What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the odd stories and weird news of the week. https://www.
Hi friends, I'm Scott and this is What a Weird Week, a lighthearted look at the odd/ interesting/ weird stories in the news. See below for a transcript of the podcast episode. To subscribe to the podcast or for social media and more links, you can get everything at www.shownotes.page. These are the shownotes for Season 6, Ep 1 first published on Friday Jan 3 2025. Our "Worst Stories of 2024" episode!
January... From Study Finds: "Magic mushrooms traced back to asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs" ... .jpg)
-
icymi, magic mushrooms are called that because they look like tiny
magicians wearing top hats... just kidding. Magic mushrooms are
psychoactive and please consult ten physicians, 40 spiritual advisers
and 9 lawyers before going any further on this journey. Especially
foraging for them, because that can be extremely dangerous if you get it
wrong!
The article is about how researchers have learned that the dinosaurs didn't have magic mushrooms but around the time the dinos went extinct, magic mushrooms showed up on planet earth... 65 million years ago, the same time that an asteroid hit earth and started the beginning of the end for dinosaurs... which was new information for researchers.
The article is about how researchers have learned that the dinosaurs didn't have magic mushrooms but around the time the dinos went extinct, magic mushrooms showed up on planet earth... 65 million years ago, the same time that an asteroid hit earth and started the beginning of the end for dinosaurs... which was new information for researchers.
.jpg)
file photo
February... From NBC 9 News... Two high school kids in Colorado have received
scholarships to play Division One Cornhole for Winthrop University...
The athletes are very jacked about it quoted as saying "It's
groundbreaking... It's making history!" ... Congratulations to Jaxson
and Gavin. At some point professional Cornhole became a thing? and now
also opportunities for young athletes to get an education on that
Cornhole scholarship... btw Winthrop University is in South Carolina,
United States of America. They are the first Division 1 school to offer
Cornhole scholarships... Here's another quote... This is from Jaxson
talking to media about receiving that Cornhole scholarship... "It's
super awesome to make history." I can't argue with that. How fantastic
is this? There's a whole new college sport being thrown into the mix...
Well, it's not new but new to Division 1 schools... btw, if they don't
have Cornhole where you are, it's that lawn game where you throw a
beanbag and try to get that bean bag in a hole... The most basic way to
describe it. It's a game that at one time I bet people who played
horseshoes would make fun of... that part is just speculation.
https://www.9news.com/article/sports/local-sports/colorado-cornhole-scholarship/73-ba279aed-6721-4a17-8610-1f6c3fd583df
https://www.9news.com/article/sports/local-sports/colorado-cornhole-scholarship/73-ba279aed-6721-4a17-8610-1f6c3fd583df
March... The moon was back in the news this week. Russia has announced that
they hope to team up with China and build a nuclear power plant on the
moon. There's been a lot of moon action from different countries and
different agencies... Many of them haven't gone well. Just recently one
famously flipped over on its side... It's a little unnerving when you
think they're going to be rocketing radioactive stuff to the lunar
surface ... You don't want that nuclear power plant to be a failed
mission... I just want to float this out here that before we dabble in
what has potential to be catastrophic nuclear disaster... wouldn't it be
nice, as a proof of concept, If we could put a donut shop on the moon
first? Prove to me that you can remotely build a doughnut shop that
nothing has gone wrong with, and then I'll be convinced/ I'll trust you
with the nuclear thing. I'll trust you with nuclear reactors if first
you give me donuts I guess is what I'm saying. 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/03/05/russia-china-planning-for-joint-nuclear-power-plant-on-the-moon-by-2035/?sh=5ecdec160e1c and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lunar_probes
April... The Grammy who made the news after receiving a speeding ticket.
(actually 2 tickets!) The only thing was she wasn't driving her van. It
was one of these deals where the camera catches you speeding and it
snaps your picture and you receive a ticket... "Hey here's the evidence.
