What a Weird Week Podcast Fri, April 28: Legit Healing Breakthrough that sounds fake! also Keep your shirt on, nudists.

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This week's top ten of weird includes some old-fashioned high strangeness...
icymi: 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 podcast... uploading...

Here are the show notes for Fri Apr 28th 2023 / Season 4 Episode 31 ...
❿Headline: Nudists will feel naked and exposed if Cable Car over nude beach goes ahead...
Notes:
- in Vienna, there's a plan for a cable car route which would pass over a beach frequented by nudists... this is getting some push back by nudists...
- a nudist named Barbara is quoted in the story - "'I don’t want to end up on the internet,' the 72-year-old told reporters."
- the developer says A) the cable car will pass over the beach for hardly any time at all, and B) the cable car windows could be the kind that switch to non-see-through when the cable car gets close to the beach.
- not much more to that story yet... I would say wait and see... don't panic, nudists... keep your shirt on...
See: (https://apnews.com/article/nudists-austria-privacy-cable-car-3fac6bf2d5d28a51715c9524aa6042a9)
❾Headline: Big Mack, the 8 foot long alligator might be the largest alligator living in a Philadelphia basement...
Notes:
- a man and woman got divorced and when the guy moved out, the lady could no longer care for Big Mack, the 8 foot long alligator.
- Oh Yeah, they had an 8 foot long alligator in their basement.
- Big Mack had been there for ten years!
- Turns out, it's perfectly legal to own an alligator in Philadelphia.
- holy jumpins, Big Mack is the third alligator that animal control in Philly has rescued this month alone!
- Big Mack is going to live out his days in Florida at the Jupiter Alligator and Wildlife Sanctuary.
See: (https://nypost.com/2023/04/26/massive-8-foot-alligator-removed-from-philadelphia-home/)
❽Headline: The 600 mile-long velociraptor!
Notes:
- This is a world record giant velociraptor in France, which was traced out in a bicycle route by five cyclists.
- so they cycle this 636 mile route and when you look at a map, you can see their GPS results are in the shape of a giant dinosaur.
- it took 6 days of cycling.
- but why did they trace out a velociraptor? it starts with "velo" which is the French word for bicycle.
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/20/france-Guinness-World-Records-largest-GPS-drawing-velociraptor/3421682002544/)

❼Headline: Happy Research proves other people are happier than we are you guys...
Notes:
- every year The World Happiness Report tells us who is happy and who is miserable.
- They survey people then give countries a happiness rank ...
- the report says Finland is the happiest country on Earth, 7.8 out of 10.
- Also happy - Denmark and Iceland.
- Israel was in fourth place and the only other non-Europe country that's happy is New Zealand (10th place.)
- Canada was 13th
- USA 15th
- tl;dr 10 New Zealand, 9 Luxembourg, 8 Switzerland, 7 Norway, 6 Sweden, 5 Netherlands, 4 Israel, 3 Iceland, 2 Denmark, 1 Finland, 13 Canada, 15 USA
See: (https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/happiest-countries-on-earth-map?utm_source=RSS)
❻Headline: Grey Hair breakthrough... they may have cracked it you guys...
Notes:
- Hair Science already knew WHAT happens when hair goes grey...
- now they think they've got a handle on HOW it happens... *special thank you to all the grey-haired mice involved in this research.
- next step is to stop that process so you folks with hair may never have to worry about going grey! Wait, were you worrying about it? That can also lead to grey hair. Try not to worry.
- that's as far as I want to get into the super-sciency write-up but click the link if you have a vested interest in this...  
See: (https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-may-have-finally-worked-out-why-hair-turns-gray-and-possibly-how-to-stop-it)
❺Headline: Facial Recognition Firearms are on sale...
Notes:
- they call it a smart gun... it uses facial recognition so that only authorized people can shoot the gun.
- it became available for pre-order in the USA this week.
- how it works... a built-in camera scans your face before the thing can be fired.
- this is so only registered users can use the gun, so hopefully less accidental shootings and gun theft.
- is it good or bad/ will it catch on? it's a hot topic because, politics.
See: (https://dig.watch/updates/facial-recognition-smart-gun-a-new-step-in-gun-safety)
❹Headline: High Strangeness in Texas...
Notes:
- this one is triggering so... earmuffs alert... weird things happening to cattle has been reported for decades and decades...
- it either has a rational explanation or a sinister explanation, or a paranormal explanation... just ask anyone!
- according to a bunch of reports, authorities are baffled by recent cattle mutilations in Texas.
- the cattle were found deceased and were missing some parts...
- like a lot of these mysterious cases, there's no blood, it looks almost surgical, and a few other odd things are reported...
- depending who you ask, the weirdness is explained by natural causes and scavenger animals, or bad people, or aliens/ paranormal causes
- Sheriff's office is investigating.
❸Headline: Zoo Looking for terrifying Bird Actors...  
Notes:
- the Blackpool Zoo in the UK is looking for humans who are willing to dress up like giant birds to scare away pesky seagulls...
- those seagulls have gotten too brazen... they steal zoo animal food and also the food of the zoo visitors.
- interested applicants should be outgoing and comfortable wearing a bird costume.
See Here to apply! (https://www.blackpoolzoo.org.uk/jobs/work-with-us/seagull-deterrant)
actual photo from job ad

