Unusual Stuff

Rachel Christie is quite an accomplished young woman.  Or she was, anyway.  At age 21, not only is she in training for the 2012 London Olympics as a heptathlete, she also found some time on her days off to become the first black winner of the Miss England competition.  However, while she might still represent […]

The 2009 inductees for the National Toy Hall of Fame have been announced, and this year’s class of honorees is the direct opposite of last year’s class.  Where the 2008 version required a lot of imagination to wring the most fun out of them, 2009’s hall of fame class requires a lot less thinking and […]

After 13 years on the police force, Terry Ashe has seen and experienced a lot of crazy things.  However, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, or his ability to tell an appropriately lurid tale.  When his police cruiser was bitten by an angry alligator (apparently this is a common problem in Florida), he could’ve […]

Any time a baby goes missing, a big manhunt breaks out.  Fortunately for 7-month-old Shannon Lea Dedrick, her story has a happy ending.  Unfortunately for Shannon’s mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, and babysitter, Susan Elizabeth Brown, the baby’s happy ending will probably get them both jail time.  Shannon was reported missing on Saturday, and was discovered […]

It was a scene worthy of the great Mark Twain; indeed, it was a crucial moment in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!  A case of mistaken identity allowed a Brazilian man named Ademir Jorge Goncalves to make an appearance at a very unlikely event:  his own funeral.  It’s like something out of a Coffin Joe […]

The champagne is drying in the locker room, and the Bronx is celebrating this morning as the New York Yankees have claimed their 27th World Series championship as the best team in Major League Baseball.  To the victors go the spoils, like rings, a trophy, and a ticker-tape parade through New York’s Canyon Of Heroes.  […]

There’s one thing that’s fun about slot machines.  You put money into them, lights flash and bells ring, and if you’re lucky, you’re a winner and money clinks noisily into the winnings slot.  Most of the time, you don’t get anything but the lights and noise, but Bill Seebeck hit the jackpot.  Literally and figuratively.  […]

I’ve decided that whatever you like says a lot about your personality.  From the type of pictures you take to your aptitudes in education, your personality is reflected in every decision you make.  If you give me a list of your favorite movies, I can tell you a lot about who you are.  With that […]

Humans and chimpanzees, from a genetic standpoint, are first cousins.  The difference between the two from a DNA standpoint is only like 1.2 percent of genetic material; all our other DNA is exactly the same.  It’s those few simple mutations, some of which are less than 5 million years old, that separate us from the […]

A 35-mile long crack in the Earth’s surface, somewhere in the remote Afar desert of Ethiopia, will eventually become a new ocean.  Unfortunately for the drought-starved Ethiopians, it won’t become an ocean tomorrow.  No, it’s a slow process that will take millions of years, but it will become an ocean one day.
So what’s so special […]

Normally, Virgin England is a metal crafter.  He makes fantasy and exotic knives and blades, like the kind you see sold on late-night shopping infomercials, but significantly better because his are made of real bone, leather, and Damascus steel (even exotic materials like fossils and ray skin) rather than pot metal and vinyl.   However, […]

Sprinter Usain Bolt is many things.  The Jamaican is a track superstar, having captured three Olympic gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and the 4×100 relay race.  He’s definitely earned the title of World’s Fastest Man.  Now, he’s putting some of his Olympic fame and fortune to good use by adopting an orphaned […]

In the high pressure world of a failing industry, tensions run high and tempers are short.  In the Washington Post Style section’s department at the WaPo offices, tempers boiled over today.  Manuel Roig-Franzia and Monica Hesse got a plum assignment dealing with the recent Congressional ethics hearings that are breaking out like pimples on a […]

I watch a lot of movies that involve a lot of guns.  Because of this, I’ve seen several movies where I see a gun and instantly recognize it.  “Hey, that’s a Winchester 1892 Woody Harrellson’s using to shoot that zombie!”  Other times, I look at a movie gun and have no idea what it is.  […]

In the words of the owner of Nonni’s Italian Eatery, the goal was to, “bring the meatball back to the East Coast because that’s where it originated.”  Boy, was Matthew Mitnitsky not kidding.  He didn’t just bring A meatball back, he brought THE meatball back… the world’s largest meatball!  It’s a staggering 222.5 pounds of […]