Look at this photo. We caught you speeding." Well this Grammy in East
Cleveland Ohio, Joanne Gibson, was having her van towed to the shop at
the time of the ticket. So the tow truck was speeding. Since she's been
in the news about this, the mayor of East Cleveland has vowed to get
involved and make things right.
May... Look, we've all been through some sort of pandemic situation,
right? And then you hear about this bird flu in the news. It's not fun.
It's not funny, but it is weird. As a matter of fact, it's stressful and
all you want to do is cuddle a cow when you hear about the bird flu
outbreak. And in a sad irony.
Our lead story this week from Sky News is how bird flu, as it infects cows, is cutting into the lucrative cow cuddling market. People pay money and cuddle cows. I didn't know that, but they call it, Sky News calls it a US craze. Our friends in the United States of America, is it a craze? A cow cuddling craze? And now, you know, instead of getting therapeutic comfort from cows, officials are urging farmers to limit outside visitors.
So you're stressed about the headline and then you can't even cuddle the cow and you get more stressed and it is a vicious circle. I'm sorry you guys, this one is not a light story. I try to keep it light but let's keep it down to one bird flu story per week. How about that?
Our lead story this week from Sky News is how bird flu, as it infects cows, is cutting into the lucrative cow cuddling market. People pay money and cuddle cows. I didn't know that, but they call it, Sky News calls it a US craze. Our friends in the United States of America, is it a craze? A cow cuddling craze? And now, you know, instead of getting therapeutic comfort from cows, officials are urging farmers to limit outside visitors.
So you're stressed about the headline and then you can't even cuddle the cow and you get more stressed and it is a vicious circle. I'm sorry you guys, this one is not a light story. I try to keep it light but let's keep it down to one bird flu story per week. How about that?
Results may vary
June... I'm calling this one Fast Times in Barrowville. When they make the movie.
Dylan Phillips, a British mechanic, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest wheelbarrow. Record speed was over 52 miles per hour. He built the wheelbarrow just for fun at first and then found out there was actually a world record. If he could make his wheelbarrow go really fast, he set the record in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Apparently, one of the worst forms of transportation is a fast wheelbarrow because according to Dylan, no suspension. It's a rough ride. and also a little bit terrifying. But imagine how fast you could get all your yard work done if your wheelbarrow went 50 miles per hour. So far not available commercially.
Dylan Phillips, a British mechanic, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest wheelbarrow. Record speed was over 52 miles per hour. He built the wheelbarrow just for fun at first and then found out there was actually a world record. If he could make his wheelbarrow go really fast, he set the record in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Apparently, one of the worst forms of transportation is a fast wheelbarrow because according to Dylan, no suspension. It's a rough ride. and also a little bit terrifying. But imagine how fast you could get all your yard work done if your wheelbarrow went 50 miles per hour. So far not available commercially.
July... Pooch Starts Fire. Tries to Blame it on Cat* (*may not have tried to blame cat, but pretty sure)
August... The high you get from bargain shopping lasts 3.5 hours!?
September... Pineapple Dating Trend in Spain: Singles Use Fruit Code for Romance at Mercadona
• A unique dating trend has emerged in Spain, where singles visit Mercadona supermarkets between 7 pm and 8 pm.
•
By placing an upside-down pineapple in their shopping carts and
lingering in the wine aisle, they signal their interest in finding love.
• The trend has gained popularity, with both locals and tourists participating.
• While the pineapple symbolizes partner swapping in the swingers community, it represents a search for romance in this context.
October... on Peanut Butter Cups - the Halloween ones taste better according to 14 year old math-e-magician...
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/22/1256914737/pumpkins-spiders-and-henry-winkler
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/22/1256914737/pumpkins-spiders-and-henry-winkler
giant peanut butter cups!
November... Emperor penguin rescued after 2,200-mile swim to Australia. Gus!
