Strange but True

SYDNEY, Australia — An offer of beer, sausages and a chat with four Aussie blokes has set off a bidding frenzy on the Australian eBay online auction site.Their pitch is simple: an offer of no-questions-asked camaraderie.

"We’ll be your best mates — instantly!” they say. "You won’t have to try and impress us. We don’t even care who you are. And you’ll get to experience the thrills and spills of hanging out with four good blokes in a relaxing, sun-filled environment.”

Included in the winning bid is a bit of food, some drink and some conversation — but not much else.

"We won’t fly you here. Heck, we won’t even pay for your bus fare,” the message says. "What we WILL do is guarantee you some beers, some snags (sausages), some good conversation and a hell of a lot of laughs.”

By Wednesday, there had been more than 100 bids for the weekend in Sydney, and with two days left, the price already had soared to nearly $79,900.

In a written response to questions, eBay.com.au said the listing was attracting some bids that weren’t serious, which the seller was canceling.

My pot’s missing

OREM, Utah — A man who called police to report his marijuana was stolen was arrested after police recovered the pot and invited him to come to the Public Safety Building to identify it.

Kory C. Tippetts, 18, of Orem, was arrested and booked into the Utah County jail for investigation of possession of marijuana in a drug-free zone with intent to distribute, police said Tuesday.

Tippetts called police Monday evening after someone broke a window, got cut on the glass and crawled into his home while he was away.

He told police the only thing missing was a quarter-pound bag of marijuana he was selling.<