Walt Dean King, 69, just wanted to take a look at a used car for sale on July 4. But when he approached the vehicle in the small California town of Tracy, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, he was suddenly knocked off his feet by a bull that had gotten loose. King felt the bull's horn go through his side and crawled between a bush and a house as the bull stood over him snorting for about 20 minutes. FOX40 reported that King underwent three hours of surgery, after which doctors told him his belly fat had saved him from worse injury. King believes karma kept him alive: "Back in the '70s, I had pulled a lady out of a burning building, so now I think I'm being paid back, by not dying," King said. [FOX40, 7/6/2018]

People With Too Much Time on Their Hands

-- Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who have made their fortunes in tech-related fields have discovered a spiritually enriching new guru, Jess Magic, a ukulele player and singer who calls herself a "heartist." At Magic's intimate, invitation-only "Soul Salons" (and now on a 10-city national tour), participants share their energy and join in "songversations" -- philosophical rap and improvised music and dance -- a process Magic calls "a play date for your inner child." Andrew Hewitt, creator of Game Changers 500, explains: "For people who live most of the time in their head, this feels like magic." The New York Times reported that Magic believes her appeal is in response to the spiritual hollowness wealthy executives feel. "People forget that they are human beings rather than human doings," she said. [The New York Times, 6/29/2018]

-- Patriotism inspired Rain Wiggand, 22, and Zane Liles, 21, of Collins, Ohio, to construct an American flag using more than 2,000 Budweiser, Bud Light and Miller Lite beer cans. Wiggand posted pictures of the "beer flag" on Twitter on July 4. "It was a rough month of work for Zane and I," Wiggand confessed, adding that they "averaged somewhere around 14 beers a night for 28 days straight." Six other friends helped, he said, but they only drank on Thursdays to Sundays. Liles told BuzzFeed News, "It was a monthlong hangover that nothing could cure." However, he said the project had not ruined beer for him. "I can still drink beer with the best of them." [BuzzFeed News, 7/5/2018]

Cultural Diversity

In Ghana, the reaction of mourners at a funeral is a measure of the deceased's position in the community. But for family members who are unable to express their emotions openly, professional mourners will cry on their behalf. A leader of one team of criers told BBC Africa in July that they charge based on the size of the funeral, and the Kumasi Funeral Criers Association offers different styles of crying, such as crying with swagg, crying and rolling on the ground, and crying and vomiting. Ghanian funerals also feature dancing pallbearers and giant billboards to announce the funeral arrangements. [BBC Africa, 7/1/2018]

It's a Compulsion

In 1985, Tosya Garibyan of Arinj, in Armenia, asked her husband, Levon Arkelian, 44, to dig a pit under their home where she could store potatoes. But once he got started, Radio Free Europe reported, he just couldn't stop. Twenty-three years later, the underground oasis Arkelian created is a tourist attraction. Working as many as 18 hours a day with only a hammer and chisel, Arkelian created seven rooms, stairwells and passages running as deep as 65 feet and adorned them with carvings and decorations made from found objects. Arkelian passed away in 2008, and his widow welcomes tourists to her museum, which includes his shredded work boots and tools. But she says the couple argued about the project. "He ruined his health because of this hole," she told RFE. [Radio Free Europe, 6/20/2018]

Wait, What?

Brigadier Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali, the head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization, announced in a press conference on July 2 that Israel is manipulating the weather over Iran to prevent rain. "Israel and another country in the region have joint teams which work to ensure clouds entering Iranian skies are unable to release rain," Jalali posited, according to YNet News. "On top of that, we are facing the issue of cloud and snow theft." However, the head of Iran's meteorological service was skeptical: "It is not possible for a country to steal snow or clouds. Iran has suffered a prolonged drought, and this is a global trend that does not apply only to Iran." [YNet News, 7/2/2018]

Weird Science

If summer's heat is making you anxious about body odor, you might want to investigate a helpful gadget launched on July 1 by Japanese health tech company Tanita: the ES-100, an odor-sensing device that will detect body odor or too much perfume or cologne. IT Media reported that the user simply points the sensor toward the underarm area (or other problematic spots), and in 10 seconds a numerical score will appear on the LED display. If you're a 10 ... you're not a 10. [IT Media, 6/20/2018]