❷Headline: Will you please ring the Fish Doorbell?!
Notes:
- the fish doorbell website is (visdeurbel.nl) which translates to "fish door bell dot nl" in Dutch.
- In the Netherlands, there's a lock in a canal... it can be hard for fish to navigate through that canal because of the lock.
- you can help by going to the website, watching the live fish cam, and ringing the doorbell whenever you see a fish.
- then someone will go open the lock.
- do you think people have been ringing the fish doorbell just to see what happens? me too!! (maybe that's why the page was giving me trouble?)
See: (https://theworld.org/stories/2023-04-21/you-can-ring-fish-doorbell-help-marine-life-netherlands)
🏆🏆Headline: Cannabis Chocolate Bar costs $40,000!
Notes:
- on 4.20, the marijuana holiday, a cannabis company came out with an enormous weed chocolate bar that weighs 420 pounds... hilarious.
- company is Zen Cannabis... bar is called Big Zen...
- bar has 4.2 million milligrams of THC and costs $42,000.
See: (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/420-cannabis-chocolate-bar-oklahoma_n_643eca5fe4b0482824b81f7e)
❶Headline: Heal Three Times Faster with a cure we've had since Ben Franklin? Alrighty!
Notes:
- it is a very sciencey paper but my takeaway is that researchers were able to heal wounds in a laboratory setting using electricity... the healing happened about three times faster than usual...
- this was all in a laboratory setting and did not involve actual people... so don't try this... this was artificial skin and artificial wounds getting stimulated by electricity...
- I'm no scientist, but it seems like if this gets the all-clear by whoever approves health and wellness breakthroughs... it wouldn't take too long to get this up and running... we already have electricity so...
See: (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230418011121.htm)
Here's the Stream, friend...

What a Weird Week Podcast Fri April 21: UFOs and the Cave Lady

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This week's top ten of weird includes the biggest Donkey Kong game in the world and a drinking world record you might want to try...
FAQ: What is this? 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 podcast... uploading now!

