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.
(this is a transcript of the podcast) 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 09 first published on Friday March 1st 2024 ...
❿ Musician breaks world record at music venue in Iowa... John Locker made news the other day when he set a world record by playing his bass through 81 amps simultaneously. This is what it sounds like when you play through 81 amps... loud.
What better way to prove your venue has wonderful acoustics then by playing through a world record amount of amps! (or a Barbershop Quartet maybe).
Congratulations, John Locker. And also to the Val Air Ballroom.
What better way to prove your venue has wonderful acoustics then by playing through a world record amount of amps! (or a Barbershop Quartet maybe).
Congratulations, John Locker. And also to the Val Air Ballroom.
from KOCO ABC News 5 https://www.koco.com/article/iowa-guinness-world-record-bassist-amps-jon-locker/46979963
❾ Researchers have discovered the world's biggest snake. The Northern Green Anaconda is a new species of anaconda and it takes the record for the biggest snake in the world. They found one estimated to be 26 feet long and over 400 pounds... The researchers have been in the news after publishing their discovery... the article quotes Professor Freek Vonk, who is a Dutch biologist and TV personality, Professor Freek Vonk is quoted as saying the snake's head is as big as Professor Freek's own head! A big old snake you guys.
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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 The folks who churn out those delicious Cadbury Easter treats and the marketing department over there at Cadbury... they know what they're doing. The contest where your pet can become the new spokesperson for Cadbury Easter treats is back... your pet could become the new Cadbury Easter Bunny! This has been going on for some years now... one time the Cadbury bunny was a frog... one time they awarded the title to two pooches... for 2023 it was a one-eyed rescue cat named Crash. If your pet is chosen as a Cadbury bunny you get thousands of dollars in cash and prizes (around 7 grand worth) and you your pet gets to be in the next Cadbury Easter Bunny commercial. I keep saying Easter Bunny... they just call it the Cadbury bunny... See link or check out the Cadbury USA Instagram. This is for a contestants in the United States only.
https://www.foodandwine.com/cadbury-bunny-tryouts-are-back-for-2024-8597718 ❼ The science of concerts... something published the other day from the University of Zurich... how enjoying a live performance of a song is more impactful to us than enjoying that same song as a recording. When you go to a live performance, it's doing stuff to your brains. *paraphrase, that's not part of the actual scientific paper*
A recording of the song doesn't have as big an emotional impact on you. This is all me paraphrasing a very long complicated paper and I'm not very sharp you guys. I'm not the sharpest pencil. So if you want to do a deep dive on it, see the link... They did a very thorough experiment, and they think that it's linked to ancient times when music was first invented... the only way to enjoy the music was through live performance... and our brain is still activated by live performance that way somehow... Evolutionary science or some kind of sorcery... or ... did I mention I'm not a scientist?
A recording of the song doesn't have as big an emotional impact on you. This is all me paraphrasing a very long complicated paper and I'm not very sharp you guys. I'm not the sharpest pencil. So if you want to do a deep dive on it, see the link... They did a very thorough experiment, and they think that it's linked to ancient times when music was first invented... the only way to enjoy the music was through live performance... and our brain is still activated by live performance that way somehow... Evolutionary science or some kind of sorcery... or ... did I mention I'm not a scientist?
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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 Imagine there is a target that you have to hit with a soccer ball 52 feet away. Now imagine you can't kick that soccer ball, you have to head the soccer ball and hit the target 52 feet away. Not easy. Somebody did it. It's a world record. Oh, we should say this story is from Ben Hoops Hooper over United Press International. We always try to get a story on from Hoops every week. So this fellow David Rush (we have talked about him before because he has broken a lot of World Records... He wants to be The person with the most World Records... Currently has more than 250 Guinness World Records). The Latest is heading a soccer ball almost 52 and a half feet into a garbage can! Some of David Rush's world records are silly... but this one would have been difficult. It would take training and athleticism...
❺ From KKTV CBS 11 News The headline is "Woman has tongue larger than a soda can!" #WorldRecord
This is a lady from Oregon... in the news after receiving the Guinness World Record for having a tongue that measures 5.21 inches around!! Congratulations Jenny! Jenny plays the flute and says having a strong tongue is very useful for playing fast.
You want to see Jenny's tongue? See https://www.kktv.com/2024/02/27/woman-has-tongue-larger-than-soda-can-holds-world-record/?outputType=amp
This is a lady from Oregon... in the news after receiving the Guinness World Record for having a tongue that measures 5.21 inches around!! Congratulations Jenny! Jenny plays the flute and says having a strong tongue is very useful for playing fast.
