Weird News

"The Avengers" is smashing the box office with the power of The Incredible Hulk using Thor's mighty hammer... and it's almost guaranteed that we'll be seeing "The Avengers II," "The Avengers III," "The Avenger IV" and more -- not to mention the inevitable "reboot" once the franchise starts to wear thin.

But could one of those reboots feature a completely different take on the team of superheroes?

Joe Phillips, a comic artist who has worked for both Marvel and DC and has even inked "The Avengers" himself has envisioned some of the world's most famous superheroes as proud crime-fighting homosexuals.

"It is there," he told The Huffington Post's David Moye. "Think about it: A guy develops the ability to do something incredible and the first thing he does is to wear something tight-fitting and colorful and tell the world, 'I'm going to fight crime'?"

See "The Avengers" as you've never seen them before in my new photo collection, "Homo Heroes: Could The Gay Avengers Be the Next to the Big Screen?"

Photo © Joe Phillips

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This has been a banner month for zoophilia as people accused of sex with just about every animal in the zoo are popping up in courtrooms across the nation.

One of the strangest cases involves a doctor accused of having sex with a patient.

In most cases, that would be merely unethical.

In this case, however, Thomas Barret Lyle Wilson isn't a regular doc -- he's a veterinarian, and his "patient" was a horse.

Actually, it was a horse in a training center, and the owners allegedly caught him in the act by watching a live video feed.

"I'm glad you caught me. I need help," he said, according to an affidavit quoted by the The Daily O'Collegian.

But 28-year-old Wilson isn't the only one making headlines for bestiality. There's a cop accused of doing it with calves... a mayor's sun who's "into" German shepherds and even a guy with an affinity for rottweilers.

I won't even pet a rottweiler.

See them all in my new gallery, Bestiality Crime Wave.

Related Weird Animal Crimes

• Little Animal, Big Crime: Man Accused of Sex With Mini Horse
• Bestiality Suspect: 'I Accidentally Molested a Horse'
• Sex With a Horse
• From the Bestiality Files: More Crazy Horse Sex Accusations
• Forget Dogs: More Bestial Tales of Criminal Horse Sex
• Animal Sex Tales: Man Accused of Raping 'Christie Brinkley' Dog
• Why Are So Many People Having Sex With Dogs?
• Bestiality, Scatology and Penile Self-Mutilation: How Low Can We Go?

Photo © Getty Images

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Talk about a memorable mug shot.

Forget "WWJD," this woman went straight to the top with her tattoo -- in every sense of the word by putting "GOD" smack dab in the middle of her forehead.

Police in Ohio say this woman -- 33-year-old Jamie Calloway -- has been stalking a female corrections officer she met during a (you guessed it) previous jail stint.

Calloway is accused of slashing the woman's tires, called her at home and sending her packages, according to The Smoking Gun.

Get a better look at her and meet some of the week's other memorable criminals -- including a man with a creative excuse for speeding -- in This Week in Weird Crime.

Other Weird Crime News

• Weird Crime Mug Shot Hall of Shame
• Scarred & Scared: Marked Men and Women Deliver Memorable Mug Shots
• Celebrity Mug Shot Hall of Shame
• Dumb Crime du Jour
• A Face to Remember: Cops ID Suspect Based on Tattoos

Photo © Pinal County (Arizona) Sheriff's Office

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What would lead to a normally mild-mannered bear of very little brain to be found lifeless, with a noose around his neck?

I say it's Pooh-icide.

Sounds horrible -- and it is -- but that's exactly how visitors to the new exhibition "Broken Heroes" encounter Winnie the Pooh.

The brainchild of 49-year-old German/Chilean artist Patricia Waller, "Broken Heroes" has iconic figures of childhood such as Pooh, Ernie from "Sesame Street," Hello Kitty and more made of yarn and meeting tragic and even harrowing ends.

Get an up-close look at them in part two of my new photo feature, "Broken Heroes."

And while you're at it, be sure to see part one -- featuring Superman, Spider-Man, Sponge Bob Squarepants and more.

Photo © Getty Images

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Imagine Superman losing his powers at the exact wrong time -- with deadly consequences -- and you get the idea behind "Broken Heroes," a new art exhibition in Berlin from German/Chilean artist Patricia Waller.

"This show is about heroes and failure," the 49-year-old artist told Spiegel Online. "Heroes serve a role model function that reflects our longing for something special, but I wanted to show what happens when they fail."

Everything in the exhibition is made of yarn, and it took Waller two years to assemble them all. See her take on Superman, Spiderman, Sponge Bob Squarepants and more in my new photo feature, "Broken Heroes."

I'll have more "Broken Heroes" -- including Winnie the Pooh like you've never seen him before -- tomorrow, so be sure to come back for more.

Photo © Getty Images

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What is it with all the penguins in the news these days? They've become total media whores.

First, a penguin attacked sort-of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich at the St. Louis Zoo.

Gingrich was apparently bitten by a Magellanic penguin during a behind-the-scenes visit and was later seen wearing a bandage, according to the Associated Press.

Does that mean penguins are liberals? We can't say for sure as the bird was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, in Australia, three men were arrested after breaking into Sea World in Queensland Sea World -- because they allegedly wanted to swim with the dolphins and steal a fairy penguin.

