Coffins turn dying into an art form

Mourners at Phil McLean's funeral in Wellington, New Zealand, first gasped, then laughed as his coffin, shaped like a giant cream doughnut, was brought into the chapel, the Associated Press reported on April 15. McLean had designed the special coffin with his cousin, Ross Hall, owner of Dying Art, a business specializing in custom coffins. Over the past 15 years, Hall has fashioned a sailboat, a firetruck, a chocolate bar and Legos, among others. McLean's widow, Debra, said her husband had considered himself a connoisseur of cream doughnuts, and the coffin "overshadowed the sadness. ... The final memory in everyone's mind was of that doughnut and Phil's sense of humor." For himself, Hall said he had planned a red box with flames on it, but he changed his mind to a clear coffin, with him wearing nothing but a leopard-patterned G-string. "The kids say they're not going," he said.

Edward and Cheryl Patton of Lake View, N.Y., tried for three years to identify who was throwing used paper coffee cups — some with cigarette butts inside — on their front yard nearly every night, but they could never get a good look at the minivan as it drove by. Edward began keeping records of the littering and collecting the cups, eventually filling 10 garbage bags, reported the Buffalo News. They installed a surveillance camera, but it wasn't until neighbors set up a stakeout and captured the license plate number that the mystery was solved. On April 18, police set up their own stakeout and pulled over Larry Pope, 76, a former co-worker of Cheryl's with whom she had had disagreements. Pope was charged with harassment and throwing refuse onto a roadway. The Pattons said the littering has stopped.

Bearsun is the name Jesse Larios, 33, of Los Angeles gave to the teddy bear character he created in 2016 and fashioned into a human-sized suit. On April 12, Larios decided to walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco dressed as Bearsun, a journey of more than 400 miles. Mountain passes and road construction have made the trip slower than he expected, reported CNN Travel, and it's no luxury excursion: Bearsun sleeps wherever he finds himself at the end of the day and gets food at gas stations. "I'm like a puppy, I guess," Larios said. "I just see something and I chase after it."

Nathan Finkel called 911 on April 17 to report that Courtney Wilson and another person showed up at the gate of his expansive mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Fla., claiming that they were having a wedding there that day. "I have people trespassing on my property," Finkel said. "They say they're having a wedding here and it's God's message. I don't know what's going on." According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Wilson, the groom, had inquired about buying the estate, listed for $5.7 million, several weeks ago, then asked Finkel if he could use the backyard for his wedding. Finkel said no, but Wilson and his fiancée, Shenita Jones, sent out online invitations anyway, with festivities beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and continuing through brunch on Sunday at what they called "the Wilson estate." "The guy figured it was a vacant house and didn't realize [Finkel] lived on the property in a different home," explained Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff. Wilson was told to vacate the property and was not charged with a crime.

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