The Odd Truth, July 19, 2003

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.

Garbage Stolen At Gunpoint

MELBOURNE - In a rushed grab-and-run robbery, two men with a sawed-off shotgun stole two bags of garbage from a gasoline station attendant in the southern city of Melbourne, police said Friday.

The male attendant was carrying the garbage through a shopping center parking lot in the city's western suburb of Deer Park just before midnight Thursday when a green van reversed toward him, police said.

A man, who had covered his face with a piece of yellow cloth, slid the van's side door open, produced a sawed-off shotgun and demanded the attendant hand over the bags.

"He told them it was only rubbish but they took it anyway," police spokeswoman Bronwen Kelly said.

The van then sped off.

Police say they have no idea why the men grabbed the trash, but assumed they thought the bags contained money. Police believe the van was stolen and are treating the case as a normal armed robbery.

Loaded Teddy Bear

ORLANDO, Fla. - Airport security workers found a loaded handgun stuffed inside a brown teddy bear that a 9-year-old boy was carrying on a trip home after his family's Florida vacation, authorities said Thursday.

The FBI is investigating how the gun got inside the teddy bear.

A Transportation Security Administration worker noticed the outline of a gun when the bear passed through an X-ray machine at Orlando International Airport on Saturday.

The TSA found a loaded .22-caliber gun after the bear was opened. The boy's family told investigators that the bear was a gift from a girl at the hotel where they stayed during their Orlando vacation.

"She appeared at their hotel room door and offered them the bear," said Robert Johnson, a TSA spokesman in Washington. "The mother said it was okay and so the boy took it."

The Miami Herald reported that the gun had been reported stolen in 1996 in California.

Johnson said the incident "underscores the need to screen everyone and everything no matter how innocent the people or their belongings may appear."

The boy's parents, Robert and Angela Barry of Grove City, Ohio, were questioned by FBI agents and released. The boy turned 10 on Monday.

Defendant Moons Jury, Hoots 'Cuckoo'

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Members of a Florida jury got to see a lot more than the evidence — when they were mooned by the defendant. Cornell Jackson started hooting "cuckoo-cuckoo" and dropped his pants in a Panama City court. He's making an insanity defense in an alleged assault on his former girlfriend. Deputies and bailiffs pounced on the bare-butted Jackson and dragged him from the courtroom Wednesday. Yesterday, Jackson's lawyer asked for a mistrial. But the request was rejected. The judge ordered the mooning defendant to watch the rest of the trial from a holding cell on closed-circuit TV.

Thai Elephants Don't Speak Swedish

STOCKHOLM - When the Swedish royal couple visited Thailand earlier this year, they were presented with two elephants as a gift from the king of Thailand. But the giant mammals don't understand Swedish, so two zookeepers are traveling to Thailand to learn Thai.

"The elephants must be able to understand commands in the languages they've been raised with, so that we don't have to teach them Swedish," Magnus Nilsson, chief executive of Sweden's Kolmaarden safari park, told The Associated Press on Friday.

In Thailand, the two zookeepers will also attend a special training camp for elephant keepers.

Thailand's culture minister Chakrarot Chitrabong earlier this week visited the park, 93 miles south of Stockholm, to make sure the elephants will get a good home when they arrive in Sweden in late October.

"Here the elephants will live as good as we do. Kolmaarden is one of the best zoological parks I have visited," the minister was quoted as telling the local newspaper Folkbladet.

For Kolmaarden, which does not have elephants any more, the gift is especially welcome. The park was forced to destroy all five of its elephants, from last year through this spring, after they were infected with tuberculosis. Swedish law requires that any animal infected with tuberculosis be destroyed because the disease is contagious between humans and animals.

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej presented King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia with the two elephants during a five-day state visit to Thailand in February.

Freight Train Stops For Coffee Break

KINGSTON, N.Y. - Apparently, there's no law against parking a train and blocking traffic to get coffee. So CSX Corp. won't be fined for tying up traffic last month when one of its freights made an unscheduled stop.

The Federal Railroad Administration looked into it, said Warren Flatau, agency spokesman. "It is my understanding that our field (investigation) did not find anything actionable under the regulations that we enforce," he said.

Had the stop about 6:30 p.m. June 9 caused an injury or collision then a fine probably would have been recommended, Flatau said.

