This is What a Weird Week, a show about weird stuff from this week's news.
Links: Audio Podcast , Shownotes Page , Video Podcast
This is Season 4, Episode 50 first published on Friday Sept 8, 2023.
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Here are the shownotes for this week's episode. Scroll Down to Listen to audio and Watch the video.
❿ Venice, Italy to start charging a cover...
- cover charge will be 5 Euros for tourists who want to enjoy a day-trip to Venice.
- this will only be on select days to start... they're just trying it out...
- People who live in Venice are often out-numbered by tourists and that can be a drag when you're just trying to get across town to your dentist appointment and somebody is like: "Hey, will you take my picture by this boat? I'm Marco Polo everybody!!"
- Will a 5 dollar cover charge stop over-tourism? Highly doubt it.
- Will a 5 dollar cover charge make a ton of money for the people of Venice? Also nope.
- It seems like they are just testing the waters imo...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/venice-start-charging-visitors-entry-fee-next-year-2023-09-05/
❾ Man and Lady suspected of busting a hole through Great Wall of China b/c, wanted to make a shortcut...
- a 38-year-old man and 55-year-old woman who were working nearby have been detained while the investigation continues...
- they are suspected of using an excavator to bust through the Great Wall to create a shortcut for their construction work...
- to the world, that wall is an ancient wonder, but if you gotta go all the way around every time you forget something in your truck, I mean, that thing is just a nuisance... just kidding. This is serious. Let's get that wall repaired!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66714547
❽ Gnomes in the News, repeat: GNOMES IN THE NEWS!
- Police in the UK are warning people about Gnome Crime...
- they say if you find a mysterious garden gnome in your yard, you need to contact the cops and go on high alert (paraphrase)... it could be that robbers have put the gnome in your yard because they're scoping out your place... it's a way to see if you're at home...
- if the robbers come by and see that their gnome hasn't been touched, it tells them that there's probably no one at your house and your place is burglar-friendly.
- if you've been involved in a mystery gnoming, contact your police... then come back and give this podcast a 5 star review... *last part optional.
- idk about this you guys... I mean, the police issued a statement so I guess this is legit, but it almost seems like it came from a the Home Alone movie franchise, doesn't it?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/christmas-gnomes-burglars-police-warning-b2405190.html
❼ Mullet World Record!
- Tami Manis is a nurse from Tennessee who hasn't cut the party-in-the-back since 1990.
- Tami was recently in the news for her world record mullet hairstyle which is longer than she is tall... her mullet is 5 foot 8!
- one time, 33 years ago, she cut her mullet and then missed it so much that she vowed to immediately start growing a new one... and now she has a Guinness World Record!
https://globalnews.ca/news/9934335/guinness-world-record-longest-female-mullet-tami-manis/
❻ Man interviewed on BBC TV by mistake is back in the news...
ICYMI, In 2006, a fella named Guy went to the BBC for a job interview. At the same time, the TV channel was expecting an expert - also named Guy - to do a live TV interview. Long story short, the wrong Guy ended up on TV and he did his best to fake it through the interview. ICYMI, here's that clip...
This fellow is back in the news because he would like some of the income that's been generated by his viral video moment. That's basically the story. For more see https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2023/08/guy-goma-man-mistaken-for-tech-expert-in-viral-video-to-sue-bbc.html and also the Wikipedia for the whole viral event from 2006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Goma_BBC_interview
❺ Record-Breaking Cheese Ball is Enormous!
- The Mexican town of Pijijiapan in the state of Chiapas took four hours to make a whole lotta stringy cheese into the biggest cheese ball in the world!
- This type of cheese (which I will pronounce wrong 100%) is known to be stringy and seems perfect for wrapping into a ball sort of like an elastic band ball... from Wikipedia: "Oaxaca cheese (Spanish: queso Oaxaca) (/wəˈhɑːkə/ wə-HAH-kə), also known as quesillo... a texture similar to mozzarella or string cheese."
- the world record cheese ball weighed 1,230 pounds and was about three feet across.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/food/chiapas-town-sets-new-guinness-world-record-with-giant-cheese/
Watch the cheeseballin' experts in action...
❹ The Real Barbie Oppenheimer...
