A burly, tattooed Seattle resident briefly became the hero of divorced men all over America, thanks to an eBay auction this week.
The newly single man, identified only as "horseplaypublishing," put his ex-wife's wedding dress up for sale — and included several photos of himself modeling it.
"I was actually going to have a dress-burning party when the divorce became final, but my sister talked me out of it," explains the seller, who sports the full, sleeveless dress and matching veil over a black T-shirt and bandanna.
"She said, 'That's such a gorgeous dress. Some lucky girl would be glad to have it. You should sell it on eBay. At least get something back for it,'" he says. "I'm selling it hoping to get enough money for maybe a couple of Mariners tickets and some beer."
The man's face is whited out in the photographs, but his beard, ponytail and tattoos are clearly visible, and he seems to fit well into a size 12 gown.
"Quite frankly, my sister isn't exactly small," the nameless model explains, "so she wouldn't pose for the picture. Seeing as I have sworn off women for the time being and I ain't friends with any, it left me holding the bag."
"I took the liberty of blacking out my face," he continues, "not to protect the ex-wife but to protect me from my bar buddies and co-workers finding out about it. I would never live it down."
The eBay address flew fast around the Internet, generating tons of traffic on the auction's Web page — "this thing has taken more hits than that pothead that lives in the next building" — and lots of e-mail, including five marriage proposals.
"I feel like one of those mass murderers on death row. I never understood how the hell they got more chicks than I did," he writes. "Now I know. They sold crap on eBay."
"One woman actually said she doesn't want to marry me, but wouldn't mind being my ex-wife," he adds. "Hmmm. Let me think about that. Nope."
The bidding was up to about $15,000 Tuesday, but dropped back down to the low thousands after frivolous bids were weeded out.
"Please only bid if you are serious. Or really, really hot," the seller asks.
Finally, bidder "absolutsth" won the auction Wednesday with an offer of $3,850 — not bad for a dress that cost $1,200 and "that my drunken sot of an ex-father-in-law swore up and down he would pay for but didn't so I got stuck with the bill."
— Thanks to Out There readers Steph J., Kevin H., Wade C., Terry P., Dave F., and Chad M.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The 6-year-old patient has two new legs and can walk, run, sit and frolic. And bark.
Missing the lower halves of his hind paws, Footsie used to have to tuck his two back legs under his backside and scoot with his front paws.
Now he has prosthetic legs, thanks to two Ann Arbor specialists who tackled the project of creating legs for the shepherd mix.
"It wasn't easy," orthopedist Kenneth Woodard told The Ann Arbor News for a recent story. "I don't know how many times we spent talking and trying to figure out how we were going to do this."
Woodard and prosthetist Steve Hoover spent nearly a year working on the project, which they tackled without pay.
"It was fun," said Hoover, who makes artificial limbs for humans. "But it was a real challenge to improve on what he already had. There were a lot of stops and starts."
The key was getting a good cast of Footsie's hind legs, Hoover said. Finally, they shaped a layer of foam and a layer of plastic over the mold, then added a hard, black shell with tread material on the bottom, to give Footsie a grip. The shell is fastened to the dog with a Velcro strap.
"Footsie tried them on when they were done and it was a home run," said his owner, Helen DePinto of Webster Township, Mich.
— Thanks to Out There readers Jim and Janice G.
Naked Man Hijacks Empty School Bus
ORAVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Police arrested a naked man Thursday morning after he hijacked a private school's bus.
The man, who was not identified as of Thursday afternoon, was involved in a wreck with the school bus.
As police arrived at the accident scene, the man stole the bus, made a U-turn and led officers on a slow-speed chase into oncoming traffic, said Doraville police Capt. C.D. Atkinson.
Two truck drivers — driving a concrete pumper truck and a tractor-trailer — eventually blocked the bus' path, a Doraville police report states.
"They cornered him, pinned him up against the retaining wall," Atkinson said.
The driver was naked when police arrested him. He had suffered a few scrapes and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital (search ) for treatment and a mental evaluation.
Atkinson said charges are pending. He would not comment on the suspect's state of mind or if he appeared inebriated.
Doraville Police Chief John King told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the man spat at emergency medical technicians, which could warrant charges if he has any communicable diseases.
The bus driver had not yet picked up the children to take them to Atlanta International School (search ). The incident occurred about 6:30 a.m., Atkinson said.
— Thanks to Out There readers Amanda F. and Kristy G.
Rugby Player Catches Opponent's Tooth in Head
An Australian pro rugby player walked off the field with an opposing player's tooth lodged in his head, reports the London Guardian.
