What a Weird Week is a show about the weird stuff that happened in the news this week. For Full Shownotes see https://www.shownotes.page ... Subscribe to the Audio Podcast at https://kite.link/weird ... and see the Video Podcast at https://www.youtube.com/@weirdweekpod
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(transcript) Hi Friends, I'm Scott. This is the What a Weird Week Show, your Weird News Catch-up in a Top Ten Countdown. For audio, video, and shownotes see www.shownotes.page! Here's Season 4, Episode 63 first published on Friday Dec. 8th, 2023...
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❿ The Hopper and the Copper: Kangaroo arrested in Ontario, Canada...
- Escaped kangaroo gets a lil punchy with the cops during arrest...
- This happened in Oshawa, Ontario east of Toronto... a kangaroo got loose last Thursday and was on the run last weekend... then early this week the CBC reported on the kangaroo's re-capture...
- Animal said to be in good health despite a weekend in the wild
- After receiving expert advice from a kangaroo handler, police officers "just grabbed it by the tail"
- This made news because: A) a kangaroo hopping along the side of the Trans Canada Highway aint something you see every day, and B) the kangaroo punched one of the arresting officers and the body cam footage got released...
- BTW, the escape happened like this: kangaroo was in a truck bound for a zoo in Quebec... and it hopped over its handlers and made its escape when they were pulled over.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/oshawa-kangaroo-zoo-1.7048082 and also https://www.durhamregion.com/news/now-you-have-video-evidence-durham-police-share-body-camera-footage-of-kangaroo-capture-on/article_7cf01cec-7c30-50b2-8e7d-ef6d2374189e.html
- This happened in Oshawa, Ontario east of Toronto... a kangaroo got loose last Thursday and was on the run last weekend... then early this week the CBC reported on the kangaroo's re-capture...
- Animal said to be in good health despite a weekend in the wild
- After receiving expert advice from a kangaroo handler, police officers "just grabbed it by the tail"
- This made news because: A) a kangaroo hopping along the side of the Trans Canada Highway aint something you see every day, and B) the kangaroo punched one of the arresting officers and the body cam footage got released...
- BTW, the escape happened like this: kangaroo was in a truck bound for a zoo in Quebec... and it hopped over its handlers and made its escape when they were pulled over.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/oshawa-kangaroo-zoo-1.7048082 and also https://www.durhamregion.com/news/now-you-have-video-evidence-durham-police-share-body-camera-footage-of-kangaroo-capture-on/article_7cf01cec-7c30-50b2-8e7d-ef6d2374189e.html
❾ The most-read article on Wikipedia for 2023 was...
ChatGPT. At time of recording it has close to 50 million page views. Here's the top five...
1) ChatGPT, 2) Deaths in 2023, 3) 2023 Cricket World Cup, 4) Indian Premier League, and 5) Oppenheimer.
If you want to use that to craft some hilarious comedy when you're sitting around with friends and family this holiday season, there are some comedy opportunities for sure... maybe "Hey everyone, did you hear that ChatGPT was the most-read article on Wikipedia this year? ... The least-read article was the one about my love life... The least-read article was the one about Uncle Gary's thoughts on politics... The least-read article was the one about how my family doesn't take an interest in anything I do... The least-read article was the one about that time dad finished a really hard Sudoku (they finally made a Wikipedia about it dad, so you can stop mentioning it..."
As you can see, there is comedy gold ready to be mined...
https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2023/12/05/announcing-wikipedias-most-popular-articles-of-2023/
1) ChatGPT, 2) Deaths in 2023, 3) 2023 Cricket World Cup, 4) Indian Premier League, and 5) Oppenheimer.
If you want to use that to craft some hilarious comedy when you're sitting around with friends and family this holiday season, there are some comedy opportunities for sure... maybe "Hey everyone, did you hear that ChatGPT was the most-read article on Wikipedia this year? ... The least-read article was the one about my love life... The least-read article was the one about Uncle Gary's thoughts on politics... The least-read article was the one about how my family doesn't take an interest in anything I do... The least-read article was the one about that time dad finished a really hard Sudoku (they finally made a Wikipedia about it dad, so you can stop mentioning it..."
As you can see, there is comedy gold ready to be mined...
https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2023/12/05/announcing-wikipedias-most-popular-articles-of-2023/
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A top ten of weird news items... the What a Weird Week Show!
A top ten of weird news items... the What a Weird Week Show!
❽ The Golden Mole is back you guys! Or, maybe don't call it a comeback?
Researchers have been trying to find the Golden Mole in South Africa for months now... they are described as very timid (the moles, not the researchers.) They sort of swim through sand, and have very good hearing so they will hear you coming and hide... the last official sighting of a Golden Mole was 1936. There was concern that maybe these moles had gone extinct. They did not go extinct... they're still around you guys!
Researchers have been trying to find the Golden Mole in South Africa for months now... they are described as very timid (the moles, not the researchers.) They sort of swim through sand, and have very good hearing so they will hear you coming and hide... the last official sighting of a Golden Mole was 1936. There was concern that maybe these moles had gone extinct. They did not go extinct... they're still around you guys!
- one of the heroes of this story is Jessie the Border Collie dog who helped sniff out the trail of these elusive moles.
Now that they know where these moles are the researchers can get to protecting them from extinction.
*not made out of actual gold btw. In case you failed biology.
