oddly enough

oddly enough

Company pays $10K for 9-year-old’s cake at auction

LAKELAND, Fla.

A 9-year-old girl’s cake brought in a lot of dough in Florida.

Cash, that is — $10,000 to be exact.

A fertilizer company paid the sum for Abigail Putnam’s cake at the Polk County Youth Fair. Abigail’s father, Adam Putnam, is the state’s agriculture commissioner. He says even she knew a cake isn’t worth $10,000 and donated $9,000 of her money back to the fair.

Fair officials tell The Ledger of Lakeland that the company, Mosaic, typically buys many things from the students who sell livestock and baked goods at the annual event.

Mosaic spokesman Russell Schweiss says an employee had been given a lump sum to buy items at the fair. He says the company is investigating the pricey cake purchase.

‘Biggest Loser’ competitor has 1.5-lb. hamburger on menu

AFTON, Wyo

A former Olympic wrestler is serving a 1.5-pound hamburger at his Wyoming restaurant while competing on TV to be “The Biggest Loser.”

The mighty Rulon Burger at Rulon Gardner’s Burger Barn restaurant in Afton is so big, it’s molded in a pizza tin.

It comes on a bun with all the toppings.

Gardner won gold at the 2000 Olympics by beating a Russian who hadn’t lost in 13 years. Gardner’s challenge to all comers now: Finish the burger plus a basket of fries and a 44-ounce drink in 20 minutes.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports Gardner’s best is 8 minutes, 23 seconds.

Gardner is competing to lose weight on the NBC show “The Biggest Loser.”

He weighed in at 474 pounds, more than 200 pounds heavier than when he won gold.

California mayor wants to broadcast bird songs

LANCASTER, Calif.

It may sound like a bird-brained idea, but the mayor of a Mojave Desert city wants to brighten the streets by broadcasting recorded bird songs.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris proposed the idea during his State of the City talk Monday.

The Antelope Valley Press says Parris wants to play the bird chatter from loudspeakers on Lancaster Boulevard. The mayor says there’s science to show that listening to bird songs makes people happier.

Parris is known for his flamboyant ideas. He got a law passed giving the Southern California city the right to castrate pit bulls, ordered city officials to learn the Mandarin language in a bid to woo Chinese business, and riled some people by saying he was growing Lancaster into a Christian community.

Associated Press