By Sarah Masker
Elm Staff Writer
1.) There’s always that one person who makes hiring a hitman sound like a good investment. If only it weren’t illegal. Nancy Mancuso Gelber, a crime writer from Texas, decided that little tidbit didn’t really matter and has been found guilty of solicitation to commit capital murder after hiring a man to kill her husband, 55-year-old Joseph Richard Gelber. Gelber apparently told officers that because she had written a crime novel, she was familiar with investigative procedures. She said, “I don’t want it to look like a killing – I want it to look like an accident.” Yeah, well obviously it didn’t, seeing as how she ended up with 30 years in prison. Write about that. Huffingtonpost.com
2.) Edible deodorant, because that sure sounds appetizing. Deo Perfume Candy is a rose-flavored product that claims to be able to make a 145-pound person smell like flowers for up to six hours. The U.S. company Beneo created the product with help from the Bulgarian confectioner Alpi. Beneo’s web site explains, “Geraniol is a natural antioxidant and its fragrance, once consumed as a candy, leaves the body through its pores, creating a naturally sweet smell that can last hours.” A stick of Old Spice or Dove just wasn’t good enough, huh? Huffingtonpost.com
3.) Donating books to the local library is a wonderful thing…except if it’s a hollowed out book with a gun inside. An employee at the Porter County Public Library in Indiana discovered a book that was home to a historic-looking handgun and promptly informed police. Authorities identified the weapon as a gold, wooden handled, A.S.M. brand, .31-caliber, single shot black powder gun. Due to the large volume of donations received, the library is unable to tell where the book came from. Too bad, someone needs to let the original owner know there are better ways to make reading interesting. Msnbc.com
4.) If Middle Earth isn’t an option, at least there’s New Zealand. An Air New Zealand safety video, “An Unexpected Briefing,” avoided the usual pre-flight dullness, as it featured crew members explaining flight safety to passengers embarking on a journey to J.R.R. Tolkien’s magical world of Middle Earth. The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy director, Sir Peter Jackson, makes a cameo appearance, playing a passenger among Orcs, elves, and hobbits. Gollum scurries through the aisles to point out the emergency exit signs, while an elf informs the wizard Gandalf that he cannot smoke his pipe on the flight. That must have gone over well. The video has received over 2.4 million hits since going up. Msnbc.com