16 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 psychology.social, adhd and words. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was documenting these.

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!

44 comments

  1. [2]
    Raspcoffee
    Link
    sigh I'm really not helping our stereotypes here aren't I? Haribo recalls sweets in the Netherlands after traces of cannabis found

    sigh I'm really not helping our stereotypes here aren't I?

    Haribo recalls sweets in the Netherlands after traces of cannabis found

    13 votes
    1. jredd23
      Link Parent
      Like many things in life, people gravitate to the culture versus the root cause, incompetence of the manufacturer of the product.

      Like many things in life, people gravitate to the culture versus the root cause, incompetence of the manufacturer of the product.

      5 votes
  2. [18]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    Little girl songs Moana song over intercom to a captive airplane audience during 2 hour delay. Reviews were mixed.

    Little girl songs Moana song over intercom to a captive airplane audience during 2 hour delay.

    Reviews were mixed.

    12 votes
    1. [2]
      CannibalisticApple
      Link Parent
      Could be worse. I thought that headline meant she was singing Moana songs for the entire two hour delay.

      Could be worse. I thought that headline meant she was singing Moana songs for the entire two hour delay.

      7 votes
      1. DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        There have been several afaict false reports that it lasted 45 min but I think the 45 minutes was the plane circling waiting to land after already being delayed and someone was making jokes and it...

        There have been several afaict false reports that it lasted 45 min but I think the 45 minutes was the plane circling waiting to land after already being delayed and someone was making jokes and it got spread. Fairly sure it was about 2 min

        The whole 2 hours would have led to a murder

        7 votes
    2. Sodliddesu
      Link Parent
      Literally captive audience 😂

      Literally captive audience 😂

      7 votes
    3. [14]
      daychilde
      Link Parent
      Ran across that over on reddit. Ugh. NO THANKS. and I support kids having fun, and I support theatre which singing is an adjacent art, but........... NUP. Take that crap elsewhere. heh

      Ran across that over on reddit. Ugh. NO THANKS.

      and I support kids having fun, and I support theatre which singing is an adjacent art, but........... NUP. Take that crap elsewhere. heh

      6 votes
      1. [4]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        Like if you're not the Broadway cast of the Lion King I'm not interested in your airplane music

        Like if you're not the Broadway cast of the Lion King I'm not interested in your airplane music

        8 votes
        1. [3]
          daychilde
          Link Parent
          Even then it's a big maybe. lol

          Even then it's a big maybe. lol

          4 votes
          1. [2]
            jredd23
            Link Parent
            Not a fan of Bdwy? Nahh, me neither. Having recently experienced the joy of travel via aviation, noise cancelling headphones, don't leave home without them. No knock on the girl but com' on' man!

            Not a fan of Bdwy? Nahh, me neither. Having recently experienced the joy of travel via aviation, noise cancelling headphones, don't leave home without them. No knock on the girl but com' on' man!

            2 votes
            1. daychilde
              Link Parent
              On the contrary, I am a fan of theatre — been involved in more than 60 productions (almost all community theatre) over the years. And still that shit can bugger off. hehe

              On the contrary, I am a fan of theatre — been involved in more than 60 productions (almost all community theatre) over the years.

              And still that shit can bugger off. hehe

              7 votes
      2. [9]
        chocobean
        Link Parent
        Unironically one of the worst sounds on the planet, for me, (unskilful) children singing. I would rather do 2 hours of bird squawks or metal scraping. Children singing on key is very wonderful...

        Unironically one of the worst sounds on the planet, for me, (unskilful) children singing. I would rather do 2 hours of bird squawks or metal scraping.

        Children singing on key is very wonderful though, like one of my favourite songs from Katamari Damacy, さくらいろの季節(Cherry Coloured Seasons)

        3 votes
        1. [7]
          daychilde
          Link Parent
          I'm very sensitive to voice. I don't think it's because I'm a classically trained baritone, but my training surely contributes. I cannot stand so much live music. So many bands do okay in the...

          I'm very sensitive to voice. I don't think it's because I'm a classically trained baritone, but my training surely contributes.

          I cannot stand so much live music. So many bands do okay in the studio, but absolutely suck live.

