The Year's Weirdest News Stories
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Dec 30, 2011 10:30PM
Fact is stranger than fiction. Here are some of the weirdest things we wrote about in 2011. Stay weird, Chicago.
Juggalos: How Do They Work?
"The Gathering of the Juggalos" in the downstate town of Cave-in-Rock, Ill., has got to be one of the weirdest annual events nationwide. The group of Insane Clown Posse fans and followers get together and do drugs and take off clothes and put on makeup and generally have a damn good time reveling in their weirdness. Check out our photo gallery from this year — which is NSFW unless your boss is cool with photos of women wearing nothing but bodypaint and people doing cocaine. A filmmaker visited the event to create the creation of a documentary, American Juggalo, and this year the juggaloes made the FBI a bit nervous, prompting them to classify the group as a "gang," although they prefer the term "family." Also really weird: MC Hammer performed at The Gathering this year, and Jack White made a song with Insane Clown Posse.
The Fucksaw
Northwestern University professor John Michael Bailey came under fire when he had arranged for a couple to demonstrate use of a "fuck saw" as an extra credit for students of his Human Sexuality course. The ensuing pearl-clutching led to a bit of a PR disaster and a @fucksaw Twitter account that sadly has gone quiet. At first the school defended the professor, but ultimately the Human Sexuality course was discontinued, which the school claimed wasn't a direct result of the fuck saw fallout. Yeah, right.
Handsome Paul's Search For A Wife
In June we talked to Paul Gutierrez, who started a sincere internet campaign to find himself a wife. He detailed on his blog all of the reasons he would be a good husband, and the internet wished him well. He took his quest off the internet and appeared in a monkey mask, holding a sign saying "Help: Wife Wanted." Unfortunately the last we checked, Paul was still single. We hope the ladies treat you right in 2012, Paul!
Shit Carol Moseley Braun Said
It isn't often a political candidate mentions things like crack and tampons, but Braun's mayoral campaign was full of foot-in-mouth moments that ultimately doomed her chances of being taken seriously. As a former U.S. Senator with the title of "consensus black candidate," Braun coulda been a contender. But then she released her embarrassing tax returns. And then she said, "Let's talk about tampons," to Rahm Emanuel (not that we disagree with her point) in front of the Tribune editorial board. During a mayoral forum Jan. 30, candidate Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins said, “Carol Moseley Braun hasn’t been around for 20 years. We haven't seen her." Braun classily responded with the meme-worthy, “You were strung out on crack."
The World's Saddest Flash Mob
Technically the saddest flash mobs would be the ones media outlets called flash mobs that were actually violent wildings, but I digress. Glee fans assembled at North Halsted Market Days in August, breaking out in a flash mob, organized by the Glee star Darren Criss's Street Team. Not everything should be a flash mob.