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Funeral Procession Pole Dancing
Two years ago, China’s Ministry of Culture cracked down on the centuries-old tradition of festive, over-the-top funeral ceremonies designed to ensure the family that the deceased died properly. The ministry arrested the song-and-dance people
Read More »A Smashing Good Time
What was billed as the United Kingdom’s first “Rage Cage” opened in Nottingham, England, in December. Patrons could use crowbars, baseball bats and hammers to smash crockery, electronics and glassware at prices ranging from
Read More »What Isn’t Sexual Harassment?
University of Kentucky professor Buck Ryan disclosed that he had been punished by his dean for singing the Beach Boys classic “California Girls” in a lesson comparing American and Chinese cultures. The university alleged
Read More »Breaking The Ice
— The Space World theme park in Kitakyushu, Japan, opened a popular ice-skating rink in November, but was forced to close it two weeks later because it was extremely unpopular with social media critics.
Read More »Kiddie Beat-Down School
An estimated 3.2 million kids aged 5-12 take mixed-martial-arts classes, training to administer beatdowns modeled after the adults’ Ultimate Fighting Championships, according to a report in ESPN magazine, which profiled the mohawked Derek “Crazy”
Read More »The Future Of Travel
Australian aviator David Mayman has promised investors that his jet packs will hit the market by mid-2017. Early clients will pay $250,000 for one. The device is said to fly a person at up
Read More »Don’t Drink & Forklift Drive
Ashley Basich, 49, was arrested in Cheyenne, Wy., and charged with DUI after police found her using an industrial forklift to pick up and move a van that she said was blocking her driveway.
Read More »Clean Off The Gravel First
Thousands flocked to the annual Roadkill Cooking Festival in Marlinton, W.V., in September. It featured an array of “tasting” dishes — black bear, possum, elk, snapping turtle. Judges deducted points if the “chef” had
Read More »Compelling Explanations
— In September, Charles Lawrence III, 60, was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted sexual assault despite his claim that it was just bad eyesight that caused the problem. He had arrived
Read More »Goldfish Revisited
— Emma Marsh of Kuraby, Australia, shelled out $500 in September for emergency medical care to remove the pebble stuck in her goldfish Conquer’s throat. Brisbane’s Courier-Mail noted that the $500 could have bought
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