Here are the show notes for Fri Apr 21st 2023 / Season 4 Episode 30 ...
❿Headline: How Fast can you drink? Are you ready to set a World Record?
Notes:
- a German man just shattered the Capri Sun speed-drinking World Record.
- 10.41 seconds to finish an entire Capri Sun drink.
- that time includes putting the straw in.
- See video.
- Good luck!
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/13/germany-Guinness-World-Records-fastest-time-Capri-Sun/5731681400662/)
❾Headline: He made the news for an unusual act of generosity...
Notes:
- story broke last Friday after we published last week's episode.
- a fellow threw approximately 200 thousand dollars out a car window onto an Oregon highway.
- people pulled over and got out to grab some of that money so it was a bit of a traffic debacle.
- btw, you can be charged with littering when you do that... police let the guy off with a warning...
- the money-thrower told the cops he's "doing well and wanted to bless others with gifts of money,"
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/14/man-throws-money-Interstate-5-Eugene-Oregon/4691681485395/)
artist depiction. do not attempt.
❽Headline: The Biggest Donkey Kong Game in the World announced! How Big??
Notes:
- they are going to make a 20 foot tall Donkey Kong game that's actually playable.
- for the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
- need to stress that this is supposed to be playable by regular size humans, not giants. How? Not sure. Guessing shrink ray/ growth ray technology.
- supposed to be ready to play on June 30th.
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/11/The-Strong-National-Museum-of-Play-worlds-largest-Donkey-Kong-machine/7531681238006/)
❼Headline: 10 Year Old Kid breaks world record for soccer ball wizardry... could you do this for an hour?
Notes:
- 10-year-old kid China broke the World Record for "most football (soccer) touches with alternating feet in one hour".
- he foot-juggled that soccer ball 8,147 times in an hour you guys!
- youngster was encouraged by his coach to go for the world record...
- quote from GWR: "In our soccer club, many teammates can juggle the ball over a thousand times with both feet, but I am the best..."
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/13/Guinness-World-Records-soccer-juggling/3591681417581/)
❻Headline: elite extreme sportswoman in the news... "It's true that there were some difficult moments, but there were also some very beautiful moments... and I had both as I lived up to my commitment to living in a cave for 500 days."
Notes:
- that's it really, that's the story... a lady lived in a cave for 500 days.
- Lady is 50 years old.
- she spent 16 months in cave isolation.
- she had books and art supplies to pass the time.
- this was an extreme sport challenge but also was so scientists could do research on what would happen if someone lived in a cave for 500 days.
- that will all get unpacked when they write up their research papers, but one thing that happened is the lady's perception of time changed a lot... she was surprised when they came down to get her because she thought she had a lot more time to go...
- did she turn into a cave person? science will tell us later.  
See: (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/spanish-athlete-emerges-after-500-days-alone-in-underground-cave-180981998/)
❺Headline: here's a message you don't want to get from a buddy: "Dude this is so weird but I’m watching this murder documentary and they start flashing a bunch of peoples pictures and I said that is Hazlewood. Did they steal your photo? How did you get on there?” (via Hollywood Reporter story)
Notes:
- Taylor Hazlewood is suing Netflix for a million bucks.
- He posted a photo on his Insta a few years ago... the photo was of Taylor posing with a hatchet.
- The lawsuit centers around this photo which Taylor says someone used without permission in 'The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker' documentary.
- according to Hollywood Reporter (I haven't seen this documentary)... Taylor's photo is shown next to a convicted murderer and there's audio saying “stone-cold killer” ... even though Taylor has "no connection to any aspect of the Film.”
See: (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-defamation-hatchet-wielding-hitchhiker-1235391364/)
❹Headline: Dead Birds repurposed as drones... how do we feel about that?
Notes:
- Wildlife researchers in New Mexico have a new tool to do their sciencing and it's dead birds turned into drones.
- I'm calling them TBDs - Taxidermy Bird Drones (©2023 Weird Week Enterprises)
- They had been using mechanical birds (Bird Robots), but dead bird drones seem to get better research results.
- *Note to Disney: this sounds like a hilarious animated reboot of "Weekend at Bernie's" waiting to happen. Weekend at Bird Bernie's!!
See: (https://www.ksl.com/article/50622470/dead-birds-get-new-life-new-mexico-researchers-develop-taxidermy-bird-drones) and (https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/dead-birds-get-new-life-new-mexico-researchers-develop-taxidermy-bird-drones-2023-04-13/)
❸Headline: Kyles of the world unite! First step: world record, next step: global domination!
Notes:
- the city of Kyle, Texas wants to break the world record for most people with the same name gathered in the same place.
- they're trying to spread the word to Kyles all over that on May 21st, you Kyles need to be in Kyle, Texas.
- this will be part of the Kyle, Texas Kyle Fair (a Tex-Travaganza).
- This is their fourth try to break the record!
- Guiness record right now belongs to a bunch of Ivans... 2325 people named Ivan got together in Bosnia in 2017.
- Good luck, Kyle. You too, Kyle.
- btw, if you remember us talking about a similar world record on the podcast, it was a little different... (https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/new-world-record-created-as-178-people-with-the-same-name-congregate-in-japan-8238496/)
See: (https://www.fox4news.com/news/kyle-texas-gathering-of-kyles)
❷Headline: Picture yourself doing pushups... for an hour... how many could you do?
Notes:
- An Australian man did 3206 pushups in an hour to get the world record.
- Lucas (age 33) trained for two years.
- before this, another Australian had the pushups record... and before that guy, ANOTHER Australian had the pushups record. Australia dominates pushups.
See: (https://www.complex.com/life/australian-man-sets-guinness-book-world-record-most-push-ups-one-hour)
🏆🏆Honorable Mention: a rocket exploded. I thought that was bad, but everybody keeps saying that it was super great... 
🏆🏆Honorable Mention: update on UFOs or UAPs...
Notes:
- the Pentagon continues to investigate UFOs/ UAPs throught their All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
- the folks from that testified before a US Senate Committee on Wednesday (April 19).
- Part of the hearing was closed to the public.
- My take on those hearings is that not a lot has changed... the Gov says most everything is explainable (UFOs are mostly just regular things that have been misidentified) ...
- the Gov is leaning hard into the "it's Not Aliens" message...
- they did show a video that has some weird sphere flying past... it was cool.
- the investigation continues.
See: (https://www.space.com/pentagon-aaro-ufo-hearing-april-2023)
❶Headline: Harrowing Hearse Misadventure!
Notes:
- the headline from Michelle Butterfield at Global News... "Weight of organ donor’s body stops hearse from falling over cliff in Colorado"
- this happened awhile ago but it hit all the news outlets this week...
- just like in a movie, the hearse slid off the road and was balancing on a cliff... the driver of the hearse was able to escape because they say the weight of the deceased person in the back of the hearse kept the vehicle from plunging over the edge!
See: (https://globalnews.ca/news/9633149/hearse-cliff-organ-donor-colorado/)
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What a Weird Week Podcast for Fri April 14, 2023: How small is the littlest dog in the world? And What was the mystery creature they found in the cave in India??

