News of the Weird: Week of March 31, 2022

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I'll Have the Porridge

Someone in Royton, Oldham, England, woke up on March 20 and felt like something was missing from their life. And maybe breakfast was particularly difficult that morning. The Manchester Evening News reported that at the Barclay Pizza & Prosecco restaurant, as workers cleaned up after Saturday night's festivities, they found a full set of dentures on the floor in the bar. Barclay owner Emma Whelan posted a photo of a plastic bag containing the false teeth on Facebook, hoping to locate the owner. "We get a lot of things left behind after a night in the Barclay ... but this is a new one," Whelan said. "It must have been a cracking night."

Oops

The Roller-McNutt Funeral Home in Little Rock, Arkansas, is facing a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Harold D. Lee of Pauline, South Carolina, who was hoping to be buried next to his parents at a Quitman, Arkansas, cemetery after his death on Thanksgiving Day 2019. Lee's body was transferred to the Roller-McNutt facility and arrangements were made for the casket and funeral, KNOE-TV reported, but according to the lawsuit, the funeral home alerted the family on Dec. 10, 2019, that they had "accidentally cremated the body." Lee was extremely religious and "stickily (sic) desired not to be cremated, as he believed his body would be raptured following the second coming," the lawsuit stated. His wife, Eunice, was violently shaking in shock when she got the news. The funeral home waived the cost of the funeral and returned $5,000 after the mistake was made, the lawsuit noted.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Kristin Wiley, 49, was pulled over by Indian River County (Florida) Sheriff's officers after she barely missed hitting their stopped vehicle on March 20, The Smoking Gun reported. When they approached the car, they saw her 9-year-old son in the back seat, crying. The officer noted that Wiley's eyes were "watery and red in color," and he smelled alcohol on her breath, so he asked if she'd been drinking. She replied, "No," but her son piped up from the back seat, "Mom, you can't lie to the police. You did drink." He told the officer that his mom had been drinking at a party and said he was "very scared while Kristin was operating the vehicle," the officer reported. A breath test recorded her alcohol content at nearly three times the legal limit. Along with DUI, she was charged with child abuse.

Awesome!

When Steve Nichols and John Winn of Indian Trail, North Carolina, saw a TV news story about a dog whose owners abandoned him because they thought he was "gay," they knew they had to do something. The couple of 33 years told The Charlotte Observer that they drove to Albemarle on March 23 to adopt the dog, whom they named Oscar, after the Irish poet Oscar Wilde. Oscar's previous owners had surrendered him for humping another male dog, which, Nichols said, "was one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. That's just pack behavior." Nichols noted that the dog hadn't been neutered and was suffering from heartworm, which led him to believe that "the owner apparently didn't do anything to take care of this dog." Oscar is getting the care he needs and will join the couple's other dog, Harry, at their home.

Great Art

In the London neighborhood of Richmond, an unusual property that's been dubbed the "Invisible House" is attracting attention -- or flying under the radar -- of passersby, MyLondon reported. The front of the home sits on a busy thoroughfare and is almost completely covered with one-way mirrored glass, which reflects a roundabout across the road and the busy sidewalk in front. The family, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the architect wanted the mirror to "make the house 'talk with its environment.' We really liked the idea and ran with it." The back of the house sits on a quiet lane and features traditional architecture.

And Their Little Bird, Too!

In a scene eerily reminiscent of "The Wizard of Oz," the Castellanos family of Arabi, Louisiana, took a wild ride on March 22 as a destructive tornado ripped through the area, ABC News reported. Dea Castellanos was sitting on a couch in her living room when the house began to spin, whipping her into a bedroom. Her daughter, who has muscular dystrophy, was in another bedroom. The one-story home was lifted from its foundation and crashed down in the middle of the street, where neighbors called 911 and the girl was taken to the hospital. One of the Castellanos' pet birds stood among the rubble as they salvaged what they could; family members were "doing fine" after their ordeal.

Welcome to Hogwarts, Harry!

A U.K.-based startup called Invisibility Shield Co. has brought Harry Potter's most handy tool to reality, Oddity Central reported. The company's technology isn't quite as perfect as the fictional character's cloak, but it's close: "From the observer's perspective," the company says, "the background light is effectively smeared horizontally across the front face of the shield, over the area where the subject would ordinarily be seen." Of course, they add, the shield won't protect users from dementors or Voldemort himself. They hope to start deliveries in December.

Bright Ideas

• One exhibit at the March International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo attracted a lot of attention: Kawasaki's Bex, a prototype robot goat that can carry 220 pounds of cargo (or humans). The Bex is named after the ibex, a large wild goat of Eurasia and Africa that's famously sure-footed, Engadget reported. However, on flat surfaces, Bex moves along on wheels attached to its "knees," and on rougher terrain, it walks at a slower pace. Kawasaki reportedly envisions it being used to transport construction materials and to carry out remote industrial site inspections.
• Need socks? Need exercise? Souki Socks, a small factory in Japan's Nara Prefecture, has you covered -- or at least your toes. The company devised a contraption that combines a stationary bike with a sock-knitting machine and called it Charix. Before customers sit down, Oddity Central reported, they choose the size and colors for their socks. Riders pedal for about 10 minutes; the staff sew the toes and finish the socks on the spot, and happy clients take the new pair home.

News That Sounds Like a Joke

Around Corsham, Wiltshire, England, people, sheep -- even a former police German shepherd -- are being terrorized by two aggressive canines, Metro News reported. "There were two unpleasant Chihuahuas who attacked the German shepherd, so the size of a dog is no reflection on their aggressiveness," said councillor Ruth Hopkinson. "They weren't leashed, and the owner thought, 'They're only little, they're only friendly.' But you have to be really careful." One resident described the Chihuahuas as "bloody Mexican hooligans," and Hopkinson warned that the little dogs are causing havoc during a sensitive time of year: "If in a lambing field, please keep to the paths and your dog on a leash. When they're spooked, the ewe and lamb can become separated and (because they're not very bright creatures) they can't find each other, and it is leading to lamb deaths. The dogs may just be 'playing,' but that's not how the sheep see it."

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