Chengdu, China, street barber Xiong Gaowu offers a most unusual service at his roadside location in Sichuan province. For $12, Xiong will scrap the inside of his customers' eyelids using a straight razor, according to Reuters. Xiong suggests being "gentle, very, very gentle" when performing eyelid shaving, or "blade wash eyes," as the technique is known in Mandarin. A Chengdu ophthalmologist, Qu Chao, says shaving may unblock moisturizing sebaceous glands along the rim of the eyelid, leading to a more comfortable and refreshed feeling. "If he can properly sterilize the tools that he uses, I can see there is still a space for this technique to survive," Qu added. [Reuters, 11/24/2017]

Uncontained Excitement

Traffic slowed to a crawl on I-95 in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Nov. 21 as President Trump's motorcade arrived for the Thanksgiving holiday. Author and sportswriter Jeff Pearlman was among the delayed drivers, but things turned weird when "these people (kept) getting out of the car dancing," he posted in a Twitter video. WPTV reported that Pearlman recorded the people two cars in front of him emerging from their car and twerking on the highway, then jumping and dancing around enthusiastically before getting back in the vehicle. [KSHB TV, 11/22/2017]

Compulsion

A 35-year-old Indian man employed a unique method for dealing with his depression: swallowing metal. Maksud Khan was rushed to surgery at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India, after developing severe abdominal pains, according to Metro News. An endoscopy showed that Khan had "coins, nails and nut-bolts in his stomach," said Dr. Priyank Sharma, who led the surgical team. In late November, surgeons removed 263 coins, 100 nails and other metal items, including razor blades and dog chains, from Khan's stomach. His family had no idea he had been ingesting metal, and Khan promised doctors he would never eat metal again. [Metro News, 11/26/2017]

Unclear on the Concept

-- In Iowa, autumn is breeding season for deer, when the animals can get a little wacky and try to cross roadways. It's also the time of year when the Iowa Department of Transportation begins fielding questions from drivers asking why deer crossing signs aren't erected at safer spots for deer to cross. "This sign isn't intended to tell deer where to cross," the Iowa DOT helpfully posted on its Facebook page on Oct. 24, according to the Des Moines Register. "It's for drivers to be alert that deer have been in this area in the past." State Farm Insurance reports that Iowa drivers have the fourth-highest likelihood in the U.S. of hitting a deer. Coincidence? [Des Moines Register, 11/25/2017]

-- Rocky, an enterprising 7-month-old border collie in Devon, England, took the command "bring the sheep home" a little too literally in early November when he herded nine sheep into his owner's kitchen. "I was in the kitchen and heard a noise," Rocky's owner, Rosalyn Edwards, told the BBC. "I turned around and the sheep were just standing there. It was funny at the time, but then there was quite a lot of wee, poo and mud everywhere." The sheep stood around for a few minutes, then allowed themselves to be shown out the front door. [BBC, 11/3/2017]

Irony

As elder members of the First United Methodist Church in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, gathered on Nov. 16 to discuss the recent church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, one of those present asked if anyone had brought a gun to church. One man spoke up and said he carries a gun everywhere, reported WATE-TV, and produced the gun, emptying the chambers before passing the weapon around. When the owner got the gun back, he replaced the magazine and recharged the chamber -- accidentally squeezing the trigger and shooting himself in the hand and his wife in the abdomen. Both victims were taken by helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. [WATE-TV, 11/16/2017]

Last Wishes

On Oct. 10, Richard Lussi, 76, of Plains Township, Pennsylvania, succumbed to heart disease. But before he died, he made sure his family knew there was one thing he wanted to take with him: a cheesesteak from Pat's King of Steaks in Philadelphia. "No onions because they'll come back to haunt me!" Lussi told his family. So the day before Lussi's funeral, his son, John, grandson, Dominic, and two friends drove to Philly, where they ate cheesesteaks and bought two extra for Lussi's casket. John told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the funeral director advised not putting the sandwiches in the coffin until after the viewing, "because people would take them." Pat's owner Frank Olivieri Jr. said he was flattered and proud that his cheesesteaks were held "so dear" by someone. "Maybe it's a bribe for St. Peter," he added. [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/17/2017]

