Weird World Variety with Matt and Jesse
A Podcast for every traveler. Funny and Family Friendly stories and news from around the world that just might make you smile.
Weird World Variety with Matt and Jesse
Bears on Slides & Coal Carrying: Earth's Strangest Stories
Ever wondered what bears do for fun? Turns out, they might enjoy the same playground equipment as our kids! Welcome to Weird World Variety, where strange and delightful stories from across the globe come to life.
Join us as we explore the utterly fascinating World Coal Carrying Championships in Yorkshire, England. This peculiar Easter tradition sees competitors racing with heavy sacks of coal – women carrying 44 pounds and men shouldering a whopping 110 pounds – along a challenging course. The sight of yellow-shirted participants becoming gradually coal-dusted as they race to the finish line paints a vivid picture of human dedication to unusual traditions.
We also dive into a cautionary tale from Japan's iconic Mount Fuji, where a 27-year-old climber required rescue services twice in just four days after developing altitude sickness. The story sparked heated debate about responsibility and resource allocation, especially since the mountain's official hiking season hadn't yet begun. It serves as a stark reminder of nature's power and the importance of respecting warning signs.
Perhaps most charming is our feature on a black bear in Connecticut that took a delightful slide down a family's backyard playset. The video captures the bear casually climbing the ladder and sliding down head-first before calmly looking around – proving that playfulness isn't limited to humans. The suburban homeowners were understandably shocked by their unexpected playground visitor!
We wrap up with timely suggestions for Mother's Day gifts, ranging from personalized puzzle signs and 3D crystal photos to spa kits and humorous candles – something for every mom in your life.
Subscribe to Weird World Variety for more unusual stories that remind us just how fascinating, strange, and wonderful our world truly is. What bizarre traditions or animal encounters have you witnessed? Share your stories with us!
Don't talk back. Let you on the floor. Don't talk back. Let you on the floor. What's going on? Everybody? Welcome to world variety, world-world Variety. Yeah, let's get it poppin', alright.
Speaker 1:So this is the show that brings you the weirdest and funniest stories from around the world. We do this a couple times. I think we're a once-a-week show. Right now I think I'm going to do it probably maybe twice a week, maybe more, we'll see. But yeah, so let's get right into it. We got lots of funny stuff and weirdness and we have more to come. So even after this show, we have a lot more coming up. So stay tuned. It's going to be a good time.
Speaker 1:So let's open up our stories with the first weird news story of the week. All right, well, to begin, I am addicted to the gym. I kind of like going to the gym. I liked living lifting heavy things. I love doing all kinds of stuff, and this article caught my eye because it was like okay, this is interesting, but why? I mean, there's a lot of things that we do as humans that you're like asking why, but the same time it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 1:So this first one contestants haul heavy sacks of coal in unusual yorkshire tradition. What does that mean? Well, obviously they're hauling coal, but why we're gonna find out. Contestants in yorkshire competed on Monday in the World Coal Carrying Championships, racing with heavy sacks of coal on their back. Women carried 20 kilograms. Now that's for our US listeners that's 44 pounds. I know in you know bodybuilding and things like that, they use kilograms. So I'm going to do both so that everybody understands where this is coming from. While men carried 50 kilograms, 110 pounds, along a 1.1 kilometer, which is 0.68 miles, course in Osset, yorkshire, in a uniquely British Easter tradition. Now, I had no idea on the show that we were going to do any Easter traditions, but here we are.
Speaker 1:So apparently this Easter tradition is where they race, carry and coal and I have a few pictures on the article here If you want to follow along or see the pictures for yourself. They're pretty cool. Apnewscom slash weird news and they have pictures from the race and it looks like what they do is they take the bag of coal and they they're like white bags, which is interesting and on it's printed cold carrying championship and they put them on their shoulders, slash head and like they carry them back around their neck, so like it's on the back of their shoulder blades from one side of the other and they race with that. So that's how they race with them. They don't carry it out front. They don't carry it out front, they don't carry it by hand, they put it on their back, which I imagine is probably the easiest way to race with them, and this is like a whole thing. It seems like very fun. You can race in whatever gear you want and they do this kind of marathon with coal on their back.
Speaker 1:Very interesting, what else we got here? What else we got? So the pictures on the website are of the race and if you want to go see it, it's pretty cool, and of course they all have yellow racing shirts uh, yellow racing shirts and of course they're going to be like partially black by the time they get done, cause the coal kind of comes through the bag and, yeah, messes up their shirts. But it seems interesting. I would have never thought for an Easter tradition this would have been a thing, but apparently it is. So there you go. Maybe for next Easter y'all should get your friends and put a bag of coal on your back and race from one side of the city to the other. I don't know. All right. So, speaking of lifting, this next one is interesting because if you've ever had a case of deja vu and you feel like you're doing the same thing over again, well, imagine being the rescue team of this next situation.
