15 votes

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

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

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like bubbles.ai, transgender and world economic forum. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was befuddled.

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!

9 comments

  1. [2]
    therebegold
    Link
    Rock on: Beloved missing rock from Squamish, B.C., found miles away — in California

    Rock on: Beloved missing rock from Squamish, B.C., found miles away — in California

    As reported in the Squamish Chief, locals lamented the disappearance of the rock, nicknamed Portable, as its shape and size made it the perfect stone for working on balance and practicing grip.

    10 votes
    1. lackofaname
      Link Parent
      I was going to ask what in the world is a Canadian drinking toque, until I noticed the dude inthe main photo is wearing a toque with the print 'canadian drinking toque'. Very on the nose. Behind...

      I was going to ask what in the world is a Canadian drinking toque, until I noticed the dude inthe main photo is wearing a toque with the print 'canadian drinking toque'. Very on the nose.

      Behind this very silly story, though, is a monster walking free who took the beloved stone from its community in the first place!

      2 votes
  2. [5]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    Mystery Prototaxites tower fossils may represent a newly discovered kind of life | Scientific American First please click and see what a Prototaxite looks like. Then come back and read my highly...

    Mystery Prototaxites tower fossils may represent a newly discovered kind of life | Scientific American

    First please click and see what a Prototaxite looks like. Then come back and read my highly selective quoting.

    It feels like it doesn’t fit comfortably anywhere,” says Matthew Nelsen

    Idk about that Matthew. I feel like people are willing to try.

    trying to shove it in the fungi is not productive.

    Who said anything about shoving it in?!

    People have tried to shoehorn it into these different groups,

    Gently!

    “it’s something weird doing its own thing.”

    Aren't we all?

    How that actually works energetically,” Cooper says, “is still a complete mystery.”

    Carbo loading, Cooper, and a lot of patience.

    9 votes
    1. [3]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      ET finger? :/ failed Steven Universe style planetary emergence? But what I want to know is, was it good to eat? Maybe in soup?

      ET finger? :/ failed Steven Universe style planetary emergence? But what I want to know is, was it good to eat? Maybe in soup?

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        Ah yes the spirit of people who ate mummies, taste the bog butter, try the ancient cursed cheese...

        Ah yes the spirit of people who ate mummies, taste the bog butter, try the ancient cursed cheese...

        4 votes
        1. chocobean
          Link Parent
          It is one of my regrets that I can only try max 1 of the many forbidden cuisines, even though everything is edible at least once.

          It is one of my regrets that I can only try max 1 of the many forbidden cuisines, even though everything is edible at least once.

          4 votes
    2. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      I apparently need some caffeine. I read that Ellie thing 3 times before it stopped saying prototaxi.

      I apparently need some caffeine. I read that Ellie thing 3 times before it stopped saying prototaxi.

      3 votes
  3. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Kazakh court jails 3 Belgian football fans who dressed up as Borat Politico – Ferdinand Knapp – 22nd January 2026

    Kazakh court jails 3 Belgian football fans who dressed up as Borat

    A Kazakh court sentenced three Belgian football fans to short jail terms after they dressed in mankini swimsuits made famous by the Borat film.

    Police detained the Belgian citizens during the Champions League match between Kairat Almaty and Club Brugge on Tuesday evening, according to the news agency Belga. Police said the men were drunk, removed their clothes and caused a disturbance. On Thursday, an Astana court sentenced the men to five days of administrative detention for disrupting public order.

    Politico – Ferdinand Knapp – 22nd January 2026

    6 votes
  4. chocobean
    Link
    The HKFP English article has photos. Dude looking pretty smug in them. The liaison post is already a wine and dine do nothing position that wastes taxpayer money, but wasn't good enough for this...

    Hong Kong’s Tianjin office chief fired after showing off free travel upgrades on social media --- The now-former Tianjin liaison office director Ricky Cheng spoke on Threads about free upgrades on the ferry to Macau, and at the Tianjin’s Ritz-Carlton. The posts have since been deleted. [...]

    As the head of the Tianjin Liaison Office of the HKSAR, Cheng’s acceptance of a free seat upgrade for his ferry trip to Macau was suspected to be a violation of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. [...]

    The dismissal came after local media outlets reported that Cheng had made multiple Threads posts about accepting travel freebies. (HKFreePress)

    The HKFP English article has photos. Dude looking pretty smug in them. The liaison post is already a wine and dine do nothing position that wastes taxpayer money, but wasn't good enough for this jerk, showing off turbo jets, hotels and personal trainer gifts.

    From other reports (yahoo, cn), citizens lament that HK used to be a less corrupt place, ranked 11th best in 2020, falling to place 17 this year. And in a bygone era, when officials do home visits, they would refuse cold sodas on a hot day to not give off the impression of accepting gifts. The old ICAC (anti corruption) agency did so well they changed our ancient Chinese "always give gifts to show basic respect" culture in just a couple decades.

    I can confirm this from personal experience as well. Our neighbourhood mailman carried heavy sacks of letters up our hill every single day, and would only rest at Dad's air conditioned shop briefly, never accepted drinks, and always refused new year money or candy. Meanwhile, our (public housing) building doorman isn't part of the government, and so the new year money tradition was upheld no problem. Citizens knew as soon as anything govt comes up, the civil servants were clean as a whistle. I used to be a big fan of the police, way back then.

    Glad this guy got slapped down hard. He's an idiot to have gone viral on social media. We all know his entire job is BS, he just had to keep it quiet. But no.

    4 votes