In Your Own Backyard

Lisa Cramps moved into a new home in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, England, this fall and quickly discovered a mysterious manhole cover in her backyard. Rather than ignore it, Cramps dug up the cover and unearthed a World War II-era bunker underneath. Neighbors informed Cramps that the shelter pre-dates her house and originally had two stories, with the upper level partially above ground. "It's very exciting to find this in our garden," Cramps told Metro News. "I love Second World War history, and my mission now is to find out exactly why it's here." [Metro News, 11/28/2017]

Undignified Death

Linda Bringman, 64, of the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, died on Nov. 27 after being found unresponsive three days earlier with her head stuck between two posts of a wrought iron fence. Paramedics were called around noon that day to a PNC Bank branch where the fence was located, and Bringman was taken to the Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Chicago Police could not provide an explanation for her being stuck in the fence, but they did not believe criminal activity was involved. [Chicago Sun-Times, 11/27/2017]

Inexplicable

Ja Du of Tampa, Florida, was born a white male named Adam Wheeler. Today, he is not only transsexual, but also considers himself transracial, saying he identifies as a Filipino. "Whenever I'm around the music, around the food, I feel like I'm in my own skin," Du told WTSP-TV in November. Du even drives a motorized rickshaw called a Tuk Tuk, a vehicle used for public transportation in the Philippines (but which Filipinos call "trisikels"). However, some Filipino-Americans are less than welcoming, claiming that Du has overlooked centuries of their people's struggle. "To say you are that race is both unrealistic and problematic," said Jackie Fernandez, a Filipino-American journalist. She believes Du has crossed a line between "cultural appreciation and appropriation." [WTSP, 11/17/2017]

Police Report

Stacy Scott of Anchorage, Alaska, arrived home on Nov. 24 to find thousands of dollars' worth of clothing and jewelry missing, along with a signature item, George the mounted zebra head, which was a gift from a friend. The thief was bold enough to call a taxi to use as the getaway car and loaded the zebra head into its trunk -- all of which was caught on surveillance camera at Scott's home. Anchorage police tracked down and arrested Desiree Fuller, 38, for felony burglary and theft, and recovered most of Scott's items. But George remained at large until the cab driver saw a story on KTVA-TV and contacted them -- he had been holding the zebra hostage because Fuller neglected to pay her cab fare. In the spirit of the season, George is home for the holidays. [KTVA, 11/27/2017]

No Longer Weird

Firefighters in North Philadelphia burrowed through trash for hours to free a man who was trapped in the back of a garbage truck on Nov. 27. Philadelphia Police were not sure how the 33-year-old unnamed man had landed in the truck, but speculated he may have been sleeping in a dumpster when it was emptied into the truck. WCAU News reported that the man went to the hospital with abdomen, hip and leg injuries. [NBC 10, 11/27/2017]

White people living in Lawrenceville, Georgia, had the chance of a lifetime on Nov. 16 to attend a "Come Meet a Black Person" event sponsored by Urban MediaMakers, a group for filmmakers and content creators. Cheryle Moses, who founded the group, said she read in a 2013 study that most white people don't have any nonwhite friends. "I want to do my part to change things," she told The Washington Post. "I have never met a black person," one person commented on Moses' Facebook post. "What do you recommend I bring that they would like?" Later, WXIA-TV reported that more the two dozen people showed up to share chili and cornbread, but fewer than a half-dozen were white. [The Washington Post, 11/15/2017; 11Alive.com, 11/17/2017]

Unclear on the Concept

The Detroit Police Department got a little carried away on Nov. 9 while trying to address a persistent drug problem on the city's east side. Two undercover special ops officers from the 12th Precinct were posing as drug dealers on a street corner when undercover officers from the 11th Precinct arrived and, not recognizing their colleagues, ordered the 12th Precinct officers to the ground. Shortly, more 12th Precinct officers showed up and the action moved to a house where, as Fox 2 News described it, a turf war broke out as officers from the two precincts engaged in fistfights with each other. An internal investigation is underway, and the police department has declined comment. [FOX 2 TV, 11/13/2017]

