News of the Weird: Week of December 29, 2022

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Not a Game

On Dec. 11 in Katwe Kabatoro, Uganda, a 2-year-old boy was playing near a lake when a hungry, hungry hippo "grabbed ... the boy from his head and swallowed half his body," the Telegraph reported. Bystander Chrispas Bagonza witnessed the event and started chucking rocks at the hippo, which caused it to spit the toddler out. As the beast lumbered away, onlookers rushed the child to the hospital, where he was treated for injuries sustained in the attack. Police warned residents in the area to be on the lookout for the hippo, as they can become aggressive when they feel threatened.

'Tis the Season

• If you don't mind sharing a ride with the quintessential bah humbug, you stand a chance at beating traffic in the HOV lane. At least, that's what one driver in Arizona was hoping on Dec. 13 as he cruised along Interstate 10 with an inflatable Grinch in the passenger seat, CNN reported. "While we appreciate the festive flair, this is illegal & the driver received a citation for the HOV violation," the Arizona Department of Public Safety noted on Twitter. 
• Motorists in Marathon, Florida, who didn't heed the school zone speed limit on Dec. 13 were met with a choice: a citation, or an onion presented by the Grinch himself. Monroe County Sheriff's deputy Lou Caputo, a 37-year veteran of the force, started dressing up as the surly green character more than 20 years ago, the Associated Press reported. "It's about education, awareness that our school zones are still operating even though it's the holiday season," Caputo said. "It catches them off guard." Some speeders have even elected to eat the onion right on the spot. 

Time on Their Hands

The Catalonia region of Spain has a quaint tradition at Christmastime that features "caganers," or "poopers" -- figurines of shepherds with their pants down, relieving themselves, Reuters reported. The figures are usually placed among nativity scenes, but more recently, they've morphed into caricatures of famous people such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and King Charles III. And now, inmates at a prison north of Barcelona are getting in on the action: They've been trained to produce the clay figurines for a private family business, Caganer.com. Working four-hour shifts, prisoners mold, bake, polish and paint the figures. David Fernandez, an inmate at Puig de les Basses prison, said he feels like "an elf." "I feel very good working all year to get the job done and spread illusion. It's very cool. It's something from deep inside." 

Art = Pain

Elito Circa, 52, a Philippine artist, creates his paintings with an unusual medium: his own blood. Circa told Reuters that using his blood started when he was young and had little access to painting supplies. Now he sources his "paint" every three months when he goes to Manila's health clinic to have 500 ml extracted, which he stores in a cooler in his studio. "My artwork is very important to me because they come from me, it is from my own blood, my DNA is part of it," Circa said.

Awesome!

This week's "And What the Heck Have YOU Done?" story comes from Golden, Colorado, and 8-year-old Maddock Lipp. On Dec. 1, The Denver Post reported, Lipp skied with his family on Mount Heogh in Antarctica, achieving in his short lifetime a big feat: He has skied on all seven continents and is unofficially the youngest person to do so. Lipp said he liked Antarctica best because he "got to ski next to the penguins." He hopes to nab a Guinness World Record for the accomplishment. 

Extreme Measures

An Argentinian soccer superfan became alarmed on Dec. 13 as he headed home to watch his team's match with Croatia in the World Cup semifinals, Oddity Central reported. The 53-year-old was frustrated at the slow progress of the bus he was riding, so when the driver stopped and stepped out to buy something at a kiosk, the soccer fan allegedly hopped into the driver's seat and took off toward his home. He drove about 4 miles, then abandoned the bus and its occupants and continued on foot. But police officers caught up with him and took him into custody -- and he missed the whole game.

Mistaken Identity

Police officers in London were summoned to Laz Emporium, an art gallery, on Nov. 25 after a call about a "person in distress," Sky News reported. In a gallery window, the figure of a woman could be seen slumped over, with her face in a bowl of soup. Officers broke into the gallery, only to find that the "woman" was a mannequin, and the scene was art. The American artist, Mark Jenkins, created the piece, titled "Kristina," on a commission from the gallery's owner, Steve Lazarides. Turns out these officers weren't the first to be fooled; paramedics were called out to assist the woman in October. 

Not-So-Smooth Reactions

A photographer in Western Cape, South Africa, set off alarm bells after he posted some shots on Facebook that eerily resembled scenes from "The War of the Worlds," LAD Bible reported. Jan Vorster's shots from Dec. 2 showed creepy creatures emerging from the surf, which provoked 22,000 comments -- but Vorster, 62, said the spidery "creatures" are just dead aloe vera plants. "I thought I could use this as a metaphor for how people see these plants as aliens, but we are actually the two-legged aliens messing up their world," he said.

Bright Idea

Even as it was naturally going out of style, the name Karen took a big hit in the last few years, when it suddenly became synonymous with an entitled, demanding, complaining woman. But one British TV and radio personality can't bear to see the moniker disappear completely, so he has a plan, LAD Bible reported. Matt Edmondson has vowed to pay 100 people to legally change their name to Karen, with the hope that they'll keep it relevant. What's the catch? He'll only pay you the standard fee to have your name changed, about $51. In addition, he's launching a board game called -- you guessed it! -- Karen. 

Weird Science

Hashem Al-Ghaili, a producer and filmmaker who has a background in molecular biology, has set imaginations on fire with a concept he shared on social media: EctoLife, "the world's first artificial womb facility," Huffington Post UK reported. Basically, it's a techno farm for growing human children, and Hashem believes it could be reality within a decade. Frighteningly enough, some scientists agree. Andrew Shennan, professor of obstetrics at King's College London, said artificial wombs are a possibility. "It's just a matter of providing a correct environment with fuel and oxygen," he said. "When we put people on things like heart bypasses or other organ bypasses, we are theoretically giving them what they need from a machine." Jeepers. 

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.