This week's top ten of weird includes birds calling birds and blindfolded Potato Head assembly...
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 May 5th 2023 / Season 4 Episode 32 ...
❿Headline: Freaky Foot World Record *Do Not Attempt!
Notes:
- a lady named Kelsey has set a Guinness World Record for her freaky footwork where, basically, she can point one foot frontwards and the other foot backwards.
- Kelsey is a librarian from New Mexico and her official record is "most foot rotation (female)".
- Get this! She discovered this world record ability at her library when the new Guinness Book came out and she was flipping through... she saw the foot record in there, tried to beat it, and did!!
- quote from the story: “Most people are grossed out and fascinated at the same time.”
See: (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/5/woman-breaks-world-record-by-rotating-her-feet-back-to-front-745408)
Notes:
- a lady named Kelsey has set a Guinness World Record for her freaky footwork where, basically, she can point one foot frontwards and the other foot backwards.
- Kelsey is a librarian from New Mexico and her official record is "most foot rotation (female)".
- Get this! She discovered this world record ability at her library when the new Guinness Book came out and she was flipping through... she saw the foot record in there, tried to beat it, and did!!
- quote from the story: “Most people are grossed out and fascinated at the same time.”
See: (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/5/woman-breaks-world-record-by-rotating-her-feet-back-to-front-745408)
Notes:
- Warning, this one contains nudity...
- this ruling from a German court has been in the news: "Just because the landlord is naked doesn't mean your rent should be discounted." (paraphrase)
- the landlord is a dude who likes to sun in the nude and the tenants who tried to get lower rent are a human resources company renting an office space... they could see the landlord from their office...
so they held back some rent...
- the court said that you can't do that and the naked landlord was barely visible... you had to lean out the window... (I bet it was the knowing though, eh? Just knowing the landlord was naked in the courtyard would give you pause.)
See: (https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-court-naked-landlord-justify-lower-rent-98862073)
Notes:
- BAMF (Bad-A$$ M@#$%&* F#@%*&)
- This 70-year-old guy was hiking in Utah (Diamond Fork Canyon) when a mountain lion jumped out of the trees and knocked him down.
- The guy grabbed a rock and threw it at the mountain lion, which ran away, scared of the man's insane, Tommy John-like throw.
- If you are a hiker who might encounter wildlife on the trail, they say don't go alone, avoid using headphones, make noise while hiking... see link for more and stay safe out there!
See: (https://www.fox9.com/news/park-rangers-70-year-old-man-fends-off-cougar-attack-with-rock)
Notes:
- Freshly approved by the GWR folks, a fellow in Germany who has like a hundred world records just set the fastest time to assemble a Mr. Potato Head while blindfolded.
- he did it in a little over 12 seconds.
- it's the same guy we talked about recently when he drank a Capri Sun beverage really fast and set a record.
-*some of the stories on this didn't seem to know exactly what a Mr Potato Head is... so if you don't have this toy where you are, it's a plastic toy with detachable parts and a high glycemic index.
See: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCYDGg5KuWs)
Notes:
- The bird phone story has been in the feeds this week...
- Research shows that parrots who can phone other parrots seem to be less lonely and happier...
- birds video-calling birds!? (see video approximation of how all these calls go...
See: (https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/04/21/parrots-talking-video-calls/)
❺Headline: Is this the most famous bug in the world?
Notes:
- the Guinness World Records folks tweeted out a congratulations to a cockroach which showed up on the Met Gala carpet the other night... "we're delighted to award a Guinness World Records title today to the world's most famous cockroach".
- the photogs seemed to have a laugh about this roach being at the fancy schmancy fundraiser... and it seemed like the bug knew its way around a grand entrance...
- how the bug became so famous is a bit of a mystery... a lot like some other people who showed up at the gala. HiiiiiYoooooooo!!!!
See: met gala roach (https://twitter.com/GWR/status/1653324498215612417?s=20)
Notes:
- the Guinness World Records folks tweeted out a congratulations to a cockroach which showed up on the Met Gala carpet the other night... "we're delighted to award a Guinness World Records title today to the world's most famous cockroach".
- the photogs seemed to have a laugh about this roach being at the fancy schmancy fundraiser... and it seemed like the bug knew its way around a grand entrance...
- how the bug became so famous is a bit of a mystery... a lot like some other people who showed up at the gala. HiiiiiYoooooooo!!!!
See: met gala roach (https://twitter.com/GWR/status/1653324498215612417?s=20)
At first I thought it was a famous person in a bug suit. I don't understand art. https://t.co/4IeHQyXULN
— What a Weird Week Podcast (@whataweirdweek) May 5, 2023
❹Headline: What happens after we die? Science is on it you guys!
Notes:
- there's a report from Science Alert about this finding from the Scientists at University of Michigan...
- they've observed a surge of brain activity in a couple people who passed on...
- this report involved two people... that's all... but it still made the science news because it's so rare to have any actual data when this happens...
- so what does it mean? well, they don't know yet... but science, actual scientists, are trying to figure out what happens when we die and what consciousness is...
- gamma brainwaves, you guys. Are they causing us to have near-death experiences? ... or are they a result of something that's happening to us that science is just starting to get into?? (some of that answer might depend on your life view)
- here's a quote from the article about this scientific quest to understand consciousness... " Scientists have come close, but let's be real: no one is really sure."
