(NEWSER) – Jeff Hindman was walking along Siesta Key Beach in Florida yesterday morning when he noticed a huge shape floating in the water. When he waded in, he found something decidedly odd—an 8-foot-tall, 100-pound fiberglass Lego man. “It doesn’t make sense,” Hindman tells the Herald Tribune. After beachgoers had sufficiently ogled the strange statue, county sheriffs confiscated it, and are waiting for someone to claim it. Lego execs swear they have nothing to do with it, calling the statue a counterfeit.

The statue’s chest bears the strange inscription “NO REAL THAN YOU ARE,” and his back has the name “Ego Leonard,” which might or might not be the name of a Dutch artist. There’s an Ego Leonard website that gives the giant toy a voice—“My name is Ego Leonard and according to you I come from the virtual world,” it reads. The Tribuneemailed the site, and got a reply reading, “I am glad I crossed over. Although it was a hell of a swim.” If no one claims the man, the sheriffs will turn it over to Hindman. “I’ll put it on eBay,” Hindman says.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Though authorities are duly impressed with the Lego Man’s swimming ability they are quick to point out that his chest slogan is chock full of grammar and syntax errors. 

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Scientists in London have developed a new kind of broccoli that’s being specially grown to include two-to-three times the normal amount of the heart disease-fighting nutrient glucoraphanin.

To develop the new super vegetable, scientists cross-bred regular British broccoli with a Sicilian strain, but did not modify the genetics of the vegetable.

Known as Beneforte, the vegetable has been available in select markets in California and Texas, and will be sold throughout the U.S. later this fall.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Are you willing to give this stuff a try or are you a “traditional” broccoli kind of person?

I can honestly say that unless they put this stuff in the chips and salsa isle at the grocery store, I’ll never even see it.

As of this moment (6:05 am) the majority of weather challenges seem to be related to the wet, heavy snow pulling down branches and bushes.

9 News is calling for 3-6 inches total snow accumulation in Metro Denver, significantly more in Greeley (10 inches) and Fort Collins (6 inches).

Throughout the morning we’ll make sure you’re updated with all relevant school delay and closure information.

Click here for details.

(Newser) – Lia Vega’s mother, Larissa Taylor, never taught the 2-year-old girl how to use a phone. But when Taylor collapsed Thursday, little Lia picked up the phone, called her grandmother, and said, “My mom fell down,” grandma Bobbie Gonzalez recalls to KTRK-TV. “I said, ‘Let me talk to your mom,’ and she said, ‘She won’t wake up.’” Gonzalez then called 911 and rushed to the house; Taylor made it to the hospital with little time to spare.

“I was going to wash my daughter’s bottle and I blacked out after that, and woke up to my mom shaking me, waking me up,” says Taylor, who did not know she was diabetic. As for Lia, “she’s been wearing a towel around the house, calling herself a superhero, because mommy has told her about it,” Taylor says. “So definitely she’s my little superhero.”

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With Halloween season kicking off this week, it’s time to get ready to party.

That means preparing your costume, finding a party to attend and being totally ready to get your drink on.

There is, of course, an app for that.

For example, the Pocket Cocktails app has been updated with a collection of new Halloween-themed drinks.

You’ll be able to make a perfect Bloody Brain or Eyeball Martini, among many others.

Click here to dig upon the pocket cocktail app.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Just when I thought all the technology we use everyday was completely worthless, along comes an app that proves me wrong.  Thank you, Pocket Cocktails!  Eyeball martini anyone??

Michael Jackson is once again the top-earning dead celebrity, according to Forbes magazine. The singer, who died in 2009, took in $170 million between October 2010 and October 2011. That also puts him at number-two among living pop acts. Only U2 earned more since October 2010.

Elvis Presley, who’s been dead for 34 years, remained in second with $55 million. Elizabeth Taylor is a newcomer to the list, earning $12 million over the last year.