That news had the mayor of this Hudson Valley city, 52 miles south of Albany, ready to blow his stack.

"I find it incomprehensible that to block six different intersections so an employee can go have coffee, putting residents of this community and emergency workers at risk, that there isn't a federal law against it," Mayor James Sottile told The Daily Freeman. "I find it absurd."

The coffee break was exposed by city Fire Chief Richard Salzmann, who after getting stuck at one crossing went to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts shop. There he saw a CSX employee carrying a tray of coffee cups back to the locomotive. Once the employee got on board, the train started up again.

CSX officials later apologized and said that the employee would be disciplined.

Stoner Tries To Sell Weed To Off-Duty Cops

DAVENPORT, Iowa - A man picked the wrong customers when he tried to sell marijuana to three off-duty police officers.

One was even wearing a T-shirt promoting police memorial week.

The officers had just returned from a boating trip Monday night when the 35-year-old man approached Sgt. John Hutcheson and asked him if he "smoked," police said.

Hutcheson told the man to go talk with Officer Jim Meyrer and Detective Mike Martin, who were standing nearby, police said.

The man then asked Meyrer and Martin if they wanted to buy marijuana. Meyrer said yes and asked the man if he had a pound.

The suspect told the officers he had two ounces, then showed a plastic bag containing a green, leafy substance, police said.

The man was arrested on two counts of drug possession.

The Dumbest Foiled Robbery Ever?

MT. UNION, Penn. - A would-be robber is empty-handed after being locked out of a convenience store he tried to hold up in Pennsylvania.

State police say a clerk at a Mini Mart went outside to empty the trash when a man approached her. He said he had a gun and told her not to look at him.

He told the woman to go back into the store and get all the money and bring it outside.

The clerk went inside the store — but locked all the doors and called police.

The man fled without any money.

What's 'Moose' In Italian?

ANCHORAGE - An Italian tourist faced both a language barrier and an incredulous state trooper in explaining how his rental car was damaged this week.

On Monday, Ippolito Gallovich, 51, was parked on the shoulder of the Parks Highway near the turnoff to Talkeetna watching a moose when the animal decided to jump over his car.

The ungulate misjudged the distance. Instead of clearing the 2003 Lincoln Town Car, the moose landed on the windshield, breaking it. The animal then scrambled back to the pavement and disappeared into the woods.

Trooper John Ostoj responded to the report of the damaged car. Gallovich doesn't speak much English. As relayed by trooper clerk Jill Bybee, the roadside conversation went like this:

Gallovich to Ostoj: "A moose hit us."

Ostoj to Gallovich: "No. You mean you hit a moose."

Gallovich: "No. A moose hit us."

Troopers had trouble keeping serious about the incident. Ostoj's press release relieved the moose of responsibility for the damage.

"The moose failed to clear the vehicle. ... No citations were issued," Ostoj wrote.

Massive French Fry Fire!

OUTLOOK, Washington - The french fries were burnt, but don't blame the cook. A fire destroyed a tractor-trailer rig loaded with 50,000 pounds of french fries on I-82 near Outlook, Washington. State police say fireworks tossed from a freeway overpass may have started the blaze. Driver Tommie Hayes and his 14-year-old son Taylor where in the truck. Hayes says they heard an explosion and thought it might be a tire blow-out. He pulled over about a half-mile later and discovered the fries were burning. The french fries and truck were totaled — an estimated loss of $100,000.

Vietnam Bans Mealtime Condom Ads

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam has prohibited commercials for condoms, sanitary napkins and toilet paper from being aired during evening mealtimes, saying they offend cultural sensitivities and traditions, state-controlled media reported Wednesday.

Starting immediately, local television and radio stations are barred from airing the advertisements from 6 pm to 8 pm, the Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper said.

The ads "are not suitable to the national psychology, manners and customs," said the newspaper, citing a decision by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

An official from the ministry confirmed that the decision was signed Wednesday, but declined to discuss details.

Commercials for skin disease medications are also banned. Over the past few years, many people have complained in the local press that advertising of these items during evening mealtimes made them lose their appetite.

The decision also bans the advertisements at concerts or entertainment events, the paper said.

Revenues of Vietnam's fledgling advertising industry jumped from just $8 million in 1992 to $147.6 million last year, according to the Vietnam Advertising Association. Last year, $92.4 million was spent on television commercials alone.

