Some might call watching cheese mold a bit … dry … but for die-hard cheddar lovers, there's now a Web site where you can do just that at any hour of the day or night.
"Cheddarvision" is a new concept envisioned by the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group, reported Scotland's Daily Record.
The site, cheddarvision.tv, allows cheese fans to "examine the delicate intricacies of the mold on the beautiful cheese as it develops."
The Webcam is aimed at a 20-gram lump of cheddar as it matures in a cheese store at Westcombe Dairy, under the care of farmer Tom Calver.
Cheddar-heads can indulge their senses 24/7/365 on the site, and 'cheddarvision' also has its own MySpace page.
"It's better than watching paint dry — just," admitted the group's chairman, Philip Crawford.
"Some people might say that this is the most boring Web site of 2007," Crawford added, "but our cheese is worth waiting for."
That's a Whole Lot of the Green Stuff...
VILLA PARK, Ill. (AP) — Someone's New Year's Eve party just got a lot healthier.
Police in suburban Villa Park say a refrigerated truck with $50,000 in frozen broccoli has been stolen.
The tractor-trailer was last seen on Christmas Eve parked at the Odeum Convention Sports and Expo Center.
When the truck disappeared, its owner in Bensenville initially assumed that the driver had gotten lost.
After checking in with all the truckers, though, the owners declared the vehicle stolen.
Villa Park Detective Ed Zorich says he thinks the truck — and not its contents — were the target of the theft.
Unless, he said, the thief was a true vegetarian.
I'm Rubber and You're Glue
CHICAGO (AP) — Rubber tires that once hit the road now are the road on Chicago's West Side.
As part of a pilot program unveiled yesterday, the city has replaced 550 feet of concrete sidewalk with recycled rubber tires.
City officials say they want to see how the material withstands Chicago's harsh winters and heavy foot traffic.
The rubber sidewalk costs more than concrete but is made of 100 percent recycled tires, can be easily repaired and removed and doesn't crack and shift the way concrete does.
The sidewalk is in the Garfield Park neighborhood, near the Chicago Center for Green Technology.
Officials also rolled out the first solar-powered bus shelter. Officials plan to erect 100 of the shelters in 2007.
The structures will save about $200 per year per shelter in electrical costs.
And the Christmas Spirit Lives On ...
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — When the bikes Dennis and Tamie Leporin bought themselves for Christmas disappeared from their front lawn, the couple posted a sign to let the thieves know their disappointment.
"I hope U crooks enjoy our bikes U stole; Merry X-Mas," the sign read.
The next evening, the couple heard a knock at their door and found an envelope with $200 inside. A pickup truck was driving away.
"Inside was a note that read, 'For every crook, there are 1,000 good people'," Dennis Leporin told the Pensacola News Journal. "I thought it was awesome. We moved here from St. Louis, and folks just don't do that in St. Louis."
Tamie Leporin said she and her husband were concentrating so much on the theft that they forgot about the true meaning of Christmas, until they were reminded of it by the kindness of strangers.
"We just wish there was some way we could thank them," she said.
That's Not Santa Comin' Down From Above
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Thieves in the Madison area have been entering liquor stores through roofs or ceiling vents, then raiding safes.
At least four stores and one restaurant have been targeted in that manner in the past week, police said.
Manager Brian Frain of Neil's Liquor in Madison said an alarm alerted him that the contents of his safe were missing Wednesday morning.
"They didn't cut any holes in the roof, but they pried a cover off the furnace on the roof and dropped through an air duct," Frain said.
Thieves broke into stores in Fitchburg, Sun Prairie and Madison three nights in a row, said Fitchburg Police Lt. Chad Brecklin, who is coordinating investigations with the other police departments. One store manager speculated the burglars were looking for extra cash from holiday sales.
Brecklin said he suspects it's the same crew hitting all the stores, or a "very athletic or determined person on his own."
The person would have to be quite strong, too. On Saturday night, burglars cut a hole and dropped through the ceiling at Bottle Stop Liquors, where they removed a 400-pound safe through a back door, clerk Chuck Amble said.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Hannah Sentenac.
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