Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Farmer offers eggs for return of rocket VANCOUVER, Wash., July 15 (UPI) -- A Washington state farmer said he is offering a reward -- one dozen fresh eggs -- for the return of an 8-foot rocket stolen from his property. Advertisement Lance McNamara, whose family owns GopherBoy Egg Farms in Vancouver, Wash., said the rocket had been a fixture at the farm for nearly four years until it was stolen Sunday, KPTV, Portland, Ore., reported Wednesday. McNamara said the rocket, built from a boiler tank, compressor motors and other recycled materials, had become a popular local landmark, and neighbors had dubbed his home "The Rocket House." The thieves were two men in a pickup truck, McNamara said Monday. "At 11 last night, two bad guys in a truck pulled up, put the rocket in the back of the truck," McNamara said. "The nose fell off and made a ping-ping-ping sound, which alerted my wife, who looked out the window and saw the thieves driving away ... I'm not very happy." Advertisement McNamara said anyone who helps track down the rocket will earn his gratitude -- and a dozen fresh eggs from his farm. Franken, Sotomayor go down TV memory lane WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Call it "The Case of Remember When," as Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor talked about the TV classic "Perry Mason." The two took time during the third day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Wednesday to parry about the TV attorney played by Raymond Burr who won all but one case. But what was that one case? Both Franken and Sotomayor drew a blank. Sotomayor said she watched "Perry Mason" as a child, and was inspired by the show to pursue a law career. After quizzing Sotomayor about judicial deference to Congress and judicial activism, Franken concluded his questioning by asking Sotomayor if she remembered which case Mason lost. "I wish I remembered the name of the episode, but I don't," she said. "Didn't the White House prepare you for that?" Franken asked. No. Even Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy got into the act, asking Franken if he knew which episode it was. Advertisement "I don't know. That's why I was asking," Franken said. "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked her." "All right," Leahy said, "Well ... because of that, Judge, we will not hold your inability to answer the question against you." CNN later reported that the fictional Mason actually lost three cases during the series. Police foil 88-year-old purse snatcher PESARO, Italy, July 15 (UPI) -- Italian police said an 88-year-old woman with a history of petty theft was caught attempting to steal a woman's purse at a weekly market in Pesaro. Authorities said a recent increase in reports of pickpocketing led to a heightened police presence at the market Tuesday, and one of the officers spotted the elderly woman, identified as Filomena Barbetta, lifting a purse out of a woman's bag, the ANSA news agency reported Wednesday. Police said Barbetta has a string of petty theft convictions from incidents starting in the 1970s and stretching into the 1990s. Barbetta was not arrested, but police served her an order requiring her to remain within her home region of Basilicata. Prospective nun wants topless pic removed TURIN, Italy, July 15 (UPI) -- An Italian woman preparing to become a nun is suing her ex-boyfriend to have a topless photo of her removed from his Facebook page. Advertisement The 31-year-old woman, who is scheduled to take her vows at a Turin convent this fall, said the picture was taken three years ago at a Sicilian beach, ANSA reported Wednesday. The lawsuit seeks to have the picture, labeled by the poster as a "topless nun," removed from the social networking site. ANSA said the picture has gathered a number of borderline lewd comments. ''If all nuns were like her, I'd become a priest," one comment reads.
