What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the weird news of the week. https://www.shownotes.page or search "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
(Begin episode transcript) Hi Friends, I'm Scott. This is What a Weird Week where we catch you up on the weird news of the week. For transcript/ shownotes/ podcast stuff see www.shownotes.page! Here's Season 5, Episode 11 first published on Friday March 15th 2024 ...
❿ Return of the Monoliths!
We covered the monoliths when they were in the news in 2020 after being discovered at a few places around the world... Were they art installments? Or was that just a cover story for some sort of alien structure?
... Big metal Silver rectangles... sometimes a little bit different in shape... maybe 10 feet tall... out in the middle of nowhere... What the heck were those about? An artist collective did lay claim to the monoliths four years ago... but now the 'Liths are back?! A fellow was in the news this week for finding another one... This time it was in Wales... in a place that's very hard to get to with a vehicle. So, It's not like it fell off a delivery truck. I don't understand art but I'm guessing art... but if it's something evil disguised as art, how would we even know?
We covered the monoliths when they were in the news in 2020 after being discovered at a few places around the world... Were they art installments? Or was that just a cover story for some sort of alien structure?
... Big metal Silver rectangles... sometimes a little bit different in shape... maybe 10 feet tall... out in the middle of nowhere... What the heck were those about? An artist collective did lay claim to the monoliths four years ago... but now the 'Liths are back?! A fellow was in the news this week for finding another one... This time it was in Wales... in a place that's very hard to get to with a vehicle. So, It's not like it fell off a delivery truck. I don't understand art but I'm guessing art... but if it's something evil disguised as art, how would we even know?
‘It looked like a UFO’: hiker discovers mysterious silver monolith in Powys https://t.co/Do5skI5uOr
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 12, 2024
❾ Cats for books!
In Worcester, Massachusetts the public library is having a late book fee amnesty... If you have an overdue book at their library, for the month of March, instead of Cash Money you can submit cat photos and have your debts paid. No cash needed! Also, move over Bitcoin... now it's cat photos! They call it March meows. I hope it catches on because, wouldn't it be great to pay for other stuff with cat photos? Vending machine snacks maybe? Pay off speeding tickets? Question: if cat photos do become the new currency, would you already be a millionaire?
In Worcester, Massachusetts the public library is having a late book fee amnesty... If you have an overdue book at their library, for the month of March, instead of Cash Money you can submit cat photos and have your debts paid. No cash needed! Also, move over Bitcoin... now it's cat photos! They call it March meows. I hope it catches on because, wouldn't it be great to pay for other stuff with cat photos? Vending machine snacks maybe? Pay off speeding tickets? Question: if cat photos do become the new currency, would you already be a millionaire?
Next the blue dragon invasion...
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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 Spring break is being ruined by Blue Dragons.
This is happening on the beaches of Texas, where Spring Breakers were cautioned about swimming this week... because the ocean is teeming with blue dragons! Blue dragons look absolutely incredible! In the article we link to they described them as looking like a some sort of Pokemon. They've been washing up on the beach. And they can do you some damage. They're related to or compared to in the article to Man O War or some sort of jellyfish/ sea slug... they mostly just drift, but the way the winds have been blowing, they've been drifting and washing ashore on Texas beaches. And they will sting you up like crazy. They can be 3 times worse than getting stung by a Man O War... I had never even heard of these things... how they end up being such such potent stingers is a little bit Bonkers... They eat the tentacles of another stingy things in the ocean. And they store all that sting power up and then when the blue dragon is agitated it'll release all that sting energy. *paraphrase.
This is happening on the beaches of Texas, where Spring Breakers were cautioned about swimming this week... because the ocean is teeming with blue dragons! Blue dragons look absolutely incredible! In the article we link to they described them as looking like a some sort of Pokemon. They've been washing up on the beach. And they can do you some damage. They're related to or compared to in the article to Man O War or some sort of jellyfish/ sea slug... they mostly just drift, but the way the winds have been blowing, they've been drifting and washing ashore on Texas beaches. And they will sting you up like crazy. They can be 3 times worse than getting stung by a Man O War... I had never even heard of these things... how they end up being such such potent stingers is a little bit Bonkers... They eat the tentacles of another stingy things in the ocean. And they store all that sting power up and then when the blue dragon is agitated it'll release all that sting energy. *paraphrase.