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/emperor-penguin-recovering-after-2200-mile-swim-to-australia/1713752
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/emperor-penguin-recovering-after-2200-mile-swim-to-australia/1713752
December... Giant Leg Lamp Yard Decoration in Flrioda makes the news... https://www.news4jax.com/video/news/morning-show/2024/12/05/neptune-beach-man-honors-classic-holiday-movie-with-giant-replica-leg-lamp/
Transcript below...
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YouTube stream
Transcript...
00:00
The worst stories of 2024? What a weird year. Hi everybody, it's Weird. This is like crazy being here. Weird. Really weird. Bigfoot eat out of my trash. Well, I got a great show for you today. It was so wonderful. Weird stuff. Hi friends, I'm Scott, and this is the show, What a Weird Week. We usually get you caught up on, you know, the weird stuff that's been happening in the news.
00:23
But this time around it's our year ender and we're doing the worst stories of 2024. Last week we did the best stories of 2024. Will you notice a difference? Well, they're different stories. So next week we'll be back with more current weird news stories. If you want anything we talk about, go to show notes dot page. Our website is show notes dot page. Happy new year. Please enjoy this retrospective.
00:48
January. Somebody told me one time, if you ever have a story that involves dinosaurs and magic mushrooms, it has to lead. It has to lead every time, 100% of the time. So from the website study finds magic mushrooms traced back to asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. This was new information for researchers. And by the way, magic mushroom researchers are very passionate, it seems.
01:14
The article is about how researchers learned that the dinosaurs did not have magic mushrooms. Were the dinosaurs sad about that? I don't think the dinosaurs were sad about it. I think the dinosaurs had other concerns on their mind. Around 65 million years ago, magic mushrooms showed up on planet Earth the same time the asteroid hit the Earth and started the beginning of the end for dinosaurs. So all new information for researchers.
01:42
Look, I don't want to live a lie here. I have no idea about this article. It was way over my head. The researchers are so excited to utilize magic mushrooms as medicine. I mean, it was a lot heavier into the magic mushrooms than it was the poor dinosaurs. I'll tell you that much, but if you want to do a deep dive, the link is in the show notes. February. From NBC 9 News, two high school kids in Colorado have received scholarships to play Division One,
02:12
University. The athletes are very jacked about it quoted as saying it's groundbreaking. It's making history. Congratulations to Jackson and Gavin. At some point, professional cornhole became a thing. This was under the radar for me. And now also opportunities for young athletes to get an education on that cornhole scholarship. By the way, Winthrop University, South Carolina, United States of America, they are
02:41
the first division one school to offer cornhole scholarships. Here's another quote. This is from Jackson. It's super awesome to make history. And I mean, you guys, you can't argue with that. It really is super awesome to make history. There's a whole new college sport being thrown into the mix. Well, it's not a new sport, but division one schools, it's new. And maybe it's something you could aspire to or someone, you know, would aspire to one of these cornhole scholarships.
03:08
If they don't have cornhole where you're at, it's that lawn game where you throw a bean bag and try to get the bean bag and the bean bag hole. We don't have it where I am so much. We play washer toss more so around here, but that's I think the gist of cornhole, right? Get that bean bag and the bean bag hole. Go to your home, bean bag, go to your home. That's me talking to the bean bag, asking the bean bag to go into the bean bag hole. That would be me in...
03:35
Competitive cornhole you okay you get it. I'm sorry you get it March The moon was back in the news this week Russia has announced they hope to team up with China and build a nuclear power plant on the moon a Lot of moon news a you guys every but different countries different agencies a lot of lunar projects Many of them haven't gone well just recently that one famously flipped over on its side Well, what if the nuclear power plant flips over on its side? This makes me uncomfortable
04:03
I do have an idea, I don't know who I write to have this become law, but before you build something that could destroy the moon, you have to build a donut shop on the moon. Proof of concept, build me a donut shop. Donuts help me calm down anyway, you guys. If you can prove to me you got a functioning donut shop on the moon, then I'm gonna be more chill about your nuclear reactor. April.
