Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (2-27-2016)

When I was a kid I wanted to change my name to Steve. You know, like Steve Austin The Bionic Man. Needless to say, may parents thought I was crazy. But at least I didn't change my name to chicken wing or Big Mac. 

A British man formerly known as Simon Smith has changed his name to something slightly more carnivorous: Bacon Double Cheeseburger.

The change was inspired, like many bad ideas, by an evening of drinking. 

OF COURSE!!!

“It was the culmination of probably too many drinks in the pub where there was a conversation about names," Cheeseburger told the Evening Standard. “Bacon Double Cheeseburger was pretty much the first thing that came up. Everyone loves bacon don’t they?"

Cheeseburger, 33, told the newspaper his new moniker is "the most ridiculous thing" he and his friends could think of.

"My friends were quite supportive of anything that makes me look silly, as good friends are.”

Cheeseburger said his new name hasn't affected his career as a consultant in the oil and gas industry.

"My work speaks for itself... people keep hiring me," he told the BBC. 

But that's slightly misleading. He acknowledged he uses the name he was born with on his resume and doesn't inform employers hisreal name is Cheeseburger when he's applying. 

"I usually drop that bombshell after the contracts have been signed," Cheeseburger said.

The name, he said, has advantages and at least one downside.

Once word got out that a man really named himself Bacon Double Cheeseburger, fast food outlets came calling, including Byron Hamburgers, a British-based burger chain. 

This weird British dude is so batty for Batman that he's turned a spare bedroom into a bat cave replica.

Darren Wilson wanted a suitable place to store his $21,000 collection of Batman memorabilia in his home in Calne, Wiltshire.

He spent the last 18 months -- and many a dark night -- on this project.

"I was doing the room as a computer room initially and it just came to me," Wilson told South West News Service. "People who see it are pretty amazed. We like to be different, but every other room is normal."

Wilson, a sculptor by trade, fitted wooden joists and mesh to hold paper mache "stalactites." Then he covered it all in six shades of grey paint.

"It’s always nice and tidy in there with the effects of the rocks and granite just making a big talking point," he said. "It was a lot of hard work.  The paper mache took the longest as it was two layers - that took a good year but it's worth it now."

Wilson's bat cave is a conversation piece with visitors, but there is one topic he said he won't bring up with his wife, Catherine.

"I've promised I won't decorate any more rooms," he said.

TORONTO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A Canadian man who smuggled 38 turtles in his pants has been given probation, a fine and has been banned from owning such reptiles for 10 years.

According to Canada's environment department, Dong Yan of Windsor, Ontario, had tried to bring the reptiles from the United States into the southern part of the province.

"The turtles were contained in plastic bags and taped to Mr. Yan's legs," Environment and Climate Change Canada said in a statement on Thursday.

Yan was convicted on Feb. 17 after he was caught during an inspection in 2014 when he tried to enter Canada through the Niagara border crossing, the department said.

Yan's probation is for two years, and his fine was C$3,500 ($2,600). He was also sentenced to 50 hours of community service and must notify the environment department of international travel. Yan was also ordered to write a letter about his experience "for publication as the department sees fit."