Advertising for female sanitary products, not among the top ten spenders on TV ads in 2001, jumped to fifth place last year. About $3.5 million was spent to air 7,314 ads, according to VAA.

One Ton Of Potato Flakes Misplaced

CLARK, South Dakota - These spuds aren't for you. The case of the missing mashed potatoes threatened to put a big dent in the Potato Day celebration in Clark, South Dakota. The event wouldn't be the same without the mashed potato wrestling. But organizers don't know what happened to their ton of dried potato flakes. About 500 pounds were used last year, left over when a french fry processing plant closed. Officials have no idea where the rest of their pile of potatoes went. But Potato Day will go on as scheduled Saturday. A potato processor is promising enough for this year and next year. Now, organizers just need a cement mixer to whip up their mess of mashed potatoes.

Family Sues Over Hellish Funeral Sermon

CHAMA, N.M. - The family of a former Chama councilman is suing a Catholic priest and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe over the priest's sermon at the man's funeral.

The lawsuit accuses the Rev. Scott Mansfield of using "graphic terms" to tell the congregation the deceased was going to hell because he wasn't totally devoted to the church.

The family of Ben Martinez filed the lawsuit in June accusing Mansfield of saying during Martinez's funeral "clearly, loudly and without hesitation that the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell."

The archdiocese and Mansfield "deny the allegations and are vigorously defending themselves in court," archdiocese spokeswoman Celine Radigan said.

Their answer to the lawsuit says Mansfield "recited scriptural passages from the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ and scriptural passages from the Book of Revelations" at the funeral.

There is a passage in the Book of Revelations similar to what Mansfield is accused of saying. In Revelations 3:15-16, the Lord says, "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth."

The dispute also cost Andy Rivas of Chama, who had trained to be a deacon for more than two years, his chance at ordination as a deacon this month, the lawsuit states.

Rivas said he was dismissed as a deacon candidate after the funeral, despite a written appeal to Archbishop Michael Sheehan, because he backed the family's account of Mansfield's sermon.

"I felt so bad for the family," Rivas said. "...To go to church and have somebody condemn your loved one to hell. In the middle of the service, they were thinking about taking him (Martinez's body) out. That's how bad it was."

Alabama Woman Wins Bad Fiction Contest

SAN JOSE, Ala. - An Alabama woman is the winner of San Jose State's annual contest celebrating bad writing with a ghastly simile comparing doomed romance to processed cheese.

Mariann Simms of Wetumpka won $250 Tuesday in the 22nd Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Here's Simms' entry: "They had but one last remaining night together, so they embraced each other as tightly as that two-flavor entwined string cheese that is orange and yellowish-white, the orange probably being a bland Cheddar and the white ... Mozzarella, although it could possibly be Provolone or just plain American, as it really doesn't taste distinctly dissimilar from the orange, yet they would have you believe it does by coloring it differently."

The contest is named after British novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" began, "It was a dark and stormy night."

Many entries evoked processed foods — possibly reflecting America's widening girth.

Jurors Fall Ill During Bizarre 'Healer' Trial

NEW YORK - A self-described spiritual healer from the Caribbean island of Dominica was convicted Wednesday of making fellow airline passengers sick by checking a leaky container of concentrated ammonia onto a Florida flight.

After a weeklong trial marked by sudden illnesses among jurors and a bizarre run-in involving a peach pit, a jury found Bernard Williams guilty of recklessly transporting a hazardous material on a Spirit Airlines flight last year from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to New York City.

The jurors in federal court in Brooklyn acquitted the defendant on a second charge alleging the incident was intentional.

Williams, 55, a naturalized U.S. citizen, could face up to five years in prison. No sentencing date was set.

Defense attorney Mel Sachs called Williams' acquittal on one charge a victory. He said his client would appeal the guilty verdict on the other charge.

Sachs had told jurors that Williams was a respected "spiritual healer" who uses ammonia to clean homes and businesses in a good-luck ritual. He also "gives cats as gifts because they're believed to give good fortune to his owners," the lawyer said.

Williams thought the container held kitty litter, not ammonia, when he checked it with his luggage, Sachs said.

During nearly four days of deliberations, two jurors were replaced by alternates after telling the judge they were too sick to continue. Williams, meanwhile, spooked prosecutor Michael Asaro by tossing a peach pit onto the government's courtroom table.

