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Not really odd, but odd TV related…

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina prompted ABC TV Thursday to pull its commercials for the new sci-fi series Invasion.

Invasion begins with aliens invading Florida during a hurricane, TV Week reported on its Web site.

So far, ABC has not said anything about changing Invasion’s Sept. 21 premiere date. But the network released a statement saying adjustments are ongoing across the board to make sure all programming is sensitive to Katrina’s victims.

First and foremost, our thoughts go out to all those affected by this tragedy, the network’s statement read. As with anything as serious as this we are taking great efforts to assess sensitivities with regard to our series. We are currently looking at all our programming and marketing efforts with this in mind. Our changes and adjustments are ongoing.

[from Web India 123. See also, JSOnline.]

WINTER HAVEN — It’s had more sightings than Elvis.

They call it Yeti in Nepal, Yowie in Australia and Sasquatch in Canada. In Florida, it’s called Swamp Ape, Skunk Ape, Stink Ape or Stink Man. More plainly put, Bigfoot.

For one man, finding the creature has become like searching for the Holy Grail, and he is teaming up with other believers the first week in November for a field research class through Florida Keys Community College. He hopes to bring back proof of its existence.

“I know it’s there. I know it on several levels,” said Scott Marlowe, a founder of Pangea Institute in Winter Haven and instructor of an online class in cryptozoology, the study of creatures that may or may not exist, through Florida Keys Community College.

[see Orlando Sentinel]

NENAHNEZAD — A reported “Bigfoot” sighting more than a week ago in Nenahnezad has been dismissed by Navajo Nation Police.

According to Lt. Clarence Bilagody of the Navajo Nation Police, Shiprock District, residents said they had witnessed up to three Bigfoot-like creatures roaming a field.

“Yeah, we had that report come in to the office. Some people out there said they saw something hairy,” he said.
Contrary to rumors, the animals did not attack any livestock, according to police.

A member of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Navajo Nation Police took a cast of the footprints left by the alleged Bigfoot.

An analysis conducted by police and Navajo Nation Rangers concluded the animals seen in the field were not the elusive creatures residents thought they were.

“It’s a bear track, no such thing as Bigfoot,” said Capt. Douglas Joe of the Criminal Investigations Division.
According to William Tsosie of Shiprock, Bigfoot doesn’t exist in Navajo culture, per se, but “Yeí’tso,” is a giant, oafish creature similar to the Anglo concept of Bigfoot.

“It means really monstrous,” he said.

Wallace Charley of Shiprock, said according to Navajo legend, Yeí’tso is a “people-eating monster.” He noted the creature is also thought to assist in bringing rain to the Navajo people.

[continue story]

A monkey runs away from the circus but is later found.

TARENTUM, Pa. — Crocus, a 2-foot pet alligator escaped from his backyard enclosure, but was captured by a girl who used what she learned on a nature TV program.

Nicki Hilliard and several friends saw the animal swimming in the Allegheny River.

Hilliard said she learned how to catch the animals safely by watching the television show “Crocodile Hunter.” The secret is to grab the animal’s snout and hold its mouth closed.

The kids put the animal in a beverage cooler and took it to the police station, where it was locked inside a cell until owner Belinda Thomson arrived to claim it.

Thompson said neighborhood cats opened the fence in her back yard, enabling Crocus to escape.

[from the Washington Post]

Utter Oddness Cow Jumping Over The Moon Merchandise

Abdullah Hashem is still making movies, but this time the location is a little different and the subject much more serious.

A year ago Hashem wrapped up production on the movie “Apache Tears,” which used Mooresville and central Indiana for many of the scenes. Since then he has been working on a documentary about the Raelians, a religious group often called a cult, that believes the human race was started through genetic manipulation by extraterrestrials.

Hashem hopes to discredit the group and ultimately cause it to disband.

The Raelians first came to Hashem’s attention several years ago when they claimed to have cloned a baby named Eve. They have never produced the child for genetic testing to show if this is true, according to various news reports.