TOP-EARNING DEAD CELEBS

1. Michael Jackson
2. Elvis Presley
3. Marilyn Monroe
4. Charles Schulz
5. John Lennon
5. Liz Taylor
7. Albert Einstein
8. Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel
9. Jimi Hendrix
9. Stieg Larsson
9. Steve McQueen
9. Richard Rodgers
13. George Harrison
13. Bettie Page
13. Andy Warhol

Mike’s Thoughts:  No great surprises on this list other than- who the hell is Bettie Page???

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Aerosmith’s tour of South and Central America is off to a rough start as last night’s second show in Paraguay was postponed to tonight because Steven Tyler was unable to perform. His manager, Eric Sherman, says he “suffered minor injuries as a result of food poisoning… He was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released…”

However, a spokesman for the show’s promoter says Tyler fell in his hotel bathroom, cut his face and lost two teeth, a claim that is backed up by Gustavo Perez, a bellman at the Bourbon Hotel in Asuncion, who says Tyler had a “nasty fall” and had a bloody face when taken from the hotel by ambulance. Tyler reportedly received stitches and two dental implants during his four-hour hospital stay. He is now back at the hotel. Tonight’s show will be their first-ever in Paraguay with more than 50,000 people expected to attend.

On Saturday, during the first show in Lima, Peru, Tyler’s voice gave out, resulting in the band having to drop some songs from the set, including “Dream On.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  Hate to be the guy trying to connect imaginary dots here, but given Tyler’s history with substance issues I’d be totally shocked if the slip in the shower was related to “food poisoning”.

PACKERS WR’S MUST BUY GIFT CARDS FOR DROPPED PASSES

The Green Bay Packers wide receivers who drop passes have to buy the other receivers gift cards. 

The receivers have had problems with drops in the past, including last season in the playoffs.   So this year the receivers decided to give each other extra motivation not to drop passes. 

If one drops a pass he has to give the other four receivers a $100 gift card to Best Buy.  

Mike’s Thoughts:  The New England Patriots considered adopting a similar policy but scrapped the idea when they calculated that Chad Ochocinco would be retroactively charged 11 million dollars in Best Buy gift cards.

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It’s stories like these that are so cute you may throw up.

Alex and Arvin met each other in 2010 on-board a Delta flight, and now they are engaged. How did he propose? They were on the same flight they met on, heading to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, when he proposed on the plane microphone. She said yes. We’re guessing they had a very good flight.

Unless of course they were sitting near Samuel L. Jackson.

(NEWSER) – When the Joplin tornado hit, social worker Mark Lindquist was working for Community Support Services at a group home where three men with Down syndrome lived. “I loved them almost as much as I love my own kid,” Lindquist recalls. They couldn’t move quickly enough to relocate, and the home had no basement or shelter, so Lindquist and a co-worker threw mattresses over the men and climbed on top to hold them down. The twister threw Lindquist almost a block, where he was found under the rubble with flesh torn off, all of his ribs broken, and most of his teeth knocked out. The three men he was trying to save were killed. Lindquist’s recovery defied doctor’s expectations, but he also racked up more than $2.5 million in medical bills—with more to come—and his workers’ compensation insurance won’t cover the claim. 

Lindquist, 51, could not afford medical insurance on his earnings, which were little more than minimum wage. The Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, which provides workers’ comp for Lindquist’s employer, informed him in a letter that his claim was denied “based on the fact that there was no greater risk than the general public at the time you were involved in the Joplin tornado,” the APreports. Community Support Services’ CEO has asked the agency to reconsider; if they don’t, Lindquist can ask the Missouri Division of Workers Compensation to intervene. Both houses of the Missouri legislature have honored Lindquist, and a state representative also wants the insurance company to reconsider, saying, “What he did went beyond heroics.” Mike’s Thoughts:  Sad, sad story.  Seems to me that here in the Western World (United States in particular) we’ve managed to create a society that’s SO litigous and SO geared to the bottom line that there are significant downsides and dangers to going out of your way to help your fellow man.  Penalties, in fact, for doing the right thing.  How, I wonder, did we get here????