Not the Sharpest Knife
In the northeastern town of Teesside, England, last August, 22-year-old Jordan Easton of Thornaby was at the home of a friend, hanging out in the kitchen, when he boasted that his vest was “stab-proof.” To prove it, he “took hold a knife to demonstrate,” Karin Welsh, Teesside assistant coroner, testified, “and sadly realized it wasn’t quite the case.” Detective Superintendent Ted Butcher also testified at Easton’s inquest on June 16 that he found no evidence Easton intended to harm himself and died after “a boisterous act.” Welsh recorded the cause of death as a “misadventure.”
Not Quite a Refund
In Putnam County, Fla., the sheriff’s office provides a wide variety of services. So, when Douglas Kelly, 49, called the office on June 12 to complain that the methamphetamine he had been sold was fake, officers happily offered to test it for him. Kelly told detectives he had suffered a “violent reaction” after smoking the substance and wanted to sue the dealer if, in fact, he had been sold the wrong drug. He arrived at the sheriff’s office and “handed detectives a clear, crystal-like substance wrapped in aluminum foil,” the office’s Facebook post explained, according to The Washington Post. It “field-tested positive for methamphetamine,” and, on the spot, Kelly was arrested and charged with possession of meth. The sheriff’s office Facebook page helpfully notes: “Remember, our detectives are always ready to assist anyone who believes they were misled in their illegal drug purchase.”
Weirdness Down Under
• As part of the Dark Mofo Art Festival, Australian performance artist Mike Parr, 73, entered a steel tomb below busy Macquarie Street in Hobart on June 14, where he meditated, drew and read as traffic flowed overhead for 72 hours until he was released. Lest anyone worry, Parr had water to drink, and oxygen was pumped into the box. His “performance” was promoted as a “response to 20th-century totalitarian violence,” according to The Guardian. “I don’t take anything away from it at all,” said Carolyn Bowerman from Townsville. “I’m just amazed that someone would go to this much effort.” In a previous piece, Parr hacked away at a prosthetic arm with an ax before a shocked, confused audience.
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• Over in Melbourne, Australia, customers of the Prahran neighborhood Woolworths store will have to park somewhere else on July 9, as photographer Spencer Tunick captures thousands of willing nudes in a group photograph to be taken on the store’s rooftop parking lot. Reuters reported more than 11,000 people registered to disrobe for Tunick, who has done group nudes in other spots around the world. “It’s well and truly oversubscribed,” said John Lotton, director of the Provocare Festival of the Arts in Melbourne.
• In Auckland, New Zealand, an unnamed 28-year-old man appeared in court June 18 to answer charges of stealing two human toes from the Body Worlds Vital Exhibition—a traveling display that features human corpses and organs preserved through the process known as plastination. The toes, valued at $5,500 each, have been returned to the exhibition, The New Zealand Herald reported. The toe thief may not have to foot the bill, but he’s looking at seven years in prison and two years for interfering with a dead body.
On a Chocolate High
Two unnamed employees of the Inn at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vt., enjoyed some malted milk ball-type candies left behind by guests on June 13, but they didn’t enjoy the aftermath. The candies were cannabis edibles, and the employees became sick after consuming them. Police arrived to find one of them lying in the parking lot, and both were transferred to the hospital, according to the Associated Press. Recreational use of marijuana becomes legal in Vermont on July 1; police said the guests who left the edibles would not be charged.
Most Important Meal of the Day!
In California, some bed-and-breakfast establishments are employing a new marketing twist—the “Bud and Breakfast.” For example, CBS News reports, Erin Dean’s Airbnb north of Sacramento is right next door to a cannabis farm. Her welcome gift for guests includes up to one ounce of the herb from the neighboring farm (allowable under state law). So far, other bud-and-breakfasts have sprouted in Palm Springs and Lake Tahoe.
© 2018 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
