odd things found in the news

A bear climbed into an empty car in the US state of Colorado, sounded the horn and sent the vehicle rolling down hill with the terrified animal still inside.

The car's owner, 17-year-old Ben Story, took a snap of the panic-stricken bear as it demolished the inside of his vehicle in its bid to escape.

Police in Larkspur, near Denver, eventually freed the animal by opening the door from a distance using a rope.

It is believed the bear was attracted by a sandwich left on the back seat.

Mr Story and his family were asleep when the bear opened the unlocked door of his 2008 Toyota Corolla in the early hours of the morning and climbed inside.

'Flashers on'

Mr Story's father, Ralph, said the bear must have hit the car's automatic transmission into neutral sending it rolling backwards 125ft (38m), off the driveway, down an embankment and into a thicket of trees.

"The four-way flashers were on. It's like he knew what was going on, and kept hitting the horn," he told Denver's 7News.

Once the car door closed behind the bear, it was trapped inside.

Ben Story said his car was wrecked.

"It [the bear] was a pretty good size, actually it was pretty big. If you look at the inside of the car, there's nothing left at all. You could see it moving around, it like took up the entire inside of the car."

The bear was last seen running into the woods.

Colorado wildlife expert Tyler Baskfield said bears often entered cars and houses in search of food.

"It happens all the time," he said. "They're very smart."

It’s not uncommon to see grass-roots Web campaigns meant to create opportunities and bring people together – like, say, Betty White and “Saturday Night Live.” But one disgruntled music listener who says he is acting on behalf of Weezer fans everywhere has started an online movement to persuade that band to break up.

The Line Out blog of The Stranger reported that a Seattle resident named James Burns is seeking donations – to the tune of $10 million – that he says he will give to Weezer to “take our money and disappear.”

In a pitch posted at the online campaign site thepoint.com, Mr. Burns writes that every year, Rivers Cuomo, the Weezer front man, “swears that he’s changed, and that their new album is the best thing that he’s done since ‘Pinkerton,’ and what happens?” Using some naughty language we can’t reproduce here, Mr. Burns answers his own question and suggests recent Weezer releases have not met this goal.

“This is an abusive relationship, and it needs to stop now,” Mr. Burns continues. “I am tired of my friends being disappointed year after year. I am tired of endless whimsical cutesy album covers and music videos. I’m sick of hearing about whatever this terrible (and yes, even if you like the early stuff, you should be able to admit that they are wretched now) excuse for a band is up to these days.”

As of this writing, Mr. Burns had raised less than $300. But he has apparently caught the attention of Weezer: Patrick Wilson, the band’s drummer, wrote on his Twitter account that “if they can make it 20” million, “we’ll do the ‘deluxe breakup.’”