What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the weird stuff from this week's news. For Full Shownotes see https://www.shownotes.page ... search "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
(transcript) Hi Friends, I'm Scott. This is What a Weird Week where you can get caught up on the weird news of the week. For audio, video, and shownotes see www.shownotes.page! Here's Season 5, Episode 03 first published on Friday Jan. 26, 2024 ...
❿ Dominoes Pizza Heat Suit Utilizes Pizza Delivery Bag Technology to Spread Warmth...
- If you can't click the link I'll describe it... a blue and red snowsuit that sort of looks like a fitted sleeping bag with built-in mittens... does not look as fashionable as it does warm... are the Teletubbies still a reference? Wear this and you'll be mistaken for a Teletubby who has taken a pizza delivery job.
- it "has a handy front pocket to store your Garlic and Herb dip and a clear pocket for your smartphone"
- it "has a handy front pocket to store your Garlic and Herb dip and a clear pocket for your smartphone"
- it does look warm if you live in a cold place... or could be used as a torture suit if you live in a warm place I guess... according to the Daily Mail article this suit keeps things warm for hours...
- The Daily Mail says the pizza bag suit is in testing phase rn, and after that, no idea how much it would cost or where you could buy it... to be continued...
hot hot hot!
❾ Chinese marathoner disqualified for chain smoking through the entire race...
- the fellow's name is Uncle Chen... he is 52... he finished the race in 3hrs and 33mins! (winner's time was 2:06:46).
- this was at the Xiamen Marathon... tens of thousands of runners take part in this...
- official ruling was disqualification smoking on the track.
Uncle Chen
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The Top Ten Weird News Stories of the Week: this is What a Weird Week. 
The Top Ten Weird News Stories of the Week: this is What a Weird Week.
❽ Chicago Rat Hole is like a phoenix from the ashes!!
icymi, we had Chicago Rat Hole coverage last week. It is a hole in the sidewalk on Roscoe St. in Chicago. The Rat Hole has united the good folks of Chicago... there were social media posts and an increase in tourism* (citation needed)... but since then, somebody tried to fill-in/ pave over the Rat Hole. Luckily, the act of vandalism was discovered before the plaster had hardened and the Chicago Rat Hole was restored to it's original greatness... #ReturnoftheRatHole
Chicago Rat Hole
❼ Stanley Mugs: Why and How Much?
icymi, Stanley brand tumblers or coffee cups or whatever you call them are very trendy right now because of some serious marketing efforts (btw, around here if you say Stanley Cups people think about hockey so I try to avoid that one for clarity)
- a 23 year-old lady from California is in the news this week after getting arrested for allegedly stealing $2500 worth of Stanleys.
- Roseville, California police were called to a store after employees say a lady filled her cart with Stanleys and then just refused to pay... she just put them in her vehicle and took off... police later pulled her over and found 65 Stanley products worth around $2500 in the vehicle.
- Roseville, California police were called to a store after employees say a lady filled her cart with Stanleys and then just refused to pay... she just put them in her vehicle and took off... police later pulled her over and found 65 Stanley products worth around $2500 in the vehicle.
The police quote from the article: "While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits..."
look at all those Stanleys! via Roseville California Police FB
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This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for being here.
This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for being here.
❻ For Sale: Winston Churchill's False Teeth...
icymi, Winston Churchill was prime minister of Britain during WW2.
Sometimes, to deliver certain speeches, he would wear a specific set of false teeth.
Now you can buy those false teeth... they expect that the teeth will go for ~ $14000 Canadian (maybe like $10,000 US) when they get auctioned off on Feb 6th.
- they say Churchill used to carry around two sets of teeth in case he had to pop those in and make a rousing speech...
- the article also says when Churchill got angry he would throw his teeth across the room.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/winston-churchill-s-wartime-false-teeth-are-up-for-sale-1.6733743
icymi, Winston Churchill was prime minister of Britain during WW2.
Sometimes, to deliver certain speeches, he would wear a specific set of false teeth.