          One of my most hated examples, though, of studio or live: The Cure. I cannot stand his voice.

          Listening to most people sing is like fingernails on chalk to my ears. So when I hear someone with real talent, it's always delightful. It's easy on my ears and I do love it.

          I've always thought that my reaction to that is like people with autism and food texture issues. heh

          4 votes
          1. [6]
            chocobean
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            Do you have absolute pitch (perfect pitch)? It can be difficult for folks who can tell when pitches are even just a tiny smidge off. It's like listening to low battery powered toys all the time...

            Do you have absolute pitch (perfect pitch)? It can be difficult for folks who can tell when pitches are even just a tiny smidge off. It's like listening to low battery powered toys all the time and not being funny

            3 votes
            1. [2]
              patience_limited
              Link Parent
              I do have (suffer from?) absolute relative pitch, and it comes with an excruciating assortment of sensory issues. I don't listen to live music at all if I can avoid it, because I can hear stringed...

              I do have (suffer from?) absolute relative pitch, and it comes with an excruciating assortment of sensory issues. I don't listen to live music at all if I can avoid it, because I can hear stringed instruments slipping out of tune during the performance, and most vocalists aren't nearly as true as they think they are.

              Kids singing - sometimes it's awful, sometimes it's so completely off-key that it doesn't even trigger the "this pattern is painfully broken" sense that I get when Western tuning is off. [I can listen to music written for seemingly odd scales, like Balinese gamelan, more easily because it's unfamiliar and less likely to feel so grossly wrong.]

              5 votes
              1. chocobean
                Link Parent
                "suffer from" is a fun perspective I hadn't considered before. My poor Cello teacher had absolute pitch and...well, some lessons must be worse for him than others. Like yourself, he can't attend...

                "suffer from" is a fun perspective I hadn't considered before. My poor Cello teacher had absolute pitch and...well, some lessons must be worse for him than others. Like yourself, he can't attend very many concerts live either, which is why he ended up being a soloist, I guess.

                What an interesting soundpack of ding, deng, dong's! Song saved.

                Present in kind: (anime) Land of the Lustrous OST: Sunspot - beautiful but eerie and otherworldly

                3 votes
            2. [3]
              daychilde
              Link Parent
              I don't, although I've very low-key¹ been seeing if I can develop that skill. But I do have very strong relative pitch. And your analogy is quite a viscereally accurate representation of the pain....

              I don't, although I've very low-key¹ been seeing if I can develop that skill.

              But I do have very strong relative pitch. And your analogy is quite a viscereally accurate representation of the pain. lol

              Hearing singers be flat or sharp is actively² painful.

              ¹ pun alert!
              ² albeit not physical pain, but strong mental anguish. lol

              2 votes
              1. [2]
                chocobean
                Link Parent
                I B♭ what you did there Edit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/learning-perfect-pitch-is-possible-1.7494249 The researcher is developing an app. Also, the Perfect Ear app and others like might...

                be flat

                I B♭ what you did there

                Edit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/learning-perfect-pitch-is-possible-1.7494249

                The researcher is developing an app. Also, the Perfect Ear app and others like might work. M trying actually, and would love to hear what others have tried or are trying

                4 votes
                1. daychilde
                  Link Parent
                  <pedantry> If you saw what I did there, wouldn't that be "I B♯ what you did there"? ;-)</pedantry> But I'm ashamed to say the pun flew over my own head when I wrote it. :( Fascinating link there.

                  <pedantry> If you saw what I did there, wouldn't that be "I B♯ what you did there"? ;-)</pedantry>

                  But I'm ashamed to say the pun flew over my own head when I wrote it. :(

                  Fascinating link there.

                  2 votes
        2. boxer_dogs_dance
          Link Parent
          When I was in England, the boys choirs blew my mind with how beautifully they sing together.

          When I was in England, the boys choirs blew my mind with how beautifully they sing together.

          4 votes
  3. [6]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    250 Million Honeybees Escape After a Truck Rolls Over in Washington State I am imagining a bunch of clumsy deputies trying to handcuff a swarm of bees shaped like a person, then the swarm turns...

    250 Million Honeybees Escape After a Truck Rolls Over in Washington State

    In the northwest corner of Washington State on Friday morning, the authorities issued a most unusual all-points bulletin, rather, an A.P.Bee.

