12 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like qanon, omegle and shinzo abe. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was perturbed.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

7 comments

  1. [3]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Britain’s ‘loneliest sheep’ rescued after two years at foot of cliff The Guardian – Jedidajah Otte – 4th November 2023

    Britain’s ‘loneliest sheep’ rescued after two years at foot of cliff

    A ewe that was hailed Britain’s loneliest sheep has been rescued by a group of farmers from a remote shingle beach in the Scottish Highlands.

    The rescue mission was organised by Cammy Wilson, a sheep shearer from Ayrshire and a presenter on the BBC’s Landward programme, after seeing media coverage of Fiona’s plight.

    Jillian Turner first spotted the sheep two years ago while she was paddling along the coast of Sutherland with her kayak club. She assumed the sheep would make it back to wherever home was by itself and thought no more of it.

    The Guardian – Jedidajah Otte – 4th November 2023

    15 votes
    1. [2]
      g33kphr33k
      Link Parent
      I followed this one. Now the question I have for the sheep is "Was the grass greener on the other side?". Unfortunately the answer is simply "Baaaaaa."

      I followed this one.

      Now the question I have for the sheep is "Was the grass greener on the other side?". Unfortunately the answer is simply "Baaaaaa."

      3 votes
      1. DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        I think it was - she was in excellent condition!

        I think it was - she was in excellent condition!

        4 votes
  2. SpecialtyCoffeeDad
    Link
    Victorian-era vibrator causes a buzz at a Nelson charity shop

    Victorian-era vibrator causes a buzz at a Nelson charity shop

    A unique Victorian-era object donated to a Nelson charity shop has created quite a buzz, with staff curious about its unusual history.

    Nelson Environment Centre chief executive Anton Drazevic said the item was dropped off to its reuse shop a few weeks ago, they weren't sure by who, but it arrived around the same time as a donation of vintage medical equipment.

    14 votes
  3. arch_mage
    Link
    I meant to post this in last week's OffBeat Friday Thread, but I forgot. My apologizes for holding onto this one. Green Slime spotted oozing from NYC Sewers: It's worth looking the the pictures....

    I meant to post this in last week's OffBeat Friday Thread, but I forgot. My apologizes for holding onto this one.

    Green Slime spotted oozing from NYC Sewers:

    “So there’s literal green sludge bubbling up from the ground next to World Trade Center right now,” bystander Dan Pantelo

    It's worth looking the the pictures.
    Turns out it was just dye to trace leaks in the plumbing network

    9 votes
  4. [2]
    spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    happy Whale Explosion Day to all who celebrate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34

    happy Whale Explosion Day to all who celebrate

    The dynamite was detonated on November 12 at 3:45 pm. The resulting explosion was caught on film by cameraman Doug Brazil for a story reported by news reporter Paul Linnman of KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon. In his voice-over, Linnman joked that "land-lubber newsmen" became "land-blubber newsmen ... for the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds". The explosion caused large pieces of blubber to land near buildings and in parking lots some distance away from the beach. Only some of the whale was disintegrated; most of it remained on the beach for the Oregon Highway Division workers to clear away. In his report, Linnman also noted that scavenger birds, who it had been hoped would eat the remains of the carcass after the explosion, did not appear as they were possibly scared away by the noise. The explosives-expert veteran's brand-new automobile, purchased during a "Get a Whale of a Deal" promotion in a nearby city, was flattened by a chunk of falling blubber.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34

    3 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Pretty sure that was one of the first videos I ever watched on the web, at like 320p or something similarly atrocious, probably as a Quicktime, RealPlayer or Flash video, and potentially on...

      Pretty sure that was one of the first videos I ever watched on the web, at like 320p or something similarly atrocious, probably as a Quicktime, RealPlayer or Flash video, and potentially on eBaum's World, SomethingAwful, Rotten‍.com, or somewhere like that. Awesome to see that remastered version! Thanks for sharing that, and for the hit of nostalgia. :)

      2 votes