News of the Weird: Week of August 1, 2024

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Creme de la Weird 

In China, the highly competitive practice of mukbang -- eating large quantities of food for viewers' enjoyment -- is a wildly popular streaming subject, Oddity Central reported. Successful mukbang streamers make good money and are showered with gifts from their followers. The trend took a sad turn on July 14, however, when 24-year-old Pan Xiaoting, a former waitress, lost her life during her mukbang livestream. As Pan's following grew, she took her overeating to greater extremes, pushing her weight to around 650 pounds. An autopsy reportedly showed that her stomach was full of undigested food and her abdomen was severely deformed. 

Great Art 

The Welsh town of Ruthin, Denbighshire, is struggling to embrace a 43-foot-tall inflatable figure of a laughing man in an odd squatting position, resting on a ball. Wales Online reported that the installation is related to the Ruthin International Arts Festival and was created by Chinese artist Yue Minjun, known for his self-portraits. Locals aren't impressed; some say the "sickly pink color of the piece" is frightening children, and one woman said, "Oh please. He looks constipated. Monstrosity!" 

Eyewitness News 

Remarkably, two brothers out fishing off the coast of Rye, New Hampshire, on July 23 caught a once-in-a-lifetime experience on video: A 30-foot-long humpback whale breached nearby, throwing itself onto the back of a boat where Ryland Kenney, 44, and Greg Paquette, 54, were fishing. As the front of the boat rose into the air, Kenney and Paquette were thrown into the water. "As it collapsed onto the boat, the mouth closed and smashed the top of the motor and I heard a big crunch," Kenney told The New York Times. "I had three seconds to act. I wasn't scared, I didn't have time to be scared." Colin Yager, 16, who took the video, and his brother, Wyatt, rushed over to pull the men, who were unhurt, out of the water. Kenney said he'll take some time away from the water to work on his boat, which will include a radar system that can detect nearby whales. 

Ewwwwww! 

Gizmodo reported on July 19 that a few days before in Portoviejo, Ecuador, doctors removed an obstruction from a 24-year-old woman's stomach that had caused her pain, vomiting and difficulty eating. The object was a 16-inch-long hairball that weighed 2 pounds, Verdi Cevallos Balda General Hospital announced. The mass was so large it could be detected "by touch from the outside," said lead surgeon Pedro Lovato. It had started to move into her intestines, but doctors said it had not caused serious injury to her stomach and she would recover. The hairball was likely caused by trichophagia, a form of disordered eating where people swallow their hair. The patient is receiving comprehensive treatment. 

That Escalated Quickly 

On July 16, Talanye Carter, 41, returned to a St. Louis Jack in the Box restaurant she had visited three days earlier to complain that she'd been shorted one chicken strip, Yahoo! News reported. The store manager replaced the chicken strip, but that didn't satisfy Carter; she spit in the manager's face over the lack of adequate ranch dressing. When Carter went to her vehicle, the manager took photos of her license plate, and Carter noticed. She put the car in reverse and ran into the woman, knocking her to the ground and injuring her foot and ankle, then left the scene. She was charged the next day with second-degree and fourth-degree assault. 

Florida 

The Walton County Sheriff's Office had to remind Floridians on July 18 not to "approach black bears at any time," United Press International reported. The bear in question was hanging out near Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach, looking "depressed," and onlookers were getting too close for comfort trying to take a selfie with it. Deputies borrowed a song title, "If Not Friend, Why Friend Shaped?" to discourage residents from cozying up to the sad-looking guy. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist visited the scene, but the bear wandered back into the woods. 

Least Competent Criminals 

-- Tara Lyles and James Lyles of Louisville, Kentucky, where weed is not legal, showed their hand a little too publicly, WAVE-TV reported, when they posted videos of their marijuana production processes to TikTok. They were arrested on July 22 after a detective arranged to meet Tara in a Kroger parking lot to buy some devil's lettuce. During the exchange, she told the detective that she "packages the product on a thousands level scale and just completed a 1,000 pack order over the weekend." Police seized 218 pounds of marijuana, worth about $450,000 on the street -- again, in a state where weed is not legal. 

-- Social media boasts also took down a foursome of 20-something criminals in Los Angeles County on July 23, KTLA-TV reported. Charles Christopher, 24; Jordan Leonard, 25; D'Angelo Spencer, 26; and Tazjar Rouse, 22, were arrested in connection with a months-long crime spree involving 7-Eleven stores. Leonard couldn't resist the chance to brag: He posted on Instagram, "love my bros we go hit every time," with a photo of stacks of cash, and he helpfully tagged his co-defendants Christopher and Spencer. All four face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each count -- hardly justifying the $7,600 they netted. 

Awesome! 

Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off New South Wales, Australia, on July 23 when a 10-foot-long great white shark bit off his leg, the BBC reported. When he was washed back to shore, an off-duty oliceman applied a tourniquet, and a few minutes later, McKenzie's leg also washed up. Onlookers put the severed limb on ice and transported it and the surfer to the hospital, where doctors are evaluating whether they can save it. McKenzie is in serious but stable condition. 

Reality No More 

Reality show contestants Spencer "Corry" Jones and Oliver Dev were booted from USA Network's production of "Race to Survive" after an incident involving a protected New Zealand bird, BoingBoing reported on July 23. Jones said he knew he was breaking a rule when he caught, killed and ate the flightless weka bird during episode eight, but he was "desperate and hungry. Survival in the bush of New Zealand is not easy," he noted. Punishment for killing the bird could be up to two years in prison or a fine of about $60,000 (U.S.). 

Irony 

Did they not see this coming? A psychic reading business and a crystal business were damaged during a "tricky" overnight fire in Minneapolis on July 24, KSTP-TV reported. Crews were hampered by the lack of working fire hydrants (because of nearby construction); one person was in the building but was able to get out safely. "We had too much fire for how much water we were going to be able to put on the fire, so we had crews go defensive," said Minneapolis Deputy Fire Chief Rita Juran. They were able to keep the fire from spreading. 

News You Can Use 

The Ohio Supreme Court (!) ruled on July 25 that -- are you ready? -- bones are a natural part of chicken, so consumers of boneless chicken wings should be vigilant about them while eating, and that the presence of bones does not constitute a breach of duty on the part of the restaurant. The Columbus Dispatch reported that the 4-3 decision was derided by Democrats on the court, who contended that the question was one for a jury, not an appeals court. "The result in this case is another nail in the coffin of the American jury system," said Justice Michael Donnelly. The case originated with an April 2016 incident in which Michael Berkheimer felt "something go down the wrong pipe" while enjoying wings; he sued in 2017. 

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