Asaro complained to U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon, saying the behavior was "odd, particularly in light of the testimony about Mr. Williams' spiritual practices."

Caught In The Act

TOKYO - A campaigner for Japanese men who complain they've been falsely accused of molesting women on trains has been arrested for allegedly taking photos up a woman's skirt, police said Wednesday.

Mitsuru Nagasaki, 46, was detained by passengers who claim he aimed his camera-equipped cell phone at a woman sitting in front of him on a Tokyo subway Thursday night, a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

He was turned over to police and arrested on suspicion of being a public nuisance.

Nagasaki has been an advocate for the rights of men accused of sexual harassment on crowded trains.

He started his campaign after he was prosecuted for the offense in 1997. He appealed the case to the Supreme Court but lost and was fined 50,000 yen ($423).

Harassment has long been a hazard for women on Tokyo's trains, which are packed at rush hour.

Nagasaki was returning home after distributing his group's leaflets when he was nabbed, the Asahi newspaper reported. He first denied any wrongdoing but later said he was too drunk to remember what he did, the police spokesman said.

He did not answers calls seeking comment Wednesday.

Good Deed Blatantly Exploited

HONOLULU - A good deed is costing a Marine plenty.

Cpl. Quentin Gwynn jumped into the ocean near a popular Honolulu tourist spot to save a teenager from drowning. During the rescue someone swiped his valuables.

Firefighters credit Gwynn, on vacation after serving in the war in Iraq, with saving the 16-year-old boy's life on Monday.

After the commotion, Gwynn and his girlfriend realized that someone had stolen her backpack, which contained a camera, identification, money, credit cards and a key to their rented motorcycle.

"It's really hitting home right now. It's disheartening," said Gwynn, 21. "They could have picked someone else to steal from."

Gwynn arrived in Hawaii on Sunday aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. The ship had deployed Jan. 17 for Iraq.

The couple were about to take a second leap from a diving rock Monday when there was a panicked cry for help from the boy's friend.

Gwynn said the youth's body was limp and cold when he was pulled out of the water. He wasn't breathing and had no pulse.

The Marine helped revive the boy by performing CPR. The teen was later taken to a hospital.

Vietnam Vet Alive, Despite Dead Status

GREELEY, Colo. - Gregg Rhoads is very much alive, despite what it might seem on the Vietnam Memorial in Greeley.

Rhoads, 45, recently looked at the memorial and was surprised to see a listing for "Gregg Lee Rhoads," next to the letters "KIA."

"I was surprised, I'll have to say," Rhoads said.

Rhoads served in the Navy from 1975-79, then in the U.S. Naval Reserve for six years and another four in the Army National Guard. He was in Southeast Asia after the Vietnam war ended, picking up Marines on an amphibious landing craft.

They were under fire only once, Rhoads said, and he was never wounded.

Rick Wertz, who led the Veterans' Memorial project and keeps track of 10,000-plus names, said this week that the memorial honors living and dead Weld County residents who served in Vietnam.

The KIA designation next to Rhoads' name refers to a soldier who was killed in action and whose name on the memorial is next to Rhoads, Wertz said.

Rhoads, who volunteers at Hospice and Palliative Care at North Colorado Medical Center, said nurses have "medically confirmed I'm alive."

"That's good news," he said.

1 Dead In Human Catapult Caper
LONDON - Police said Monday they have charged two men with manslaughter in connection with the death of a Bulgarian student who died in a human catapult stunt.

Kostadin Yankov, 19, a first-year student at Oxford University, died after missing the net when he was catapulted through the air at Middlemoor Water Park in Woolavington, western England, on Nov. 24.

Avon and Somerset Police did not identify the two men, aged 44 and 32. They are due to appear in court on July 23.

Human Cannonball Fares Better

MILWAUKEE - The crowd counts down three-two-one and the cannon fires with a boom, launching a man high over the flapping flags of the circus big top.

A blink of the eye later, David Smith Sr. — the Human Cannonball — plummets back to Earth, bouncing on his back into a mesh netting.

Smith, 61, has been wowing crowds for more than 30 years. Dozens ignore the lions and tigers for a minute to cheer this 175-foot shot.

It's the fans that keep Smith flying high.

