Offbeat News

"What is Offbeat News?" you might ask.

Offbeat news are those events that make you realize that fact is stranger than fiction, the news stories that make you wonder how, why, what on earth were they thinking, and that's just amazing!

This is a selection of news items from the past week that had me totally amazed.

Millionaire's Lucky Coin

A man from Sydney in Australia is now a millionaire after having glued a coin to his doorstep. He had more than one type of luck working in his favor, according to experts in feng shui.

The man is a retired police officer, and won almost AUS$2 million in a lottery, after reading advice in an article on this ancient Chinese art.

A feng shui expert said that placing money at the entrance of your home symbolizes wealth coming to the occupants. Well tonight is Lottery night and I think I will be going out when I get home to do the same thing at our house. You never know do you...

Read the full story here　

Watch A Horror Movie Alone And Win AUS$12,000

A challenge has been issued by a Bollywood filmmaker to horror movie fans. He is offering a AUS$12,000 reward to anyone who is able to watch his latest thriller from the start until the closing credits. The catch? They must watch it alone in a cinema.

The movie "Phoonk 2" from Ram Gopal Varma is the sequel to his 2008 film of the same name, and is about an evil spirit that traumatizes a family.

I don't know of many horror movies that have scared me out of my wits, certainly not things like The Exorcist, but I think it's watching alone that is the worst thing. I remember watching Poltergeist alone, and when you are alone you are sometimes vulnerable. Some of the scenes really freaked me out, yet when I watched it again a few years later, I wasn't scared at all. However, the thought of being alone in a darkened cinema, with odd sounds and shadows in the darkness, plus the thought that something might jump out at me, that might just turn me to jelly.

Read the full story here
　

Spaniel Survives A 300 Foot Jump Off A Cliff

This to me is just miraculous. The dog jumped off a cliff on the East Sussex coast in England while chasing seagulls, and survived the 300 foot fall into the sea.

The springer spaniel, whose name is Poppy, was able to swim to shore and was picked up by a lifeboat.

Read the full article here
　

Thousands Of Vietnamese Gather To Say Goodbye To Dead Whale

Thousands of fishermen in Vietnam gave a royal farewell to a 15 ton dead whale, gathering at a village in southern Vietnam, paying homage at a funeral for the creature that they called "Your Excellency."

In Vietnamese culture, whales are considered sacred, and are awarded the same level of honor as emperors, kings and other nobility. This dead whale is being seen off in style, with a temple built in his honor.

Cultural differences around the world are just amazing aren't they.

Read the full story here
　

It's Party Time For Rocking Robins In Florida

Robins are one of the birds that migrate south to Florida in the winter, and they feed on the abundant fruits to be found there, on everything from Palm Berries to Brazilian Pepper Seeds.

This winter however has been unusually cold, and when it's cold the plants stop sending nutrients to their limbs, causing the fruits to rot and ferment.

This causes the birds that feed on these rotting fruits to undergo the same effects as us when we drink alcohol, and they are more likely to fly into buildings and car windshields.

Read the full story here

I hope you enjoyed this selection of odd but true stories from the last week.
More next Wednesday.