A rock in leather pouch, anyone?

A product offered online by Seattle-based Nordstrom is gaining viral attention for an unusual reason — it’s an $85 rock in a leather pouch.

The “Medium Leather Wrapped Stone,” listed for $85 on Nordstrom’s website, is composed of a simple rock in a “hand-made” leather pouch by artist Peter Maxwell’s Made Solid studio in Los Angeles.

The website admits even Nordstrom isn’t sure of the item’s purpose. “A paperweight? A conversation piece? A work of art? It’s up to you, but this smooth Los Angeles-area stone — wrapped in rich, vegetable-tanned American leather secured by sturdy contrast whip stitching — is sure to draw attention wherever it rests,” the website states.

Nordstrom is offering a smaller version of the rock for a more budget-conscious $65.

An earlier version of the listing indicated the stones themselves were ‘hand-made,’ but Nordstrom spokeswoman Brie Cross admitted to that the leather pouches are hand-made, ‘only Mother Earth can take credit for rocks.’

Believe it or not, the rock sold out!

Clever parrot learns playing dead

Parrots are clever, however, this parrot is not only clever, but quite a learner as his owner taught him how to play dead and the parrot shows great acting skills.

In a video posted on a social media website, the bird plays with its owner while they both relax on a sofa.

Then, in a split second, the owner points a ‘finger gun’ at the bird and it immediately rolls over and ‘plays dead’. Incredibly, it then stays in the same position until its owner ‘brings him back to life’. The video, which is believed to have been taken in Brazil, has been viewed more than 50,000 times.

Library book returned to school 120 years late

A long overdue library book was returned to a British school nearly 12 decades after it was originally checked out. Professor Arthur Boycott, a former student who attended Hereford Cathedral School from 1886 to 1894, checked out The Microscope and its Revelations by Dr William B. Carpenter and kept it until it was discovered by his granddaughter Alice Gillett 120 years later.

Gillett says she believed the book served her grandfather well, as he eventually graduated first in his class in Natural Science, became a distinguished naturalist and pathologist and published his first paper listing about which snail species were found in Herefordshire, at age 15.

A school spokesperson told The Guardiann Gillet, said they do not charge late fees to students. The school estimated if the book had been borrowed from Hereford Library, the fine would have been $9,351.

Bear living in the basement!

A California man had a tense morning encounter with a bear that had chosen the space under his house as its new home.

Eric Barnes of Wofford Heights said he was in his front yard filling a fountain on the morning when he heard a grunting noise and turned to look under his porch.

“I just heard something and I turned around and looked and there was a bear!” he told

Barnes summoned the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, but they were unable to coax the bear out from under the home.

“He seemed too comfortable. I used to be comfortable here too, but I’m not now,” Barnes said.

Barnes said the bear, nicknamed Ditka by locals, is well-known in the area and previously spent a few days under his home on a separate occasion.

“When you’re in the house you can hear him through the floor. He bumps his head on the floor and then you know exactly where he’s at. He’s right under your feet,” Barnes said.

Fish and Wildlife officials are to remove the bear if it doesn’t leave on its own.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 7th, 2017