Weird News

Author auctions off literary immortality

Author Jason Johnson, who’s been described as “the Irish Irving Welsh” by critics, announced earlier this week that he will be auctioning off an unusual opportunity on his Web site, www.woundlicker.com, this following month.

For one lucky bidder, the chance to become one of the characters in Johnson’s third novel will come true. “My motives are purely financial, because I need to pay the bills while I write,” Johnson said. “But the selling point is that it is the offer of a kind of ticket to immortality.” Bidders can request to be written in as anything from a character to an animal to “a pair of frilly knickers.”

A Dog’s Frightening Find

In Ruskin, Fla., a typical day of bone digging by a local’s dog has turned into a full-fledged mystery. When a dog recently recovered several bones, bringing them to its owners’ nearby home, it was discovered that they were human bones, including a part of a skull.

Though anthropologists determined that the bones belong to a 40- to 50-year-old white man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, police are still not sure of his exact identity. At this point, police assume that the man may have been homeless.

Elementary school teacher comes to class drunk

In Tucson, Ariz., a Northwest side elementary school music teacher was suspended with pay on Thursday after collapsing due to consuming too much alcohol. Just as her class was set to begin, music teacher Tamara Cook collapsed in front of students and had to be assisted by the Northwest Fire/Rescue District and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Cook, who tested positive for having alcohol in her system after deputies smelled liquor on her breath, is currently on paid administrative leave with charges pending.

The elderly get their game on

Professor Mihai Nadin of the University of Texas at Dallas is heading a $13 million research project aimed at designing games for the “aging baby-boomer generation.” Nadin’s vision is not to create senior citizen gamers but to help the elderly remain mentally fit and active. Using research on sensory activity, including eye movement and respiratory and cardiac rhythm, Nadin and his team of researchers are continuing to develop a series of virtual games that focus on exercising memorization skills, problem-solving and reflexes. Nadin, whose games have already sold seven million copies worldwide, hopes that that his games will encourage the aging to “connect with others.”