See: (https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-surge-of-activity-detected-in-the-brains-of-dying-people)
Notes:
- there's a report from Science Alert about this finding from the Scientists at University of Michigan...
- they've observed a surge of brain activity in a couple people who passed on...
- this report involved two people... that's all... but it still made the science news because it's so rare to have any actual data when this happens...
- so what does it mean? well, they don't know yet... but science, actual scientists, are trying to figure out what happens when we die and what consciousness is...
- gamma brainwaves, you guys. Are they causing us to have near-death experiences? ... or are they a result of something that's happening to us that science is just starting to get into?? (some of that answer might depend on your life view)
- here's a quote from the article about this scientific quest to understand consciousness... " Scientists have come close, but let's be real: no one is really sure."
See: (https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-surge-of-activity-detected-in-the-brains-of-dying-people)
❸Headline: There is competitive jigsaw puzzling and they just set a world record in this...
Notes:
- Spain is apparently a hotbed of puzzle activity ... every year they have the world championships there.
- There are team events and individual competition... the whole article linked below is a bit of a deep dive...
- one of the fastest puzzlers in the world is a lady from Norway and her strategy is a little out there you guys... she works from the middle of the puzzle to the outside.??
- Predictably, Alejandro smashed challenge after challenge.
- the article that the GWR people put out the other day gets into team records and all that stuff if you want to read the whole thing... I'll just mention the individual record... Alejandro Clemente León of Spain was the fastest puzzler, finishing a 500-piecer in 34 minutes and change. They say that would take your average person about four hours to do.
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/26/spain-Guinness-World-Records-largest-jigsaw-puzzle-competition/2221682536521/)
Notes:
- Spain is apparently a hotbed of puzzle activity ... every year they have the world championships there.
- There are team events and individual competition... the whole article linked below is a bit of a deep dive...
- one of the fastest puzzlers in the world is a lady from Norway and her strategy is a little out there you guys... she works from the middle of the puzzle to the outside.??
- Predictably, Alejandro smashed challenge after challenge.
- the article that the GWR people put out the other day gets into team records and all that stuff if you want to read the whole thing... I'll just mention the individual record... Alejandro Clemente León of Spain was the fastest puzzler, finishing a 500-piecer in 34 minutes and change. They say that would take your average person about four hours to do.
See: (https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/26/spain-Guinness-World-Records-largest-jigsaw-puzzle-competition/2221682536521/)
❷Headline: 10 year old kids working at McDonald's in Louisville... and not even getting paid for it...
Notes:
- I will try not to make light of this because it's pretty serious... but also seriously weird that this could happen in the times we're living... you know, with labor codes and whatnot...
- this is a story based on the findings of the US Department of Labor... they were looking into different franchise locations where young people worked...
- that's how they discovered this "unpaid 10 year old working the night shift" situation...
- someone in the story explains that the kids were just visiting a parent who worked the night shift... and mom or dad let them work the drive-thru and the cash... also some floor cleaning was involved... and the fry machine!
- If my mom or dad was the night manager at a McDonald's when I was a kid, I would've spent the whole night perfecting the McNugget McFlurry... no kid chooses to mop the floor, do they? Do you think that was a "mom/ dad made me mop the floor" scenario?
See: (https://news.sky.com/story/two-10-year-old-children-found-working-without-pay-in-us-mcdonalds-branch-12872221)
Notes:
- I will try not to make light of this because it's pretty serious... but also seriously weird that this could happen in the times we're living... you know, with labor codes and whatnot...
- this is a story based on the findings of the US Department of Labor... they were looking into different franchise locations where young people worked...
- that's how they discovered this "unpaid 10 year old working the night shift" situation...
- someone in the story explains that the kids were just visiting a parent who worked the night shift... and mom or dad let them work the drive-thru and the cash... also some floor cleaning was involved... and the fry machine!
- If my mom or dad was the night manager at a McDonald's when I was a kid, I would've spent the whole night perfecting the McNugget McFlurry... no kid chooses to mop the floor, do they? Do you think that was a "mom/ dad made me mop the floor" scenario?
See: (https://news.sky.com/story/two-10-year-old-children-found-working-without-pay-in-us-mcdonalds-branch-12872221)
Notes:
- actual headline from CNN is "Student eats artwork of a banana duct-taped to a museum wall because 'he was hungry'"
- their headline is better, isn't it?
- You guys, I don't understand art... sometimes I see art and I'm like... this is a nice thing... but sometimes I feel like the artist is playing a joke on me...
- this story unfolded the other day when an art student at this museum in Seoul, South Korea, removed a banana that was duct-taped to the wall... you know, as art...
- after removing the banana, this student ate it and then re-stuck the peel onto the wall...
- this sounds familiar maybe? The artwork is called "Comedian" and somebody already ate it once before... after it had sold for $120,000 in 2019.
- wait, it gets weirder... the artist was also accused of stealing another artist's idea... the other artist also liked to work with duct tape and fruit. To be continued on that case.
- wait it gets a little weirder... the duct-tape banana artist who sold "Comedian" for $120,000 is the same artist who made a gold toilet art piece which was worth 6 million dollars... and which was an actual working toilet... it got stolen a few years ago and has never been located.
- btw, the empty shell of a banana peel... was replaced with a fresh banana after this incident. They do that every few days anyway, because: it's a real banana.
See: (https://www.cnn.com/style/article/student-eats-maurizio-cattelan-banana-art-south-korea-intl-hnk/index.html)
Here's the Stream, you cool person...