charles' son Prince William will lose the rings.

Long Wait For Delivery

NEW YORK - A deliveryman who disappeared after taking Chinese food to a Bronx apartment complex has been found alive after spending four days in a stuck elevator.

Ming Kuang Chen was the subject of a widespread search after he failed to return to the restaurant Friday.

Firefighters found him early this morning after responding to a call from residents that someone was in an elevator stuck between the third and fourth floors.

Residents told firefighters, "We think he's drunk. We can't understand him," according to the New York Times.

Chen was dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise in good health.

Opera Explodes

LONDON - You could call it shock opera.

Critics call it crass.

In a London adaptation of Richard Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods," the finale features a suicide bomber blowing herself up along with the cast.

It's the latest in a series of shock tactics by the English National Opera. The company brought pole dancing, gang rape and multiple stabbings to previous productions.

The director says she wanted her version to be more realistic than the original. Wagner had the heroine ride a horse into a burning funeral pyre erected for her dead lover.

A review in The Guardian calls the new ending "utterly crass," and "the cheapest of tricks."

Another critic calls the production infuriating -- but says she'd rather be infuriated than bored.

Stripper Art Night Busted

BOISE - Art night at Erotic City in Boise was a bust.

Police raided the strip club for violating the Idaho capital's nudity ordinance. The law requires minimal cover for dancers unless they're involved in a performance with "serious artistic merit."

To get around that, the bar distributed sketch pads and pencils to patrons twice a week.

But police say that didn't fool anybody. If the models were posing, that would be one thing, says a spokeswoman. But she says, "These women weren't posing. They were dancing."

Three dancers got misdemeanor citations, but were not arrested.

Thompson To Be Cannon-ized

DENVER - Hunter Thompson lived fast and loud. And the late gonzo journalist will make at least one more loud noise before he's done.

Thompson's widow announced that his ashes will be shot out of a cannon mounted on a 53-foot sculpture on the grounds of his home in Colorado.

Anita Thompson says this was his wish. As she put it: "It's expensive, but worth every penny," adding, "He loved explosions."

Thompson shot himself in the head in February. The author of classics that included "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "The Great Shark Hunt" was 67.

The sculpture will reproduce Thompson's "gonzo fist" emblem. The cannon blast is to take place sometime in August.

Why Not Just Get Contacts?

DALLAS - Artist James Sooy will go to extremes to prevent his glasses from slipping down his nose. He's had his schnoz pierced with a one-inch metal bar. Now, the Texas artist hopes other eyeglass wearers will see the light. He and a friend plan to market the glasses piercing bar, for 75 to 100 hundred dollars each. The lenses screw right into the bar that is inserted through the bridge of the nose. And Sooy says getting your nose pierced doesn't hurt as much as you might think. He adds that with your glasses permanently attached to your nose, there's nothing to rub against your ears.