What began as private business between two neighbours became a national debate over children's right to play hockey. Many, myself included, did not know that in many Canadian cities, including Waterloo, have laws that bans all sports being played on the streets as recently as two weeks ago. The law had been in the books for decades, only no one seriously enforces it. It is as if the law did not exist. Strange, isn't it? It does strike as odd, but that is not the only oddity that occurred in the past month. The following is just a sample of the weird things that happened recently.
In December, Dunlop Tire company opened a contest in which the company doled out $25,000 to convince someone whose first name is Dunlop to change their full name to Dunlop Tire. If there is more than one taker, then the people who changed their names will split the money. There are many stupid contests out there, just look at the web, but this has to be one of the strangest, and nuttiest, contests ever. To qualify, one has to submit a legal name change form as proof. Whoever actually submitting an entry must have multiple identities. Why else would you to a stranger you have made a name change? Besides, if there are 25,000 legitimate entries, then they get $1 each. With today's postage, it might not even cover that.
Weathermen are probably the only ones in the world who can make frequent mistakes and still get paid by their employer. On some occasions, though, a wrong forcast can get a weatherman in a lot of trouble, literally. A weatherman working for a Brazilian TV station predicted that heavy rain will hit southern Brazil for New Year's Day. People in the region were preparing for the worst as a rainstorm had recently swept the region. New Year's Day went by and not a single drop of rain fell on the region. The local citizens were angry at the weatherman for spreading fear. The local government went as far as charging the weatherman, who may spend 6 months in jail if convicted. So if you plan to be in the financial field, make sure that you are 100% confident on your investment recommendations and the forecasts are 100% accurate. I don't think anyone wants to get to the sin bin for making wrong guesses.
During the holiday shopping season, Santa(s) can be seen in practically every mall, and they have few, if any, breaks. Normally, there are more than one Santas manning a mall, but two Santas is too many for the management of a mall in Bellingham, WA. In mid-December, a 6-year-old boy went to the Bellis Fair Mall with his parents to do some shopping. The boy was wearing a Santa suit. Sound innocent enough, right? Appearently the mall did not like the idea of shoppers paying attention to this mini-Santa, instead of the "official" Santa the mall hired, so the mall security expelled the boy and his parents. I have personally visited the above mall before (back when I was in BC, Canada had an 80-cent dollar, and dinosaurs roamed the Earth). The mall is big enough to have two, maybe more, Santas. The boy was just trying to get into the holiday spirit, give him a break.
You don't need to watch a Star Wars movie to find a Jedi Knight anymore. According to the data from the most recent British census, there are so many people writing Jedi Knight as their religion that it has enough following to be recognized as a officially recognized religion. I don't know anyone who claims to be a Jedi Knight, but it should not be hard to distinguish one. If you know someone who decorates the place with Star Wars merchandise, threatens to use a lightsabre when provoked, or talks about the appropriate way to utilize the Force, you got yourself a knight. (Of course, since I don't know anyone who is a Jedi Knight, my description could be totally out of whack. If this is the case, don't get too angry over this).
Every day, houses are put on sale throughout the state of Virginia, but only one of them is for free. No, it is NOT a joke. A homeowner is giving her house away. Often deals like this have a catch, and this one is no exception. The homeowner had sold the land to a developer and it wanted her to get the house off the lot, so she added such an odd provision. So far, there are no takers. If one can find a way to haul the house, it IS a good deal. With a few adjustments, one can get a mobile home for less. The owner also doesn't have to worry about getting too attached to the house — when you move, just move the house along.
Jason "the Screamer" Lau
Is it just me, or do I have too much time in my hands?