Avast, ye scalawags! North Carolina State University is now pirate territory!
By an overwhelming majority, the Raleigh school last week elected a candidate called "The Pirate Captain" student body president, giving the old sea dog 58 percent of the vote.
"We're quickly goin' to bae getting our plank started, get the simple things out of the way," The Pirate Captain (search), real name Whil (or maybe "Will") Piavis, a junior, told supporters after election results were unveiled Wednesday night.
The blond-maned Piavis, who constantly keeps up the "Aargh! Matey!" persona and wears a beard, eyepatch, white puffy shirt, boots, dangling sword and sometimes even a parrot, reassured fellow students he was serious.
"This simply bae a way to get people to pay attention and get involved," Piavis said, according to The Technician, the campus newspaper. "We're not a group that bae full of ourselves. We bae out here for the students."
More sober student-government types seemed appalled that a character straight from "SpongeBob SquarePants" had crashed their party.
"The pirate outfit and limey lingo have got to go," wrote The Technician in an editorial. "Piavis will be representing our University as a public figure ... Students do not want him and his parrot saying, 'Aye mate, here ya go with this plaque o' gold and bounty!'"
Others pointed out that the usually lackluster election turnout became a little less lackluster this year — a whopping 26 percent bothered to cast ballots, up from 18 percent last time.
"He is a genuinely nice and intelligent pirate; and he has never made a man walk the plank that did not deserve it," wrote columnist Daniel Underwood in The Technician Monday.
University administrators seem to be willing to give The Pirate Captain a chance.
"The reaction to a person's leadership depends on how they carry out their leadership responsibilities," Vice Chancellor Tom Stafford told WRAL-TV.
The Pirate Captain has proven experience in that capacity, leading his own enthusiastic "Scurvy Crew" "upon the seven seas loot'n and plundering," according to his Web site.
As for the next year of helping to manage a campus of 30,000 students and working with other elected officials, The Pirate Captain was upbeat.
"We're liking the fact that most of the Senate are new scrogs," he told The Technician. "Me hopes the rest bae coming around. [Our crew] not bae a bad lot."
— Thanks to Out There readers Lynn A., Travis S., Travis M., Jeff C. and Eric H.
Man Saves Chicken by Blowing Into Beak
COLLBRAN, Colo. (AP) — First there was Mike the Headless Chicken (search), a rooster that survived for 18 months after having its head lopped off with an ax.
Now, western Colorado has a new chicken survival story, this one involving a man who claims he saved his fowl by giving it mouth-to-beak resuscitation.
Uegene Safken says one of the chickens in his young flock had gotten into a tub of water in the yard two weeks ago and appeared to have died.
Safken said he first swung the chicken by the feet to revive it. When that failed, he continued swinging and blowing into its beak.
"Then one eye opened. I thought it was an involuntary response," Safken said. The chicken's beak opened a little wider, and Safken started yelling at it: "You're too young to die!
"Every time I'd yell at him, he'd chirp," Safken said.
Mike the Headless Chicken survived a beheading in 1945 in Fruita, Colo. Afterward, Mike could go through the motions of pecking for food, and when he tried to crow, a gurgle came out. His owner put feed and water directly into Mike's gullet with an eyedropper.
Scientists examined the chicken and theorized Mike had enough of a brain stem left to live headless. He was a popular attraction until he choked to death on a corn kernel.
— Thanks to Out There reader Matt C.
'Mad Max' Fans Pulled Over in Texas
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A madcap movie marathon idea has gotten some Texans in trouble.
Eleven people were arrested after alarming San Antonio motorists with a costumed convoy to a "Mad Max" marathon.
The group was headed to San Antonio on Saturday morning when police received several calls reporting an apparent "militia" was surrounding a tanker truck. They were brandishing fake machine guns.
One of the organizers of the convoy, Chris Fenner, said the arrests were unfair. He said he didn't know why anyone would have confused the costumed crew recreating a scene from "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" — set in a post-apocalyptic Australia — with a real threat.
"I honestly don't know how that could be, because 'Road Warrior' was so over the top," he said.
The eleven were charged with obstruction of a highway, and two of them were also charged with possession of prohibited knives.
About 25 people participated in the convoy and more than twice that number were expected to attend the movie marathon, which was canceled after the arrests.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A teenager who was obsessed with trams took unwitting passengers on a joy ride through Melbourne after stealing one of the Australian city's public transport icons, police said Monday.
The 15-year-old picked up several passengers after stealing the vehicle Sunday night and driving across the city's tracks, according to news reports.
Trams are popular among tourists and commuters alike in Australia's second most populous city.
Police finally stopped the tram after it traveled about 19 miles by cutting electricity to the overhead wires that power it. The tram was undamaged and none of the passengers were injured.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Hills said the youth drove the vehicle out of a tram depot after stealing keys for it from another depot three weeks ago.
"He's a nice lad, he's a good lad — I think his obsession just got the better of him," he said.
The youth allegedly stole another tram from the same depot on Friday night before leaving it in the city, Hills said.
Right Next to Pinhead Place, Across From Dweeb Avenue
PICO RIVERA, California (AP) — It's not easy living on Dork Street — just ask Mario Saucedo.
"I had a resume kicked back because someone thought I was kidding," said Saucedo, who has lived on the street in this suburb about a dozen miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles for eight years.
Ester Avetisian, who moved there 18 years ago, said she might have thought twice if there had been a sign in those days marking the road tucked into what is still a semi-rural section of town where people keep goats and chickens in their back yards.
"I didn't know the name until my husband and I were signing [mortgage] papers," Avetisian recalled. "I was pretty shocked when I found out."
Still, most residents have learned to grin and bear the jokes.
"It's pretty funny," said Clyde Parra, who has lived on Dork Street for eight years. "When I go to cash a check at the store, people ask me if I'm a dork."
Officials say there is no record at City Hall explaining how the street got its distinctive moniker, but residents believe it was named after someone called Dork. It first appeared on a Los Angeles County tract map in 1936.
"It's obviously historic, and it seems like streets named for last names are the norm in that area," city spokesman Bob Spencer said.
ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia (AP) — A gasoline station owner is trying to smooth some ruffled fur over the winner of a cash drawing.
The name on the winning entry, "Mr. Jengels," turned out to be that of a dog owned by Kevin Strybos, who said he used the name of his miniature dachshund-pinscher cross to avoid telemarketers.
Gas station owner Mike Paz said the dog couldn't cash a check and refused to give the $410 to Strybos, who had claimed the winnings.
On Friday, Paz said he would give the money to the local animal shelter run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (search) and offered to hang a portrait of Mr. Jengels on a wall with other cash winners.
Strybos said he appreciated the donation but added, "I don't know if it really changes too much the way I feel about the whole situation."
Compiled by FOX News' Paul Wagenseil.
Got a good "Out There" story in your hometown? We'd like to know about it. Send an e-mail, with a Web link (we need to authenticate these things), to outthere@foxnews.com.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox