oddlyenough

Dozens dressed as T rex descend on public square

His name means “king of the tyrant lizards,” but sometimes Tyrannosaurus rex just wants to party. Make that many T. rexes. Hundreds of curious people descended on Portland’s Monument Square on Saturday to observe a gathering of dinosaur lovers dressed as the science museum staple.

There were dozens of T. rexes, and they danced, growled and milled around. One who struggled to navigate his costume walked around with his head protruding awkwardly from the dinosaur’s gaping mouth. Valerie Sanborn and Alison Cyr set up the Cretaceous Period party through Facebook. A non-participant was summoned to snap a group photo because of T. rex’s “little arm probz.”

There didn’t appear to be any participants who arrived dressed as Marc Bolan, late singer of English rock band T. Rex.

champ arrested for breaking into a doughnut shop

A North Carolina doughnut-eating contest winner was arrested Thursday for breaking into a doughnut shop, police said. Police in Elizabeth City, N.C. charged Bradley Hardison, 27, with felony breaking and entering, felony safe cracking and felony larceny after he allegedly broke into a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in November, the Virginia-Pilot reported.

Police said Hardison broke into the store’s safe and took an undisclosed amount of money. He was held in jail under a $7,000 bond.

This isn’t the first time Hardison has been connected to doughnuts and crime. In fact, it was his doughnut-eating prowess that helped police arrest him during a previous run-in with the law.

In 2014, Hardison entered a doughnut-eating contest sponsored by the Elizabeth City Police Department and won after he gobbled down eight in two minutes. Turned out, police had been looking for Hardison for nine months in relation to several car break-ins.

So once they realized the contest winner was also a suspect, Hardison was arrested the next day.

Woman thanks Santa for lottery ticket in stocking

A Delaware woman said she has Santa Claus to thank for a $50,000 winning lottery ticket she received in her Christmas stocking. The Wilmington woman told Delaware Lottery officials that Santa — aka her mother — placed scratch-off lottery tickets in the Christmas stockings she filled for her three children.

The woman said she was surprised — and her brothers were “extremely jealous” — when the Play Money ticket won her a $50,000 jackpot. “My first reaction was definitely shock,” the woman said. “I thought I definitely didn’t win and that there was some sort of catch.” The woman said she quietly composed herself and announced to her family: “Apparently, I won $50,000.” The winner said she is making plans for her winnings. “I’ll save some money for travel, donate some to charity, and tuck the rest away for the future,” she said.

Motorists take heart, even popes get flat tyres

Pope Francis may have divine inspiration but not divine inflation: on Friday he suffered what millions of ordinary people have to deal with — a flat tire. While the pope was being driven into Lima from the airport, one of the wheels of the Fiat 500 that was taking him into the city began losing air on the highway.

After his motorcade came to a halt, he calmly exited the car while his security detail surveyed the damage. Without missing a beat, he got into a black, unmarked security car behind him and continued the ride to the presidential palace, television footage showed.

Francis has shunned the bulletproof limousines used by his predecessors, opting for simple cars both in Rome and on his overseas travels.

Elvis paper cup up for auction

A paper cup allegedly used by Elvis Presley six decades ago in Oklahoma is up for auction, and bids have already surpassed $1,200. North Carolina resident Wade Jones is a collector of all things Elvis. He tells the Tulsa World that the crumpled blue-and-white Dixie cup was snagged by a fan in April 1956, after Elvis performed at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion.

Jones says a fan named June allegedly retrieved the cup the day after the performance, right before Elvis left town for a show in Oklahoma City. A letter accompanying the collector’s item says June had asked to keep the cup “as a little memento.” Bids for the now-yellowed paper cup had surpassed $1,280 on eBay by mid-day Wednesday. Jones says the auction closes Sunday evening.