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This week's top ten of weird includes the smallest (and maybe cutest?) dog in the world and also wiener weddings...
FAQ: What is this? 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 podcast...

Here are the show notes for Fri Apr 14th 2023 / Season 4 Episode 29 ...

❿Headline: How short is Pearl, the Chihuahua is shortest dog in the world?
Notes:
- from the ground up, Pearl the pooch is 3.59 inches tall.
- a little bit taller than three quarters, or half a one dollar bill, or a credit card.
- Also helpful... a can of soup is taller than this pooch.
- Pearl is also about as long as a dollar bill (5 inches)
- weighs a little bit more than a pound.
- see (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/4/pocket-sized-chihuahua-certified-as-worlds-shortest-dog-743720) for a whole bunch of photos of Pearl standing next to everyday items for shortness reference
❾Headline: Who is the Croc King and why is the Croc king??
Notes:
- 32 year old guy in Connecticut has 2000 pairs of Crocs.
- his name is Doogie but they call him the Croc King and he wants recognition from the the Guinness World Records folks.
- at first, Doogie didn't like Crocs... then some kind of switch got flipped.
- First Doogie wants to get in the Guinness Book then he hopes to open up a Crocseum to share his thousands of Crocs with the rest of us... so we can visit them and be inspired... or uninspired #CrocsLife #CrocsGoals
Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/06/Croc-king-collection-Crocs/1071680809402/) and Doogie's Insta (https://www.instagram.com/doogielish/?hl=en)
❽Headline: How Old do you think is too old for robbing banks?
Notes:
- is it a young person's game do you think?
- Bonnie Gooch is in the news, facing charges in a bank robbery...
- she was convicted of robbing a California bank in 1977... then again in 2020 (that one was in Kansas City)...
- She's 78 yeas old.
- this latest incident happened at a bank in Missouri...
- according to reports, her robbery note said: “13,000 small bills,” also “thank you sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”
- article also notes that Bonnie "smelled strongly of alcohol when officers stopped her" a couple miles away, cash money on the floor of her car.
Link/media: (https://apnews.com/article/bank-robbery-missouri-fcaa66a6c78eefc0e7bdf1df4a88c8c2)
 