04:26
The Grammy who made the news after receiving a speeding ticket actually got a couple of tickets. Grammy was going seven miles per hour over the speed limit. Seems kind of chintzy, but it's one of those deals where they have the camera. It snaps your photo, catches you speeding. You get the photo and your ticket in the mail and well, they got you, right? But Grammy wasn't driving her minivan. Grammy Joanne Gibson, East Cleveland, Ohio. She wasn't driving the minivan. No one was driving her minivan. Her minivan was being towed to the shop.
04:56
was hooked to a tow truck. Here's Joe from ABC 5. The problem is though, Joanne wasn't behind the wheel here on Euclid Avenue back in December. You see, Joanne's van broke down and as you can see clearly in the picture on the traffic camera ticket, Joanne's van was hooked up to a tow truck and was being taken to the repair shop when the alleged violation took place. My car is on a flatbed. I'm not driving that truck.
05:24
Now Joanne is concerned her driving record and insurance rates could take a hit. Right? So Joanne is fighting City Hall, kinda sorta, you know, so to speak. As a matter of fact, once this story made news, the Mayor of East Cleveland has vowed to get involved and make things right. May. Look, we've all been through some sort of pandemic situation, right? And then you hear about this bird flu in the news. It's not fun, it's not funny, but it is weird.
05:48
As a matter of fact, it's stressful and all you want to do is cuddle a cow when you hear about the bird flu outbreak. And in a sad irony, our lead story this week from Sky News is how bird flu, as it infects cows, is cutting into the lucrative cow-cuddling market. People pay money and cuddle cows. I didn't know that, but they call it, Sky News calls it, a U.S. craze. Our friends in the United States of America, is it a craze? A cow-cuddling craze? And now,
06:16
You know, instead of getting therapeutic comfort from cows, officials are urging farmers to limit outside visitors. So you're stressed about the headline and then you can't even cuddle the cow and you get more stressed and it is a vicious circle. I'm sorry, you guys, this one, not a light story. I try to keep it light, but let's keep it down to one bird flu story per week. How about that? June, I'm calling this one fast times in Barrowville when they make a movie.
06:45
Dylan Phillips, a British mechanic, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest wheelbarrow. Record speed was over 52 miles per hour. He built the wheelbarrow just for fun at first and then found out there was actually a world record. If he could make his wheelbarrow go really fast, he set the record in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Apparently, one of the worst forms of transportation is a fast wheelbarrow because according to Dylan, no suspension. It's a rough ride.
07:16
and also a little bit terrifying. But imagine how fast you could get all your yard work done if your wheelbarrow went 50 miles per hour. So far not available commercially. July. This one got picked up by a lot of news orgs. So maybe you saw this in your news feed, the curious dog in Colorado, not named in this story. Let's call him Sam the dog. Sam the dog accidentally turned on the stove and started a fire.
07:44
Firefighters arrived like four or something in the morning and the homeowners, the people in the home had managed to put the fire out. No major injuries. One person did receive treatment for smoke inhalation. The dog did try to blame the cat for a little while, but then there was security cam footage. August. The high you get from bargain shopping lasts three hours and something. This is from study finds. Pretty big.
08:11
study, I think 2000 people were surveyed and people who enjoy bargain shopping in that rush you get from getting a good deal. The study gets into different things like how much we love to brag about a good deal that we got and stuff like that. But one of the takeaways was and you guys, I'm on the wagon there. So I don't drink the booze or partake of the stuff, you know. And so
08:38
That seems like a long time, three and a half hours of post-bargain bliss. The high you get from bargain shopping. I guess there are some highs that last longer, but three and a half hours. Plus you're getting, you're saving money on something. Maybe a wonderful outfit that you can wear around the house while you're enjoying your post-bargain bliss. We'll link to the whole thing if you want to check it out.
09:05
the show notes, maybe you're not a bargain shopper and it's a mystery to you, this might be enlightening. September. The story out of Spain where people who are single and hoping to find romance will go to the grocery store between seven and eight at night and you hang around the wine aisle and somebody else will know you're looking for romance because you've signified it by putting an upside down pineapple in your cart. So you're at the grocery store, specific time, specific aisle.