"When I go to work, 99 percent of the time they go bananas," said Smith, whose silver performance suit matches his thinning hair. "Everyone is friendly. You see the good side of people all the time."

Smith — who said he broke his own world record with a 201-foot cannonball shot last August — performed with his son, David Jr., over the weekend as part of the Great Circus Parade through downtown Milwaukee. Five of Smith's eight children also are human cannonballs.

According to Smith, one cannon shot is more or less like any other.

"You're in there, and then you're out," said Smith. "There's no 'Here we go."'

The Customer Is Always Right

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - A motel guest who complained for three days about the foul odor in his room apparently had a lot more to complain about.
Turns out he was sleeping over a dead body. Workers found the remains of a man hidden under a mattress at the Capri Motel in Kansas City.

When the guest first complained about the odor on Thursday, motel management told him nothing could be done. He finally checked out Sunday, saying he couldn't take it anymore.

A cleaning crew then found the body — which police think had been there for several days. No word yet on who the man was or how he died. Police are investigating, but have made no arrests.

Lacrosse Coach Guilty In Teenage Seduction

WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania - A 39-year-old Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty to having sex with teenage boys she coached in a lacrosse league.

Her lawyer says Elisa Fritter admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old and admitted providing alcohol to about 15 minors at a party.

Fritter pleaded guilty to more than 60 counts and faces a maximum sentence of hundreds of years in prison. Her lawyer says he will seek probation. No word on what sentence prosecutors will ask for.

Online Kidney Sale Thwarted

KASSEL, Germany - A German court on Monday sentenced an Austrian-born mechanic to four months probation for attempting to sell one of his kidneys over the Internet.

Michael Brand, 48, was also fined $2,260 by an administrative court in the central city of Kassel for violating laws on transplantation by offering the kidney in January 2001 on a German-based online auction site. Brand sought a minimum price of 130,000 marks ($75,000).

Brand told the court his intention was only to help his girlfriend pay off debts.

"I didn't want to make myself rich," he said.

The defendant's plan was thwarted by a journalist from RTL television, who arranged to meet Brand and then secretly filmed their negotiations. On Monday, Brand said he now has problems with one of his kidneys and was relieved the transaction didn't happen.

Illegal trade in organs carries a prison sentence of up to five years in Germany. Prosecutors had sought nine months probation for Brand.

Mama Mia! Brits Uncover First Lasagna Recipe

LONDON - After a hard day's jousting, what a medieval English knight needed was ... a plate of lasagna.

And he apparently could have it, according to British researchers who claim to have found a British recipe for lasagna dating from the 14th century — long before Italian chefs came up with the delicious concoction of layers of pasta topped with cheese.

"This is the first recorded recipe for a lasagna-based dish," David Crompton, one of the researchers, said Tuesday. "The Italian dish has tomatoes, which were only discovered two centuries later in the New World."

Crompton didn't claim that the English invented lasagna, and other food historians have suggested the dish has a very ancient history.

Crompton and others who are organizing a medieval festival to be held at Berkeley Castle in southern England later this month found the recipe in "The Forme of Cury" at the British Museum, commissioned by King Richard II in 1390 and regarded as one of the world's oldest recipe books.

"We prepared the medieval lasagna yesterday at the castle and it was delicious, although strangely sweet and spicy," Crompton said. Among its ingredients are cinnamon and saffron, not usually found in the Italian version.

To create loseyns (pronounced lasan), "The Forme of Cury" advises the cook to make a paste from flour of "panedemayn," a substance which hasn't been identified; roll it thin and cook it with grated cheese and sweet powder.

Predictably, the Italians are having none of it. "Whatever this old dish was called, it was not lasagna as we make it," The Daily Telegraph quoted an Italian Embassy spokesman as saying.

Man Burns Savings In Interest Rate Protest

HONG KONG - A man decided he literally had money to burn and angrily set fire to thousands of dollars in cash because his savings had earned virtually no bank interest.

Newspapers and officials said Tuesday that Chan Pak-yu, 63, burned 22,000 Hong Kong dollars (U.S.$2,800) to protest interest rates that have fallen to near zero.

He was outraged when he realized his nest egg of $346,580.05 ($44,400) had generated only $17.50 ($2.24) at the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. over the past six months, the South China Morning Post reported.

