News of the Weird: Week of June 15, 2023

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It's Come to This

In Japan, people who are just being freed from COVID mask-wearing mandates feel they've lost their ability to do a simple thing: smile. Sky News reported that 20-year-old Himawari Yoshida, among many others, has enlisted the help of a "smile instructor," Keiko Kawano. "I hadn't used my facial muscles much during COVID," Yoshida said. One-on-one sessions cost about $55. Kawano has students stretch the sides of their mouths and hold up a mirror to smile into. "Culturally, a smile signifies that I'm not holding a gun, and I'm not a threat to you," Kawano said.

Can't Possibly Be True

When Corinea Stanhope, 36, of Powell River, British Columbia, Canada, found a dead deer on her property, she and her grandfather set up a trail camera, hoping to catch some interesting wildlife attracted to the carcass. Instead, Fox News reported on June 6, Stanhope reported capturing something quite different: "two witches holding a carcass-eating ritual. ... Grandpa said he'd got naked people on the camera and I said, 'No you didn't.' So he showed me," Stanhope said. She said the two people showed up shortly after sunset and appeared to be wearing long wigs. "You can't really tell from the photos, but the hoof was brought right up to her mouth. I don't know if she was kissing it, smelling it or eating it, but to touch a decaying carcass like that makes me feel sick." Stanhope hopes the incident was a prank; she decided not to contact police because there was no crime committed.

Going in Style

Go As You Please, a funeral company in Edinburgh, Scotland, is hoping to "break the taboo" of talking about final arrangements, Sky News reported, by offering custom-made coffins. For instance, general manager Scott Purvis said, the company created a coffin that looked like a Dyson vacuum box for someone whose history included repairing vacuum cleaners. "Most of our coffin designs come from having honest conversations with the person when they are still alive," Purvis said. Other designs they've made include a pint of Tennent's lager and a Greggs sausage roll.

Least Competent Criminal

A phone repair store in Miami Gardens, Florida, was the target of a robbery in the early hours of June 3, NBC6-TV reported. The suspect, 33-year-old Claude Vincent Griffin, employed a brilliant disguise: He wore an ill-fitting cardboard box over his head as he smashed the glass countertop and reached into a case, grabbing 19 iPhones and $8,000 in cash. Naturally, it's hard to see through cardboard, so Griffin at one point removed the box and revealed himself to a surveillance camera. The store's owner, Jeremias Berganza, did some sleuthing around the area after the robber left the store and found him at a nearby liquor store, drinking with friends. Griffin was charged with grand theft, burglary, cocaine possession and resisting an officer.

Tone Deaf

The Woolshed nightclub in Adelaide, Australia, is in apology mode after running a sketchy promotion offering free drinks based on bra size, 9News reported on June 4. The campaign promised one free drink for an A cup, two drinks for a B cup, etc., and included hanging bras up in the bar. "The bigger the better," a social media post read. Patrons weren't impressed: One woman said she would choose to go somewhere else. The Woolshed apologized and said future promotions would be reviewed by senior management to ensure an "inclusive environment" for all patrons.

This Is Not How We Sonic

As the debate about appropriate hot dog condiments (Relish? Mustard? Ketchup?) rages on, a worker at an Espanola, New Mexico, Sonic threw a new hat into the ring when he customized a patron's order a bit more than she liked on May 30. Fox News reported that as the woman bit into her hot dog, she encountered a plastic bag with a white powdery substance inside. She contacted police, who tested the powder and found it to be cocaine. It seems that as Jeffrey David Salazar, 54, was preparing her order, he allegedly dropped his stash; video surveillance showed that Salazar began to frantically search the area "as if he had lost something." He admitted to police that he had bought the coke from someone in the restaurant parking lot.

Clothing Optional

At a Lancashire, England, gas station on May 23, Quinn Kelly stepped into the store for a snack and was shocked as he came out to see a man filling up his tank while completely nude -- except for boots. Stuart Gilmore, 44, of Manchester was "casual about it," Kelly said. He said Gilmore is a "naturist" and "goes around naked to spread positivity and has been doing it for a few years," according to Fox News. "I don't take any notice when people take photos," Gilmore said. "I don't do it for attention. I'm doing it to promote naturism and the benefits," which he said include improved mental health.

It's Good To Have a Hobby

Rocketry enthusiasts gathered near Alamosa, Colorado, over the Memorial Day weekend to ... enthuse about rockets, but one person's rocket got away from them in a most inconvenient location: a hotel room at the Comfort Inn, according to the Alamosa News. "There was a malfunction with the motherboard in the rocket which caused the motor to catch on fire," explained Alamosa Fire Department Deputy Chief Paul Duarte. The resulting explosion caused "enough pressure in the room to dislodge the drywall and panels in the ceiling to fall." The 4-foot-8-inch rocket had to be disarmed by firefighters to mitigate any further risk. Duarte didn't believe the guest was injured in the incident. Hotel clerks didn't expect any charges to be filed.

Cheesy

If you happen to be traveling along Twentynine Palms Highway in California before June 11, make sure you make a pit stop at the "biggest, cheesiest roadside attraction to ever grace America's beloved highways and byways." KTLA-TV reported that a niche pop-up store was created by the makers of Cheez-It crackers for just one week -- but what a week! Visitors can fuel up with the "world's first and only Cheez-It Pump" that pumps bags of the treats into your vehicle, or find rare flavors and other memorabilia. You'd have to be crackers not to go!

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

A pair of Dutch tourists hiking in mid-May in the Alpujarra mountain range in Granada, Spain, got a rude reception from a mountain goat, the Daily Star reported on June 6. The Iberian ibex, who was presumably aggressive because it was mating season, knocked a 64-year-old woman off a cliff, where she tumbled about 65 feet and landed on a ledge with both wrists broken. The goat also knocked the other person unconscious. Rescue workers, hampered by weather, took almost a week to recover the fallen hiker, who suffered hypothermia along with her broken wrists.

Awesome!

Elephants at the Houston Zoo are a limber group, thanks to the yoga practice they begin learning soon after they're born, Chron reported on June 5. In fact, Tess, 40, can lift her 6,500-pound body into a handstand. Adult elephants do the sets of exercises twice a day to help keep their joints moving and are rewarded with fruit or bread, said Kristen Windle, the zoo's elephant manager. "We want them to constantly be learning new things," she said. "They are really smart and they want to be constantly working and learning."

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