Here’s our weekly collection of this weird, weird world — from a family waking up to 50 new baby octopi to leaving a card game tournament because of some competitors’ BO.
392 extra tentacles
WHERE?
Oklahoma, United States
WHAT?
A family in Oklahoma who bought a pet octopus for their son ended up with slightly more than what they’d paid for. Terrance, it turns out, was a very pregnant octopus. The family is now seeking homes for the 50+ of Terry’s offspring. The mother remains healthy.
Ew-Gi-Oh
WHERE?
Tokyo, Japan
WHAT?
A female player in Japan dropped out halfway through a Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament due to due to the erm… “strong smell spell” card played by one of one participants. “There are some stinky female duelists, but the men are in a class of their own,” she commented. Gaming conventions and tournaments have a reputation for their players not exactly showing up fresh, and referees are mulling the introduction of penalties for smelly attendants.
“Plum blossoms,” you say?
WHERE?
North Nanjing, China
WHAT?
Despite authorities citing inspiration from plum blossoms, the new proposed design of the North Nanjing train station in China has caught the attention of Weibo netizens for its resemblance to a sanitary pad. One user wrote “I think we should take this chance to call for society to pay attention to period shaming. This design is ahead of its time.”
I now pronounced you unwillingly divorced
WHERE?
London, United Kingdom
WHAT?
Imagine being happily married for 21 years. And then divorced overnight because someone pressed the wrong button? That’s what happened to the Williamses, a couple mistakenly divorced by solicitors at a London law firm after a computer error. The firm, Vardags (belonging to divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag) applied for a final order on an online portal intended for another client, resulting in the divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Williams. Vardag realized the mistake and applied to rescind the order, but a senior judge ruled against overturning it, citing the importance of respecting the finality of divorce orders. Vardags criticized the decision, emphasizing the need for intention in divorce proceedings.
Weekend at Brazillian Bernie’s
WHERE?
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
WHAT?
In Rio de Janeiro, a woman attempted to secure a loan of R,000 (,400) by bringing the corpse of an elderly man into a bank. Suspicious bank employees filmed the incident and alerted the police. The woman claimed to be the man’s niece and tried to get him to sign loan papers, but police determined that the man had already been dead for several hours. The investigation is ongoing to ascertain the woman’s relationship to the deceased and whether others were involved in the attempted fraud. The incident quickly gained attention on social media, with the word “cadáver” (corpse) trending.
A record that’s on pointe
WHERE?
New York, United States
WHAT?
In a spectacular feat, hundreds of ballerinas in New York City tippy-toed together to beat the world record for dancing en pointe in a single venue. Clad in elegant white tutus, 353 dancers gathered at the Plaza Hotel for a Youth America Grand Prix ballet program event. Ballerinas aged between 9 and 19 from across the U.S. and countries around the world came together to make ballerina history.