Now you can buy those false teeth... they expect that the teeth will go for ~ $14000 Canadian (maybe like $10,000 US) when they get auctioned off on Feb 6th.
- they say Churchill used to carry around two sets of teeth in case he had to pop those in and make a rousing speech...
- the article also says when Churchill got angry he would throw his teeth across the room.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/winston-churchill-s-wartime-false-teeth-are-up-for-sale-1.6733743
*artist representation
❺ The Swearing Parrots of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park:
- A few years ago a wildlife park in England received a donation of 5 African Gray Parrots who happened to swear a lot...
- they had kept these swearing parrots isolated so that they wouldn't spread their swearing ways... and hopefully they would start keeping it clean...
- The wildlife park has gotten three more swearing birds donated... Eric, Sheila, and Captain.
- It was decided that all the swearing birds should be moved back into the gen pop to see what happens...
- How sweary are these birds? When the park folks went to move them, (quote from the article) “the language that came out of their carrying boxes was phenomenal, really bad. Not normal swear words, these were proper expletives...”
- So now they've got all 8 birds swearbirds© in with 90-something non-swearing birds.
- Fingers crossed!
- They've installed big ol' signs warning people that the parrots are sweary. So far no complaints... the park actually says that they hear more customers swearing at parrots than parrots swearing at customers...
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/travel/lincolnshire-wildlife-park-potty-mouthed-parrots-intl-scli-scn-gbr/index.html
- A few years ago a wildlife park in England received a donation of 5 African Gray Parrots who happened to swear a lot...
- they had kept these swearing parrots isolated so that they wouldn't spread their swearing ways... and hopefully they would start keeping it clean...
- The wildlife park has gotten three more swearing birds donated... Eric, Sheila, and Captain.
- It was decided that all the swearing birds should be moved back into the gen pop to see what happens...
- How sweary are these birds? When the park folks went to move them, (quote from the article) “the language that came out of their carrying boxes was phenomenal, really bad. Not normal swear words, these were proper expletives...”
- So now they've got all 8 birds swearbirds© in with 90-something non-swearing birds.
- Fingers crossed!
- They've installed big ol' signs warning people that the parrots are sweary. So far no complaints... the park actually says that they hear more customers swearing at parrots than parrots swearing at customers...
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/travel/lincolnshire-wildlife-park-potty-mouthed-parrots-intl-scli-scn-gbr/index.html
so sweary. you can tell.
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You're listening to the What a Weird Week Program. It's weird news!
You're listening to the What a Weird Week Program. It's weird news!
❹ Study indicates that Food grown in Urban Gardens has a much Bigger Carbon Footprint than traditional Farms or Sources... that's weird, right?!
- You know those neighborhood gardens that pop up at the community center or the kids' school? ... well somehow they are worse for the environment... they generate around 6 times more greenhouse gas than a conventional farm that grows similar stuff...
- How is this possible? A little garden plot growing beans next to the Y parking lot is worse than Farmer Clem's Big Ol' Bean Farm?
Well there's a couple things... first we should say that Urban Farms have other benefits... like giving people a chance to socialize (that's good for us), and Urban Farms give some people easier access to fresh-grown fruit and veg, and a lot of times an Urban Farm is better use of the land than using it for some sort of junk yard... but here's why those Urban Gardens are worse for greenhouse gasses... partly it has to do with the stuff we use to construct the Urban Garden... the actual material that we gotta source to make those garden beds, etc... then, based on this research paper your average Urban Garden might only be around for a few years, maybe up to a decade, where a commercial farm can be around for a lot longer and produce bigger crops... is a lot more efficient and ends up having less of an impact on greenhouse gasses...
- SO... to make Urban Farming better we could try building them to last longer (the article says raised beds would last longer than ones on the ground as an example... the longer the Urban Garden can last, the more chance it has to undo the initial greenhouse gas impact...) (the link has more suggestions too, you should click that thing...)