Compelling Explanations

-- In Madison, Wisconsin, an unidentified 19-year-old driver flipped his car after overcorrecting in traffic on July 3. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the man left the scene and removed some clothing, then pretended to be a jogger who happened by when police questioned him. Police said he was not impaired; he was later charged with leaving a crash scene and driving without a license. [Wisconsin State Journal, 7/5/2018]

-- A 62-year-old security guard named Ramdin in the city of Kanpur, India, told doctors he was robbed in June of about $722 (proceeds from the sale of his motorbike) by muggers who attacked him and knocked him out. When he woke up, Ramdin was suffering from severe abdominal pain, which brought him, 10 days later, to Rama Hospital, where a scan revealed a steel cup lodged in his abdomen. Senior surgeon Dr. Dinesh Kumar told Metro News: "It seems that the metal cup was inserted into Ramdin's rectum by the goons, and it got stuck near the intestines." Doctors couldn't remove the cup using the route it went in, so they had to operate. Ramdin was discharged from the hospital on July 4. [Metro News, 7/9/2018]

Ewwwww!

In what can only be a testament to curiosity, a Staffa, Ontario, Canada, man has created an eBay listing for the McDonald's meal he placed on a shelf in his home six years ago to see what would happen. CBC Radio reported on July 5 that Dave Alexander also set aside a homemade burger and fries, five years ago, in order to make a comparison. The McDonald's meal held up much better: "The fries are stunningly good looking," Alexander said. "The burger itself has darkened a little bit. The bun is about as hard as a hockey puck, but it looks just like it's brand-new cosmetically." Alexander is downsizing and listed the meal -- "original owner, never eaten" -- for $29.99. "We live in the country and we've never seen a fly land on it. Ever," he said. [CBC Radio, 7/5/2018]

Oops!

Finished with her shopping at the Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, Walmart in late June, an unnamed woman returned to the parking lot and drove off in the black rental car she had just picked up. Two weeks later, when she returned the car to the rental agency, she complained about the car's messy condition and the set of golf clubs left in it. Nation Valley News reported the "slightly confused" manager informed her the car she had rented was a Nissan Sentra, but the car she returned was an Infiniti. Sure enough, the Infiniti owner had reported his car stolen from the Walmart parking lot, and when the woman and the agency manager returned to the lot, the Nissan was still parked there. The Infiniti owner got his car back, the woman was a "wee bit embarrassed," and the Cornwall Community Police Service reported on July 8 that there was a "happy and funny ending to the story." They also urged citizens to "not leave your key fobs in your vehicle when not being operated." [Nation Valley News, 7/8/2018]

San Diego photographer Mike Sakasegawa prides himself on seeing the beauty in mundane objects, The Washington Post reports. But something about his latest subject took social media by storm. On July 11, as Sakasegawa returned home from his morning run, he noticed a round, yellow object rolling down the street. "I thought it was a tennis ball or something," he said, but in fact it was a lemon. So he did what any self-respecting photographer would do: He captured video of the fruit as it continued its journey to the bottom of the hill, then posted his 1.5-minute documentary to Twitter. Within 24 hours the video racked up more than 2.5 million views. "I post stuff that's similar to this all the time," Sakasegawa said. "Most of the time, it floats on by." By the next day, the lemon video had gained more than 100,000 likes, was retweeted tens of thousands of times, and a literary agent had contacted Sakasegawa, wondering if he'd like to make the lemon into a children's book. [The Washington Post, 7/12/2018]

Least Competent Criminals

-- Rye Wardlaw, 40, chalked up a big FAIL on July 8 at NW Escape Experience in Vancouver, Washington, when he broke into the business in the pre-dawn hours. According to The Washington Post, Wardlaw tried and failed to enter through a back door using a metal pipe, then knocked a hole through the wall. After climbing through, he knocked over a set of lockers. Then, carrying a burrito and a beer he nicked from the company's refrigerator, he wandered into the "Kill Room," an escape room dressed to look like a serial murderer's hideout. Among the blood-spattered walls and fake cadavers, Wardlaw got scared, but he couldn't ... escape. So he called 911 (four times) and pleaded for help. Clark County Sheriff's officers accepted his confession and charged him with second-degree burglary. [The Washington Post, 7/12/2018]