Hashem, a 2001 Mooresville High School graduate and IUPUI student, said it was then that he began following them in the news.

Many of their activities, which Hashem says include brainwashing members and using sex as coercion to gain access to its members’ finances, prompted him to take action.

“I’m not a religious nut, but according to my beliefs, when people wear shirts that say there is no God, I have to do something,” Hashem said.

[continue story]

Visit the film website at raelexposed.com.

Perhaps you thought Hurricanes were natural and somewhat random events that have occurred for ages untold. True, but now Hurricanes are angrier, because you won’t stop buying cars and ride public transportation. This particular Hurricane was angry at Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour for not believing in Global Warming, so it decided to attack Louisiana and kill all the people that could not leave because they didn’t own cars and depended upon public transportation.

You see, hurricanes are now clear evidence of Global Warming. And if one hits you, it’s a Republican’s fault. The harsh winter many of us had last year was also clear evidence of Global Warming. As are…

…continue story

Mexico City, Aug. 30 (CNA/CWNews.com) - At the recent National Congress of Exorcists held at the headquarters of the Mexican bishops’ conference, organizers revealed that up to five exorcisms per day are taking place in the country.

The number of daily exorcisms has been climbing since the 1960s, according to researchers. In the central Federal District of Mexico alone there are eight priests authorized by the Holy See to perform exorcisms in order to expel demons in the name of Jesus according to the rites and norms of the Catholic Church.

One these priests is Father Pedro Mendoza, who noted that there is one exorcist “per vicariate (of the archdiocese) and we have four or five cases every day. We have a day of prayer for liberation with about 30 or 40 people.” He added: “It’s a special liturgy with special prayers of the Church which must be followed by the exorcist, almost like the celebration of a sacrament.”

Another priest, Father Abel Lopez, said that when a person is possessed by the devil, it becomes apparent in his way of behaving and speaking, as the person’s tone of voice tends to be more aggressive. Nevertheless, several scientific specialists are needed in order to determine if a person is possessed. “So the bishop has to send psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors to give a diagnosis and to decide whether or not the person is possessed,” Father Lopez stated.

[see story]

Dolores Brown and Diana Jacobs of Casa Grande had an invitation to stop by and investigate the three historic buildings that make up the museum on Florence Boulevard. What they say they found was a lot of visitors, many who have stayed beyond their expiration dates.

The two women run the Southwestern version of “Ghostbusters.” The “Ghost Sweepers,” as they call themselves, are a kinder and gentler breed of spirit seekers.

They use their skill and training, combined with guidance from angels, holy water, the 23rd Psalm, prayers, crystals, their love and “expanded hearts” to help the spirits move on to a better place, they said.

…continue story

THEY have been the scene of strange sightings, unexplained noises and ghostly goings-on since they were discovered 20 years ago.

Dozens of accounts of spooky events in Edinburgh’s 17th-century underground vaults have led to them being described as one of Britain’s most haunted places.

Now two backpackers believe they have photographic proof ghosts prowl the gloomy corridors.

…continue story

Khao Lak - Ghosts of tsunami victims no longer haunt Thailand’s beaches, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday.

Many visitors, especially Asian tourists, have shunned beaches hit by the December 26 tsunami for fear of ghosts, which many Thais have reported hearing or seeing after the deadly waves struck.

But Thaksin, who was in the hardest-hit province of Phang Nga for a special cabinet meeting, said the spirits of the dead had already been reborn in line with Buddhist belief.

“I slept well last night,” said Thaksin.

“My daughter called and asked me to pray before going to bed and I told her that all of the spirits were already reborn. I have no amulets to ward off ghosts,” he said.

Nearly 5 400 people were killed by the tsunami in Thailand, roughly half of them believed to be foreign holidaymakers.

[via News24]

A university has launched a degree course in the hunt for alien life, which it says is a UK first.

The University of Glamorgan said it has launched the UK’s first undergraduate course in astrobiology - the search for life beyond Earth.