09:35
I look in the cart, I see an upside down pineapple, and that tells me you're single and looking for romance. That is a trend. They say that has taken off in Spain amongst people who live in Spain, but also amongst tourists. I'll put a link in the show notes if you'd like to find out more about this trend. Maybe it's something you would like to try or somebody you know who is currently single. My theory is even if it doesn't, like if you don't find romance, you've still got a delicious pineapple to enjoy this weekend.
10:04
could make a beverage or have some sort of dessert with that pineapple. So there's that, that ain't bad, right? October. All right, if you stuck around this long, thank you very much for that. We promised a story about how delicious Reese Peanut Butter Cup pumpkins are and what is the science behind it?
10:25
So I got all this information from a podcast that went away for quite a while and now is back. It's the How to Do Everything podcast from NPR. It's one of the greatest podcasts in the history of podcasting, podcasting. So this week, when I'm researching all about the number one Halloween treat, which scientifically has proven it's Reese's peanut butter cups, they did an episode, they talked to a 14 year old mathematician about the science and the mathematics behind.
10:52
why the pumpkin shaped Reese's peanut butter cup is the most delicious of all the cups. Here's a clip. After finding the volume of the inner frustum of the peanut butter and the whole frustum of the peanut butter cup, I got that the regular is about 30% peanut butter. So just the regular shape is 30%. Wow. And so where does the pumpkin fall? So the pumpkin, I had to measure it in a different way because the pumpkin is like an ellipse. Okay. So.
11:20
The regular pumpkin rices had 38% peanut butter. So it beat out all the other rices. Wow. So that was a rebroadcast this week of the How to Do Everything podcast. They're back. I will link to how to do everything in the show notes. They get the answers. They've got the budget for it, the sweet, sweet NPR dollars. And they get the answers, you guys. November. The emperor penguin that swam for over 2000 miles swam to Australia.
11:49
I mean, when you've had enough, right? I've had enough. And you really put your money where your mouth is, where your beak is, whatever. You just swim to Australia, right? You throw your flippers up and you're like, I'm out. I'm a head out. I don't know. The emperor penguin is named Gus, and he swam 2,200 miles from Antarctica to Australia. This is the first time it's ever been recorded that that has happened. That is a long way to swim. Way to go, Gus.
12:18
Gus was rescued and is, you know, recovering. He was, it's quite exhausting to swim 2,200 miles, so recovering. The article mentions how Gus was quite friendly with the people around him, his rescuers and that, and they think it's because Gus believes them to be penguins because of their wetsuits. Wetsuits made them look like penguins, you guys. December. The giant leg lamp.
12:42
decoration which made headlines. Well, a man in Neptune Beach took his love of a 1980s Christmas movie to the next level. He recreated the leg lamp from a Christmas story. You're looking at an exact scavenger of the leg lamp from a Christmas story. It is 420% bigger than the one that appears in the movie. So it's 20 feet tall. Hold on, stop right there. 420% bigger. Is that a coincidence?
13:11
What's going on there? Everyone's decorating their houses. And I thought it'd be fun to have like a neighborhood, like competition who could have like the best Christmas decorations. And I was tossing and turning one night and then I had like this epiphany as a kid in like the eighties, like going to see two and three movies in a weekend. And now like the movies just don't really do it. We'll link to that whole video in the show notes. Click show notes dot page.
13:37
If you've seen the movie A Christmas Story, you understand this is a Christmas decoration now. It's not a lake lamp. It is a symbol of the holidays in some way. But if you haven't seen the movie, it just looks like a giant lamp in the shape of a leg. Either way, if you want a closer look, show notes dot page. All right, we're back. It's present day. Scott just wanted to say again, happy new year. And thanks for checking out the show. What a weird week. If you want anything we talk about, you can go to show notes dot page. You can get in touch with us.
