September 2, 2010

Kangaroo Testicle? Chefs In Serbia Say, ‘Yes!’

Ozrem, Serbia (AP) In a remote Serbian mountain village, they’re cooking up delicacies to make your mouth water - or your stomach churn. At the seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, visitors watch - and sometimes taste - as teams of chefs cook up bull, boar, camel, ostrich and even kangaroo testicles.

“This festival is all about fun, food and bravery,” said Ljubomir Erovic, the Serbian chef and testicles gourmand specialist who organizes the bizarre cooking festival and has published a testicle cookery book.

The food - politely called “white kidneys” in Serbian - is believed to be rich in testosterone. In the Balkans, it is considered to help men’s libido.

“The bulls’ testicles are the best, goulash style,” said last year’s winner Zoltan Levai, stirring a metal pot heated by a wood fire and filled with vegetables and large testicles that he said were provided from a state-run slaughter house.

The festival - which includes dishes like testicle pizza and testicles in bechamel sauce flavored with a variety of herbs found in the region.

Visitors eat the dishes with plenty of wine or beer, and cool themselves in a small mountain river that flows beside the makeshift cooking stands blasting folk music. The stalls also sell roasted pig or lamb, “as a side dish”.

The festival also gives prizes to to those who have made the news for being “ballsy”. This year one of the unsuspecting winners is U.S. President Barack Obama. “He’s the bravest man in the world,” said Erovic. “Obama took over the world at the most difficult economic and political times,” Erovic said. “He showed he has balls.”

The other prize went to American pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who last year glided a passenger jet into the Hudson river in New York rather than risk crashing in a densely populated area trying to reach an airport.

$6 Raffle Ticket Has Prize Of New Boobs! (Ladies Only)

Caracas, Venezuela (AP) A Venezuelan politician is holding an unusual raffle to raise campaign cash. The grand prize: breast implants.

For a little under $6 a ticket, donors get the chance to win the pricey operation free of charge.

Breast enlargement is widely popular in image-conscious Venezuela. In recent years as many as 30,000 women have had the operation annually, according to the nation’s Plastic Surgery Society. Gustavo Rojas, who is running as an alternate for the National Assembly in Sept. 26 elections, said there is a great demand for the surgery.

The prize for his fund-raising effort may be a little unusual, Rojas conceded Friday, but he said it’s like raffling off a TV set or a telephone.

Mama Always Did Say, “Stupid Is As Stupid Does”

Port Orchard, WA (AP) A Washington state man who went to court to face a methamphetamine charge is in more trouble after authorities say he showed up with a bag of meth in his pants.

The 33-year-old Bremerton man had to be booked and released from the Kitsap County Jail before Tuesday’s court appearance in Port Orchard. That’s standard procedure.

The Kitsap Sun reports that a guard found a bag of meth in the man’s pocket during a pat-down at the jail.

Now he’s facing a new felony drug possession charge.

3-Letter Word Cost Company $30,000

Medford, OR (AP) A three-letter word may cost one of the nation’s oldest air ambulance operators a $30,000 fine.

The word is “our” a possessive personal pronoun meaning it belongs to us.

But the U.S. Department of Transportation says that was the wrong word for Mercy Flights of Oregon to use to describe a helicopter technically owned by another company.

The Mail Tribune reports that the helicopter was purchased for Mercy Flights’ exclusive use, but a separate company was formed for the deal, and it has ownership on paper.

The DOT says Mercy Flights broke laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices in the sales of air transportation by saying it is “our helicopter.”

The nonprofit was fined $30,000 but it will only have to pay half if it avoids other pronoun violations for a year.

$90K Bond For Stealing Brownies

& Breaking Stuff...Is That Fair?

Gonzales, LA (AP) Police arrested the suspected ‘Brownie Bandit,’ a man accused of repeatedly breaking into a bakery, stealing freshly baked brownies and leaving behind crumbs and broken windows. Gonzales police said Jamon J. Simoneaux, 18, had a bag full of brownies when he was arrested Thursday in Jumonville’s Bakery.

Bakery owner Lynn Jumonville told The Advocate he called police after the cost of broken windows and screens began to mount. He said the burglar would break in about 8:30 or 9 p.m.

Police booked Simoneaux on six counts of simple burglary and four of simple criminal damage to property.

Lynn and wife Pat Jumonville estimate that he took about 12 dozen brownies and about two dozen sugar cookies.

Simoneaux remained in the Ascension Parish jail Saturday and it was not clear whether he had an attorney. Bond was set at at $90,000.

One Golfer’s Swing Is On Fire! Literally!

Irvine, CA (AP) Forget “Fore!” “Fire!” was the cry of the day for a golfer whose off-target swing sparked a 12-acre blaze in Southern California. The golfer at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough Saturday. On his next swing, his club snagged a rock, causing a spark that lit the rough ablaze and eventually attracted 150 firefighters to the scene.

Fire officials say the fire burned through the rough, into vegetation next to the course and over two dry, brushy hillsides. No charges were filed against the golfer, whose name was withheld.

Neighbor Demands $150 To Return Missing Dog

Flint, MI (AP) Flint police said a city resident has taken “finders, keepers” to a whole new level, by taking in a missing dog that belonged to a neighbor couple and demanding $150 for its return.

When the wife learned Thursday the neighbor might have her tan Pomeranian named “Cookie,” she confronted the person and was told how much it would cost to get the pooch back.

The Flint Journal said the wife was told the neighbor paid $150 for the dog and needed to get that money back before allowing Cookie to return home.

Police said Friday the case remains under investigation.

Officer, That’s Not Me! Mistaken ID Jails Pastor

Shreveport, LA (AP) A series of unfortunate coincidences led to a case of mistaken identity that put a Louisiana minister behind bars for nearly eight hours.

Gregory Jones, pastor at Eden Worship Center, was pulled over for speeding and arrested as a man wanted for violating parole in Texas. The minister not only had the same name as the wanted man, but the same birthdate - and a Texas driver’s license. So he wound up handcuffed and taken to a Shreveport jail.

Jones said deputies treated him well and assured him they were checking his claims. A photograph and fingerprint check eventually confirmed he wasn’t the wanted man.

Caddo Lt. Don Gibbs said the department was sorry for Jones’ inconvenience but committed to ensuring wanted criminals don’t accidentally go free.