News of the Weird: Week of January 8, 2026

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When Fancy Goes too Far

A 38-year-old man named Sergei who was taking part in a corporate holiday party at the Igra Stolov "Game of Tables" cooking studio in Moscow was rushed to surgery after drinking a cocktail that ruptured his stomach, Metro UK reported on Dec. 25. The liquid nitrogen-infused drink was part of a "cryo-show" being put on by one of the culinary school's chefs. Liquid nitrogen is used by chefs and mixologists to flash-chill drinks and provide dramatic effects, but because the liquid expands rapidly into a gas when exposed to room temperatures, it's critical that the drinks are not consumed before the nitrogen has had a chance to fully evaporate. Witnesses at the Moscow event claimed they were given no warnings by the chef or staff of the danger the cocktail presented. Sergei underwent surgery and remained in serious condition at the time of the report. [Metro UK, 12/25/2025]

Lost & Found

Residents of Ogmore-by-Sea, Wales, were understandably puzzled when hundreds of small, hobnailed shoes began washing up on the local beach, the BBC reported on Dec. 23. The mystery only grew deeper when expert analysis revealed that the shoes were from the Victorian era. The working theory is that an Italian cargo ship from that time, known to have sunk just off the coast, has finally decayed enough to release some of its valuables to the ocean currents. The small size of the footwear is likely due to the fact that "people had much smaller feet in those days," said local mudlarker Lara Maiklem. (The hobby of mudlarking involves scouring riverbanks for historical artifacts.) [BBC, 12/23/2025]

Mixed Messages

After denying requests for a number of vanity license plates on the grounds that the requested tags were obscene or inflammatory, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias created a YouTube video in which he read off some of his favorites, including "IBPOOPN," "SNDNUDZ," "BDASMOM" and "ICUP." WBEZ Chicago reported that while Giannoulias and his staff appreciate the creativity of the state's drivers, he advises them to "keep it clean and avoid ending up on the naughty list." [WBEZ, 12/22/2025]

It Takes a Village

It's not a baby boom, but it's a start: Lara Bussi Trabucco is the first baby to have been born in the tiny rural Italian town of Pagliara dei Marsi in almost 30 years, The Guardian reported on Dec. 26. Lara's arrival bumped the village's population to roughly 20. "Pagliara dei Marsi has been suffering from drastic depopulation, exacerbated by the loss of many elderly people, without any generational turnover," said Mayor Giuseppina Perozzi. Lara's mother, Cinzia Trabucco, 42, lived in Rome for years before moving to her grandfather's hometown for a quieter lifestyle. Birth rates in Italy have been falling for 16 years, reaching a record low in 2024, per the country's statistics agency. Government incentives and “baby bonuses” can only do so much, leaving parents and communities struggling as nurseries, schools and even maternity wards close down. In this landscape, little Lara has become a symbol of hope -- and a tourist attraction, says her mom: "People who didn't even know Pagliara dei Marsi existed have come, only because they had heard about Lara. At just 9 months old, she's famous." [The Guardian, 12/26/2025]

Animal Antics

Ken Johnson has been living with a 550-pound black bear under his home in Altadena, California, since November, reported Fox 12 Oregon on Dec. 22. After weeks of attempting to scare the ursine squatter off with loud noises and fake dog barks, Johnson got a little help from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which set up a cage trap near the crawl space and sprayed it with caramel and cherry scents to lure the bear inside. In a classic case of "good news, bad news," the cage was successful, in that it captured a bear, but unsuccessful, in that it was not THE bear, but rather a different bear that had wandered onto Johnson's property. That bear was relocated and released, but Johnson's unwanted guest remains. "I thought this would be over by now," Johnson said. "It's still going on, and there's no sign of him leaving." [KCAL, 12/22/2025]

Face the Music

At least he left an entertaining note. Buzzy Levine, owner of Lark Street Music in New Jersey, enlisted the help of the public by posting surveillance video of a theft that took place in his store on Dec. 22, but it turns out, he needn't have bothered. WABC-7 NY reported on Dec. 29 that the shoplifter, seen in the video stuffing two mandolins (worth about $4,000 apiece) into his parka and exiting the store, returned the instruments four days later, along with a box of chocolates and a handwritten note that read, "SORRY, I BEEN DRUNK, MERRY CHRISTMAS You are a good man." "I suspect that a friend of his or his mom said, 'Hey,'" Levine said. Police are looking for the suspect and still plan to press charges. [WABC-7, 12/29/2025]

Good Intentions

Steven Pavlik, 63, of Stuart, Florida, is facing charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest after his stint as a Salvation Army bell-ringer went very much awry on Dec. 23, WFLA reported. Pavlik was stationed in front of a Publix grocery store on Kanner Highway before "Drunk ringing, belligerent tidings and assault took him from bell duty to booking blotter after a full-blown charity tirade," the Martin Country Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post recounting the incident. Having become intoxicated during the course of his charitable work, Pavlik began confronting passersby, who informed the Publix store manager; when the manager came outside to discuss the complaints with the inebriated volunteer, Pavlik attempted to impale the manager with the donation kettle tripod, then fled. The manager was uninjured, and Pavlik was arrested at his home. [WFLA, 12/26/2025]

Dude, Where's My Seafood?

The FBI is on the case of a $400,000 shipment of lobsters that has gone missing, Boston.com reported on Dec. 30. The truck and its valuable cargo disappeared somewhere between its departure point at a warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, and its destinations at Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota. "It followed a pattern we’re seeing more and more," said Dylan Rexing, president and CEO of Rexing Companies, "where criminals impersonate legitimate carriers using spoofed emails and burner phones to hijack high-value freight while it’s in transit." U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement estimates that the U.S. economy loses $15-35 billion annually to cargo theft, with high-value items like pharmaceuticals, electronics and alcohol among the most frequent targets. [Boston.com, 12/30/2025]

Bad Idea

A 38-year-old man was arrested on Dec. 20 in Aukland, New Zealand, for checking all of the wrong boxes, 1News TVNZ reported. Using flashing lights on the roof of his station wagon to pull over other motorists? Check. Attempting to pull over an unmarked police car? Check. Fleeing the scene upon realizing his huge mistake? Check. And finally, failing a breath test once the police caught up with him? Check. The impaired impersonator's breath analysis registered at twice the legal limit, adding a charge of excess breath alcohol to the already serious charge of impersonating a police officer. "It's bad enough that this person thought it was okay to impersonate a police car," Inspector Kerry Watson said. "It's even worse to see impaired and dangerous driving." [1News TVNZ, 12/21/2025]

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