14:07
Get all the podcast links, all of it at shownotes.page. Happy New Year to our friends at Funhaus Radio. Every weekend we're part of the programming over there. Next week we're back with current weird news stories again. Back to the usual format next week on What a Weird Week.
The worst stories of 2024? What a weird year. Hi everybody, it's Weird. This is like crazy being here. Weird. Really weird. Bigfoot eat out of my trash. Well, I got a great show for you today. It was so wonderful. Weird stuff. Hi friends, I'm Scott, and this is the show, What a Weird Week. We usually get you caught up on, you know, the weird stuff that's been happening in the news.
00:23
But this time around it's our year ender and we're doing the worst stories of 2024. Last week we did the best stories of 2024. Will you notice a difference? Well, they're different stories. So next week we'll be back with more current weird news stories. If you want anything we talk about, go to show notes dot page. Our website is show notes dot page. Happy new year. Please enjoy this retrospective.
00:48
January. Somebody told me one time, if you ever have a story that involves dinosaurs and magic mushrooms, it has to lead. It has to lead every time, 100% of the time. So from the website study finds magic mushrooms traced back to asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. This was new information for researchers. And by the way, magic mushroom researchers are very passionate, it seems.
01:14
The article is about how researchers learned that the dinosaurs did not have magic mushrooms. Were the dinosaurs sad about that? I don't think the dinosaurs were sad about it. I think the dinosaurs had other concerns on their mind. Around 65 million years ago, magic mushrooms showed up on planet Earth the same time the asteroid hit the Earth and started the beginning of the end for dinosaurs. So all new information for researchers.
01:42
Look, I don't want to live a lie here. I have no idea about this article. It was way over my head. The researchers are so excited to utilize magic mushrooms as medicine. I mean, it was a lot heavier into the magic mushrooms than it was the poor dinosaurs. I'll tell you that much, but if you want to do a deep dive, the link is in the show notes. February. From NBC 9 News, two high school kids in Colorado have received scholarships to play Division One,
02:12
University. The athletes are very jacked about it quoted as saying it's groundbreaking. It's making history. Congratulations to Jackson and Gavin. At some point, professional cornhole became a thing. This was under the radar for me. And now also opportunities for young athletes to get an education on that cornhole scholarship. By the way, Winthrop University, South Carolina, United States of America, they are
02:41
the first division one school to offer cornhole scholarships. Here's another quote. This is from Jackson. It's super awesome to make history. And I mean, you guys, you can't argue with that. It really is super awesome to make history. There's a whole new college sport being thrown into the mix. Well, it's not a new sport, but division one schools, it's new. And maybe it's something you could aspire to or someone, you know, would aspire to one of these cornhole scholarships.
03:08
If they don't have cornhole where you're at, it's that lawn game where you throw a bean bag and try to get the bean bag and the bean bag hole. We don't have it where I am so much. We play washer toss more so around here, but that's I think the gist of cornhole, right? Get that bean bag and the bean bag hole. Go to your home, bean bag, go to your home. That's me talking to the bean bag, asking the bean bag to go into the bean bag hole. That would be me in...
03:35
Competitive cornhole you okay you get it. I'm sorry you get it March The moon was back in the news this week Russia has announced they hope to team up with China and build a nuclear power plant on the moon a Lot of moon news a you guys every but different countries different agencies a lot of lunar projects Many of them haven't gone well just recently that one famously flipped over on its side Well, what if the nuclear power plant flips over on its side? This makes me uncomfortable
04:03
I do have an idea, I don't know who I write to have this become law, but before you build something that could destroy the moon, you have to build a donut shop on the moon. Proof of concept, build me a donut shop. Donuts help me calm down anyway, you guys. If you can prove to me you got a functioning donut shop on the moon, then I'm gonna be more chill about your nuclear reactor. April.