-- In Mesa, Arizona, two troopers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety were surprised to find themselves being pulled over on State Route 51 by a black Dodge Charger on July 11. The troopers were in an unmarked Mustang and had spotted the Charger behind them sporting law enforcement-style emergency lights, reported ABC15 Arizona. A registration check revealed the car was registered to a private citizen, who soon activated his flashing lights and pulled the troopers over. When the (real) troopers approached the Charger, they found 44-year-old Matthew Allen Disbro of Mesa wearing a security uniform and a gun belt with a handgun, cuffs and pepper spray. The car also contained a siren box, police radio and a vest with a baton and knife. Disbro was arrested for impersonating an officer. [ABC15 Arizona, 7/13/2018]

Fun Suckers

Organizers of Bats Day, a special celebration at Disneyland for the goth community, have called it quits, citing the loss of available tax deductions under President Trump's new tax law. The annual event began 20 years ago and grew to attract more than 8,000 goths each year, with Disneyland offering discounted tickets and hotel rooms for participants. "We did a lot of research," Bats Day founder Noah Korda told Vice, "and, unfortunately, it just wasn't feasible to actually continue ... with the way that we run the event." On May 6, about 800 goths showed up for a final group photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. [Vice, 5/8/2018]

Awesome!

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo isn't going to spend her summer sitting in a stuffy office. Instead, she announced on July 14 that she is holding summer office hours at state beaches, beginning with Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett. She and members of the Office of Constituent Services, who will help connect residents with state services, started their new schedule on July 16. The governor told the Associated Press she looks forward to hearing directly from residents while visiting some of the state's most popular destinations. [Associated Press, 7/14/2018]

Hey, It's Florida

-- Indian River County (Florida) sheriff's officers stopped Earle Stevens Jr., 69, on June 27 after another driver called 911, complaining that Stevens' Mercury Grand Marquis kept tapping her bumper in a McDonald's drive-thru lane. The officers noted "a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath ... His speech was slurred and his eyes were red and glossy." He also had an open bottle of Jim Beam bourbon in a brown paper bag on the passenger seat. Stevens, of Vero Beach, struggled to produce his ID and said he's never had a valid Florida driver's license, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers. He also explained he was not drinking while driving, only when he stopped for stop signs and traffic signals. After failing several field sobriety tests and a breath test, Stevens was charged with driving under the influence and driving without a license. [Treasure Coast Newspapers, 7/12/2018]

-- Florida Highway Patrol officers pulled over a Nissan sedan on May 16 on I-95 after observing erratic driving, reported the Miami Herald. Indeed, Port St. Lucie, Florida, resident Scott Allen Garrett, 56, smelled of alcohol, had an open bottle of 92-proof Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum on the passenger seat, was slurring his words and had "red, very glassy and bloodshot eyes," according to the police report. Garrett then told officers his dog had been driving -- which would have been notable on its own, but was particularly interesting considering there was no dog in the car with him. Garrett was charged with DUI. [Miami Herald, 7/6/2018]

Undignified Behavior

City Councilwoman Carol S. Fowler, 48, of Huron, Kansas, made a splash in the news when Atchison County Sheriff's deputies tried to arrest her on June 29 for failure to appear on an outstanding warrant. Fowler put up such a fight deputies had to use their tasers on her, and she was arrested for interference and battery on a law enforcement officer. But Fowler was just getting started, according to the Atchison Globe. On July 2, as jail workers tried to remove her jewelry and personal items, Fowler bit one of them on the thumb hard enough to break the bone. Fowler now faces three felony charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and a charge of interference with a law enforcement officer. [Atchison Globe, 7/5/2018]

Bright Idea

In Nashville, 20-year-old Antonio Freeman knew he had a problem on June 25 when three police officers approached him as he rolled a marijuana cigarette. He also knew there was a bigger problem in his pocket: a plastic bag full of cocaine. In a bold move, according to the Tennessean, Freeman pulled the bag out of his chest pocket, crushed it in his hand and sprinkled cocaine over Officer Ryan Caulfield's head and into the air in an attempt to destroy evidence. The officers were able to salvage about 2.5 grams of cocaine and charge Freeman with tampering with evidence along with possession of a schedule IV drug and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. [Tennessean, 6/26/2018]