    Several emergency responders were stung while sheriff’s deputies, working with master beekeepers, tried to recapture the bees, said Amy Cloud, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.

    I am imagining a bunch of clumsy deputies trying to handcuff a swarm of bees shaped like a person, then the swarm turns back into a cloud and chases them, all with Yakity Sax playing in the background.

    9 votes
    2. [4]
      daychilde
      Link Parent
      Good grief. I thought that number was surely wrong.

      Good grief. I thought that number was surely wrong.

      2 votes
  4. [5]
    Raspcoffee
    Link
    Also, Chinese paraglider survives accidental 8,000m-high flight. This one is pretty metal. Both in how up high he accidentally came but also the fact that the survived that one.

    Also, Chinese paraglider survives accidental 8,000m-high flight. This one is pretty metal. Both in how up high he accidentally came but also the fact that the survived that one.

    8 votes
    2. [2]
      jredd23
      Link Parent
      This is the definition of bananas! Final Destination scene man.

      This is the definition of bananas! Final Destination scene man.

      Mr Peng had no intention to fly that day and was only testing the fit and comfort of his parachute on the ground, Global Times said. However, strong winds lifted him off the ground and grew even stronger, until he encountered the updraft that shot him up into the clouds.

      3 votes
      1. Requirement
        Link Parent
        I just imagine myself in that situation and I just know I would have an immediate thought along the lines of "Oh shit. Oh fuck. I knew I should have gone to the bathroom before testing this chute...

        I just imagine myself in that situation and I just know I would have an immediate thought along the lines of "Oh shit. Oh fuck. I knew I should have gone to the bathroom before testing this chute but NOOOO now look at the situation I'm in."

        2 votes
  5. daychilde
    Link
    Researcher reveals his plan to save the planet by detonating a nuclear bomb on the ocean floor …

    Researcher reveals his plan to save the planet by detonating a nuclear bomb on the ocean floor

    By pulverizing the basalt that makes up the seabed, such an explosion could accelerate carbon sequestration, which captures and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce climate change, through a process known to scientists as Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW).

    …

    The researcher predicts “few or no loss of life due to the immediate effects of radiation.” However, there’s a caveat. In the long term, he acknowledges that the explosion will “impact people and cause losses.” Nevertheless, this increase in radiation would be, according to Haverly, “just a drop in the ocean.”

    Considering that “each year we emit more radiation from coal-fired power plants and have already detonated over 2,000 nuclear devices,” would one more make a huge diffeence? Especially as climate change is expected to threaten 30 million lives by the year 2100.

    6 votes
  6. [2]
    jredd23
    Link
    Inadvertently swimming with sharks in Florida got me thinking of a story that I ran across sometime ago. Thousands of sharks: girls-only shark slumber aggregating in deep water discovery.

    Inadvertently swimming with sharks in Florida got me thinking of a story that I ran across sometime ago. Thousands of sharks: girls-only shark slumber aggregating in deep water discovery.

    5 votes
    1. daychilde
      Link Parent
      I think there's "tsundere shark" jokes in there somewhere, but I think I'll steer very clear of them. lol

      I think there's "tsundere shark" jokes in there somewhere, but I think I'll steer very clear of them. lol

      3 votes
  7. [2]
    smiles134
    Link
    Car launches into Missouri veterans hall roof for 2nd time in 3 months

    Car launches into Missouri veterans hall roof for 2nd time in 3 months

    In a stunning repeat of a February incident, a vehicle crashed into the [roof of the] Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, on Wednesday morning, damaging the same section of roof that had only recently been repaired.

    5 votes
    1. daychilde
      Link Parent
      Wow. Well… if it happens a third time, maybe they'll put up a guardrail or something. That's wild. I can imagine that conversation. "So, car crashed through the roof." "Yeah, we've almost got it...

      Wow.

      Well… if it happens a third time, maybe they'll put up a guardrail or something. That's wild.

      I can imagine that conversation. "So, car crashed through the roof." "Yeah, we've almost got it repaired." "No. Another car." lol

      5 votes
  8. daychilde
    Link
    Woman diagnosed with breast cancer at 100 years old is now cancer-free at 101

    Woman diagnosed with breast cancer at 100 years old is now cancer-free at 101

    Layne Horwich was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer at age 100.

