Watercooler Stories

eBay auction for potato bearing cross

MARION, Iowa, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A cooked potato that reveals a cross when cut open is on auction by the Iowa couple that discovered the hidden surprise, authorities said.

Jim and Connie Gross of Marion, Iowa, cooked the spud to make potato skins, but changed their plans when they cut it open, KCGR-TV, Cedar Rapids, reported.

Some think the halved potato has what looks like a cross directly in its middle, the station reported.

"You see this on the Internet, you hear stories about it, you see it on TV or something and most of the time you think that 'Oh, that can't be true, you know, somebody has to be making this up,'" Jim Gross said. "Sure enough, we just slice open the potato and there it is."

Gross said he decided to put the tuber on eBay to raise money for a band he plays in, The Cedar Island Band.

"We need a new trailer for our band equipment, and Jim thought it'd be great to see what we could raise for it on eBay," a band mate said.

The auction closes Jan. 13.

'Bigfoot' claims free speech violation

KEENE, N.H., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A man who was kicked out of a New Hampshire state park for filming a video while in a Bigfoot costume filed a complaint alleging a First Amendment violation.

Jonathan Doyle of Keene, N.H., said he was filming an absurdist video featuring himself as a Sasquatch and friends in costumes including a pirate and a Yoda-like character on Mount Monadnock when a park ranger ordered them to leave because they did not have a permit to perform at the park, The Keene Sentinel reported.

However, Doyle said the rules governing the permits are vague and he filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union Foundation alleging his First Amendment rights were violated by the ejection from the park.

New Hampshire law requires special-use permits for any "organized or special events which go beyond routine recreational activities."

Barbara Keshen, staff attorney for the foundation, said in a letter to George Bald, commissioner of New Hampshire's Department of Resources and Economic Development, that the permit rule gives park directors "unchecked discretion."

"The permit requirement is unconstitutionally broad on its face and as applied to Mr. Doyle and his production team," the letter read.

Doyle said he is seeking an apology from the park and the chance to finish his movie.

Ex-official's porn star wife Hustler-bound

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A Florida woman whose career in pornography led to her husband's ousting from a town manager position said she will be in the February issue of Hustler.

Jazella Moore, aka Anabela Mota Janke, said she was contacted by the magazine shortly after her husband, Scott Janke, was fired by the Fort Myers Beach council in July, the Naples (Fla.) Daily News reported.

Janke was fired after reporters informed council members of his wife's pornographic past.

"Shortly after my husband was fired for being married to a porn star Hustler called my agent and offered to do a shoot ... I was thrilled because Hustler is such a big name in the adult industry and, frankly I needed to step up to help support the family," Moore said.

The Hustler Web site is advertising the February issue as featuring "Jazella Moore Controversial Cougar."

Noisy chickens wander neighborhood

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A Florida man involuntarily nicknamed "the chicken man" said he is trying to rid his neighborhood of three noisy roosters and three hens.

Vincent Acierno of Delray Beach, Fla., said the three roosters, apparently left behind when his neighbors across the street moved out, have been roaming the neighborhood with the female chickens for weeks and begin crowing every morning at about 4 a.m., the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported.

"My friends are calling me 'the chicken man,'" Acierno said.

Acierno said he started calling authorities for help two months ago.

"Animal control said, 'Chickens? What are you talking about?' They laughed," he said.

Acierno said some of his neighbors have suggested poisoning the birds or shooting them with pellet guns, but Acierno said he would rather capture them humanely and find them a new home.