Bold Move

A cheeky seagull embarked on a life of crime on July 14 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, by plucking a man's wallet from the top of a pizza box and carrying it onto a nearby roof. Phil Peterson was on a cherry picker hanging lights nearby and offered to retrieve the wallet, which was being picked apart by two baby seagulls "literally trying to eat (it)," Peterson explained. He tried to distract them by throwing bread at them, but that only turned their attention to him. "It was like the movie, '(The) Birds,'" he said. "I was afraid they were going to pick my brains." Quick-thinking bystander Mike Ramos borrowed a flashlight from a police officer and used the the strobe feature to "discombobulate" the birds long enough for Peterson to sneak in, grab the wallet and bring it back to Earth. "It was just the craziest thing I ever saw in my life," Ramos told New England Cable News. [New England Cable News, 7/14/2018]

Many citizens of the world are weary of the war and strife that seem to be consuming the news, and about 200,000 of them have already signed up to put it all in the rear-view mirror by becoming citizens of Asgardia. This coming-soon colony on the moon is led by Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian engineer, computer scientist and businessman who was inaugurated as its leader on June 25 in Vienna. Asgardia's parliament plans to set up "space arks" with artificial gravity in the next 10 to 15 years, where its projected 150 million citizens can live permanently, Reuters reports, and Ashurbeyli hopes settlement on the moon will be complete within 25 years. Asgardia is named after Asgard, a "world in the sky" in Norse mythology. Its leaders hope to attract a population from among the "most creative" in humanity, perhaps using "IQ tests," according to Ashurbeyli. Best of all: For the time being, becoming a citizen online is free. [Reuters, 6/25/2018]

Ewwwwww!

Susan Allan of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, was driving with her son on May 9, enjoying the beautiful weather with the sunroof open, when they were suddenly hit with a cold material that smelled to them like feces mixed with chlorine. "Like a clean poop smell if that's possible," Allan told Vice. "My son threw up, and we had so much in our faces. Both of us, our faces were covered in poop." Apparently, poop is falling from the sky all over Canada; Transport Canada has received 18 such reports this year. But the government has not issued an explanation for the phenomenon. Allan thinks it is related to airplanes flying overhead and the Canadian government is covering it up. But Transport Canada pooh-poohed her theory and has declined to comment further. [Vice, 6/29/2018]

Oh, Fudge

KCCI TV in Des Moines, Iowa, reported on June 27 the loss of a tractor-trailer load of chocolate when the truck caught fire near Dexter, Iowa. The trailer, full of chocolate from Hershey, Pennsylvania, was westbound when it experienced brake problems that caused it to ignite. The driver pulled off and was able to detach the trailer from the cab before it caught fire. No injuries were reported, except to the chocolate, which was a total loss. [KCCI, 6/27/2018]

Weird Science

Montgomery, Alabama, resident Kayla Rahn, 30, had been trying for months to lose weight, but instead experienced dramatic weight gain and pain in her stomach. She became out of breath just taking a short walk. Finally, in May, Rahn's mother took her to the emergency room at Jackson Hospital, where doctors discovered a growth attached to her ovary and removed what turned out to be a 50-pound, benign cyst, reported WSFA 12 News. The cyst resembled a large watermelon in size. "This is one of the largest I have ever seen," Dr. Gregory Jones told reporters. "We are very excited things went well for her." [WSFA, 6/27/2018]

Litigious Society

In Norman's Bay, East Sussex, England, Nigel and Sheila Jacklin are studiously keeping their eyes down after being threatened with prosecution if they look at their neighbors' house -- an adjoining property bought five years ago by Dr. Stephane Duckett and Norinne Betjemann. The Jacklins, 26-year residents of the beachfront community, had repeatedly complained to authorities about noisy builders, verbal abuse and light pollution as Duckett and Betjemann turned a former workshop into a weekend retreat. In June, The Sun reported that after police were called into the dispute, the Rother District Council sent the Jacklins a "community protection warning" that defines an "exclusion zone" around Duckett and Betjemann's home, forcing the Jacklins to take a roundabout route to the beach. Nigel Jacklin said: "We can't walk to and from the beach or through the village without fear of being prosecuted." The Jacklins plan to fight the order. [The Sun, 6/28/2018]

