Viral

A generous, talented lady out in Chicago reached new heights to live out her mission of lifting quarantined senior citizens' spirits with a song ... and used heavy machinery to do it.

The woman's name is Colette Hawley, and she goes around professionally singing to old folks who live in nursing homes, and who might be feeling extra isolated and lonely during the pandemic. BTW, she does all this for free -- and she's pretty darn good at it too.

For Memorial Day weekend, Colette decided to utilize a new way to entertain as many seniors as she could in one shot -- renting out a cherry picker to bring up several stories as she had a megaphone in hand to belt out some scat singing, and other tunes.

She writes on Twitter, "I rented a Cherry Picker to sing to seniors(close but not too close!)for Memorial Day. This is an unbelievably hard time for them. I love & value our seniors. NO ONE IS DISPENSABLE. Offering free shows to nursing homes. 💖 coco."

Watch -- it would appear her good deed was a hit with her target audience ... a bunch of nursing home residents came out and started dancing. Even from their wheelchairs!

Obviously, this reminds us of the grandmother balcony serenade from a few weeks back, which some other nursing home elders were happy to piggyback on themselves.

An LAPD horse went from trusty steed to fugitive on the run on Venice Beach this weekend after it somehow lost its police officer rider ... then tried to make a clean getaway.

The wild scene went down Saturday, and it starts out with a cop who somehow came off the saddle and attempted to run down the free-spirited stallion in the sand -- to no avail. It looks like the horse might be freaked out by all the people who gathered around.

Yeah, that probably didn't help ... it quickly became a spectacle.

Eventually, the big fella found his fellow horse pal standing calmly nearby with its own rider mounted on top ... and he finally settled down enough for the frantic officer to catch up and rein him in, literally. The horse stopped putting up a fight and allowed itself to be led away.

What's crazy is that once the horse was away from the massive audience, it still was being a little stubborn and jittery. But, alas, the cowboy cop broke the bronco once more ... and got back on the horse.

No official word on if they rode off into the sunset together -- probably not, it was still around mid-afternoon here.

An alligator rumored to have once belonged to Adolf Hitler has died at quite a remarkably old age.

The reptile -- who goes by Saturn -- recently passed away in the care of the Moscow Zoo, which he called home since the 1940s after he was discovered by British soldiers and gifted to the facility shortly thereafter ... once Germany suffered defeat in WWII, of course.

Saturn is actually said to have survived a bombing at the Berlin Zoo back in 1943 -- where he had been living after being shipped there from America in the mid-'30s -- and somehow lived among the ruins until he was found again in 1946. After that, Russia was his new home.

For some reason ... rumors swirled in Moscow that the alligator might've once been part of Hitler's personal collection of exotic animals. The Moscow Zoo says it became an urban legend but doesn't elaborate on why something like that might've even been thought.

Whatevs ... the scaly creature lived out the rest of its days in Moscow's care, and apparently -- he was a very good, but also cantankerous boy. Of the animal, the Zoo writes ... "He was fussy about food and loved being massaged with a brush. If he didn’t like something, he would gnaw on the concrete decorations." He had a diet of rabbits, rats and fish.

Now, the Zoo doesn't confirm whether the Hitler story is true or not -- the theory could never be proven -- but they do defend Saturn's rep by saying ... regardless of who he might've belonged to, an animal's an animal, and shouldn't be judged by any human action.

The alligator was 84.

A Bay Area woman was allegedly going around and posting xenophobic letters on the homes of people of color, demanding they leave the U.S. ... and she was caught on camera doing the heinous deed.

Photos of the lady -- who has yet to be identified -- circulated Saturday ... with a couple pics of her pinning a hand-written note to the front of door of someone's home in San Leandro. Apparently, she was going around Friday doing this in a residential neighborhood.

A FB user claiming to have been a victim of the bigotry wrote, "This happened today, a white woman wearing a USA beanie targeted People of color homes with this letter at their front doors. This occurred in a quiet and well diverse middle-class community in San Leandro. My family’s house was also targeted. We were able to capture all this on camera."

She added, "There is no room for this hateful and despicable behavior in this society."

Now, the contents of the letter are disturbing. It starts out by quoting America's preamble, and then go on to demand that people who weren't born here return to their countries of origin -- and in some of the letters found around the area ... she gave 'em a deadline.

