News Of The Weird-929

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

Among the anticipated products at the February American International Toy Fair in New York City (according to the New York Post) were a gun that shoots boogers, a squeezable doll that smells like rotten eggs, a flea (based on a pro wrestling character) that emits rank body odors after warning “I’m gonna blow,” and a dissectible brain that oozes slime. Also at the show, St. Petersburg, Fla., inventor Tim Engler was pushing his pump-operated, heavy squirt-gun artillery that mounts on bicycles. (Not at the fair, but currently a hot Internet pass-around ad is a color poster for Japan’s Kaba-Kick, a pink toy gun shaped like a hippo that appears designed for children to play Russian roulette, but with the loser merely kicked in the head by the hippo. The Kaba-Kick was discontinued by Takura Toys in 1992, but its ad apparently lives on.)

Albuquerque emergency room physician Sam Slishman is working to launch his Endorphin Power Co., which is a homeless shelter providing drug rehabilitation based on vigorous exercise at on-premises workout stations. However, Slishman also wants his center to help pay for itself by selling the electric power that could be harnessed by his down-and-out population’s daily workouts (pedaling, lifting, working the treadmills). Endorphin Power, Slishman says, will be the city’s inspirational flagship for “social rehabilitation and renewable energy.”

Dentist Mohamedraza Huss Bhimani (Orland Park, Ill.), whom police say fondled three female patients, was arrested in his office while he happened to be working on another patient, in mid-filling (October). (The patient had to rush to another dentist to finish the job.) And Dr. Leon Gombis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) had battery charges filed against him after he, wielding pliers, ripped a cap out of the mouth of a 58-year-old patient, believing (mistakenly) that she was behind on her payments (January).
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd

NEWS OF THE WEIRD