Weird Food

Minor league baseball teams come up with some wacky promotional ideas, and "Sugar Rush Night" at the Erie (Pennsylvania) SeaWolves game on June 23 didn't disappoint. WNEP TV noted that one highlight was the cotton candy hot dog: a wiener nestled in a cloud of cotton candy, then sprinkled with Nerds candies. Brave SeaWolves fans could top off the meal with a cotton candy ball: ice cream covered with sprinkles and enclosed in cotton candy. Maybe the sugar rush was too much for the players; they lost 5-3 to the Altoona (Pennsylvania) Curve. [WNEP, 6/24/2018]

Recurring Theme: Airport Nudity

Travelers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight that had just landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta on June 26 were startled when a nearly naked man ran up to their plane and jumped onto a wing, then attempted to open an emergency exit. Jhyrin Jones, 19, had scaled a fence topped with razor wire to reach the runway; just minutes before, he had jumped on some parked cars at a nearby construction site and threatened to "kill y'all, I'm going to blow this place up, trust nobody, you better believe me," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A police report indicated Jones "appeared to be under the influence of narcotics." He was charged with criminal trespass and public indecency, among other things. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6/28/2018]

Perspective

An 82-year-old Japanese man who has lived as a naked "hermit" on a deserted island near Taiwan since 1989 has been forced to return to Japan. Masafumi Nagasaki made his way to Sotobanari Island 29 years ago and told Reuters in 2012 that he wished to die there. "Finding a place to die is an important thing to do," Nagasaki said, "and I've decided here is the place for me." Earlier reports indicated that he at one time had a wife and two children, and he ran a hostess club in Niigata, Japan. "In civilization people treated me like an idiot and made me feel like one. On this island I don't feel like that," he said. Nagasaki explained that at first he wore clothes on the island, but a typhoon destroyed his belongings. Alvaro Cerezo, who documents the stories of island castaways, told News.com/au that in April, authorities removed Nagasaki from the island and placed him in government housing in Ishigaki, Japan, because he was ill and weak. "They took him back to civilization and that's it," Cerezo said. "They won't allow him to return." [News.com/au, 6/26/2018]

Bright Idea

"ARE YOU BLIND IT 25 MPH" is Ron Ward's in-your-face (and grammatically lacking) attempt to slow down drivers along his street in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ward has been making signs for years, neighbor Patrick Schmidt told FOX 17 in June. Ward claims, "By the time (drivers) hit this here driveway, they're doing at least 50-55 miles an hour." He just wants people to follow the Richmond Street speed limit. "Slow down, the whole neighborhood's got kids," he said. The City of Grand Rapids, however, has no specific plans for speed monitoring on the street. [FOX 17, 6/26/2018]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

-- Early on June 26, a man who had been sleeping on the South Miami Avenue bridge over the Miami River got a rude awakening as the drawbridge started to raise to allow a boat to pass underneath. Witness Khadijah Andrews had seen the man as she was walking to an early yoga class, she told WSVN TV, and she looked for him when the bridge began rising. Fortunately, he woke up after sliding down a ways and was able to hold on until the bridge was lowered. Andrews said the unnamed man walked away with no apparent injuries: "You think you're about to watch a man lose his life. It's just terrifying. I never want to see that again." [WSVN, 6/26/2018]

-- In Devon, England, on June 30, a couple who had just exchanged vows at the Furrough Cross Church gathered their wedding party at Tessier Gardens next door to take pictures. But a sunbathing woman who was squarely in the frame of the wedding photos refused to move from her towel. So the party just posed around her. The groom's son approached the woman and asked her to move, but she "pretended to be asleep," he told Metro News. Later she did move but left her belongings in the same spot. "It was bloody rude and disrespectful," claimed Natalie Ming, a relative of the groom. [Metro News, 7/2/2018]