A smart monkey that called 911 and a variety of people who are clearly not as clever as the monkey provide fodder for this week’s look at our weird and wacky world.
MONKEY BUSINESS
Cops usually have a prime suspect. In this case it’s a primate suspect. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office believes it was a little Capuchin monkey that called 911 from a zoo last Saturday night. The call disconnected and dispatchers tried to call and text back but there was no response, so deputies were sent to investigate, the office said.
The address turned out to be the Zoo to You near Paso Robles, but the deputies found that no one there made the call. They finally deduced that a Capuchin monkey named Route had apparently picked up the zoo’s cellphone, which was in a golf cart used to move about the property. “We’re told Capuchin monkeys are very inquisitive and will grab anything and everything and just start pushing buttons,” explained the sheriff’s office.
THE 19TH HOLE
A woman with an open bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey in a bag was arrested for driving a golf cart on Florida’s busiest interstate while drunk, according to an arrest report. The 58-year-old woman is now facing misdemeanor charges of disorderly intoxication in a public place and resisting an officer without violence.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, a semitruck driver spotted the woman driving in the golf cart in the centre lane of Interstate 95 in Brevard County, which is the heart of Florida’s Space Coast. The truck driver used her semi to steer the golf cart to the shoulder of the interstate and grabbed the keys to the golf cart as the woman tried to drive away and waited for state troopers to arrive.
A BAD AD
A rural South Korean town is getting roasted over its video ad on garlic that some farmers say stinks of obscenity and has even sexually objectified the agricultural product. The controversy surrounds a 30-second video that had been posted on a YouTube channel for Hongseong County, known for its local “Hongsan” garlic, for about two years.
The video shows a woman touching the thigh of a man named “Hongsan” with a full garlic head mask and saying words like “very thick” and “hard” to apparently describe the quality of the local garlic. It’s also a parody of a famous scene from a 2004 hit Korean movie titled “Once Upon a Time in High School.” One farmer who saw the video notified some farmers’ groups, while South Korean media also began reporting about it, leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths.
A BAD STATUE
Bronze statues of mythical methamphetamine cookers Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were installed at a convention centre in Albuquerque (photo) to celebrate the “Breaking Bad” TV series and its entertainment legacy, winning applause in a city that played its own gritty supporting role.
Local politicians including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller mixed with “Breaking Bad” stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and director Vince Gilligan to help unveil the artwork, donated by Gilligan and Sony Pictures.
Gilligan said he recognized that the statues of “two fictional, infamous meth dealers” won’t be universally cherished in New Mexico. “In all seriousness, no doubt some folks are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ And I get that,” Gillian said.
ITSY BITSY SPIDER SPARKS LARGE FIRE
A Utah man has been arrested on accusations he started a wildfire while trying to burn a spider with his lighter. Cory Allan Martin acknowledged starting the fire, but didn’t explain why he was trying to burn the spider. Deputies found a jar of marijuana in his belongings, but he didn’t appear to be high, said Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon. The area and most of Utah was bone dry amid extreme drought conditions and the wildfire quickly spread up the mountain and had burned less than 1 square mile (1 square kilometer) as of Tuesday, according to fire officials.
COOL IDEA, BOSS!
Spain’s leader has proposed an energy-saving move that many men have already embraced. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has asked government officials and people working in the private sector to save energy by giving up wearing neckties at work. Appearing at a news conference in an open-necked white shirt and blue jacket, Sánchez explained he had dressed less formally not as a nod to the casual Friday custom but to curb utility use – presumably air-conditioning.
“I´d like you to note that I am not wearing a tie. That means that we can all make savings from an energy point of view,” the prime minister said at the news conference called to summarize his government’s annual performance.
He said he encouraged his ministers and public officials, “that if not necessary, don’t use a tie.”