04:26
The Grammy who made the news after receiving a speeding ticket actually got a couple of tickets. Grammy was going seven miles per hour over the speed limit. Seems kind of chintzy, but it's one of those deals where they have the camera. It snaps your photo, catches you speeding. You get the photo and your ticket in the mail and well, they got you, right? But Grammy wasn't driving her minivan. Grammy Joanne Gibson, East Cleveland, Ohio. She wasn't driving the minivan. No one was driving her minivan. Her minivan was being towed to the shop.
04:56
was hooked to a tow truck. Here's Joe from ABC 5. The problem is though, Joanne wasn't behind the wheel here on Euclid Avenue back in December. You see, Joanne's van broke down and as you can see clearly in the picture on the traffic camera ticket, Joanne's van was hooked up to a tow truck and was being taken to the repair shop when the alleged violation took place. My car is on a flatbed. I'm not driving that truck.
05:24
Now Joanne is concerned her driving record and insurance rates could take a hit. Right? So Joanne is fighting City Hall, kinda sorta, you know, so to speak. As a matter of fact, once this story made news, the Mayor of East Cleveland has vowed to get involved and make things right. May. Look, we've all been through some sort of pandemic situation, right? And then you hear about this bird flu in the news. It's not fun, it's not funny, but it is weird.
05:48
As a matter of fact, it's stressful and all you want to do is cuddle a cow when you hear about the bird flu outbreak. And in a sad irony, our lead story this week from Sky News is how bird flu, as it infects cows, is cutting into the lucrative cow-cuddling market. People pay money and cuddle cows. I didn't know that, but they call it, Sky News calls it, a U.S. craze. Our friends in the United States of America, is it a craze? A cow-cuddling craze? And now,
06:16
You know, instead of getting therapeutic comfort from cows, officials are urging farmers to limit outside visitors. So you're stressed about the headline and then you can't even cuddle the cow and you get more stressed and it is a vicious circle. I'm sorry, you guys, this one, not a light story. I try to keep it light, but let's keep it down to one bird flu story per week. How about that? June, I'm calling this one fast times in Barrowville when they make a movie.
06:45
Dylan Phillips, a British mechanic, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest wheelbarrow. Record speed was over 52 miles per hour. He built the wheelbarrow just for fun at first and then found out there was actually a world record. If he could make his wheelbarrow go really fast, he set the record in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Apparently, one of the worst forms of transportation is a fast wheelbarrow because according to Dylan, no suspension. It's a rough ride.
07:16
and also a little bit terrifying. But imagine how fast you could get all your yard work done if your wheelbarrow went 50 miles per hour. So far not available commercially. July. This one got picked up by a lot of news orgs. So maybe you saw this in your news feed, the curious dog in Colorado, not named in this story. Let's call him Sam the dog. Sam the dog accidentally turned on the stove and started a fire.
07:44
Firefighters arrived like four or something in the morning and the homeowners, the people in the home had managed to put the fire out. No major injuries. One person did receive treatment for smoke inhalation. The dog did try to blame the cat for a little while, but then there was security cam footage. August. The high you get from bargain shopping lasts three hours and something. This is from study finds. Pretty big.
08:11
study, I think 2000 people were surveyed and people who enjoy bargain shopping in that rush you get from getting a good deal. The study gets into different things like how much we love to brag about a good deal that we got and stuff like that. But one of the takeaways was and you guys, I'm on the wagon there. So I don't drink the booze or partake of the stuff, you know. And so
08:38
That seems like a long time, three and a half hours of post-bargain bliss. The high you get from bargain shopping. I guess there are some highs that last longer, but three and a half hours. Plus you're getting, you're saving money on something. Maybe a wonderful outfit that you can wear around the house while you're enjoying your post-bargain bliss. We'll link to the whole thing if you want to check it out.
09:05
the show notes, maybe you're not a bargain shopper and it's a mystery to you, this might be enlightening. September. The story out of Spain where people who are single and hoping to find romance will go to the grocery store between seven and eight at night and you hang around the wine aisle and somebody else will know you're looking for romance because you've signified it by putting an upside down pineapple in your cart. So you're at the grocery store, specific time, specific aisle.
