Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Hey, ec fans! Sorry for last week's lack of "Snippets and Soundbites," but we're back and ready to tell you all kinds of strange stories we've run across in the last couple of weeks. Strange, wacky stories that actually happened. And if today's edition of odd news isn't enough, just check out page 38 in this month's (and every month's) issue of ec. You know you want to!

Ready? Let's go!

Don't tell mom! 

Have you ever heard those words come out of your mouth? I know I have. But never quite for the reason a Salt Lake City, Utah, teen asked people not to tell his mom something. Because that guy asked the clerk at the convenience store he was trying to rob not to tell his mom. It went down like this: the teen entered the store, picked up several items, and approached the counter. The clerk began ringing the items up, and the teen tried to sneak behind the counter and hold a knife to the clerk's neck. The clerk spun around with his hands in the air, though, smacking the teenager in the face and sending him sprawling to the floor. At that point, the teen got up and asked the clerk not to tell the police or tell his mom what had happened before fleeing the scene. Since the clerk did call the police and the story is all over the Internet, we're betting his mom knows now. And she's probably not too happy with him. Read all about it here.

That had to be a pretty big fine

If anyone knows about returning library books late, it's ec's editor, Mandy Crow. She just can't seem to get them back to the library on time. But still, a few days late is very different than 45 years late. Yep, 45 years late. You read that correctly, but someone turned in a library book 45 years too late at a school library in England. Apparently, a first edition copy of "Quartermass and the Pit" by Nigel Kneale was due back to the library on Oct. 15, 1965. The book was returned recently in the mail without a note or address to reveal the sender or the person who might have checked the book out. There's no way to tell who checked the book out, since library records don't go back that far. The library staff says they won't enforce a fine, but they would like to meet the sender and find out why it took him or her 45 years to return the book. For more of the story, go here.

The Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay
The residents of Tampa Bay have another mystery altogether to unravel: the mysterious rhesus macaque monkey roaming around the city who has avoided capture for nearly a year. Authorities aren't sure where the monkey came from, positing that perhaps he was separated from a troupe of wild monkeys in an Ocala-area state park, some 118 miles north of St. Petersburg or escaped from an owner who didn't have a legal permit for such a pet and therefore wasn't registered. Whatever the reason, the monkey has been gallavanting around the city for nearly a year, often narrowly escaping capture. He checks traffic, lounges by pools, scales apartment walls, and someone even started up a Facebook fan page in his honor. Authorities have been trying to capture him, even shooting him with tranquilizers, but even that doesn't seem to work. One trapper even thinks the monkey may be getting addicted to the drugs after all the shots. State wildlife do warn that the animal is dangerous and that his bites could be terribly painful. To read more, go here.

Tell us what you think

We at ec would really like to know your opinion on a new writing and layout style we tried in the March issue. Check out pages 45-47 in the March issue, then click this link and tell us what you think!

Next Friday is Good Friday, so the online edition of "Snippets and Soundbites” will not appear on the blog. But do check back every day next week because we'll be posting additional Easter devotions each day of Holy Week.