- also the paper indicates that certain foods have a are better carbon footprint than others... Urban Farm Tomatoes had a lower carbon footprint than greenhouse tomatoes...
All this was me paraphrasing an article that paraphrased a scientific paper so... click link/ receive knowledge!
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-food-urban-agriculture-carbon-footprint.html
- You know those neighborhood gardens that pop up at the community center or the kids' school? ... well somehow they are worse for the environment... they generate around 6 times more greenhouse gas than a conventional farm that grows similar stuff...
- How is this possible? A little garden plot growing beans next to the Y parking lot is worse than Farmer Clem's Big Ol' Bean Farm?
Well there's a couple things... first we should say that Urban Farms have other benefits... like giving people a chance to socialize (that's good for us), and Urban Farms give some people easier access to fresh-grown fruit and veg, and a lot of times an Urban Farm is better use of the land than using it for some sort of junk yard... but here's why those Urban Gardens are worse for greenhouse gasses... partly it has to do with the stuff we use to construct the Urban Garden... the actual material that we gotta source to make those garden beds, etc... then, based on this research paper your average Urban Garden might only be around for a few years, maybe up to a decade, where a commercial farm can be around for a lot longer and produce bigger crops... is a lot more efficient and ends up having less of an impact on greenhouse gasses...
- SO... to make Urban Farming better we could try building them to last longer (the article says raised beds would last longer than ones on the ground as an example... the longer the Urban Garden can last, the more chance it has to undo the initial greenhouse gas impact...) (the link has more suggestions too, you should click that thing...)
- also the paper indicates that certain foods have a are better carbon footprint than others... Urban Farm Tomatoes had a lower carbon footprint than greenhouse tomatoes...
All this was me paraphrasing an article that paraphrased a scientific paper so... click link/ receive knowledge!
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-food-urban-agriculture-carbon-footprint.html
you two get along!
❸ The plane that had a landing wheel come off just before takeoff...
So, we've had a plane door flying off in the news (https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-incident-involving-missing-door-plug-boeing-737/story?id=106191494) ... and a plane with missing bolts that got noticed by a passenger (https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2024/01/23/virgin-atlantic-flight-canceled-missing-bolts-wing/72328253007/) ... and now a plane that loses a landing wheel on the runway before takeoff... audio from Philip Defranco...
- This was a Boeing 757 plane in Atlanta last weekend...
- quote from CNN: the "nose wheel came off and rolled down the hill"...
- No injuries
- That's pretty much the story... not fun to think about parts falling off of planes... so I'll link to a resource to lessen flying anxiety (https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/specific-phobias/treatment/8-Steps-to-Overcoming-Your-Fear-of-Flying) it would also help my personal anxiety level if parts didn't fall off of planes... like, remember when we used to complain about the long lineup going through security... good times.
Here's the soundbite from the Philip DeFranco Show *may contain swears* https://youtu.be/gKmGfoPJ8Tc?feature=shared&t=325
and story link https://www.cnn.com/travel/boeing-757-nose-wheel/index.html
So, we've had a plane door flying off in the news (https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-incident-involving-missing-door-plug-boeing-737/story?id=106191494) ... and a plane with missing bolts that got noticed by a passenger (https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2024/01/23/virgin-atlantic-flight-canceled-missing-bolts-wing/72328253007/) ... and now a plane that loses a landing wheel on the runway before takeoff... audio from Philip Defranco...
- This was a Boeing 757 plane in Atlanta last weekend...
- quote from CNN: the "nose wheel came off and rolled down the hill"...
- No injuries
- That's pretty much the story... not fun to think about parts falling off of planes... so I'll link to a resource to lessen flying anxiety (https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/specific-phobias/treatment/8-Steps-to-Overcoming-Your-Fear-of-Flying) it would also help my personal anxiety level if parts didn't fall off of planes... like, remember when we used to complain about the long lineup going through security... good times.
Here's the soundbite from the Philip DeFranco Show *may contain swears* https://youtu.be/gKmGfoPJ8Tc?feature=shared&t=325
and story link https://www.cnn.com/travel/boeing-757-nose-wheel/index.html
file photo
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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.