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I look in the cart, I see an upside down pineapple, and that tells me you're single and looking for romance. That is a trend. They say that has taken off in Spain amongst people who live in Spain, but also amongst tourists. I'll put a link in the show notes if you'd like to find out more about this trend. Maybe it's something you would like to try or somebody you know who is currently single. My theory is even if it doesn't, like if you don't find romance, you've still got a delicious pineapple to enjoy this weekend.
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could make a beverage or have some sort of dessert with that pineapple. So there's that, that ain't bad, right? October. All right, if you stuck around this long, thank you very much for that. We promised a story about how delicious Reese Peanut Butter Cup pumpkins are and what is the science behind it?
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So I got all this information from a podcast that went away for quite a while and now is back. It's the How to Do Everything podcast from NPR. It's one of the greatest podcasts in the history of podcasting, podcasting. So this week, when I'm researching all about the number one Halloween treat, which scientifically has proven it's Reese's peanut butter cups, they did an episode, they talked to a 14 year old mathematician about the science and the mathematics behind.
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why the pumpkin shaped Reese's peanut butter cup is the most delicious of all the cups. Here's a clip. After finding the volume of the inner frustum of the peanut butter and the whole frustum of the peanut butter cup, I got that the regular is about 30% peanut butter. So just the regular shape is 30%. Wow. And so where does the pumpkin fall? So the pumpkin, I had to measure it in a different way because the pumpkin is like an ellipse. Okay. So.
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The regular pumpkin rices had 38% peanut butter. So it beat out all the other rices. Wow. So that was a rebroadcast this week of the How to Do Everything podcast. They're back. I will link to how to do everything in the show notes. They get the answers. They've got the budget for it, the sweet, sweet NPR dollars. And they get the answers, you guys. November. The emperor penguin that swam for over 2000 miles swam to Australia.
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I mean, when you've had enough, right? I've had enough. And you really put your money where your mouth is, where your beak is, whatever. You just swim to Australia, right? You throw your flippers up and you're like, I'm out. I'm a head out. I don't know. The emperor penguin is named Gus, and he swam 2,200 miles from Antarctica to Australia. This is the first time it's ever been recorded that that has happened. That is a long way to swim. Way to go, Gus.
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Gus was rescued and is, you know, recovering. He was, it's quite exhausting to swim 2,200 miles, so recovering. The article mentions how Gus was quite friendly with the people around him, his rescuers and that, and they think it's because Gus believes them to be penguins because of their wetsuits. Wetsuits made them look like penguins, you guys. December. The giant leg lamp.
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decoration which made headlines. Well, a man in Neptune Beach took his love of a 1980s Christmas movie to the next level. He recreated the leg lamp from a Christmas story. You're looking at an exact scavenger of the leg lamp from a Christmas story. It is 420% bigger than the one that appears in the movie. So it's 20 feet tall. Hold on, stop right there. 420% bigger. Is that a coincidence?
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What's going on there? Everyone's decorating their houses. And I thought it'd be fun to have like a neighborhood, like competition who could have like the best Christmas decorations. And I was tossing and turning one night and then I had like this epiphany as a kid in like the eighties, like going to see two and three movies in a weekend. And now like the movies just don't really do it. We'll link to that whole video in the show notes. Click show notes dot page.
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If you've seen the movie A Christmas Story, you understand this is a Christmas decoration now. It's not a lake lamp. It is a symbol of the holidays in some way. But if you haven't seen the movie, it just looks like a giant lamp in the shape of a leg. Either way, if you want a closer look, show notes dot page. All right, we're back. It's present day. Scott just wanted to say again, happy new year. And thanks for checking out the show. What a weird week. If you want anything we talk about, you can go to show notes dot page. You can get in touch with us.
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Get all the podcast links, all of it at shownotes.page. Happy New Year to our friends at Funhaus Radio. Every weekend we're part of the programming over there. Next week we're back with current weird news stories again. Back to the usual format next week on What a Weird Week.
