This year computer hardware engineer ToshioYamamoto, 49, celebrates 15 years of tasting and cataloging all of the ramen(instant noodles) he can get his hands onincluding the full list of ingredients,texture, flavor, price and "star" rating for eachfor the massive4,300-ramen database on his website. He recently expanded his website with"hundreds" of video reviews and re-reviews of many previous products(in case the taste had changed, he told journalist Lisa Katayama, writing inApril on the popular blog Boing Boing). Yamamoto said he used to eat ramen forbreakfast seven days a week, but recently cut back to five. "I feared thatif I continued at that pace, I would get bored," he said.
Compelling Explanations
- In January, on behalf of California,the State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) formally claimed about 100items of property on the surface of the moon. The items had been left behindduring the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, and the SHRC noted that California companies were instrumental inthat mission. (Only the moon surface itself is off limits to ownership claimsunder international law.) Among the items declared are tools, a flag, bags offood and bags of human waste left by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
- In Toronto, Louis Woodcock, 23, testified at his trial in March that hewas not involved in a 2005 gunfight that took the life of a woman caught in thecrossfire, despite being seen on surveillance video near the woman and holdinghis hand inside his jacket until gunshots rang out. He said he often kept hishand inside his jacket to keep from sucking his thumb, which is a habit hepicked up in childhood and that did not go over well on the street. (The juryconvicted him of manslaughter.)
Ironies
- Karen Salmansohn, 49, prominent author of self-help books for womenwith relationship and career problems, including Prince Harming Syndrome and Howto Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of ProfessionalDog Trainers, filed a complaint in March against Mitchell Leff. Salmansohnsaid Leff had strung her along for months with promises of marriage and a baby,but abruptly cut off support when she became pregnant. Said Salmansohn,"I'm a self-help book author, not a psychic."
- Former Major League Baseball star Lenny "Nails" Dykstrarecently started accepting clients for his investment advice service, charging$999 a year, according to a March WallStreet Journal report. His website discloses that while Dykstra is"NOT (his emphasis) a registered financial adviser, [his] proven trackrecord has caught the attention of many.” (Dykstra filed for Chapter 11bankruptcy protection in July 2009 to stave off more than 20 lawsuits againsthim for entrepreneurial ventures gone wrong. In November the bankruptcy judgedenied him the right to reorganize his debts, converting his case to Chapter 7liquidation.)
Creme de la Weird
In March in Polson, Mont.,officials charged Brent Wilson, 53, with attempting to illegally acquireownership of someone else's house. Wilsonhad attempted to register the title as property located on the "thirdplanet from the sun" and as a conveyance from God, in a transaction thathas yet to take place (scheduled for the year 6012). Authorities believe Wilson might have fallenfor the elaborate teachings of a scammer who conducts seminars on how tooutsmart the law governing foreclosures. Wilsonwas also charged with breaking into the house illegally and changing the locks.Said the recording supervisor of Gallatin County, "I can'texplain why people do what they do."
A News of the Weird Classic
In October 2003, 12,000 visitors descended on West Point, Ky.,for the Knob Creek Gun Range Machine Gun Shoot. The weekend event, billed asthe nation's largest, features a separate competition for flamethrowers.Especially coveted is "The Line" (the waiting list is 10 years longto be admitted), where 60 people get to fire their machine guns into a field ofcars and boats, and during which a shooter might run through $10,000 inammunition. Among the champions: Samantha Sawyer, 16, the top women'ssubmachine gunner for the previous four years. One man interviewed by the Louisville Courier-Journal said he methis future wife at a previous Shoot, noting he was impressed that "shecould accept flame-throwing as a hobby."
© 2010 Chuck Shepherd