You want to see Jenny's tongue? See https://www.kktv.com/2024/02/27/woman-has-tongue-larger-than-soda-can-holds-world-record/?outputType=amp
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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 Classroom sword fight lawsuit in the news...
Quote from the CBS report... the teacher "had no certifications or experience in sword-fighting," so like, this was not a sword-fighting class or a meeting of the sword-fighting after-school club... This lawsuit alleges that a teacher in New Mexico brought swords to school on the sly (paraphrase) and allegedly had students engage in sword fights... until a student got sliced in the arm... and that injured student is the reason for this lawsuit... *remember this is all alleged until everyone gets their day in court but... there are allegations of a cover up by the school... we link to the story in the shownotes... the are a few photos... I don't want to make light of any of this... we'll see how this one shakes out...
Quote from the CBS report... the teacher "had no certifications or experience in sword-fighting," so like, this was not a sword-fighting class or a meeting of the sword-fighting after-school club... This lawsuit alleges that a teacher in New Mexico brought swords to school on the sly (paraphrase) and allegedly had students engage in sword fights... until a student got sliced in the arm... and that injured student is the reason for this lawsuit... *remember this is all alleged until everyone gets their day in court but... there are allegations of a cover up by the school... we link to the story in the shownotes... the are a few photos... I don't want to make light of any of this... we'll see how this one shakes out...
❸The end of a professional sports era....
Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies organization has ended dollar hot dog days... because it was getting out of hand with the rambunctious fans and their new tradition of whipping hot dogs at one another... that's kind of the whole story... if you wanna do a deep dive into the long and storied past of dollar dog days see https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-phillies-hot-dogs-889d4ce003734551d2091bca85163d5d
Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies organization has ended dollar hot dog days... because it was getting out of hand with the rambunctious fans and their new tradition of whipping hot dogs at one another... that's kind of the whole story... if you wanna do a deep dive into the long and storied past of dollar dog days see https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-phillies-hot-dogs-889d4ce003734551d2091bca85163d5d
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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 A Spanish artist has announced that they are going to get married to an AI hologram that is inspired by the artist's previous boyfriends. Quote: "Holograms are more closely related to my feelings than robots" ... this artist was previously married to a mannequin... for real... so idk how to think about this... is it art, or is it love? Is it weird? Can it be all of those things? We link to the story and there are photos of the happy couple... https://metro.co.uk/2024/02/23/a-woman-marrying-ai-hologram-boyfriend-trained-exes-20332609/
🍅The Willy Wonka-inspired interactive experience for kids that made international headlines for how angry it made parents... they even called the police because (paraphrase) it was a ripoff... parents paid 35 pounds for tickets... the website made the event look like an incredible candy-themed wonderland with a candy garden and that cool tunnel from the world of Wonka... but it turned out to be a... um... disappointing! You might describe it as a sparsely-decorated warehouse-like space with some posters on the wall and the photos also show a few actors who maybe got their costume from Spirit Halloween??
Some kids cried. The organizer has apologized and offered refunds. A LOT of news sources picked up this story... honorable mention. https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/willy-wonka-chocolate-experience-parents-furious-glasgow/
🍅 Another honorable mention is the very fast college football player who made headlines for not believing in other planets... I don't follow football but I am interested in outer space and this story has something for everyone... the NFL Combine gets a lot of media coverage with these talented athletes getting put through the paces, hoping to get noticed and drafted by the NFL... Tyler Owens of Texas Tech made some headlines after telling reporters that he "doesn't believe in space and other planets..."
he is a very fast athlete (he's been clocked at over 21 MPH in a game) so he was already getting attention before the space comments... honorable mention...
Texas Tech's Tyler Owens, who's a favorite to post the fastest 40 at this year's NFL combine, doesn't "believe in space," as in "other planets," and feels flat-earth theories have some "valid points." pic.twitter.com/jE2jv9vyLv
— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) February 29, 2024
Catch up on the weird news of the week with What a Weird Week.
❶ Stinky Flower makes headlines again...
❶ Stinky Flower makes headlines again...
this one makes headlines every time it blooms because it is so... very... stinky!
The Corpse Flower has bloomed again and is on display in San Francisco... people line up to get a look and a nose-full of this flower which is described as smelling like "a corpse... or rotting food... or sweaty socks... or perhaps garlic." They were lined up at the California Academy of Sciences this week... and took selfies with the large plant. The reason it makes headlines every time it starts to stink up a place is because it's blooming rare... this plant was donated in 2017 and this is the first time it's bloomed. It's kind of enormous also, so you could imagine it coming to life and disappearing a human being...
... 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
play Fun House Radio or see the link on our Shownotes Page. See you next week for another countdown of weird news.
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