Rude Awakening

A family in Vero Beach, Florida, were rudely awakened early on Nov. 11 when Jacob Johnson Futch, 31, climbed onto their roof to, as he later told authorities, carry out a meeting with an agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency. WPTV reported the family didn't know Futch and called Indian River Sheriff's deputies to say that someone was stomping on their roof, yelling and howling. When asked, Futch admitted injecting methamphetamines earlier that morning. He was charged with trespassing and held in the Indian River County jail. [WPTV, 11/14/2017]

The Continuing Crisis

An unnamed man in Frankfurt, Germany, called police 20 years ago to report his Volkswagen Passat missing, believing it had been stolen. In November, the car was found just where the driver had left it, according to Metro News -- in a parking garage that is now scheduled to be demolished. Police drove the 76-year-old to the garage to be reunited with his car, which is unfit to drive, before sending it off to the scrap heap. [Metro News, 11/16/2017]

Flying Solo

Office workers at Cambridge Research Park in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, England, feared the worst as they rushed outside on Nov. 13 after watching a hot air balloon crash into a fence in their parking lot. Strangely, no one was in the basket of the balloon, although the gas canister was still running. Eyewitness Jack Langley told Metro News: "Either they had bailed out and jumped out before crashing or the balloon escaped from its mooring lines." Cambridgeshire Police later discovered the balloon had taken off when the pilot got out of the basket to secure it to the ground. [Metro News, 11/14/2017]

Bright Ideas

-- Dunedin, New Zealand, police Sgt. Bryce Johnson told Stuff.nz that he's seen people reading newspapers, putting on makeup and using their mobile phones while driving, but pulling over a driver who was playing bagpipes while driving, as he did on Nov. 15, was a first for him. "His fingers were going a million miles an hour," Johnson said. The driver, who admitted to being a bagpipe player, said he was only doing "air bagpipe," and a search of the car did not turn up the instrument. He was released with a warning, but Johnson urged other drivers to keep both hands on the wheel at all times. [Stuff.nz, 11/15/2017]

-- The Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Police Department cited an unnamed driver of a Buick Century on Nov. 12 for making their own license plate out of a pizza box and markers. The plate, which reads "MASS" at the top and sports a sloppily rendered six-digit number, prompted police to post some helpful warnings to creative citizens on its Facebook page and resulted in charges including operating an uninsured and unregistered vehicle and attaching "fake homemade" plates. [United Press International, 11/16/2017]

Crime Report

In the wee hours of Nov. 5, before the McDonald's in Columbia, Maryland, had opened, a woman reached through the drive-thru window and tried to pour herself a soda, but she couldn't reach the dispenser. The Associated Press reports that, rather than driving down the road to a 24-hour restaurant, she can be seen on surveillance video squeezing herself through the drive-thru window, pouring herself a soda and collecting a box full of unidentified items before taking off. The thief remains at large. [AP via ABC News, 11/16/2017]

Oh, Canada

Montreal police may win the Funsuckers of the Year award after pulling over 38-year-old Taoufik Moalla on Sept. 27 as he drove to buy a bottle of water in Saint-Laurent. Moalla was enthusiastically singing along to C+C Music Factory's song "Gonna Make You Sweat" when a patrol car pulled behind him with lights and sirens blaring. Officers directed him to pull over, and four officers surrounded Moalla's car. "They asked me if I screamed," Moalla told CTV News. "I said, 'No, I was just singing.'" Then he was issued a $149 ticket for screaming in public, a violation of "peace and tranquility." "I understand if they are doing their job, they are allowed to check if everything's OK," said a "very shocked" Moalla, "but I would never expect they would give me a ticket for that." His wife, however, said she wasn't surprised and would have given him a ticket for $300. [CTV News, 10/22/2017]

Awesome!