Shane Millard, who plays for the Widnes Vikings (search ) in northern England, was sent back into the game last Sunday, and it wasn't until the match was over that the other team's physician mentioned one of his players had lost part of a tooth.
"I went to the hospital," said Millard, "where they took X-rays of the wound and said there was definitely something lodged in there."
Millard's coach was concerned, since human bites are more infectious than dog or cat bites.
"Sure enough it was part of a tooth," said Millard. "They blasted [it] out with three packs of saline solution. The tooth came out just as the anesthetic was wearing off."
Another Australian playing pro rugby in England almost lost his arm two years ago, said the Guardian, after an embedded tooth became badly infected.
"I've had a few injuries in my time, but this is certainly the strangest," said Millard. "But I'd rather have a gash on my head than lose a part of a tooth. At least I keep my good looks."
Rugby is similar to American football, and players, who wear no helmets, are renowned for their toughness. In 1958, the British team's captain broke his arm in a match against Australia, kept playing and won the game.
Woman Tries to Dislodge Bugs, Almost Dislodges Self
A Welsh woman who tried to smoke a wasps' nest out of her home almost ended up burning her house down, reports the BBC.
"The woman had tried to smoke out the wasps by lighting a bit of cardboard and blowing it out and putting it under a board," said fireman Gareth Davies of Merthyr Tydfil (search ), South Wales. "But that just acted as a chimney and the cardboard re-lit and began to burn through the cavity walls up to the roof."
It took 10 firefighters two hours to contain the blaze, and several ceiling and wall sections had to be ripped out to get at the flames.
Despite all the heat, smoke and destruction, the wasps didn't budge until pest-control specialists were brought in to remove them.
"Our advice would be never to take this kind of thing into your own hands," said Davies. "Always contact your local authority who can get rid of the wasps by using cosmetic smoke."
Army to Ski Resorts: Give Us Our Big Guns Back
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. military wants five howitzers it lent two Sierra Nevada ski resorts returned, saying it needs the guns for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Alpine Meadows (search) and Mammoth Mountain (search ) got the artillery pieces on loan from the Army last year. They use them to fire rounds into mountainsides, knocking snow loose to prevent avalanches.
But now the Army's Tank Automotive and Armaments Command (search ) in Illinois needs the howitzers back immediately.
"I need to have them back in the troops' hands within 60 to 90 days," said Don Bowen, the Army command's team leader in charge of the howitzers. "It's a very short timeframe to get them serviceable and back into the theater in southwest Asia. Afghanistan-Iraq is the immediate concern."
The ski resorts said they will comply.
"Given it's a war effort, their needs are greater than ours," said Larry Heywood, Alpine Meadows director of mountain operations.
Howitzers are short-barreled cannons that typically fire three to 10 rounds a minute at a range of about five to 10 miles. Replacing a 119-A — the type used at the resorts — would cost around $1 million, Bowen said Tuesday.
Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain are the only ski resorts in the nation using the modern 119-A howitzer. Other resorts have older 105 mm howitzers.
"It was designed to kill people, but it's a very valuable safety tool for us," said Rachael Woods, a spokeswoman at Lake Tahoe's Alpine Meadows, where seven people were killed in an avalanche in 1982.
Resort officials said they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to transport the guns, reimburse the Army for training and build firing platforms.
The Forest Service said it is working to secure older howitzers for the ski resorts, and the Army's Bowen said he is optimistic that will happen.
Michigan Governor Orders Better On-Hold Music
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Last summer, the state Department of Management and Budget got an unusual request from the governor. Jennifer Granholm called to ask if something could be done about the boring acoustic music that people heard when they called the state and were placed on hold.
"She thought we should have cool music," DMB director Mitch Irwin told The Daily Oakland Press for a story Wednesday.
It seems that the "hold" music had been set on piano and guitar instrumental since 1996.
Irwin set up a committee to try to juice up the state's 60,000 phone lines. First, officials tried to rock the phones, but after a few caller complaints, Led Zeppelin's and Jimi Hendrix's music got dumped because "it was a little too hot," Irwin said.
Then, they tried all-Michigan artists, but abandoned the idea because "it was too limiting."
Finally, they settled on 1950s and '60s oldies.
Now on any given day, callers may find themselves listening to the hits of Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, the Temptations or Fats Domino.
Provided by Muzak, as was the former music, the service costs the same as in the past — $800 a year — but it seems to be getting good reviews from callers.
"I've had people say, 'Hey, put me back on hold, I wanna hear the end of that song,'" said Jeanette Doll, who works as a secretary at the DMB.
Compiled by Foxnews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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