The worst part of the letter reads, "If you are a woman or man who was born in another country, return, go back to your land immediately. Fast, with urgency." Later it says, "We the People: Do ordain to you to leave this house. One American, white, brave, that serves the nation of USA is going to live here."

The good news here is that the former Mayor of San Leandro, Stephen Cassidy, said the woman was already picked up by cops, and that statement by the police department is forthcoming. He'd earlier said he would tell officials to charge her with a hate crime.

Alyssa Milano's new face mask is getting the double-take treatment -- 'cause it's got tons of holes in it ... and it's unclear if she's aware of its ineffectiveness.

The actress posted a photo Saturday of her in the car with her fam, including hubby Dave Bugliari and their two kids, Elizabella and Milo. Everyone had masks on -- including Alyssa -- but hers was about as penetrable as a fishnet ... looks like a homemade crochet job.

She definitely had the covering in mind when throwing this up, saying ... "Show me your masks! Masks keep people safe and healthy. Show me yours! Ready? Go! #WearAMask"

Now, it's unclear if Alyssa's in on the absurdity of this, or if she's got some type of protection under there we can't see -- but the internet didn't wait for a punchline or more context ... people had a field day with her hand-knit mask promo, showing off other joke-y ones that might be just as great at keeping out droplets of 'rona (why we wear 'em to begin with).

One lady showed off a feather mask, which only covered the upper part of her face ... and said they're one in the same. Tons of other people had examples of non-protective masks of their own ... snorkeling goggles, pantyhose, mesh beekeeping veils ... and on and on.

Of course, it also reminded people of this gas station lady that went viral a few weeks back ... who cut a hole in her own mask so she could breathe easier. Just one of many mask fails documented during the pandemic.

Both that woman and Alyssa might be better off going out with a classic hands-to-face shocked look 🙊. Stay safe out there, y'all.

A former North Carolina state politician is balling up his digital fists at one ABSOLUTELY essential store refusing to let just anyone through their doors ... yep, it's Pottery Barn.

The guy's name is Scott Stone, and he served in North Carolina's House of Representatives a few years back -- now, he's an angry old man yelling at his local in-mall PB for standing firm on their by-appointment-only policy, which is super inconvenient to him.

Rep. Stone writes, "Dear @potterybarn (and other retailers) : I am NOT shopping by appointment. You're allowed to be open, so be open." He had another must-hear gripe ... "And why close at 5 when mall is open until 7? Do you actually want to sell anything?"

Pottery Barn's sign here reads, "We're Open 11-5 by Appointment Only! Call 704-442-9493 to schedule! Important Note: We Will Begin Taking Returns on 5/25. We Can't Wait to See You!!" They're in Charlotte's SouthPark mall, which reopened its doors a couple weeks ago.

We tried calling them up for comment ... but the staff there didn't wanna talk. At any rate, Rep. Stone had some follow-up thoughts on the mockery he's receiving, saying ... "Love how lefties are so worked up about my last tweet which highlights the frustrations so many have about how slow NC economy is reopening - slower than most states. Maybe they believe govt should continue to write checks forever and keep the entire economy closed?"

A loyal dog was found standing guard over another fellow pup's dead body after it was apparently hit by a car and left on the side of a road in Texas.

The Catahoula mix was found by Kingsville-Kleberg Health Department Animal Control & Care Center officials, who responded to a call Friday for a dog carcass that'd been left along what looks to be a stretch of a highway. They came upon this little guy, whom they named Guardian, as he was standing beside the deceased dog, seemingly protecting it.

The Animal Control workers took photos of Guardian as they tried approaching, and it appears he was dead set on not letting anyone near -- at least not at first.

The agency says, "This was the scene our Animal Control Officers drove up to. This boy wasn't going to let anyone mess with his sister. Our ACOs had a hard time convincing him everything was going to be alright and they were there to help him." They added, "This call was one of the most heart wrenching for our staff, but we thought we'd share some behind-the-scene images of situations they are faced with on a regular basis."

Eventually, Guardian came around and let the humans take care of him and his apparent sibling. He's now hanging out at the Animal Control facility there, and is set to be put up for adoption if no one claims him by next week. He's a youngster too -- just 6-12 months old.

It seems someone might've already seen this story and shown interest in taking Guardian home -- 'cause later ... Kingsville honchos said they'd already scheduled an adoption -- assuming a rightful owner doesn't come forward before Friday. The dog is currently listed as a stray -- but he's certainly being taken care of now, and seems to be happy at the moment.

