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 enshittification, computing.cloud and checkouts.self. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was perplexed.

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!

4 comments

  1. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Rural France turned upside-down by farmers BBC News – Hugh Schofield – 14th December 2023

    Rural France turned upside-down by farmers

    Motorists in rural France have recently been astonished to see thousands of road signs at entrances to towns and villages turned upside-down.

    The name-bearing roadside plaques have been unscrewed, flipped, then meticulously screwed back on.

    It's a campaign by farmers to draw attention to what they say is their increasingly precarious way of life.

    BBC News – Hugh Schofield – 14th December 2023

    8 votes
  2. first-must-burn
    Link
    Here's a power station in Tennessee blowing up in a tornado. I spent a summer in college installing and testing equipment in substations, and this is why I don't do that anymore.

    Here's a power station in Tennessee blowing up in a tornado.

    I spent a summer in college installing and testing equipment in substations, and this is why I don't do that anymore.

    7 votes
  3. cfabbro
    Link
    Hermès heir plans to give half his $14 billion fortune to his gardener

    Hermès heir plans to give half his $14 billion fortune to his gardener

    In a way, maybe money does grow on trees.

    Nicolas Puech, the fifth-generation heir of Thierry Hermès, is reportedly planning to bequeath part of his massive wealth to his 51-year-old gardener, who he also intends to legally adopt.

    According to the Swiss French-language publication Tribune de Genève, as well as Fortune magazine, the 80-year-old fashion house heir has indicated he will leave a substantial portion of his US$11 billion (over C$14.7 billion) fortune to his gardener.

    Puech is unmarried and has no children. He inherited the wealth as a descendant of Thierry Hermès, who established the Hermès fashion house in 1837. Today, the company is best known for its iconic, and very pricey, Birkin bags.

    Puech owns between five and six per cent of the shares in Hermès, according to numerous reports. Tribune de Genève said the gardener could inherit as much as half of the wealth from Puech.

    The gardener has not been named publicly but is reportedly of Moroccan descent and married with two children.

    He may also inherit US$5.9 million (nearly C$7.9 million) worth of property assets from Puech, who owns property in Switzerland, Morocco, Marrakesh and Montreux. Fortune said the inheritance of Swiss property specifically may pose an issue due to the country’s strict laws surrounding adult adoption.

    6 votes
  4. skybrian
    Link
    It's not a news story, but it's a story based on all the news stories: Son Of Bride Of Bay Area House Party (Astral Codex Ten)

    It's not a news story, but it's a story based on all the news stories:

    Son Of Bride Of Bay Area House Party (Astral Codex Ten)

    It has been three weeks since Sam Altman was fired, but the conversation won’t move on. “What did Ilya see?” asks your Uber driver, on the way to the airport. “What wasn’t he consistently candid about?” ask people on the street, as you walk your dog. “What was Adam D’Angelo’s angle?” asks the cop, as he writes you a ticket. “Was the Microsoft move just a bluff?” asks the robber at gunpoint, as he ransacks your apartment.

    You need to get away from it all, just for one moment. So against your better judgment, you find yourself heading to another Bay Area House Party.

    4 votes