News of the Weird: Week of November 10, 2022

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The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Michael Sherwood and his son, Kyle, of Cleveland come from a long line of morticians. So a few years back, when a friend wondered how he might have his tattoos preserved after he passes away, the two came up with an idea, Oddity Central reported. They figured out a method for removing and preserving tattoos, then started a business called Save My Ink Forever. "Some of these things really are pieces of art," Kyle said. "Instead of having just the remains or the burial ... (families) have actually a piece of their loved one." The Sherwoods say their technique is proprietary, but it takes roughly three or four months. Families are left with a parchmentlike piece of art. "We are trying to do this in the most dignified manner possible," Kyle added.

Dastardly Deed

Jerome Ellis, a Dollar General employee in DeLand, Florida, allegedly got into an argument with a co-worker on Oct. 24, which prompted him to a retaliatory move that could have been deadly, Fox35-TV reported. On Oct. 25, the victim set down a can of Pepsi and went to the restroom. When he returned, he took a drink of the soda and noticed it tasted like cleaning supplies. Sure enough, video surveillance cameras revealed that Ellis had poured bleach into the Pepsi can, wiped it off, then spit in it. Cameras also caught Ellis trying to unplug the surveillance system. He told investigators that he put cleaning solution in the drink to get back at the co-worker, who he said was difficult to work with. 

Inexplicable

A female lion at the Topeka Zoo in Kansas has grown a mane, The Topeka Capitol-Journal reported on Oct. 23. Zuri, 18, who lost her mate, Avus, in 2020, started producing more testosterone after his death, which has resulted in the butch look. "It's nothing like the mane you would see on a fully sexually mature male lion," said Zuri's curator, Shanna Simpson. "She looks like a teenaged male lion." Zookeepers said along with the mane, Zuri has become more feisty -- growling, snarling and roaring more than before. "She feels like she needs to protect her pride, so her testosterone increases," Simpson said. 

Great Art

A 1941 artwork by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian has been found to have been hanging upside down in various museums for 75 years, The Guardian reported. One could be forgiven for the mistake; the piece features interlaced red, yellow, black and blue adhesive tape strips that subtly thicken at the bottom. But a photograph of Mondrian's studio shows the same piece on an easel -- with the "bottom" at the top. However, Susanne Meyer-Buser, curator of the North Rhine-Westphalia's art collection, said it will continue to be displayed upside down. "The adhesive tapes are already extremely loose and hanging by a thread," she said. "And it's now part of the work's story." 

Armed and Clumsy

A man who stopped in a corn maze in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Oct. 22 to get a corn kernel out of his shoe accidentally shot himself in the leg, KMSP-TV reported. The 38-year-old from Circle Pines was carrying the gun legally, and it discharged when he bent over to retrieve the kernel. Police said the gun did not have a safety; the owner wasn't charged. 

Up a Tree

Tyler County (Texas) Deputy Cory LeBlanc and other first responders undertook an unusual assignment on Oct. 31, KFDM-TV reported. An unnamed man who was bow hunting for deer from a tree stand called 911 around 4:25 p.m. to report that he had fallen from his perch and was stuck upside down, 18 feet above the ground. The man's ankle had become lodged in the framework of the stand. "We had the Spurger Volunteer Fire Department, DPS, Texas Parks and Wildlife on the way, all trying to help," LeBlanc said. After an hour and a half of being heels-over-head, the man was lowered to the ground and was unhurt. His advice: "Use a harness. It was in my truck. I just got complacent." 

News You Can Use

Miller Lite wants to light up your Christmas tree in more ways than one! The company is offering the Christmas Tree Keg Stand for the low, low price of $49.99, CNN Business reported. The tree stand is basically a keg with a small table on top, and when beer is dispensed, the design "makes it seem as if beer is being poured from the tree," said Sarah Showak, associate marketing manager. According to Miller Lite, the stand will support up to a 5-foot-tall tree with ornaments and lights. 

Wait, What?

Designer Amanda Booth, 33, of Toronto, Canada, has a business making jewelry, aptly named Trinkets by Amanda, Oddee reported on Oct. 31. Her first pieces were of clay, but then a friend contacted her and asked if she could make a jewelry set from her son's ashes. Booth has "never said no" to a friend, and the set inspired other customers -- one who asked if she could use breast milk to make jewelry. She posted about the jewelry on TikTok and business took off, including orders for items made with umbilical cords, placenta and hair. But the real creme de la creme came when people started requesting jewelry made from semen. Booth transforms the liquids to powder and mixes them with clay, then sculpts the jewelry piece. "I am an open-minded artist," Booth said. 

Spooky

• Linda Hill, owner of a rental home in Gainesville, Texas, has ghosts, Fox News reported. Many ghosts. "We've got kids, and we've got old people, old guys, and we've got hookers," she said. The hookers are the most common visitors, known to stroke a male renter's face or their arm. "They try to stir up business, but they can't figure out a way to conclude the transaction, so nothing ever happens," she said. 
• The Wozniak family of Baltimore, looking to up their Halloween game, ordered a prop casket on Facebook Marketplace, Fox News reported. But they got more than they bargained for when they found the ashes of Edith Crews, who had died in January of COVID-19, inside. They also found a photograph of Crews, her death certificate and her hospital bracelet. The Wozniaks posted about the discovery on TikTok hoping to connect with her family members; Crews' granddaughter happened to see the posting, and the items were returned. Crews' family had rented the casket for the woman's service from Freeman Funeral Services, and she had been cremated afterward.

Bright Idea

Self-proclaimed "Britain's dullest man" Kevin Beresford has your holiday shopping list solution: a 2023 calendar of Britain's best parking lots, the Daily Record reported. Beresford traveled the country from one end to the other, photographing parking lots and later compiling his favorites into a 12-month calendar. His personal favorite was Trinity Street car park in Birmingham, featuring walls made of crushed cars and adorned with street art. Beresford, of Worcestershire, said he focuses on "slices of English life that nobody else does. I don't create your normal conventional calendars. It's sexy being dull." Beresford is single, ladies. 

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