TOKYO — Jazz musicians have often been called “swinging cats.” But Jiken Miyazaki, founder of Café Samurai, takes it literally. His “jazz kissaten” (coffee shop) is crammed with 5,000 varied maneki neko, traditional lucky statuettes of a smiling feline with a beckoning upraised paw. “These cats and the music I play have a common spirit […]
Category Archives: Odd News
Prison Break Odd News
Pony Express Artifact
A letter that took two years to reach its destination evokes the hazards of the Pony Express In 1860, an ill-fated Pony Express rider, whose name has been lost to history, was crossing the trackless wastes of Nevada when he vanished, likely killed by Indians. Two years later, in May 1862, the mail pouch from […]
McDonald’s sales take hit from US joblessness
McDonald’s US sales decline deepens as joblessness, competition catch up to burger chain CHICAGO (AP) — The supersized recession that was a boon for business last year caught up further with McDonald’s Corp. in November, as high unemployment ate into sales. While the world’s largest burger chain is still faring better than its competitors, who’ve […]
The Most Notorious Fake Twitter Accounts
Impostor Tweets Users are parodying or impersonating everything and everyone from BP to Angelina Jolie. Will it end? Should it?
See a furious waterfall — without water
View from top of de-watered Niagara Falls A view from the top of the de-watered Niagara Falls in 1969 in New York. Unearthed after 41 years by American Russ Glasson, they were taken by his mother and father in law and show when the famous waterfall was turned off for almost six months. For six […]
Diff’rent Strokes Dana Plato
Dana Plato Dana Plato led quite an interesting life, full of dizzying heights and shattering lows. She came to fame as a child star but found out soon enough that early fame often has its own pitfalls. Best known as Kimberly Drummond, the older sister on TV’s “Diff’rent Strokes,” Dana went through a lot while […]
Unusual outcome for men switched at birth
Two years back, Dimas Aliprandi and Elton Plaster didn’t know of each other’s existence. Then they learned they had been accidentally switched at birth more than 20 years ago. The discovery didn’t bring bitterness or recrimination. Rather, it led to the creation of a bigger family. Today, the two 25-year-olds are living and working together […]
Longest-Lasting Batteries
Store brands may save you money on household necessities, but generic batteries might not be your best bet, according to recent tests comparing name brand and store brand batteries. CVS AA Long Lasting alkaline batteries didn’t actually last longer than other batteries tested under the same conditions by Consumer Reports. In fact, those generics had […]