❼Headline: imprisoned by art balls!
Notes:
- in Edmonton they have this art installment that looks like a giant stack of silver balls called the Talus Dome...
- this is a $600,000 work of art that was installed in 2011...
- on the night of Easter Sunday a 26 year old man climb up on the art and found a way inside the giant steel ball sculpture... and then he couldn't get out...
- he had to be rescued and now that 26 year old guy is facing charges of mischief... they had to take apart a section of the art to get the guy out...
- do you think that if you get caught doing something like this you have to serve your sentence inside the art installment?
- i think this guy will be scared of art for the rest of his life... museums will never be enjoyable... and also balls will be triggering probably...
❻Deep Dive on the most-expensive Sandwich on the planet (Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day 2023)... A restaurant in New York brought back their $214 grilled cheese sandwich that's in the Guinness book of World Records as the most expensive sandwich.
Notes:
- restaurant is named Serendipity 3
- sandwich is named the Quintessential Grilled Cheese
- available for a limited time (brought back for National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day)
- sandwich has to be ordered 48 hours in advance
- sandwich features champagne bread made with Dom Perignon
- cheese used is Caciocavallo Podolico
- after grilling the sandwich is gilded in 23-karat gold (edible)
- served with a side of South African Lobster Tomato Bisque
- the restaurant also has the World Record for most expensive French fries and most expensive milkshake.
More... History...
According to Days of the Year (https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/grilled-cheese-sandwich-day/), the modern grilled cheese sandwich came about after two food breakthroughs... processed cheese and sliced bread (in 1916 James L Kraft patents his processed cheese method reducing cheese cost and making it more accessible to people... In 1927 Otto Frederick Rohwedder designs a bread slicing and wrapping machine... let's throw in the introduction of Wonder Bread in 1930 also... and when US Navy cookbooks recommended American Cheese sandwiches during World War 2.)
❺Headline: Update to the New York Rat Royalty story...
Notes:
- the Mayor of New York City has done it... he has appointed the city's first rat czar!
- former school teacher Kathleen Corradi is now in charge of brokering peace between the people of New York City and the rats of NYC.
- Good luck and God speed!
Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/04/13/new-york-city-rat-czar-appointed/3941681357193/)
❹Headline: "Mysterious creature caught on camera swimming at New Orleans park"
Notes:
- Headline courtesy of Ben Hooper at United Press... and that headline says it all... watch the video and decide for yourself... this is legit a weird-looking swimming thing...
- most comments say it's a fish swimming upside down... possibly in medical distress...
Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/12/mystery-creature-New-Orleans-City-Park-lagoon/7861681314048/)
❸Headline: Congratulations to lucky couples getting wiener-married this weekend!
Notes:
- this weekend the folks at Oscar Meyer are opening up a Wienermobile wedding chapel in Las Vegas.
- the giant hot dog car is scheduled to be parked outside the famous Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on April 15 and 16 and they're calling this the "Wienermobile of Love" event.
- Oscar Mayer did a "win an all-expenses-paid wiener wedding" contest... so this isn't a new business for them, it's just a love-filled publicity stunt.
- they say that the company gets a lot of requests for wienermobiles at weddings every year.
Link/media: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/12/Oscar-Meyer-Wienermobile-of-Love-chapel-weddings-Las-Vegas/5441681311381/)
❷Headline: We're going on a Space Rock Expedition!
Notes:
- last weekend people in northern Maine and here on the East coast of Canada saw (and heard) a fireball fall to the earth during daylight hours.
- NASA said it was the first meteorite in Maine that was seen on radar. That's kind of wild, right?
- now there's a bounty on that meteorite! The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum posted this on their social media: "As you may have heard, on Saturday April 8th, there was an extraordinary event that happened in Washington County (ME). A fireball was spotted streaking through the sky-during the day! ... Reward is open to our Canadian neighbors as well. The Museum is offering a $25,000 reward for the first 1 kilogram specimen found from the event." *note that you might find a meteorite, but the wrong meteorite, ineligible for the prize! I call that a meteorong©*
- the article says that some meteorites are literally worth their weight in gold.
- How to tell if the rock you found is a meteorite... (via University of Alberta)
A) unusually heavy for its size, B) a fridge magnet sticks to it, C) has holes and/or bubbles, and D) outer layer has thin, black crust like an eggshell.
- if you're going hunting meteorites this weekend good luck and be safe!
Story Link: (https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1169668802/meteorite-maine-museum-reward) and Mineral Museum Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/mainemineralmuseum/posts/986454059147506)
❶Headline: Weird Cave Creature!!
Notes:
- the article is about a scientific discovery of this creature in a cave in India, but it's written in such a dramatic way...
"For over a century, spelunkers in eastern India reported seeing a cave-dwelling creature. The reports persisted, usually as passing mentions or brief observations of the unknown creature. No one studied it in depth — until now." If every scientific discovery was written up like that I'd be more smarterer.
- The write-up is so mysterious and thrilling, but basically the researchers went deep into this cave and found some new frogs.
- Frogs are described as olive green and between 2 and a half inches and almost 4 inches.
Link/media: (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article274211790.html)
If you scrolled this far, you know what's up... you're my favorite! Here's the Stream...

