Weird Virginia: Holy Cow Moooves It, Abducted Chicken, Vulture Culture, Laughing Over Spilled Milk, and the Harlem Shake or a Table Dance?
Plus, the world's sweetest woman tries to save a boy -- using her shopping cart. Weird news, weird dancing, weird poultry, weird, weird, weird Virginia.
Editor's Note: Patch has 31 sites in Virginia and D.C., and not a day goes by that something weird isn't happening in at least one of them. Here's a look back at some weird goings on over the past week.
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Yes, it was a long week, so let's get started with an infustion of some instant energy, compliments of the Holy Cow employees in Del Ray.
The “Harlem Shake” phenomena touched down in Del Ray when Holy Cow posted a Harlem Shake video on YouTube of its staff, well, shaking.
Co-owner Bill Blackburn said the employees had discussed making a “Harlem Shake” video for several weeks. They finally got around to recording one on Monday morning with the help of Dennis Belmont of Belmonster Creative.
Is that a table dancing on the left of the screen?
“Del Ray needed a ‘Harlem Shake’ video,” Blackburn said. “Of all the restaurants in Del Ray, we’re the only one with a dancing busboy. So we figured there was no better staff to do it.”
Agreed.
But we don't know what to make of this one: Why would somebody try to break into a funeral home?
Someone tried to do just that in Old Town Manassas, but they were unsuccessful and no bodies were snatched, Manassas City Police reports show.
It happened sometime between midnight and 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 19 at Pierce Funeral Home. An employee told investigators someone tried to kick in a rear door, but failed to gain entry.
Unfortunately, criminals tend to be persistent, as Arlington police were reminded by the Great Missin' Chicken Cooker Caper.
A presumedly hungry resident called police to report that somebody had plucked a chicken from an Arlington home on South Carlin Springs Road. Police have no suspect descriptions to offer, but the chicken was believed to be featherless, partially cooked and probably kind of greasy.
And, yep, it was that kind of week, one in which Virginia had a second chicken incident, this one more stupid than weird.
Police have charged a 16-year-old Woodbridge male with threats to bomb after a January bomb scare in a Triangle Fried Chicken at Triangle Shopping Plaza in Dumfries, Prince William County Police spokesperson Jonathan Perok said.
"Employees reported to police that an unknown male had called the establishment and reported a bomb was in the building," Perok said. "The building was evacuated and a Virginia State Police bomb dog was called to conduct a search which resulted in no explosive device being found."
In Leesburg, authorities have tried everything, including explosives, to try to get rid of the vulture culture that has been leaving its mark -- literally -- around town.
In early January, more than 200 vultures were roosting in trees in northeast Leesburg, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to try and chase them off. Pyrotechnics and an effigy of a dead vulture were employed. And it seemed to work.
But then an estimated 30 vultures began roosting in the trees of Jen and Todd Severance’s home in Northwest Leesburg.
“We have some large pine trees in our backyard and vultures seem to like those trees. They come flying in at sunset and circle around until they rest for the night. It is like a scene out of The Birds when they come flying in,” Jen Severance said, referring to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller.
And the birds won't go away, and city officials won't call back in the USDA. Give it a few weeks, they say.
In better days, this next item wouldn't be categorized as weird, but it is in these political times. A Democrat and a Republican leader getting along? Weird, we know.
The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee came to Arlington on Tuesday to praise the work of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat hoping to succeed McDonnell, said he spent hours on the phone calling members of both parties urging them to support a transportation compromise, which ultimately passed this weekend in the hours before the 2013 General Assembly session ended.
And, finally, we leave you with some wonderfully weird kids, even if they're a bit mischievous, and perhaps the sweetest old lady in the world — who tried to save one of them with her shopping cart.
Seems the kids are from Vienna, and they apparently wanted to see what would happen if they fell down with milk and then continually slipped back down as they tried to get up.
So, they took to the grocery stores, staged their incidents and then put their milk-slipping video on Youtube.
The Huffington Post had the three boys, who said they were cousins, on for a live segment this week to talk about the prank. The "Gallon Smashing" video, which lasts just more than three minutes, appears to be filmed mostly in Giant Food stores, though the Pan Am Safeway and a Whole Foods also appear to have a cameo.
No Oscars for this video, but if we had a vote, it'd go to the sweet woman at 2:30 of the production. Take a look. And try not to let the milk you're drinking fly out your nose.
Weird Virginia Rewind:
In This article
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Holy Cow - Del Ray's Gourmet Burger Joint
2312 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA -
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Carol Lewis
8:19 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Wonderfully weird kids? Please, these kids caused damage and endangered other people. Let's not portray them as "wonderful". What they did is dumb. No respect for other people's property or safety.
Arlene
9:26 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I hope these kids were arrested and charged for all their ruined gallons and destruction of property when they hit shelves and lights with the milk and juice. Not to mention all the bystanders and store items that got sprayed. I am sure that more than just their 2 gallons each time had to be cleaned up and thrown away. This should not be glorified.
