Soul for
Sale!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Some people in need of a change get haircuts.
Others might splurge on a new shirt or throw caution completely to
the wind and take a different way to work in the morning.
Gerald Fraller, however, sells his mortal soul on the Web.
Literally.
Fraller, a 28-year-old guy from Tampa, Fla., is hawking his soul
online because, he says, it's worth more than anything else he's
got, TBO.com reports.
Im simply at a point in my life where I need a new direction and
I am selling the most valuable item I have to offer: my very soul,
says Fraller on his Web site www.winmysoul.com.
Wondering what exactly this soul-selling entails?
For just a dollar, interested buyers get one entry in a drawing to
win a legal contract entitling them to specifically designated
controls over and profits from Fraller's very existence, including
a percentage of his taxable income, the right to choose the first
name of his kiddos and an annual report on his life, among other
colorful benefits.
But before you go rustling up an effigy to burn in protest, know
this: Fraller is fully aware his controversial choice might ruffle
some feathers.
I will be framing the best hate mail that I receive as well as
posting it (with personal information omitted) online for all to
see, he writes on his Web site.
An exact date for the soul sale has not yet been set, but should be
selected by Jan. 30, 2007.
And just in case Fraller gets a major case of seller's remorse and
finds his choice to pony up his very mortal being to be a little
too
well
uncomfortable, he's included a clause in the contract
that allows him to buy his soul back for a cool $1,000,000.
Thanks to Out There reader Tony F.
What Comes Between This Dude and His Cherry Pie? Uhhh ...
Nothing.
ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) Two Lenawee County Jail officers have been
fired after authorities say they urged an inmate to strip and run
naked around his cellblock in exchange for a piece of cherry
pie.
"We took decisive action," Sheriff Larry Richardson told The Daily
Telegram.
Richardson said firing of the officers two of the jail's best
employees was recommended by the county's labor attorney.
Richardson said he learned of the incident in a letter from another
inmate.
The sheriff's department said Sunday that the names of the officers
weren't being released.
Union officials have challenged the firings, saying the punishment
was too severe. Union local president Deputy Michael Osborne said
it's not normal procedure to fire such employees after a single
incident.
Richardson said the officers considered it a prank. An
investigation found that the male inmate who was urged to strip saw
the two officers eating in August in the jail's glass-enclosed
control tower and asked for some food.
The conversation turned to joking about what the inmate would do
for cherry pie, the investigation found, and the inmate said he was
willing to streak. Richardson said the inmate was allowed out of
his cell and streaked.
No criminal charges will be brought, the Lenawee County
prosecutor's office has ruled. Following that decision the
department went ahead with internal disciplinary action, Richardson
said. "We had to be satisfied there was no criminal act,"
Richardson said.
Mmmmm ... Frosty Bacon on the Go
LOS ANGELES (AP) Dozens of frozen pigs were scattered across one
of Southern California's busiest freeways Monday might after a
truck carrying the carcasses collided with another truck,
authorities said.
The pigs were strewn over 80 feet of the Golden State Freeway near
Sylmar, about 25 miles north of Los Angeles, California Highway
Patrol Officer David Porter said.
No one was injured in the collision, which was reported shortly
after 7:30 p.m., Porter said.
Authorities closed two truck lanes for several hours to investigate
the cause of the crash and to pick up the pigs, Porter said.
No further details were immediately available.
Thanks to Out There reader Melissa P.
This Just in From the 'Overzealous Pursuit of Some Action'
Department:
OOSTBURG, Wis. (AP) A ceramic deer came out the loser when
attacked by the real thing.
Ruth Hesselink of the town of Holland reported that the deer
replica in her yard was destroyed in the attack that happened
Sunday about 6:45 p.m., according to Capt. Dave Adams of the
Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department.
Hesselink told authorities a buck took on its ceramic
counterpart.
A deputy who went to the scene found "obvious track marks" that
supported Hesselink's account, Adams said Monday.
Among the damage, the head of the ceramic deer was knocked
off.
When deer are in their fall rutting season, the desire to mate can
make bucks more aggressive with other males and less cautious when
pursuing does.
'Luckiest Guy in the World' Gets to Dot the Ohio State (Buck)
'I'
CLEVELAND (AP) The man selected to dot the "i" in the Ohio State
marching band's Script Ohio formation at Saturday's Ohio
State-Michigan football game already has a license plate to brag
about it: IDOTTR.
"I'm just the luckiest guy in the world," said Dan Wanders, a
Hudson native and Ohio State senior.
The sousaphone player will kick, turn and bow before more than
100,000 fans in Ohio Stadium during halftime of the game between
the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes and second-ranked Michigan.
Only fourth- and fifth-year band members are eligible to dot the
"i." Wanders got to choose which game he wanted based on seniority
and left no doubt about which game he wanted.
"It was a no-brainer Michigan," he said.
Out There Update: Steve Wynn Still Likes Art a Hole Lot
LAS VEGAS (AP) Casino mogul Steve Wynn lost $139 million, but got
to keep one of his favorite paintings when he poked a hole in a
Picasso last month.
Now it will cost Wynn $85,000 to repair the damage to the artwork,
if not his pride.
"Forget the money," he told The Associated Press during a recent
telephone interview from the Chinese enclave of Macau. "You hate
like hell to damage a painting like 'Le Reve."'
Wynn was showing Picasso's 1932 work to several high-profile guests
in his Las Vegas office when he accidentally poked a hole in the
canvas with his elbow.
Wynn called it, "the world's clumsiest and goofiest thing to do,"
and said he was glad he was responsible and not one of his guests.
He said no one but him said a word.
"The blood drained out of their faces," Wynn said, identifying his
guests as screenwriter Nora Ephron and husband Nick Pileggi,
broadcaster Barbara Walters, New York socialite Louise Grunwald,
lawyer David Boies and his wife, Mary, and art dealer Serge Sorokko
and his wife, Tatiana.
"They did not know what to say," Wynn recalled. "I just turned
around and said, 'Oh, my God. How could I have done this?'
"At least I did it myself."
Wynn said the gaffe made him and his wife, Elaine Wynn, reconsider
his deal to sell the painting to art collector Steven Cohen. Just
36 hours before, Wynn had agreed to sell "Le Reve," French for "The
Dream" for $139 million.
Wynn said it could cost $85,000 to repair the damage. He wouldn't
name the conservator in New York who was doing the work, but art
experts say the painting can be repaired so that the tear won't be
visible.
"Now the argument is over diminution of value," Wynn said.