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day April 12th 2023: best thing since sliced bread! (and sliced cheese)

A restaurant in New York brought back their $214 grilled cheese sandwich that's in the Guinness book of World Records as the most expensive sandwich.
Notes:
- restaurant is named Serendipity 3
- sandwich is named the Quintessential Grilled Cheese
- available for a limited time (brought back for National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day)
- sandwich has to be ordered 48 hours in advance
- sandwich features champagne bread made with Dom Perignon
- bread is covered in white truffle butter
- cheese used is Caciocavallo Podolico
- after grilling the sandwich is gilded in 23-karat gold (edible)
- served with a side of South African Lobster Tomato Bisque
- the restaurant also has the World Record for most expensive French fries and most expensive milkshake.
 
History:
According to Days of the Year (https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/grilled-cheese-sandwich-day/), the modern grilled cheese sandwich came about after two food breakthroughs... processed cheese and sliced bread (in 1916 James L Kraft patents his processed cheese method reducing cheese cost and making it more accessible to people... In 1927 Otto Frederick Rohwedder designs a bread slicing and wrapping machine... let's throw in the introduction of Wonder Bread in 1930 also... and when US Navy cookbooks recommended American Cheese sandwiches during World War 2.)


Make the World a Better Place: Volunteer as a Shediac Lion! Meeting on Thursday April 13th

If you or someone you know can donate a little spare time to go to a meeting or volunteer at a breakfast, the Shediac Lions Club are looking for good people like you! See what it's all about at their Meet and Greet on Thursday 13 April from 7p to 9p at the Shediac Multipurpose Centre (58 Rue Festival)

Notes:
- Shediac Lions Club meetings happen on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month.
- They support a lot of stuff like school lunch programs, high school bursaries, the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre, the legion and cadets, Able Sail, the Lions Sick Children's Fund, the food bank, and a lot more!
- if you can spare a little time you will be helping to make the world better!!!
 

What a Weird Week Podcast Friday 7 April 2023: dinosaur eggs and hippos.

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This week's top ten of weird includes the youngest author in the world and the disappearing giant spoon.
If you're new to this weirdness, 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 will appear here. maybe go look for eggs then come back?
Here are the show notes for Fri Apr 7 2023 / Season 4 Episode 28 ...