Indian computer coder Suyash Dixit braved perilous terrorist-infested territory and drove six hours in early November to plant his flag and declare himself king in the last remaining unclaimed habitable place on Earth -- Bir Tawil, a border area between Sudan and Egypt. "I am the king! This is no joke, I own a country now! Time to write an email to U.N.," he told The Telegraph. King Dixit has also created a website for his new nation, where he is encouraging people to apply for citizenship. However, Anthony Arend, an international law and politics scholar, scolds that "under international law, only states can assert sovereignty over territory." [The Telegraph, 11/14/2017]

The Litigious Society

The Canadian Press reports that Lorne Grabher of Nova Scotia, Canada, is suing the Transport Department to keep his vanity plate, which reads GRABHER. The retiree has sported the namesake plate for 27 years, but in January it was revoked for being "inappropriate," and authorities denied the reason was because of its similarity to a suggestive comment by President Donald Trump revealed during his campaign. "I am increasingly dismayed by the hypersensitivity of some people who are 'offended' by every little thing they encounter," Grabher wrote in his affidavit. He went on to say that he is proud of his Austrian-German surname. Grabher's case is scheduled to be heard in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in September 2018. [Canadian Press via The Chronicle Herald, 11/14/2017]

Members of the Spann family of Comanche County, Oklahoma, keep running afoul of that state's incest law, with the latest dust-up over the marriage of 26-year-old Misty Spann and her 43-year-old mother, Patricia, in March 2016. The two had been separated after Patricia lost custody of her young kids, but when they resumed contact a few years ago, Patricia told investigators, "they hit it off." KFOR reported that Patricia also married one of her sons in 2008, but two years later that marriage was annulled. Another son reported to KSWO-TV that Patricia tried to start an inappropriate relationship with him, but he shut her down. In early November, Misty received a 10-year deferred sentence and will serve two years' probation. Her mother/ex-wife (their union was annulled in October) will be sentenced in January. [KFOR-TV, 11/9/2017]

Nerd Alerts

-- Since Twitter announced that it would allow 280-character messages rather than its original 140, a whole new world has opened up for the game-addicted among us. Gizmodo reports that tweeters are using the expanded tweetspace to play board games such as chess, Connect Four, Shogi and Go. Games are even being customized; one tweet enthuses about "Marine biology twitter-chess. With a new marine biology fact every time a piece is moved, and a scientifically accurate death scene when a piece is taken." Uh, ok. [Gizmodo, 11/9/2017]

-- A sharp-eyed Google Earth user from Leeds, England, searching for Longcross Studios in Surrey, came across a "Star Wars" fan's dream: the Millennium Falcon, nestled inside a ring of stacked shipping containers and covered with a tarp. Andi Durrant tweeted about his find on Nov. 8. The spaceship was used in filming "Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi" at Longcross; that movie is set for release Dec. 15. [Daily Mail, 11/8/2017]

Sweet!

Becky Reilly of Omaha, Nebraska, was forced to call in a roofing company after discovering thousands of honeybees had invaded her home's attic, producing so much honey that it was dripping down the side of the house. "We heard a loud and rhythmic buzzing, and it was somewhat terrifying because we knew what it meant," Reilly told KETV. Jason Starkey of Takoda Green Roofing said he removed about 40 pounds of honey on Oct. 26 before moving the bees and tackling the damage, which he called "horrible." Local beekeeper John Gebuhr moved the bees to his garage, but he is pessimistic about their survival through the winter. But Reilly's friends and neighbors are thrilled: They're getting honey for Christmas! [KETV, 11/9/2017]

Inappropriate

An Indonesian museum, De Mata Trick Eye Museum in Yogyakarta, has been forced to remove an exhibit that encouraged visitors to take a selfie with a waxwork of Adolf Hitler. The figure, which stood in front of a giant image of the entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp, had been on display since 2014, and the museum said it was one of the most popular displays. Metro News reported that the museum originally defended the exhibit as "fun," but when the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles demanded its removal, the museum complied, taking it down on Nov. 10. [Metro News, 11/12/2017]

Ewwww!

