More and more newspapers are assigning reporters to pore through local birth records to sample the diversity of names parents are giving their kids these days. An Edmonton Journal reporter noted in March that the nearly 51,000 babies born in Alberta in 2011 included a boy named Moo, two girls named Unique, an Einstein, a Messiah, a J-Cub, a Smiley, a Tuff, a Tuba, a Jazz, a Camry, an Andromeda, and a boy named R and a girl named J.

Britain's ITV1 television network announced plans in April to accept "prop placements" to blend into production of its new reality talent show in which actors compete for the lead role in the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar." The network said, for example, that it was seeking coffee machines, which piqued the interest of the De'Longhi brand manager, who offered its top-of-the-line Magnifica ESAM4200 and, according to its public relations firm, suggested perhaps interrupting the play's climactic song "The Crucifixion" while Jesus savors a cup brewed from the Magnifica.

An April report in London's the Independent noted that the opera's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, was on board with the idea, but that the original lyricist, Tim Rice, called it "tasteless" and "tacky."

In April, a teller at Chicago's Northwest Side bank thwarted a robbery simply by telling the perp, who had presented a hold-up note, that the bank had just closed. The teller suggested that the robber come back the next day. (The perp walked out and did not return.)

In March on Hwy. 11 in northeastern Ontario, a Brinks semitruck carrying nothing but $1 and $2 Canadian coins hit a boulder in the roadway, scattering a "debris field" of millions of dollars, forcing the road to be closed. Among the cleanup equipment required: a "magnetic" crane and a front-end loader that scooped up soil so that the coins could be sifted out.

According to L.A. prosecutors, firefighter Rafael Davis, 35, received disability payments for about 30 months between 2008 and 2011 while at the same time engaging in mixed martial arts (MMA) matches as "The Noodle." According to LA Weekly, Davis' record was 12-2. Seven of those matches, including six victories, came during his disability period. MMA requires similar "stamina, muscle and coordination" as is required for firefighting, the newspaper noted.

Once again, the Chinese marked the Qingming holiday this spring with celebrations honoring the dead by making offerings to their deceased relatives. At the "tomb-sweeping" festival, people present paper replicas of items their ancestors are believed to need in the afterlife. Uncreative relatives give play money, but the offerings can be elaborate, such as shoes, cars and TV sets, or this year's hot item -- paper iPads, which were selling in Hong Kong for the equivalent of about $3.

Ahlgrim Family Funeral Services in Palatine, Ill. (first reported in News of the Weird in 1991), continues to serve its community with the unique game room in the basement that it rents out for parties, but not funerals. Even though the arcade games, shuffleboard and billiards are popular, the main basement attraction is still the nine-hole miniature golf course with its own "hazard" rules. For example, there's a two-stroke penalty for disturbing a "grave" on the course.

McDonald's still proudly serves its coffee hot, notwithstanding the notorious 1992 lawsuit for burns suffered by Stella Liebeck. In March 2012, Mona Abdelal filed a lawsuit in Cook County, Ill., over severe burns that her granddaughter, 4, suffered when fetching Abdelal's coffee order from a McDonald's server. According to the lawsuit, the server violated company policy that requires tightly closed lids on coffee cups and prohibits handing the cups, even if tightly sealed, to young children.

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