7 minute read
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Trigger Warning
One TikTok user described her Walt Disney World experience on July 30 as "torture" after the It's a Small World ride got stuck for over an hour, the New York Post reported. "They didn't realize for like 45 minutes, everyone was on a boat so we sat there for about an hour stuck with the song on repeat!!" @hazeysmom22 wrote. The boat sails through a facsimile of Walt Disney World while the infamous song is sung by animatronic children. Now it's in your head, too!
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Least Competent Victim
On July 25, a man in the Saitama Prefecture in Japan met another man in a convenience store parking lot with the hope of selling his 18-karat gold Rolex watch, SoraNews24 reported. The potential buyer handled the watch, priced at $47,000, for a few minutes, then suggested the seller pop into the store for a tea. Bet you can't guess what happened. Two minutes later, tea in hand, the seller emerged from the store to find the buyer, and his watch, gone. He texted the buyer, who replied, "I left it in your car" and "I don't have your watch." The victim said he "was too stupid and honest."
What's in a Name?
Allan Grainger, 61, of Derby, England, has two tattoos that include his first name, spelled with two Ls. His wedding certificate and his driver's license both spell it the same way. But on July 30, when his family came across his birth certificate, they were all shocked to learn that his name is really Alan, with one L, the Daily Mail reported. The factory worker said he and his parents always spelled his name "Allan": "I couldn't believe it. I think it was a mistake on the birth certificate because my mum wouldn't let me go through school spelling my name like that," he said. Grainger has no plans to change his official name: "I don't see what difference it would make."
Career Opp
Folks in China tackle the problem of cheating husbands head-on, with two professional paths related to the issue: "mistress killers" and "mistress persuading teachers," who talk the "other women" into giving up their paramours. Among the latter, Oddity Central reported, Wang Zhenxi is a standout: She reportedly was able to persuade 800 women in a year to back off. Wang starts her process by shadowing and befriending her target, and sometimes resorts to revealing the affair to the mistress's family and friends. "In addition to earning money, I can help more people return to happy families," she said. "That is the most fulfilling part of this job." (In related news, the South China Morning Post reported on July 30 that a Chinese court ordered the girlfriend of a married man to return to his legal wife the $569,000 he had given her over 14 years.)
Great Art
For the low, low price of $6,200, you can be the proud owner of "Pickle," an unorthodox art installation at the Michael Lett Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, Oddity Central reported. Australian artist Matthew Griffin is the creator of the piece, which comprises a ketchupy pickle from a McDonald's cheeseburger stuck to the ceiling of the gallery. The art is described as a "provocative gesture" designed to question what has value. "As much as this looks like a pickle attached to the ceiling—and there is no artifice there, that is exactly what it is—there is something in the encounter with that as a sculpture or a sculptural gesture," said Ryan Moore, director of Fine Arts Sydney, the gallery that represents Griffin.
Don't Try This at Home
The Daily Star reported that an unnamed man in the Campo Lindo region of Sao Paulo, Brazil, attempted a home rhinoplasty—a nose job—using online video tutorials. He was admitted to the emergency room on July 21 after the botched surgery, in which he used 70% alcohol to clean the cuts and didn't wear gloves. Commenting on the DIY procedure, a plastic surgeon said risks include infection and nasal obstructions, and the efforts "will only worsen the appearance because they are not effective. You cannot do this without knowing the nasal anatomy, which is very complex."
Unclear on the Concept
Miles Routledge, 23, of Birmingham, England, has stirred up controversy by traveling repeatedly to Afghanistan and cozying up to members of the Taliban, the Daily Star reported. Routledge posted on Twitter on Aug. 9, "I am officially Afghanistan's largest exporter to England. 150+ flags, patches and rugs," with a photo of his loot. But what's really got people up in arms is a rug he bought depicting the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Routledge believes the rug doesn't glorify the attacks; instead, it was made "by Afghan women to tell a story of a historical event. Hundreds of American soldiers who signed up to the military because of 9/11 have this rug in their homes," he claimed. Routledge called Taliban members "kind blokes" because he had tea with them after stumbling into their compound during an April trip.
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things!
As of July 1 in Delaware, retail stores were no longer allowed to supply plastic shopping bags for their customers' purchases. No problem, said shoppers at Acme in Christiana—we'll just walk out with your plastic shopping baskets. Delaware Online reported that the store's supply of baskets has been wiped out, and manager Kaitlyn DiFrancesco is not going to buy more. Customers had the option of buying reusable shopping bags or paying 5 cents for paper bags at checkout, but instead, as soon as the ban went into effect, they started lifting the baskets. Employees were asked to stop customers, but some shoppers just ignored the warning or slipped out unseen.
Oh, Crap!
Drivers along I-94 in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, were forced to navigate an alarming obstacle course around 4:45 a.m. on Aug. 9, WISN-TV reported. As a flatbed truck hauled port-a-potties, at least seven of them slid off the truck and landed upright in the road, causing panic for drivers following behind. "I was like, 'Is that a port-a-potty?'" said driver Alex Hilario. "Where did it even come from? Did they set it there? Because it was standing but rolling." Hilario's car collided with one portable john, but he was not hurt. Driver Vern Hicks also hit one of the johns and may have to total his car. Most of the units were hit by cars; one Waukesha County Sheriff's deputy was heard saying he was "responding to that crappy situation."
Bright Idea
Inmate Jazmyne Levesque, 23, was "bored" in the Pinellas County (Florida) jail on July 28, The Smoking Gun reported. So as she was being escorted by a female corrections officer, she punched the officer in the face. Levesque said she "had nothing else to do and was already in a couple of fights earlier in the day." She was in jail for punching a municipal bus driver earlier in July; at the time of that arrest, Levesque was free on bond in a felony grand theft case. Added to her rap sheet: one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer.
Backlash
If you order the plant-based sausage with your breakfast at Cracker Barrel, better do it sotto voce: The company's addition of the Impossible Foods product to its menu is causing an uproar among loyal restaurant fans, CNN Business reported. "I just lost respect for a once great Tennessee company," one person opined, among others who called the decision "woke." Cracker Barrel responded with an Aug. 4 Instagram post of the new offering, captioned, "Where pork-based and plantbased sausage lovers can breakfast all day in harmony." Can't we all just get along?
Parent of the Year
The mother of a 6-year-old Butler County, Ohio, boy was arrested on Aug. 9 and charged with endangering a child and contributing to the delinquency of a child, WLWT-TV reported. The incident started when Olivia Eversole, a worker at a Marathon gas station in Hanover Township, saw the boy emerge from a car holding a Smirnoff Ice. Eversole asked the boy, "Do you know that you're drinking a beer?" He replied, "Yup, this is me and my mommy's favorite beer. We drink it all the time." Eversole called police, but when deputies arrived, the mother, Victoria Hampton, 26, told them it was an accident and left with the boy. But when officers followed her home, they found the boy riding a scooter, holding another Smirnoff Ice. "You've got to be on your toes because you never know what's going to happen," Eversole said.
There Are Cameras Everywhere
Dr. Yue "Emily" Yu, 45, of Mission Viejo, California, was taken into custody on Aug. 4 after her husband alerted police that she was trying to poison him by adding Drano to his hot lemonade, The Mercury News reported. Yu's husband first started noticing a chemical taste in his drink in March and suffered from "two stomach ulcers, gastritis and esophagitis," according to his petition for divorce, filed on Aug. 5. He installed cameras in the kitchen and collected video evidence showing Yu reaching under the sink and pouring something from a Drano bottle into his drink. Yu's attorney says she "vehemently and unequivocally denies ever attempting to poison her husband or anyone else." She was released after posting bail. •