An industrious bear is drawn to the finer things in life ... and if you don't believe it, watch the video of the majestic animal deftly finding a way into a fancy Mercedes.

The video is hysterical. It appears the people narrating were occupants of the car, until they went for a hike and noticed the very large brown bear rooting around for food.

The bear then spots the Mercedes and beelines it for the whip. Check out how he/she opens the door. This isn't his/her first rodeo ... or bear-jacking.

Then the question ... how do you scare a bear away? Experts are divided, although the prevailing view is quietly stay clear.

These folks were anything but quiet, and guess what ... it worked!!!

Conor McGregor was chased by alligators, before he went on the attack against a runner, people in a crowd and then, of all people, Dana White -- but obviously, there's a catch.

The UFC honcho posted the parody, and it's hilarious!!! Conor glides across a river as a gator gives chase, but the UFC star is unfazed.

Cut to Conor going on a tear ... attacking runners, spectators and even a bullfighter, before turning on Dana himself and opening a can of whup-ass.

It's a little life imitating art ... what with Conor's past hijinks where he threw dollies into tour buses, smashed cell phones and even punched an old guy who didn't want to drink his whiskey.

Two men may have some ice-cold drinks to thank for their survival, because they were rescued in the deep blue ocean after clinging to a styrofoam cooler.

It went down in the Gulf of Mexico. Adam Vetter says he was heading to shore in his boat at around 6:30 PM when he spotted 2 men in the ocean, clinging to the cooler. They were spotted 12 miles offshore from Hudson Beach, Florida.

Adam spotted a sinking boat, and then -- in the distance -- spotted the 2 men in the water, clinging for life and waving their hands wildly in the air.

The 2 men say they were holding on for dear life for nearly 4 hours. Adam and his crew pulled the 2 men up on their boat to safety.

This could have gone much worse. Adam and crew didn't spot the boat when it was in front of them ... they were 1 1/2 to 2 miles away from the sinking boat and the 2 men, but someone saw something and the 2 men are alive as a result. The fact the cooler was white helped, because it stood out in the water.

Carole Baskin sees Joe Exotic's sold-out fashion line, and raises him a sold-out trading card collection!!!

The 'Tiger King' star and her loyal, and very much alive husband, Howard, autographed 400 official Leaf collectible trading cards plastered with their smiling mugs. That's all it took for a bunch of cool cats and kittens to clean out the entire collection in a matter of minutes!

The autographed trading cards, which feature CB and HB rocking matching big cat costumes, went up for sale this week at $99 a pop ... and they disappeared faster than Carole's previous hubby, Don. We're talking just 24 minutes.

It's a pretty impressive debut for Carole and Howard ... the trading cards were the Baskins' first ever signed collectibles.

If you missed out on the signed cards, there is a small consolation prize available.

As we first reported ... the Baskins partnered with Leaf for some good, old-fashioned trading cards, and the non-autographed versions are still selling for $8 each or $200 for a pack of 50.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman ... no it's a FLYING DOG jumping from a window and sticking the landing like a straight-up boss!!!

Check out this AMAZING video of a crazy athletic pooch bounding through a window and landing several feet down on the grass below ... and somehow the pup walked away unscathed.

The adorable pooch is going viral after its owner posted video of the death-defying jump ... and she says her dog is doing just great after the wild stunt.

We've all been there in quarantine right ... ready to jump out a window at a moment's notice out of pure boredom and stir craziness ... but this four-legged superstar actually did it ... and lived to tell the tail tale.

The sound before the jump is hilarious, the landing is even better, and the nonchalant scurry down the sidewalk is the icing on this crazy cake.

Quick ... get this dog a cape, a bone and some treats!!!

This is not what Katy Perry meant ... 50 cars filled with folks who seemed to have Independence Day on their minds, blocked traffic on the 5 Freeway Friday night for a fireworks show.

It went down in Norwalk, near downtown L.A. It was clearly choreographed. Unsuspecting drivers had nowhere to turn as explosive sounds filled the night.

Aside from the fact that it's kind of a bonehead move to do this to drivers in the middle of all this craziness, the show was pretty cool.

It went down at around 10 PM and as fast as it started, it was over. They clearly knew if they hung around there would be consequences. It's illegal to set off fireworks in L.A. County with certain exceptions for controlled displays ... and this clearly wasn't one.