Carol Lewis
9:35 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I agree, Arlene. To the author of this article, these kids are not just a "bit mischievous" nor did they just want to see what would happen if they "fell down with milk". They are hitting the gallons together or slamming them on the floor to purposely break them. I imagine that someone who accidentally fell down with milk wouldn't break the jug or splatter milk on others or break shelves. And you are glorifying them. I wish you would follow up with an interview with store owners, the boys' parents (who must be really proud of them - not!) and any customers who were present, to see how funny and wonderful they think it was. I don't know if they should be arrested but the police ought to have a talk with them and they should have to make full restitution to the stores, find and apologize to the customers, and do community service.
Rosie
2:47 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I agree with Arlene, Carol, and the rest of the people commenting on this video. I hope the stores' security cameras caught what they were doing and will pursue these boys accordingly. Further, if I see someone in the grocery doing this I will simply turn around and walk away. Idiots.
PatC
9:55 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
These kids have nothing better to do apparently but how about some forced community service where they can do some good after paying for damaging the products.
Stella McEnearny
11:22 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
The kids are big-time losers and jerks...shame on them. Virginia is indeed for weirdness!
joe brewer
4:20 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Terry's compromise is compromising the amount of money in my wallet. It was a bi-partisan money grab under the guise of transportation infrastructure improvements.
Carol Lewis
4:30 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Not sure this is posted to the right article, Joe Brewer
joe brewer
4:41 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
"The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee came to Arlington on Tuesday to praise the work of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat hoping to succeed McDonnell, said he spent hours on the phone calling members of both parties urging them to support a transportation compromise, which ultimately passed this weekend in the hours before the 2013 General Assembly session ended."
moo
Carol Lewis
4:53 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Oops, my mistake. Sorry.
joe brewer
4:56 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
We'll find someting to argue about in the future!
Carol Lewis
7:04 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I'm sure! I wasn't trying to argue, I just thought you'd posted to the wrong thread.
Joan Anders
5:21 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Please don't praise these kids. They should have to pay for all of the milk they ruined, employees time and cost to clean up their mess and any unfortunate customer's ruined clothes or dry cleaning. The author should comment on why he is enticing them by glorifying this malversation behavior of juveniles
Sally Spangler
12:28 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Maybe put the boys on trial and then in Juvenal Hall or whatever they call the place for willful children who deliberately destroy private property - namely one or more grocery stores property and buildings.
Mike Berkemeier
5:46 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Lighten up people...it is kind of weird and, afterall, that is what this article's about. I'm sure the kids will be caught but that's another story. Stop wasting time being such stuff-shirts. I grew up in Herndon and we did all kinds of pranks and stupid stuff...and, sometimes, got caught. They're kids for crying out loud, relax!
Carol Lewis
7:06 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
It is weird but it's not wonderful. I object to writing about it as if it was wonderful, just a "boys will be boys" story, when it was destructive and potentially dangerous. They're big enough kids to know better.
Sally Spangler
12:31 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
And your answer to their foolishness is they were just having fun - no problem?
Yes there is - it isn't to help anyone laugh, it is to mess up a store(s). Wonder if they were at least made to clean up and pay for what was destroyed - the milk jugs and maybe the treatment of customers bruises. Hope there were no older people in that wet mess!
Michael
6:15 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Mike, I did pranks growing up too.
The hallmark of a "prank" is knowing the limits. If they did it once, it might have been funny. Even two or three times. It would have been funnier, too, if they had actually made it look like an accident. But this is far too excessive, and destructive, to count as a "prank."
opie greycloud
7:57 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Prank? These undisciplined unworthy insensitive pre-criminals have now been glorified for their destructive idiocy. The ramifications started @ the crime scene (customers present and those also subsequently inconvenienced, creation of a very dangerous surface, violent behavior thrust upon innocent shoppers & store personnel, a massive,costly&lengthly clean up situation, destruction of property, and so much more. This is cute? Laudible? Laughable? Worthy of an interview? A cheery story? Have the parents been charged with appropriate restitution? Will the JD's be required to Porter or do cold Dairy jobs as a payment option? Or will they spend time behind bars. This is just their beginning. Can we even imagine what they have planned for encores?
opie greycloud
8:19 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Todd since when is it amusing for an animal to be forcibly removed from its owner's home/property, bullied/ tortured/prepped for impending destruction probabably by savage cruel sadistic means? Is this a joke to you that an animal was brutalized and then burned alive? Again no consequences for our "weird" story perps other than a glory mention by you?
Sandra
2:29 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
The milk episode is not just a prank - it is deliberate vandalism. These teens should not be rewarded (with attention) for what they did. They should be made to pay for the employee hours that surely went into cleaning up their messes. They should also be made to reimburse all of the stores for their losses, post a public apology for their stupidness, and be assigned community service to make up for their thoughtlessness. Those who say "boys will be boys" are just perpetrating this nonsense. I hope that someone will post their names, so when they apply to colleges and get googled, this will come up.
Mike Berkemeier
4:58 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Do you guys realize how much time you waste lamenting over these kids? You write huge, long dissertations...what a stupid waste of time. Don't you have something more constructive to do? Does it bother you to think that nothing you wasted your time writing here will change a darn thing? It was just weird news people...and it was all weird! End of story!
Isle D Belle
10:00 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
This was a totally stupid article. It tries to make something positive out of negative events or occurrences: theft, pranks that could have caused injury to others and destruction of property, Including a threat to bomb a chicken place in this article is just non-sensical. Todd, you had better go back to journalism school or find another line of work, because this story stinks.