Rarely seen 'blue dragons' are disrupting spring breakers' beach plans https://t.co/4ydrbb3F9i
— BBC Future (@BBC_Future) March 15, 2024
❼ Dog research in the news and it's good news.
Having pooches in our lives is good for our brains and overall overall health!? This study looked into different outcomes when us human people types interacted with pooches... Walking a poodle can relax you... Brushing a pooch can help you concentrate... Playing with a dog is very good for human health!? How great is that!? This article goes back to some previous studies which indicated that having a pooch as a companion will improve your mood and help your blood pressure... and lower stress. Even looking a dog in the eye is good for you, it might increase your levels of oxytocin so that you feel love and trust. You you feel that love and trust in your brain mind?! Just by looking a dog in the eyes? How weird is that? But pretty fantastic. That's kind of the gist of the study, interacting with the dog is good for you.
Generally speaking. I'm sure if you're wearing a suit made out of roast beef and you're walking through a junkyard, maybe that dog interaction won't end well...
Having pooches in our lives is good for our brains and overall overall health!? This study looked into different outcomes when us human people types interacted with pooches... Walking a poodle can relax you... Brushing a pooch can help you concentrate... Playing with a dog is very good for human health!? How great is that!? This article goes back to some previous studies which indicated that having a pooch as a companion will improve your mood and help your blood pressure... and lower stress. Even looking a dog in the eye is good for you, it might increase your levels of oxytocin so that you feel love and trust. You you feel that love and trust in your brain mind?! Just by looking a dog in the eyes? How weird is that? But pretty fantastic. That's kind of the gist of the study, interacting with the dog is good for you.
Generally speaking. I'm sure if you're wearing a suit made out of roast beef and you're walking through a junkyard, maybe that dog interaction won't end well...
Next, The rats are getting high on the seized supply.
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This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for listening and subscribing.
This is What a Weird Week. Thanks for listening and subscribing.
❻ Rats getting high on seized supply! The New Orleans Police Department are going through it right now with their headquarters. There are some different things going on... I hear the elevator is not working very well... there is mold... and there is a rat infestation that they're dealing with. This is their building on Broad Street. These rats aren't just regular pesty pests... these are rats have become enamored with eating marijuana from the evidence room... and this famously got picked up by a lot of news orgs and the late night shows because the quote from the city council meeting is so matter-of-fact... "They're all high."
You don't want rats in your police headquarters... but worse is if those rats have been dining on doobies... the ol Doobie Sandwich! Maybe it aint so bad... if the rats are laid back on the stuff... but there's a chance that they might get paranoid isn't there? Nervous rats can't be good.
You don't want rats in your police headquarters... but worse is if those rats have been dining on doobies... the ol Doobie Sandwich! Maybe it aint so bad... if the rats are laid back on the stuff... but there's a chance that they might get paranoid isn't there? Nervous rats can't be good.
❺ The Gas Pump Glitch... I got to say I love this story and maybe that's wrong... the woman who allegedly figured out this glitch at the gas pump... and allegedly stole $27000 worth of gas! This is in Nebraska... a lady figured out (Allegedly) that if you swipe your rewards card twice, the gas pump goes into demo mode and you can get free gas. I don't know how this person figured it out... and to get $27000 worth of free gas, it feels like a Robin Hood story... I am sorry if that's wrong... stealing is wrong. But this one is delightful. Click the show notes for the whole thing.
Next: More Weird!
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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 Bake Shop Accused of Re-selling Dunkin' Donuts as Their Own...
Bake shop accused of re-selling Dunkin' Donuts as their own... And representing it as a vegan and gluten-free doughnut.... one market on social media is accusing a vegan bakery in Long Island of doing this... they have photos and they do testing. It appears as though there is gluten In that doughnut... The doughnut looks like a vanilla donut with pink purple icing and then what I would describe if I had to as Meow Mix cat food on top, but really it's candy letters... The letter D made out of candy... the color palette does sort of remind you of a Dunkin' donut... It is a long and in-depth article with lots of donut photos and test results... there's a lot happening.