❼ This one via Hoops at UPI... I know it's weird news and you got to report that stuff Hoops, but IDK... a fake deer that you'd use for target practice for bow hunting was vandalized... luckily the owner had security footage... it was a real deer that damaged the fake deer after that real deer fell in love and wanted to show his love... the deer statue's legs fell off and the article says the real deer also toppled to the ground. Story over.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/12/05/deer-statue-vandalized-buck-tried-to-mate/5541701798934/ Oh, what's that? You want to see the video?
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Thanks for being here for our weird news countdown! What a Weird Week.
Thanks for being here for our weird news countdown! What a Weird Week.
❻ The Garden Ornament turned out to be a Bomb. Not 'THE Bomb' like "Hey that garden ornament is the bomb!" but rather, "we're calling the bomb squad to dispose of that thing,"
- Mr. and Mrs. Edwards of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, UK used to bang their gardening tools on the thing to get mud off them... almost like a scene from a delightful British comedy...
- the previous owner of the house where the Edwards live found that bomb around a hundred years ago and put it in the yard as a decoration...
- to be fair, the Edwards thought it was a shell of some sort, but they thought it wasn't explosive anymore but it turned out that was wrong... it was a 64 pound "naval projectile".
- the other day the Edwards got a knock on the door... it was a police officer who said he had spotted the explosive and to expect the bomb squad.
- the thing was removed and detonated in a remote location...
- The Edwards were sad to see their old friend blowuptuated :(
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67602627 and see the video https://youtu.be/jhtKe6s0VqI?feature=shared
❺ A lady who threw a burrito at an employee in a Chipotle has been sentenced to working in fast food...
- happened in Ohio...
- at sentencing, the judge said "This is not Real Housewives of Parma (Ohio)"
- the lady was convicted of assault after a September outburst that was captured on video and shared to social media...
- the lady was convicted of assault after a September outburst that was captured on video and shared to social media...
- some of the court dialogue quite fantastic... the lady apologized in court but also said her food was "disgusting-looking...” then the judge was like "I bet you won’t be happy with the food you are going to get in ... jail...”
- the lady has to pay a fine and work at a fast food place for at least 20 hours per week for two months. She also has to serve 30 days in jail.
- the lady has to pay a fine and work at a fast food place for at least 20 hours per week for two months. She also has to serve 30 days in jail.
file photo
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You're listening to the What a Weird Week Show! Weird news! Top tens! Together at last!
You're listening to the What a Weird Week Show! Weird news! Top tens! Together at last!
❹ World's First AI-written Law gets voted in...
- Is anyone else surprised that it wasn't something about bowing down to our robot overlords?
- this is in Porto Alegre, Brazil where they had a piece of legislation which seems nice... it's about not being charged to replace your water meter if it gets stolen. That seems fair and good.
- the legislation was voted on and passed, then someone on city council revealed that the entire thing was written by a chabot.
- the councilman thought it would be distracting if he revealed the thing was written by ai before the vote (*paraphrase)
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-artificial-intelligence-porto-alegre-5afd1240afe7b6ac202bb0bbc45e08d4- the legislation was voted on and passed, then someone on city council revealed that the entire thing was written by a chabot.
- the councilman thought it would be distracting if he revealed the thing was written by ai before the vote (*paraphrase)
❸The top advertisement of 2023 (according to AdWeek) is...
First here's Number Two, McDonald's Grimace Birthday ad...
and the best ad of the year according to ADWEEK is the all pink billboard advertising Barbie...
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We're almost to the number one weird story of the week... this is the What a Weird Week Show.
We're almost to the number one weird story of the week... this is the What a Weird Week Show.
Honorable Mention!
CoCo the Flying Cat gets honorable mention this week after a video of this cat from Newfoundland got picked up by national news service the Canadian Press. Coco the cat got chased up a power pole by a dog and after being stuck up there awhile, the power company was called and an employee climbed that pole to rescue Coco... then, just as the power company hero was about to make the rescue, Coco jumped off the power pole and landed safely on the ground. What a showboat!
❷ Another publicity stunt that knocked it out of the park...
You go into a store in this fast-paced time of shopping, you see one of those digital speed limit signs like they have in front a school or something, except it's telling you your walking speed at the mall... then the sign tells you to slow down and gives you a ticket... and that but wait, it's not a speeding ticket for shopping too fast, instead it's a delicious Nestle Turtle to enjoy.
You go into a store in this fast-paced time of shopping, you see one of those digital speed limit signs like they have in front a school or something, except it's telling you your walking speed at the mall... then the sign tells you to slow down and gives you a ticket... and that but wait, it's not a speeding ticket for shopping too fast, instead it's a delicious Nestle Turtle to enjoy.
Do they have Nestle Turtles in the USA?
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Catch up on the weird news of the week, this is the Weird What a Weird Week Show!
❶ via NeuroScienceNews.com: "Optimism Linked to Poor Decision-Making and Lower Cognitive Skills"
❶ via NeuroScienceNews.com: "Optimism Linked to Poor Decision-Making and Lower Cognitive Skills"
- idk you guys... I always heard that a positive outlook was good for you, and now... this study throws a wrench into things... the takeaway is, perhaps, don't be waaaaaaaay optimistic... that the key to life is "balance", maybe. See the link for the deep dive on this...
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nothing matters?
That's the What a Weird Week Show! For Shownotes and more go to ShowNotes Dot Page. See you next Friday for another countdown of weird news on What a Weird Week! If you're tuned in live, thanks! Every weekend we are one of
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