What a Weird Week for Friday 24 March 2023: More than one Giant Food this week, and that skateboarding pig



This week's top ten of weird includes some good news, some terrible news, and a skateboarding pig!
Q: What is this, Scott? A:  Every Friday we do a Weird-News-of-the-Week Top 10 audio podcast with a full show notes blog and a YouTube video (@weirdweekpod).  

video...

Here are the show notes for Fri Mar 24th, 2023 / Season 4 Episode 26 ...

❿Headline: Bonkers Carrot Caper! Also, Happy Easter Season!!

Notes:
- Happened at the Clearview Mall in Pennsylvania.
- police caught the suspects, charges are expected.
- 2 ppl stole a giant foam carrot and a piƱata from a mall Easter display.
- Sweet Lord, when the suspects took off a security guard got dragged by the getaway truck for a quarter mile.
- no one was hurt.
- police located the large carrot and Easter pinata at a home.
- Hollywood treatment please.

Link/media: (https://butlerradio.com/suspects-caught-in-clearview-carrot-caper/)
   "a truck hauls giant carrots"

❾Headline: Heat from a computer set-up used for swimming pool...

Notes:
- this is a good news story about how we really can have it all you guys!
- this computer set-up is a washing machine size data center.
- it throws heat while it does computery data center duties.
- they use oil to capture the heat... this setup has some kind of container with oil and computers in it... the oil catches the heat and it's enough to heat a swimming pool.
- this solves the problem of data centers needing a way to cool off and swimming pools needing some of that sweet sweet  heat!

Link/media: (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64939558)
   the future of swimming

❽Headline: Friends, it appears as though we've got a Sharkgate on our hands...

Notes:
- Gizmodo put this deep dive out last Friday...
- this involves a rare Goblin Shark discovered in the Mediterranean Sea.That never happened before.
- but upon further investigation, that photo might not be of a real shark.  - it could be a toy shark.
- so, was the shark discovered after it washed ashore at a Greek beach? That was the original story.
- the photo appeared in a science journal and then the shark experts started to point out that they think it's a fake. - Then it became a big fight where ppl were like "it is TOO a Goblin Shark!" and "That aint no Gobby!"
- somebody found a toy shark on EBay that looks the same.
- Sharkgate, y'all.

Link/media: (https://gizmodo.com/goblin-shark-photo-plastic-toy-drama-mediterranean-1850237339)
   seems sus to me

❼Headline: The Rolls-Royce of Nuclear Reactors! (will be made by Rolls-Royce). Oh, yeah, and it'll be on the moon.

Notes:
- Rolls-Royce co. got funding from the UK Space Agency to make a moon base nuclear reactor.
- this is about developing a small reactor for when we get moon bases up and running and the fact that the moon base will be powered by RR sounds so classy!
- it's your move, Grey Poupon.

Link/media: (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/17/rolls-royce-secures-funds-to-develop-nuclear-reactor-for-moon-base)
   it hardly seems dystopian at all!

❻Headline: Man gets enormous fine for parking in a disabled parking spot... but if what he says is true, it's a wild story that you're gonna love or love to hate...

Notes:
- happened in London
- guy has been fined 650 Pounds!
- basically he says he parked legally and some days later, when he got back to his vehicle, the spot had been changed to a disabled parking space.
- it appears like that part is true, that they painted lines around the car.  
- the parking fine guy got in the news about ... he was pretty angry.
- if you were a city worker in charge of painting some new lines, would you paint around a BMW or would you wait three weeks for it to be moved? I'm having a moral dilemma.   

Link/media: (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/furious-motorist-is-fined-650-after-council-worker-paints-disabled-bay-around-his-parked-car/ar-AA185FVr?ocid=Peregrine)
   rascal

❺Headline: When sloths attack!

Notes:
- it's a great headline "
Sloth bites teen during visit to Michigan pet store, ruining lifelong dream"
- that headline via Cole Waterman at MLive doing some great headline work for the greater Michigan area.
- story from Saginaw where a teenager's dream of meeting a sloth was finally coming true at an exotic pet store...
- this pet store has a sloth experience where you can pay 50 bucks, sign a waiver and meet Sid the sloth, that's what this girl and her mom were doing.
- Teen had to get rabies shots.
- Sid got quarantined for 30 days.
- Mom says the sloth bit her daughter with the swiftness of a striking snake.
- This is so weird it should be made into a special episode of When Animals Attack.

Link/media: (https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2023/03/sloth-bites-teen-during-visit-to-michigan-pet-store-ruining-lifelong-dream.html)
   psycho killer

❹Headline: The one with the GIANT RADISH!

Notes:
- it was over a hundred pounds!
- harvested by employees at a Japanese fertilizer company.
- radish was harvested in Feb. according to Guinness World record people.
- they let the radish grow for an extra 3 months before harvesting it... is that the secret? Just leave things in the ground longer? But I want my giant radish now?!

Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/14/japan-Guinness-World-Records-heaviest-radish/1071678807107/)
   the big radish

❸Headline: Sneaky Thief has change of heart!

Notes:
- happened in Cincinnati
- lady caught on cam stealing a mat from someone's porch.
- later she brought it back with an apology note.
- note said "this didn't match my decor like i thought it was gonna so i am returning it. do you have anything in teal?" hahahahaha just kidding.
- actually, a week later the lady came back, left the mat and her note said "I am exceedingly apologetic for taking your rug. It was an honest mistake. I was trying to pick up a free rug from a craigslist offer and I obviously got the wrong one.”

Link/media: (https://www.fox19.com/2023/03/15/woman-caught-cam-stealing-northside-couples-rug-returns-it-with-note/)

❷Headline: When you win the lotto and your town only has 27 people in it, how do you stay under the radar?

Notes:
- a lady in a little Colorado town won 250K.
- she doesn't want her name out there but the town population is only 27 so what can you do?
- happened in Cowdrey, Co.
- What we know... Joanie is her first name. She raises alpacas and wants to buy more with her winnings.
- it really is a very small place (https://www.uncovercolorado.com/towns/cowdrey/)

Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/17/colorado-lottery-winner-small-town/7291679071091/)
   downtown Cowdrey (it's not always this busy)

šŸ†Headline: Popcorn World Record is up for Grabs...

Notes:
- a fella in Idaho caught 36 pieces of popcorn out of a popping pot. He did it in a minute.
- This is David Rush who has hundreds of world records and uses these record attempts to promote STEM education... so we're not allowed to get cynical about it. He's a hero you guys. A popcorn hero.

Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/20/Guinness-World-Records-David-Rush-most-popping-popcorn-caught-one-minute/4731679323644/)

❶Headline: a Good Old Fashioned Skateboarding Pig Kicker!

Notes:
- here's a quote: "People just really enjoy seeing a pig do things that normally pigs don't do, Vincent Baran told WLS-TV...I took one of my old skateboards and put it out and literally within seven days he was able to get his hooves on the board and push with his other hooves."

Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/20/Norbert-skateboarding-pig-Buffalo-Grove-Illinois/7531679343438/)
   not sure what's going on here but
 

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