Five Newspaper Stories that Made Me Smile or Laugh Out Loud

For a couple of weeks in March I decided to keep my eyes open for newspaper articles that made me smile or laugh. I was tired of the stomach churning, bad news articles that usually fill newspapers. It was not an easy task but I did find five that made me either smile or even laugh out loud.

Caught

Associated Press columnist, Frederic J. Frommer, wrote an article in the Tampa Tribune entitled "Phony Products Receive Energy Star Approval." You are probably aware of the yellow Energy Guide stickers attached to new appliances stating how much money you will save if you replace your old appliance with the energy efficient product. The stickers are a product of the Energy Star program run by the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. A group of government investigators decided to test how vulnerable the program is to fraud and abuse. The investigators sought to pass off 20 fake products as energy saving. Of the 20, only two were rejected and three did not get a response. One of the products to pass as energy efficient was a gasoline powered alarm clock.

He Doesn't Want To Be a Millionaire

According to an Associated Press article from St. Petersburg, Russia in the Tampa Tribune, a 43 year old bachelor won 1 million dollars for solving a mathematical problem. It was one of seven mathematical problems that the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts deemed to be worthy of a million dollar prize. Grigory Perelman, an unemployed bachelor who lives with his mother in Russia, solved the problem which had stumped mathematicians for a century. When notified that he won the million dollar prize Perelman said that he would need to think about accepting it. Perelman's high school math teacher encouraged Perelman to accept the prize as it would help provide for himself and his elderly mother.

Big Day at the Movies

The New York Post reported, in an article by Tom Liddy, that Uma Thurman's recent movie, "Motherhood," had a tough opening day in London, England. Evidently the producers had the ingenious idea of showing the movie in just one theater for its Sunday debut. The idea was that "...the exclusivity would generate buzz around the movie, with people lining up for blocks to see it." On opening Sunday just one patron showed up for the movie. The movie grossed a whopping $131.

Bracelet Gets Student In Trouble

According to Keith Morelli and Jose Patino Girona, columnists for the Tampa Tribune, middle school student, Frankie Rodriguez, was punished for wearing a bracelet to school. Frankie purchased the "offensive" bracelet at a mall store to show support for his aunt and several family friends with breast cancer. The bracelet reads: "I (heart) Boobies. Keep a Breast." A non profit cancer awareness organization, the Keep A Breast Foundation, sells the bracelet. Unfortunately a teacher and school administrator viewed the bracelet as "disruptive and sexually harassing." Frankie was put on a one-day in-school suspension. Frankie's parents intervened and the punishment was lifted.

What Can You Do With Your Eyebrows?

A 16 year old, New Port Richey, Florida teenager got his fifteen minutes of fame on the Jay Leno Show. Klint Lowry of the Suncoast News reports that Jonathon Timpanelli has a talent that caught the attention of the producers of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." Jonathon made and posted a video of himself on YouTube doing the "Eyebrow Worm" to music. He also sent the video to the producers of Jay Leno's show who invited him to do his trick on the show. For Jonathon, it was a dream come true. He and his father were treated like royalty and found both Jay Leno and his television crew very friendly. To top off his experience, a flight attendant on the plane coming home recognized Jonathon and said, "Oh, you're the guy with the eyebrow. Oh, you're so funny!"

Sources: The Tampa Tribune

The New York Post

The Suncoast News