❿Headline: How Young is the world's youngest published author?
Notes:
- Child publishes book; all unpublished authors who are older than 4 are failures...
- A boy from United Arab Emirates who's 4 years and 218 days old has published a book called "The Elephant Saeed and the Bear" and that is super young to become a published author.
- book is about kindness and an elephant... and a polar bear.
- to be an official Guinness record you have to sell at least a thousand copies, which this book has done.
- Just to recap, those of us 5 years old or older, have failed in this specific literary endeavor.
❾Headline: How old is the World's Oldest Surfer?
Notes:
- 89 years old... that's how old.
- an 89 year old Japanese man who seems very chill is the oldest surfer in the world.
- think of your birthday... now imagine this: the world's oldest surfer was born in 1933... he'll be turning 90 in September!
❽Headline: Lady Doing this while Hula Hooping sets a world record! 
Notes:
- it's roller skating backwards. 
- a 54 year old lady in Las Vegas set the Guinness record for longest time backwards roller skating while hula hooping.
- she did it for 33 minutes and 1 second.
- the lady, Veronica Harris, was inspired to combine two things that she loves with the hooping and the skating.
- maybe that's our angle you guys... let's all combine two things WE love and do them for a record amount of time!!
- suggestions include eating pizza while watching TV, eating candy while watching TV, drinking coffee while editing a podcast... idk.
❼Headline: Giant Spoon Theft Shakes Community! *Update!
Notes:
- see what I did there? "Shakes". 
- this happened at the Dairy Queen in Phoenix... somebody stole their giant red spoon.
- spoon is 15 feet tall.
- Was this a prank? Or maybe a giant needed it? Maybe a collector with other giant silverware couldn't resist?
- the DQ started a "Where's our Spoon" social media campaign... 
- replacement value of that giant spoon is around $7000.
- a few days after that story broke, a guy playing Pokemon Go spotted the giant spoon in a middle school baseball field a couple miles away from the DQ.
- They strapped the giant spoon to the top of a police cruiser and I assume sent it to the CIA in Langley to have it dusted for giant fingerprints* (citation needed) 
❻Headline: What, actually, was that rock that they threw in a drawer* ? (*drawer citation needed)
Notes:
- (via Natural History Museum article from late last week)
- Background: a pretty crystal that was cataloged by the Natural History Museum in 1883 might not be the insignificant rock they thought it was for these past hundred and some years...
- the stone was found in India... almost a perfect sphere... about 6 inches across.
- then, a hundred and thirty something years after that rock was filed away (or whatever they do with pretty rocks), somebody from the museum saw the same thing at a mineral show in France.
- turns out it's not just a pretty rock, it's a dinosaur egg.
❺Headline: Carl Noodle Junior, you are on notice Sir!
Notes:
- the company that puts out Cup Noodles brand ramen has introduced delicious breakfast noodles... 
- the breakfast noodles taste like egg, sausage and maple syrup pancakes...
- a whole breakfast!
- is it a coincidence that this happened after I have been trying to get my "Pancake Slurry" business off the ground? Or is it corporate espionage?
- btw, still seeking investors for my "cup-o-cakes" pancake slurry business... imagine it! Delicious pancakes and butter and syrup all diced up in a takeaway cup... we're gonna be millionaires!!!!
❹Headline: the Latest on Pablo Escobar’s hippos...
Notes:
- the gov of Colombia are going to spend millions to remove a bunch of hippos which were brought there by Pablo Escobar (you know, the late drug kingpin.)
- he brought in 4 hippos from Africa in the 1980s.
- those hippos don't have any natural predators in Colombia. 
- Pablo Escobar was fatally shot by the police in 1993 and then the Pablo Ranch was abandoned... the animals were just let loose. 
- the hippos have made babies like crazy and now there are around 130 inhabiting the area. 
- they are bad for the ecosystem and dangerous animals for humans.
- also... they're always hungry... they're hungry hungry hippos you guys.
❸Headline: Little Girl Commits Credit Card Fraud Amazingly*
Notes:
- This is just one of those cute stories about how little children can lead to your financial ruin...
- happened in Massachusetts.
- mom lets her 5 year-old girl play with the cell phone to pass the time in the car...
- kid racks up close to 4 grand in lil motorbikes and cowgirl boots on Amazon.
- mom thought that little Lila was playing games, not committing credit card theft...
- kid bought five lil kid pink dirt bikes, five kid-sized blue dirt bikes, 10 pairs cowgirl boots and a lil kid battery-powered Jeep.
- those targeted ads get you every time.
❷Headline: Big Wig makes Big Wig!
Notes:
- someone in Australia has made the biggest (actually widest) wig in the world
-  the biggest wig in the world is more than 8 feet across.
- the base is a bike helmet (in case you're wondering how to get started on your own giant wig project).
- congratulations to Dani Reynolds... it looks like the person in the photo is being eaten by a giant wig monster... fantastic! 
❶Headline: How Big is the biggest mustache in the world?
Notes:
- a guy in South Carolina has the biggest mustache in the world... it's 2 feet and 1 inch wide.
- actual record is "longest mustache on a living person" which makes me question why they had to word it that way... are there dead people with giant mustaches? Maybe someone grew a three footer but the strain of it killed him?? idk you guys.
- mustache description: very long and skinny... it doesn't hang down like droopy dawg... pretty sure he has some kind of product in it to keep it in place...  
- at some point when you break a record like this, you're in... that is your life now... you have to be careful not to get it caught in elevator doors or bump people with your mustache on public transit...  you have to be spoon-fed everything* (OK maybe not but good luck bobbing for apples). This record at first seems like a frivolous world record but it takes as much comittment as some of the feats of strength world records that you hear about!!
 

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