A beard grown by a communications technician who works on the sidelines during Green Bay Packers home games is getting a lot of attention.
The nine-inch beard belonging to Jeremy Wilcox has become a good luck charm, of sorts, for Aaron Rodgers. The Packers quarterback has been giving the red beard a gentle tug at each home game ever since Rodgers spotted Wilcox and his hairy chin early this season.
Some Packers fans are convinced the beard had something to do with Green Bay’s undefeated record at home during the regular season.
Wilcox has been deluged with interview requests after Rodgers was seen giving the beard a tug during the Detroit Lions game on national TV Sunday. Wilcox is taking it in stride, saying, it’s “just guys having fun.”
Charged £59,416 instead of £5.94
A father-of-two who was overcharged by more than £59,000 while using a debit card to buy wrapping paper has received an apology from his bank.
TSB said a refund had also been credited to Dean Baker, who was erroneously charged £59,416 rather than £5.94 at a Card Factory store in Birmingham.
Baker, a 32-year-old engineer from Erdington, told the Birmingham Mail that the blunder, which happened as he bought four rolls of wrapping paper and a pack of gift tags, had left him without cash over Christmas. A TSB spokesman said: “We apologise for the inconvenience that Mr Baker has been caused.”
Plan to land lettuce on red planet
A team of science students has created a plan to land lettuce on Mars, and it has been short-listed to be included in a future space flight to the red planet.
The project, being run at the University of Southampton, aims to put the first life on Mars by growing the salad vegetable in a greenhouse which will use the atmosphere and sunlight to help it grow.
The plan is one of 10 short-listed university projects, and the only one from the UK, to be selected for potential inclusion in the payload for the Mars One landing in 2018.
Record for the largest ball of paper
A state agency in Minnesota is claiming the world record for the largest ball of paper.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency built the ball – 9ft 7in tall, 32ft in circumference and weighing 426lb – around a cardboard frame held together with paper netting. In keeping with Guinness World Records guidelines, no adhesives or tape were used.
It was put on display at the Minnesota State Fair to show how much recyclable paper state residents throw away every 30 seconds. Anyone who missed seeing it is out of luck – the agency recycled it, turning it into cardboard for cereal boxes.
Obama’s golf spoils wedding plans
A couple getting married near President Barack Obama’s holiday spot in Hawaii learned the hard way that the big day rarely goes exactly as planned.
The bride and groom – both US Army captains – were due to tie the knot at Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course, a military course with ocean views near Obama’s rented vacation home in Kailua. But the day before the ceremony they were told they would have to change their venue because the US leader and his friends were planning to play a round.
A source said the White House did not learn about the clash until after the fact. They said Obama called the bride to apologise and to offer his congratulations.