❷ Butter Chicken Lawsuit in the News...
Two Indian Restaurant chains are in a legal fight over who invented butter chicken...
- one restaurant chain filed a lawsuit against a rival because that first restaurant is laying claim to butter chicken (the claim is that their founder invented the dish in the 1930s).
- both restaurant chains have butter chicken claims on their websites...
- The lawsuit is over 2700 pages and seeks $240,000 in damages...
- I had no idea there was such butter chicken passion and this seems like it could get nasty...
- The accused restaurant has four weeks to file a response so, to be continued...
Two Indian Restaurant chains are in a legal fight over who invented butter chicken...
- one restaurant chain filed a lawsuit against a rival because that first restaurant is laying claim to butter chicken (the claim is that their founder invented the dish in the 1930s).
- both restaurant chains have butter chicken claims on their websites...
- The lawsuit is over 2700 pages and seeks $240,000 in damages...
- I had no idea there was such butter chicken passion and this seems like it could get nasty...
- The accused restaurant has four weeks to file a response so, to be continued...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/butter-chicken-inventor-recipe-india-restaurants-court-battle/
you two get along!
🍅 Large Cabbage in the news... I got this from Huffpost this week but I see that it showed up on some sources a little bit sooner... Jenny, a lady in Louisiana, grew a monster 44-pound cabbage (surprised but it's not a world record... it is a State record though)
- The Monster Cabbage was harvested in December and the dept. of agriculture did the measuring... it weighed 44.115 pounds and had a circumference of more than 7 feet. Jenny grew the beast cabbage from a seed she planted in July. Jenny made casseroles and served it with ham. It's almost all gone now... and Jenny is “tired of eating cabbage.”
https://www.kktv.com/2024/01/11/home-gardener-grows-giant-44-pound-cabbage-sets-state-record/
- The Monster Cabbage was harvested in December and the dept. of agriculture did the measuring... it weighed 44.115 pounds and had a circumference of more than 7 feet. Jenny grew the beast cabbage from a seed she planted in July. Jenny made casseroles and served it with ham. It's almost all gone now... and Jenny is “tired of eating cabbage.”
https://www.kktv.com/2024/01/11/home-gardener-grows-giant-44-pound-cabbage-sets-state-record/
also, btw, the world record cabbage was 138.25 lbs https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/heaviest-cabbage
Big Ol' Cabbage
Hang on for number one!!
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Catch up on the weird news of the week with What a Weird Week.
❶ Love and Heartbreak, and bugs at the Zoo...
- The San Antonio Zoo is bringing back their Valentine fundraiser where you pay them money, they name a cockroach after your lousy stinkin' ex, and then that bug gets fed to a zoo animal...
- It's called Cry Me a Cockroach, *but you can also pay more and have a rodent named after your ex...
- The most-requested ex names btw, are David, Chris, Michael, Sarah, Amanda and Emily...
- this fundraiser has made over $225,000 since 2020.
- *note to self: spite-based promotions seem to make money*
https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2024/01/24/san-antonio-zoo-cockroach-valentines
❶ Love and Heartbreak, and bugs at the Zoo...
- The San Antonio Zoo is bringing back their Valentine fundraiser where you pay them money, they name a cockroach after your lousy stinkin' ex, and then that bug gets fed to a zoo animal...
- It's called Cry Me a Cockroach, *but you can also pay more and have a rodent named after your ex...
- The most-requested ex names btw, are David, Chris, Michael, Sarah, Amanda and Emily...
- this fundraiser has made over $225,000 since 2020.
- *note to self: spite-based promotions seem to make money*
https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2024/01/24/san-antonio-zoo-cockroach-valentines
cry me a river, Steve
... that's this week's What a Weird Week program. For Shownotes and more go to ShowNotes Dot Page or search "What a Weird Week" wherever you get podcasts. Streamers, if you're tuned in live, thanks! Every weekend we are one of
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