❸ How Big is the World's Heaviest Blueberry? Monstrous. From my future best friend Hoops Hooper at United Press International. He's the weird news Guru. The berry is .72 oz / roughly 20g. It's about what your average Mouse weighs. Almost as heavy as a AA battery. 3 times as heavy as a human eye. This is an Australian blueberry which has attained Guinness World Record status by weighing in at .72 oz and is about the size of a ping pong ball. Interesting backstory, they picked this berry in New South Wales in November of last year and they knew they had a prize winner. So they froze it. Got in touch with the Guinness World Records folks. And now it's official. Heavy Berry Also a pretty good name for a band.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/03/14/australia-Guinness-World-Records-heaviest-blueberry/3511710432515/ and also https://www.themeasureofthings.com/results.php?comp=weight&unit=gms&amt=20&sort=pr&p=1
Berry heavy: Whopping blueberry smashes world record https://t.co/zWgZBghF58
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 15, 2024
Next: The Search for Alien Life Suffers Minor Setback...
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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 The Search for Alien Life Suffers Minor Setback...
Couple of stories we're combining here. They involve what the heck is going on in outer space with the aliens and whatnot. First from the New York Post "Interstellar signal long believed to be proof of alien life was probably just a truck." This is based on new research from the folks at John's Hopkins University and involves a meteor that popped into the ocean in 2014 near Papua, New Guinea. I'm not a scientist. Barely even passed high school, so Let me see if I can make sense of this... in 2014 a meteor bursts out of the sky and plummets into the ocean. They pick up a seismic signal. And experts interpret that signal to mean that perhaps this meteor/ space object is the remnants of an Alien Probe... one expert really led the way on that... Avi Loeb who is from Harvard University... This researcher looked at the data from this meteorite, which btw was released to him from the Pentagon... the data convinced Avi Loeb to find this meteor in the ocean and retrieve any remnants to see if the thing could've been an alien artifact... the seismic activity that was picked up when this meteorite went kerplunk has now been reinterpreted by the researchers at Johns Hopkins as being the result of a truck driving by the seismometer. So it might not be all that special of a meteorite... and part two of this story is... a government report about UFOs or UAP has been released... The pentagon's All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office Arrow was set up a couple of years ago for looking into a mysterious sightings... Their report concluded that there's no evidence of extraterrestrial technology and and most all UFOs are just ordinary things, misidentified. UFO podcasts around the globe have been saying since the report came out that it contains lies and is garbage. *Paraphrase
https://nypost.com/2024/03/08/lifestyle/papua-new-guinea-alien-signal-debunked-in-new-hopkins-study/ and also see https://news.sky.com/story/pentagon-reveals-findings-of-ufo-report-based-on-investigations-as-far-back-as-1945-13090060
https://nypost.com/2024/03/08/lifestyle/papua-new-guinea-alien-signal-debunked-in-new-hopkins-study/ and also see https://news.sky.com/story/pentagon-reveals-findings-of-ufo-report-based-on-investigations-as-far-back-as-1945-13090060
🍅 Honorable Mention for Clickbait Headline: "Stock Up On Food, Water, And Fuel Ahead Of The Eclipse, Emergency Officials Warn" (it's not what you think)
There's so much eclipse tourism expected in April that many towns and cities will be visited by people buying bottled water and chips... So the warning is just like before a snowstorm here where I live where you got to go buy chips and milk and everybody thinks the same thing and the grocery store is crowded. That's the warning. Based on the headline, I thought it was the Zombie ApocEclipse© but it probably isn't that.
Stock Up On Food, Water, And Fuel Ahead Of The Eclipse, Emergency Officials Warn | IFLScience https://t.co/uEvIxvnSYM
— Janet From Another Planet 💯 (@JanetFromAnoth9) March 14, 2024
Next: Number one! The urban legend that turned out to be true...
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫Catch up on the weird news of the week with What a Weird Week.
❶ Alligators in the Sewer!
❶ Alligators in the Sewer!
I always thought this was a myth/ urban legend... and now we have video... It's true. It's not New York City though. It's in Florida. A work crew got video of a 5 foot alligator in this gross sewer pipe. No workers were harmed. They sent a robot in. The robot Cam went into that pipe see what was going on. It was just routine pothole inspection work and kablammy they spot a 5 foot gator in there! They've got some great video footage. I'll put a link in the show
Alligators in the sewer myth is true: City workers find out in jaw-dropping video https://t.co/8XW1hHLV6U pic.twitter.com/3nhqFBTyJv
— New York Post (@nypost) May 12, 2023
... that's the program... For Shownotes and more go to ShowNotes Dot Page or search "What a Weird Week" wherever you get podcasts. Every weekend you can hear the show on Fun House Radio. Ask your smart speaker to
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