Odd Truth May 15-31

Sandals with images of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary in a Kvickly supermarket in Elsinore Monday May 12. The Kvickly chain has 86 stores in Denmark. Several people, among them priests, have complained that the sandals are blasphemous and one should not step on images of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary, and by Wednesday Kvickly opted to withdraw the sandals.

Ugly Dog Contest

Lulu, a teacup Chihuahua, gets checked out by the crowd just before the Ugly Dog Contest at the annual Bluffton Village Festival in downtown Bluffton, S.C., Saturday May 10.

Enron Art Auction

"Soft Light Switches" by Claes Oldenburg sold for $360,000 at the Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg auction house May 15 in New York. The soft sculpture was part of the art collection of the Enron Corp.

Fish In A Blender

Museum Director Peter Meyer poses with an installation by Chilean-born Danish artist Marco Evaristti of blenders containing live fish at Trapholt Art Museum in Kolding, Denmark, Feb. 11. The display invited visitors to blend the fish if they wish, and in 2000 somebody did. Meyer was charged with animal cruelty, but was acquitted May 19 after a court ruled that the fish were killed "instantly" and "humanely."

Long Way From Home

Norman the beagle is unsure of a visit to vet Martha Thomas, left, as Thomas is aided by Brandy Kirwan in Auburn, Ala., May 16. Norman was found Friday morning in Auburn after a 1,000-mile journey from Solomon, Kansas.

'Corpse Flower'

Naomi Fisher with the 85 inch bloom on the Amorphophallus titanum plant known as "Mr. Stinky" and the "corpse flower" at the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables, Fla., May 13. This malodrous giant, once described as the "the greatest superstar of the botanical world" grows up to six inches a day. The plant releases a powerful odor during the first eight hours after the bloom has opened.

Record Breaker

A giant cookie baked by the Immaculate Baking Company, May 17, in Flat Rock, N.C. The company said the 40,000 pound chocolate chip cookie broke a world record last set in 1996 by an 82-foot wide cookie baked in New Zealand. It took eight hours and a cookie sheet the size of a basketball court to bake the 100-foot, 20-ton chocolate chipcolossus.

Two Times A Turtle

Gabrielle Pascarell, 9, found this two-headed painted turtle Sunday, May 19, at the edge of a pond on her family's property. Ward Stone, a state wildlife pathologist, said he's never seen a live two-headed animal in his 34 years with the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Great Granny

Luis Hernandez, 4, and his great-grandmother Eva Rayo Potosme, whom relatives say could be the oldest living person in Nicararagua at age 116, are seen during her birthday celebration in Niquinihomo, 33 kilometers east of Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday May 18.

'Operation Vagrant'

Osceola County deputies Dominic Rodriguez, left, and Paul Spears, dressed as a pair of homeless, watch motorists to enforce speeding and traffic light laws in Kissimmee, Fla., May 21 as a part of "Operation Vagrant." But homeless advocates are outraged by the sting operation.

Friendly Skies

A rainbow fills the sky after a storm near Rantoul, Ill., Wednesday, May 13. A weather system passed through the area similar to the one that caused tornadoes in central Illinois two weeks ago.

Linus Blankets St. Paul

Artists Andrew Judkins, left, and his mother, Ann Judkins, work May 21 on one of three statues Ann Judkins is painting this year for "Linus Blankets St. Paul." The statue is one of 90 versions of the Peanuts comic strip character, Linus Van Pelt, that will decorate the sidewalks and parks of St. Paul for the fourth summer-long tribute honoring cartoonist Charles Schulz.

Earth, From Mars

Earth as seen from Mars is shown in this colorized photograph taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft while orbiting the Red Planet on May 8. The picture shows Earth from 86 million miles away as a small blue dot orbited by its even smaller moon.

Roaches Roasted

A Thai official displays Madagascar hissing cockroaches before putting them into an incinerator in Bangkok on May 23. More than 200 large, wingless pet cockroaches which hiss loudly were burned to death because officials claim the insects are a health risk and public nuisance.

Belly-Floppin' Convict

Michael Sullivan of Fanning Springs, Fla., prepares to make a big splash on the Suwannee River May 25, 2002, during the annual Red Belly Day. Sullivan won the title in 2002. Now, Sullivan is serving a three-year term at state prison for violating the terms of his house arrest. Officials arrested Sullivan after seeing this picture in the newspaper.

Getting Their Goat

A goat that was tied up in front of Dave's Restaurant in Waukesha, Wis., was being held at the Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County May 20. The goat was found with a poem criticizing the police department. The message read, in part: "I stole a goat you (expletive) cops. I stole a goat and dropped it on this block. Let it run, let it play ... It's just a goat, be glad of that, next time a person be sure of that."

Million Dollar Nickel

This is a handout photo of a rare 1913 Liberty Head nickel, one of five in the world. Four have been accounted for, but Bowers and Merena Galleries in Wolfeboro, N.H. is offering a $ 1 million reward to anyone who finds it.

Iranian refugee Abas Amini, 33, who has stitched his own lips, eyes and ears together and is on hunger strike as a protest against the possibility of being deported, in Nottingham, England, May 27, after his bid for asylum was challenged by the Home Office. Amini, who has been on hunger strike for a week, may sent home, where he claims to have been tortured.

Linda Skeels-Hopson holds Tiny Pinocchio, who she believes is the world's smallest dog at home April 11, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tiny Pinocchio, a steel blue and tan 1-year-old Yorkshire terrier, tips the scales at an even 1 pound. He is 8 inches long, stands 4.5 inches tall at his shoulder, and fits comfortably in a baseball cap.