Fairy penguins, also known as little blue penguins, are the smallest of all penguins at just over a foot tall and a very tempting target for penguin-nappers.

The trio apparently left the penguin in nearby waters, where it may have been chased by a shark, according to a report in the Telegraph.

Naturally, emperor penguins want their own attention so they've been spotted from space.

New high-resolution satellite images are allowing scientists "to differentiate between penguin poop, ice, and the birds themselves," according to National Geographic.

Guano. The correct word is "guano," not "poop."

The images allowed researchers to identify seven new colonies, nearly 600,000 penguins and a lot of poo- err... guano.

Photo © Getty Images

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Talk about biting off more than you can chew: A woman in the U.K. was found guilty of trying to bite off a man's penis.

Ouch!

She failed, but Vincent Rennoldson says he has a three-inch scar on his genitals and has a hard time watching films such as "Jaws" since the attack by 40-year-old Sinead Walker, according to the Daily Mail.

The couple had gotten into an argument, and Rennoldson asked her to leave his apartment. Looks like she wasn't going to leave without taking something of his -- because first, she tried to pull his penis off... then, she tried to bite it off.

"She was on her knees, got it in her hands and just started biting," Rennoldson told the newspaper. "There was a lot of blood and it was painful for weeks afterwards."

But there's a silver lining in all this: "At least it still works," he said.

Good thing she didn't pull this stunt with my pal Jonah Falcon, who has a 13.5-inch monster penis -- largest in the world.

Related Weird Penis News

• Penises Chopped, Chewed & Tattooed
• More Penis Mischief: Genitals Set on Fire
• Penis Party Cut Off: Guinness Won't Recognize Mass Circumcision
• Big Cajones: Man With Giant Testicles Seeks Medical Help
• World's Biggest Penis: Catching Up With Jonah Falcon

Photo © Getty Images

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I don't take sides in politics, but I do appreciate having a walking Weird News Headline like Newt Gingrich around.

This is a man who wanted to put a U.S. state on the moon and even send people there via a lottery.

Just the other week, in what was almost certainly a first for a presidential candidate, he was attacked by a penguin.

So when I hear that he may drop out of the race as early as today, all I can think of is how this is the last chance I'll have this cycle to share with you my collection of The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Newt Gingrich

Related Weird Politics

• The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Mitt Romney
• The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Rick Santorum
• Weird Political News

Photo © Getty Images

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They say baseball was a different game in the 19th century -- after all, you just don't see players being chased by horses these days.

But it happened in a game in 1892, when first baseman Cap Anson of the Chicago Cubs (then called the Colts) chased an errant throw from the shortstop into foul territory.

Back then, that's where the groundskeeper's horse, Sam, was kept so he could pull the lawnmower across the field -- and the groundskeeper had left Sam's gate open.

And Sam HATED Cap Anson.

So Anson stopped chasing the ball as Sam started chasing him, according to an outrageous story in Lyons Press' new book, "The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown" by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo.

Meanwhile, the guy who hit the ball -- Tom Brown of the Louisville Colonels -- circled the bases and scored.

In a game a year earlier, Anson was on the other side of an equally bizarre home run: He hit a ball into a small gap between what was called "the doghouse" -- a small house that looked like a doghouse, where scoreboard numbers were kept -- and the outfield wall.

Outfielder "Big Ed" Delahanty tried to crawl into the doghouse to get to the ball but... well... Big Ed didn't exactly fit.

Big Ed was literally stuck in the doghouse as Anson circled the field.

"These events are so preposterous they don't seem real," said Nash by email. "But they are! And they happened in Major League games!"

Anson, by the way, went on to have more than 3,000 hits and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

For more cringe-worthy tales and outrageous baseball moments -- including one involving an ostrich -- check out my new gallery, "The Baseball Hall of Shame, Part II." And don't forget to see part one, which you'll find right here.

Photo © Getty Images

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With the A's and Mariners playing ball in Tokyo, baseball season is here... if a little early and in the middle of the night.

Like every other season, this one will have its share of memorable moments -- including more than a few that will be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Like a 1988 game that Tommy John would like to forget because of his three errors.

These errors weren't just in one game... or one inning. Amazingly, he made them on the same play in the fourth inning.

With a runner on first, John bobbled an easy ground ball (error number one), and then threw the ball past Don Mattingly at first base (error number two). As the ball went into the outfield, the runner on first dashed around the bases and headed for home.

You see where this is going, right?

John took to cutoff throw and immediately hurled it into the opposing team's dugout instead of at the plate for error number three.

No wonder I try my best to forget everything about the late 1980s Yankees.

Like that tale? Then you'll love "The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown" by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo, just published by Lyons Press.

Zullo said the John story is one of his favorites.

"Most of the Hall of Shamers we interviewed had such a great sense of humor and could poke fun at themselves," he said by email, and John "laughed his head off" when explaining the infamous play.

He even offered up an explanation worthy of a lefthander: "There was a thunderstorm coming and there were a lot of negative ions in the air, and since I was wearing a metal cup, it just glitched my mind."

For a few more cringe-worthy tales, visit my new gallery "The Baseball Hall of Shame" -- but if you're like me, you'll want to get the book.

And be sure to take a look at "The Baseball Hall of Shame, Part II" for more.

Photo © Getty Images

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