Sean A. Sykes Jr., 24, of Kansas City, Missouri, has discovered one way to avoid the justice system. Sykes was detained in a Sept. 1 traffic stop, but he denied any knowledge of the drugs and handguns found in the car, The Kansas City Star reported. As he was being questioned at the police station, the detective wrote in his report, Sykes was asked his address. In response, he "leaned to one side of his chair and released a loud fart before answering with the address. Mr. Sykes continued to be flatulent and I ended the interview," the detective wrote. Charges were not filed at that time, but Sykes was pulled over again on Nov. 5 and was in possession of marijuana, crack cocaine and a stolen pistol. He was in custody awaiting a bond hearing. [The Kansas City Star, 11/7/2017]

Least Competent Criminals

-- A loss prevention officer at a Vero Beach, Florida, Walmart happened to catch 25-year-old Cheyenne Amber West and another woman as they carried out some complicated maneuvers in the electronics aisle on Nov. 6. The officer told the Indian River County Sheriff's Office that West and her friend chose a computer, video game controllers and other items worth a total of almost $2,000, then covered the bar codes with stickers taken from less-expensive clearance items. They then moved to the self-checkout lane, where their loot totaled just $3.70. "I am just trying to get gifts for my son that I cannot afford," West told officers. "The computer is for my husband. Since he just got me a Coach purse, I figured he deserved something nice as well." Treasure Coast Newspapers reports that West was charged with felony grand theft and felony shoplifting and was released on $3,000 bail. The other woman was not charged. [TCPalm, 11/7/2017]

-- Rondell Tony Chinuhuk, 32, of Anchorage, Alaska, had the pedal to the metal on Nov. 7 when he nicked a motorized shopping cart from a Safeway store in Fairbanks. But the battery-operated Mart Cart tops out at 1.9 miles per hour, so even after a 10-minute joyride, he had barely left the parking lot. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that Chinuhuk was charged with felony second-degree theft. [Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 11/8/2017]

A New Twist on Yard Work

Council officers for the village of Blubberhouses in North Yorkshire, England, stumbled upon seven trash bags full of cannabis plants at the side of a road on Nov. 12, according to the BBC. They contacted the North Yorkshire Police, whereupon Constable Amanda Hanusch-Moore tweeted a photo of the bags and invited the owners to "come and speak to us at Harrogate Police Station, we're more than happy to discuss!" [BBC, 11/12/2017]

Voting Woes

-- Douglas Aaron Shuttlesworth, 34, was simply trying to exercise his civic duty when he reported to an elementary school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to vote -- on Monday, Nov. 6, the day before Election Day. Susquehanna Township police arrested Shuttlesworth for DUI after he appeared at the school intoxicated and admitted he had driven there to vote. The Associated Press reported that Shuttlesworth's mother elucidated: Her son thought it was Tuesday. [Associated Press, 11/8/2017]

-- Poll workers at Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, made an unusual discovery on Election Day: Someone had left behind a plastic bag with a complete set of dentures inside. UPI reported that the dental prosthetics were removed to the Portland City Clerk's office, where they await retrieval by their (presumably) toothless voter. [United Press International, 11/10/2017]

Naked and Weird

-- Joseph Vaglica, 40, of Edgewater, Florida, surprised a woman at her New Smyrna Beach home on Nov. 7 when, naked, he burst in through the garage door and ran through her kitchen "acting irrationally." The homeowner dashed next door to her stepson's house and called 911, reported the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Meanwhile, Vaglica helped himself to some of the woman's clothes, then ran outside and started banging on the windows at the stepson's home. When New Smyrna Beach police officers arrived, Vaglica was rolling around in the grass. Police said he was intoxicated; he was later charged with burglary with assault. [Daytona Beach News-Journal, 11/10/17]

-- Sullivan, Missouri, police department Lt. Patrick Johnson joined the town's residents in witnessing a barrage of weird behavior on Nov. 3 and 4. Johnson thinks the people who were "barking like dogs or other farm animals, running up and down the street, entering people's homes, breaking into a business" were high on flakka, a synthetic drug, mixed with methamphetamine, although the substances have not yet been tested. Some of the people broke into a nightclub, stripped down to their birthday suits and showered in fountain water or soda, according to the Sullivan Independent News. Two people were arrested, and others were treated at a hospital. [Sullivan Independent News, 11/7/2017]