New recruits signed up to the course, held at the University of Glamorgan in South Wales, this week.

[from Virgin.net]

An enterprising Karoo hotelier has decided that his establishment’s ghosts must pay for their other-worldly board and lodging.

There are rumoured to be poltergeists, the ghost of a woman who hanged herself in her lonely hotel room, as well as paintings that change character at various times of the month.

Donald Lamont, manager of the Swartberg Hotel in Prince Albert, a town at the foot of the majestic Swartberg Pass, said he, himself, had not seen any manifestations, but that several staff and guests had sworn they had had ghostly experiences.

However, a receptionist at the hotel, which was built in 1886, has told of seeing a vase flying across a room, leaving behind the flowers it had contained!

There are two huge oil paintings in the hotel restaurant and staff and guests alike have sworn these have changed character - objects depicted in the art works have moved position - at certain times of the lunar month.

[continue story…]

ESSEX — Officials at Circus Smirkus, Vermont’s premier circus organization, said Tuesday they were investigating how the organization fell into the “very precarious position” that forced a sudden shutdown of operations last week.

As Circus Smirkus evaluated its situation, a group of circus parents said it will strive to bring a new vision of circus training and performance to would-be students.

“We want very much for the community to have it,” said Ron Redmond, a member of the parent group, referring to a new circus training program. “We want to bring the magic of circus to the community so they can be bitten by the bug.”

[continue story…]

In a brief statement, Northern Territory police today said that the “provisional cause of death has been given as multiple injuries consistent with a crocodile attack”.

…

Police and wildlife authorities are hunting a 13-foot crocodile suspected of the attack and plan to move it to a more remote area or shoot it.

[see story]

A California man who claimed he was fleeing flesh-eating aliens when he caused a fatal car crash was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison Monday after a jury rejected his mental deficiency claims in July.

Scott Krause, 39, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder stemming from the January 2004 death of UPS carrier Drew Reynolds, 34, who was on duty when Krause drove a stolen vehicle into Reynolds’ service truck.

With the plea entered, a Nevada County jury was left to decide whether Krause, who was high on methamphetamine and in the midst of a day-long crime spree, was legally sane when the incident occurred.

The panel heard evidence from the defense that the father of three believed “man-eating subterranean beings” that he referred to as “hemadrones” were pursuing him when the crash occurred.

[continue story…]

A long quest for booty from the Spanish colonial era appears to be culminating in Chile with the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels on the remote Pacific island.

“The biggest treasure in history has been located,” said Fernando Uribe-Etxeverria, a lawyer for Wagner, the Chilean company leading the search. Mr Uribe-Etxeverria estimated the value of the buried treasure at US$10bn (£5.6bn).

[see story]

ALFRED, Ont. (CP) - Cows do it, even the odd deer or moose, but it’s a rare sight to see a tiger lying in the middle of an Ontario road.

But that’s what a driver near the town of Wendover, east of Ottawa, reported to police.

Turns out the large cat had ambled away from its enclosure at nearby Papanack Zoo.

[continue story…]

An exorcism carried out by spiritual healers last week went horribly wrong when a 20-year-old Chatsworth woman died after the procedure.

Farhana Essop’s family claims that she went through an eight-hour whipping ordeal when two spiritual healers attempted to remove “evil spirits” from her.

[continue story…]

A bright green sign along a lonely country road in southwestern Puerto Rico proudly displays a silhouette of a flying saucer and two words: “Extraterrestrial Route.”

Most Puerto Ricans laughed when a horse farmer installed the sign on his property at the request of Reynaldo Rios, a local elementary school teacher who says he’s been communicating with alien visitors to this U.S. territory since he was a child.

Rios, a 39-year-old with a goatee and a shock of dark hair, won’t be ignored. With the blessing of a local government desperate for tourist dollars, he’s dedicated himself to building the UFO landing strip.

“I can’t say exactly when they will come, but I know it will happen,” Rios said. “I want to keep believing in my dreams.”

[continue story at CNN…]