- a retired Boston University professor with five grandchildren named Barbie Oppenheimer made news after doing an interview with Slate about what it's like to be named Barbie Oppenheimer.
- Seems like it's annoying.
- She seems to get a lot of "Is that your real name or are you messing with me, lady?" whenever Barbie tries to book a hotel room over the phone, that type of thing.
- I think that's about it... like, that's the whole story.
- BTW, if you're like, "I don't get it, what's wrong with her name?"... there were a couple of movies out this Summer which may have slipped under your radar for whatever reason ... we can't expect you to keep up with every trend of the Summer, right?!
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/barbie-oppenheimer-real-name-b2402865.html
❸ Extreme Athlete's Dream of Hamster-wheeling Across Ocean Thwarted!
- Ray "Reza" Baluchi is a fella who has this giant, floating hamster wheel that he wanted to use to cross the Atlantic.
- Somebody, and it seems like it was the US Coast Guard, has taken to calling the contraption a "Hamster Wheel of Doom".
- The US Coast Guard and Ray Baluchi have had run-ins. It seems like these run-ins are related to Ray wanting to do incredibly dangerous things like cross the Atlantic in something called a Hamster Wheel of Doom. Meanwhile the US Coast Guard wants to save Ray's life by not allowing him to attempt these stunts. (paraphrase of longer article)
- Ray is accused of an altercation in the latest run-in, which took place 70 nautical miles east of Georgia.
- official charges are "obstructing the boarding of a vessel by a federal authority" (maximum sentence would be five years) ... also charged with "violating a past Coast Guard captain's order."
- see the Hamster Wheel of Doom and read the story at the link... but please don't build one for a dangerous ocean voyage...
❷ Tripod the Three-Legged Bear Quenches Thirst with White Claws... Is it Possible that this was a publicity stunt for White Claw?
- happened in Lake Mary, Florida.
- a three-legged bear stole some White Claw hard seltzers from their patio fridge.
- it looks like the family has a screened-in pool enclosure and that's where their outdoor fridge was... this three-legged bear, which the neighborhood calls Tripod, got into that fridge and was ready to party. (*citation needed, not sure if bears are ready to party, or just destroy*)
- they got the whole thing on video.
- I gotta be honest, at first I was like, "Not weird enough to make the weird news podcast!" because we've had quite a few bear stories this Spring and Summer... the bear that climb into the second story window... the bear that got high on cocaine and chased those movie stars* (*might have been a movie, actually*) ... but this bear is missing a claw, and goes for the White Claws? I mean, if White Claw doesn't licensed that footage and give that Florida family a lifetime supply, then I will protest!!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/three-legged-bear-tripod-takes-white-claw-family-back-yard/
Missed last week's Top Ten? It's still online!! Recap:
10 Very Long Stick of Meat makes headlines...
9 Very Long Sandwich also makes headlines...
8 Very Fast Remote Controlled Car Breaks Record and also Explodes...
7 This just in: there are giant tanker trucks out there that have wine in them?
6 We just came through the worst time for people taking a sick day... did you notice?
5 Swedish Man eats something gross very quickly...
4 News Crew Robbed while covering robbery story...
3 Gator in Jersey again...
2 Nope
HM Mystery Ducks
HM Loch Ness Monster mystery solved! JK! LOL
1 Hugging World Record Attempt
To listen to old episodes or see old shownotes, go to www.Shownotes.page
❶ Donut World Record! Congratulations to the Queen of Donuts!!
- A comedian/ social media star from New York stacked 13 donuts in a minute and that donut tower is a world record!
- no pressure, but she also did this on live TV!
- Congratulations to Robyn Schall, your new Queen of Donuts.
- If she ever has to pay for another donut in her life, that's just wrong. She's the Queen of Donuts for cryin' out loud!
- You should try to beat this record on the weekend... even if you lose, you've got delicious donuts to eat!!
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/09/06/Guinness-World-Records-doughnut-stacking/2721694008492/
Watch the video!
@sportstalkprime A World Record was broken today! A new Queen of Donuts has been crowned, @RobynSchallComic ♬ original sound - Sports Talk On Prime
Here's the stream, thanks for scrolling all the way down! Hero!
Here are the video podcasts from YouTube...
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