News of the Odd

[Arvon]

Switzerland jeopardized its renowned reputation for noncontroversy in August when it submitted for world-record consideration a cherry-spitting launch of 82 feet, allegedly beating the old record (held by American Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause of Arizona) of 74 feet. (Pellet Gun is married to the women's champion, Marlene "Machine Gun" Krause.) Switzerland's bid is controversial because it uses more-spitting-friendly pits, plus, in Switzerland, distance includes the two-foot follow-through area, whereas other world-record spits were measured from the point of release. [Daily Telegraph (London), 8-12-01]

In a conference paper delivered in August, Professor Patricia Simonet (Sierra Nevada College, Lake Tahoe, Nev.) reported that dogs make a fourth distinctive sound pattern (besides bark, growl and whine): an idiosyncratic "pant" that is unmistakably joyous and playful and which is observed in such activities as tearing up a flower bed or looking back over his shoulder when he's outrunning his master at play. Simonet found that the "pant" was a series of sounds too subtle for most humans to pick up in the everyday commotion, but that when she played the sound for 15 puppies, all moved immediately to a toy area and began to frolic. [Washington Times, 8-7-01]

In July, Sarasota (Fla.) County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Czachur drove his cruiser to a familiar spot beside South Oxford Drive in Englewood to take a turn watching for speeders. The patrol car immediately rolled into a neatly created hole about 5 feet by 5 feet, which was disguised by someone's having laid palm fronds and oak branches across it. Said Czachur, "Someone must have been ticketed and got upset." [Port Charlotte Sun-Herald, 7-26-01]

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Avast There mates..make yer way here and drop yer anchor. We'll swap some lies and have a Black Jack o' ale.