    "I was putting on my nightgown one night and realized there was a lump there," Horwich said.

    Horwich's granddaughter took her for a mammogram where doctors confirmed the diagnosis.

    But she didn't let her age stop her from fighting.

    "I wanted it out," Horwich said. "I was so happy I didn't have a stroke or a heart attack because I would have been incapacitated."

    Horwich attributes her long life and health to staying active, and a little luck.

    "I did play tennis until I was 92, and I think that was good. I was active," she said.

    5 votes
  9. [2]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    'Iconic' sausage roll to star at Madame Tussauds BBC News – 29th May 2025

    'Iconic' sausage roll to star at Madame Tussauds

    A sculpture of a Greggs sausage roll is to be unveiled at Madame Tussauds waxworks museum.

    The world-famous attraction has said the pastry-cloaked processed meat cylinder is the first food item to go on display in its own right.

    It elevates the snack to the level of a British cultural icon, sitting alongside celebrities such as Shakespeare and David Attenborough.

    BBC News – 29th May 2025

    4 votes
    1. DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      blink blink .... You know what? Sure. Why not

      blink blink .... You know what? Sure. Why not

      3 votes
  10. [2]
    Fal
    Link
    The Guardian: Dutch museum to display 200-year-old condom probably made from sheep’s appendix

    The Guardian: Dutch museum to display 200-year-old condom probably made from sheep’s appendix

    A 200-year-old illustrated condom will go on display with Dutch golden age masters in Amsterdam this week, after the 19th-century “luxury souvenir” became the first-ever contraceptive sheath to be added to the Rijksmuseum’s art collection.

    The condom, which was probably made of a sheep’s appendix circa 1830, is thought to have come from an upmarket brothel in France, most likely in Paris. It features an erotic etching depicting a partially undressed nun pointing at the erect genitals of three clergymen, as well as the phrase Voila, mon choix (“There, that’s my choice”).

    The Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen said the composition of the etching deliberately alluded to the Greek myth of the Judgment of Paris, in which a Trojan prince is asked to pick the most beautiful of three goddesses. “So we believe that whoever acquired the condom would have been fairly sophisticated and well-educated,” she said.

    4 votes
    1. CannibalisticApple
      Link Parent
      Bold to assume the buyer was sophisticated and didn't pick it just as a fun novelty/souvenir. Also, I am mildly disappointed it's only from the 1830's because I originally read that as 2000 years...

      Bold to assume the buyer was sophisticated and didn't pick it just as a fun novelty/souvenir.

      Also, I am mildly disappointed it's only from the 1830's because I originally read that as 2000 years old, not 200.

      3 votes
  11. [3]
    cfabbro
    Link
    A hungry wild elephant raids a grocery store in Thailand for snacks Be sure to watch the video. :P

    A hungry wild elephant raids a grocery store in Thailand for snacks

    Be sure to watch the video. :P

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      CannibalisticApple
      Link Parent
      That might be the craziest "wild animal in a grocery store" video yet. And apparently elephants regularly ransack houses for food?? I don't think they're going to stop, these elephants are too...

      That might be the craziest "wild animal in a grocery store" video yet. And apparently elephants regularly ransack houses for food??

      I don't think they're going to stop, these elephants are too used to humans. I wonder if they can just, set up a food stall or something so they don't feel compelled to break into houses...

      4 votes
      1. cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Yeah, I adore elephants but that would also be pretty terrifying too due to their sheer mass alone making them dangerous, even inadvertently. It's also a bit sad though, since as the video...

        That might be the craziest "wild animal in a grocery store" video yet.

        Yeah, I adore elephants but that would also be pretty terrifying too due to their sheer mass alone making them dangerous, even inadvertently. It's also a bit sad though, since as the video mentioned the reason for it happening so frequently now is because their habitat is shrinking so much due to human settlement encroachment. :/

        Setting up a food stall specifically for them is a neat idea, but would likely just encourage them scavenging for human food even more though, and potentially have them habituate to relying on it as well. So, sadly, I don't think there is any easy solution like that. :(

        3 votes