On Monday Chan withdrew all but 5 Hong Kong cents and started burning the cash, according to the Oriental Daily News.

News accounts described Chan as a homeless scavenger who lives on next to nothing despite his savings.

Police were called to the scene and found Chan with seven bank notes ablaze.

Chan later calmed down and stopped burning money, said police spokeswoman Carrie So. She said she could not confirm other details from the news reports.

The Oriental Daily News said Chan later put his money back in the bank, minus $22,000 ($2,800) he had destroyed.

Hong Kong links its dollar at a steady exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, and interest rates in the territory have plunged along with a series of cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The rate on savings deposits at HSBC now stands at 0.01 percent.

Chan reportedly spends about $10 ($1.28) a day and profits from selling items collected from trash cans and dumps. Newspapers said Chan sleeps in the open and has a makeshift shack made of plastic sheets and wooden planks.

Man Eats His Own Penis

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Police in Malaysia say a man cut off his own penis and then fried and ate it.

They say he had taken hallucinogenic drugs that caused him to hear voices urging him to mutilate himself.

A police spokesman says the 34-year-old man took the drugs before he went to bed Friday night and heard the voices when he woke up. He didn't realize what he had done until he saw the blood.

The man had recently been released from a drug rehabilitation center.

Malaysia's national news agency reports he's hospitalized in stable condition.

Tea Blamed In Dagger Attack

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - A judge dropped aggravated assault and burglary charges against a man who chased a woman with a dagger after three psychologists agreed the episode was provoked by jasmine tea.

Gilbert D. Walker, 43, was drinking up to 10 cups of jasmine tea daily and had been dreaming of biblical struggles between good and evil before the Dec. 3 incident, defense attorney Mike Hunter said.

On the night Walker burst into his neighbor's home, he had hallucinated that a set of ceramic Chinese dogs were barking or talking.

"He says he's trying to keep these ceramic dogs from barking when he hears this crash," Hunter said. "He figures he's broken one of the dogs."

The crash was apparently the sound made after Walker threw a brass duck through his neighbor's glass door. He chased the woman out of her house, and police said they found him, wild-eyed, outside the home shouting "I'm crazy."

Hunter said he contacted forensic toxicologist Dr. Susan Rice, who told him that certain jasmines can be hallucinogenic. The herb is commonly taken to calm the stomach, which is why Walker was drinking it, Hunter said.

Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet dismissed the charges Wednesday after receiving reports from three court-appointed psychologists who agreed Walker suffered from psychosis induced by jasmine tea.

Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham said that because of the psychologists' findings he did not object to dismissing the charges. One doctor wrote that the psychotic episode was isolated and Walker should have no lasting problems.

Town Celebrates Blobfest

PHOENIXVILLE, Penn. - The town where "The Blob" first made horror history is celebrating the movie monster that made it a star.

Several hundred people kicked off the Fourth Annual BlobFest weekend in the former steel town outside Philadelphia. Scores of screaming horror buffs burst from the Colonial Theatre late Friday in a re-enactment of the famous escape scene from the 1958 cult classic that starred Steve McQueen.

"Every year this event has taken on a life of its own," said Mary Foote, executive director of the Association for the Colonial Theatre. "I'm glad so many people came out for it."

People arrived for the re-enactment dressed in a variety of outfits, from 1950s garb to gorilla suits.

BlobFest weekend includes screenings of the movie, and a street festival with vintage cars, music, food, and entertainment. A piece of the original Blob also was on display.

Tiger With A Golden Tooth

SINGAPORE - A seven-year-old male tiger received his crowning glory over the weekend — a brand new gold tooth, a Singapore zoo official said Sunday.

Satria, an Indo-Chinese tiger, lost his upper right canine earlier this month in a fight with the dominant male in his enclosure at the Night Safari, said Vincent Tan, a Singapore Zoological Gardens spokesman.

Three vets and five dentists from a private hospital worked on Satria's new tooth, Tan said. The operation was performed on Saturday. A mold of his tooth was made two weeks ago for the new gold canine, he added.

"The new canine is a gold cast alloy that cost 800 Singapore dollars ($457) ... It will take another two to three days before Satria can tear meat again," Tan said.

Tan said the operation on the 286-pound carnivore had to be completed in an hour, as it was dangerous to sedate the animal for much longer.