Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Ah, Friday. And you know what that means: Snippets and Soundbites! Who's ready for all the news of the strange you can handle?

Remember: if today's edition isn't enough weird news for you, please check out page 38 in this month's (and every month's) issue of ec. You won't regret it!

An all-time low

For a singer from southern Illinois, hitting an all time low isn't necessarily a bad thing. That's because Roger Menees, a southern gospel singer hailing from Anna, Illinois, officially holds the record for singing the lowest note ever produced by a human voice. Back in February, Menees was in his Carbondale, Ill., studio and hit a low note that measured in at 0.393 hertz (a very low F-sharp for you musicians). That note was lower than the previous recorded low note: 0.797 hertz. Menees received his certificate from Guinness World Records this week, but thinks he can still do better. He says he'll probably make another attempt if his world record is challenged anytime soon. Read all about it here.


What's that delicious smell?
Billboards are a way of life in the U.S., right? You're used to seeing them along interstates and highways, advertising gas stations, attractions, and where to eat at upcoming exits with brightly colored pictures and catchphrases. Well, in North Carolina one billboard is using more than its enticing photo of a steak to lure drivers' attention; it's also using smell. Yep, that's right. The billboard, on N.C. 150 in central North Carolina, emits the aroma of black pepper and charcoal from 7-10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. every day for the past month of so. The billboard is advertising a new line of beef available at a local grocery store chain and officials say a high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard spreads the smell by blowing air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil. To learn more, go here.

Lost AND found

Back in 1983, Jason Cottle went swimming with some friends in a quarry and lost his class ring. He even went back with a diving mask to search for the ring, but he ended up losing the diving mask, too. At that point, finding the ring seemed to be a lost cause, and he moved on with his life. Until this week. Cottle saw a picture in the local newspaper about the quarry being drained to restart mining and thought it was worth a shot to see if his ring was there. It was, lying on a ledge that would have been 35 feet under the waterline and right where Cottle and his friends used the swim. Also found in the newly drained quarry: more jewelry, clothing, keys, four pairs of glasses, unexploded blasting caps, $3 in change and a safe with a hole cut in the side—and the diving mask Cottle lost searching for the ring all those years ago. Read all about it here.