News of the Weird

After the long Memorial Day weekend, it’s time to get caught up on some of the news of the weird that happened late last week and through this weekend.

Mickey Mouse is dead (again)
While Uncle Walt, Mickey’s original voice, has been gone for quite a while, the man who lent his voice to the famous rodent for the past 32 years has passed as well. Wayne Allwine, died from complications from diabetes at the age of 62. He will be missed. (On a side note: It also turns out that Mickey and Minnie were in fact married. Allwine’s wife, Russi Taylor, has been the voice of Minnie since 1986.)

AFP Photo

Flashing “nuns”
Cross-dressing, thong-wearing “nuns” don’t really offend anyone on isle of Crete. On Memorial Day in the U.S., 17 British men were in court on charges of exposing themselves in public and offending religious symbols after dressing as nuns, complete with crosses, and flashing people who passed them by raising their skirts to show they were wearing thongs. All changes had to be dropped, (no pun on the nuns intended), when no one showed up to testify that the behavior was offensive.

Prisoner race
Breaking away from the pack may mean something completely different in this bicycle race. About 196 prisoners will be taking part in the first penal version of the Tour de France in June, French authorities announced recently. The tour will be 1,400 miles around the country. “It’s a kind of escape for us, a chance to break away from the daily reality of prison,” said one prisoner. To ensure none of the participants try to make it a real escape there will be 124 guards/prison sports instructors on hand. That’s about 1.5 prisoners per guard.