Speaker 1:So a man was airlifted from japan's mount fuji returns. So he returned. This was worded weird, but he returns to the slope days later and is rescued again. So just two times the charm, I guess I don't know. Alright, tokyo, japan.
Speaker 1:A climber airlifted with altitude sickness from near the peak of Japan's Mount Fuji last week returned to the slope and was rescued a second time just four days later, authorities said. Monday Officials urged people to be aware of the harsh conditions at the country's tallest peak during its off-season. The climber was identified only as a 27-year-old Chinese student living in Japan. Interesting. He made an emergency call on April 22nd and was airlifted after developing symptoms of altitude sickness, police said, adding that his climbing irons were also damaged. Nomiya Trail, about 3,000 meters, nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, to look for a cell phone and other belongings left behind. Shizuka Prefectural Police said another climber found himself there unable to move, after he apparently developed altitude sickness for a second time.
Speaker 1:The mountain's hiking trails are officially open from July to early September, but there is no penalty for off-season hiking. There is also no charge or penalty for when a climber needs to be rescued, but the Chinese student case prompted an uproar on social media and generally calls for him to be charged, at least for his second rescue. The Shizuka urged all climbers to use caution, noting that the mountain has low temperatures and is covered in snow even in spring. The 3,776 meter high, which is about 12,388 feet, mountain was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 2013. Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site in 2013.
Speaker 1:A symbol of Japan, the mountain called Fujisan used to be a place of pilgrimage and is increasingly popular among hikers today. To control overcrowding and risk from rushed overnight climbing through the rocky slopes to see the sunrise, local authorities last year introduced an entry fee and cap on the number of entrants on the most popular trail, and we'll introduce some similar rules on other main trails this year. Well, if we've learned anything from this, that is when the police say be careful in the offseason because it's hazardous. That usually means you should probably listen, listen to your elders. Kids, my goodness, all right. And our last weird news story of the day is kind of fun. I saw this one and I was like man. I got to get an animal story because we have not had an animal story for a while, and I was like this one seems fun.
Speaker 1:There's also a video to this. If you want to see the video, it's pretty interesting. I'm probably going to get an ad here. Let me let me see. Ok, there we go. I've got the video pulled up and let me describe to you what is happening in this video. First of all, the title A bear is spotted in Connecticut playing on a family backyard slide. You heard me right. Even animals need to have their fun. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in west simsbury, connecticut, april 19th of 2025, and this video that's playing right now is literally a bear climbing. He's literally climbing the playset, so he went up the ladder himself. He climbed the ladder, he loves it. He's like he lays at the bottom. He doesn't know what to think of it. He might even go again. Anyway, if you want to see the video, ap newscom slash weird, weird news. Um, yeah, so let's read a little bit about this invasion of a bear that wants to play. Simsbury, connecticut.
Speaker 1:Sarah loving had just returned home from lunch last Saturday with her husband and two young children when she looked out the window and spotted two bears walking across her backyard in Simsbury, connecticut. Now, one bear is wild enough. If you looked out your backyard window and you saw a bear in your backyard, honestly I don't know what I would do. I'd probably call the police, maybe. What do you do with a bear? Like you're not going out there and tell them what the tell them the bear what to do. Sorry, you're not. You can maybe scare the bear If he gets too close to your house, try to protect your house, but at the end of the day you're going to have to call like wildlife agency or the police or somebody to deal with it, Because, like, there is no way that, yeah, I'm not having an arm wrestling match with a bear anytime soon. A bear anytime soon. So she saw but not one, but two bears in her backyard. Her wildlife visitors didn't really surprise her.
Speaker 1:In recent years, bears have been pretty common in Sinsbury, a suburban community of 24,500 located about 12 miles northwest of Hartford, where overturned garbage cans are often found along the road on trash day after a bear has searched for an inside snack. But when one of the bears stopped at her family's wooden playset and began climbing up the stairs, loving started filming. What came next took her by surprise. He made it to the landing and then went down the slide like he had done it before, she said. In the video the bear nonchalantly slides head first, its front paws, breaking its fall on a pile of soft sand at the bottom. The bear then lays there for a few seconds calmly looking around.
Speaker 1:Loving said the pair hung out for a few more minutes before moving on to her neighbor's yard. Their appearance lasted about 10 minutes in all. They seemed so comfortable in the place, says Loving, whose family moved to Simsbury about two years ago, not knowing they might run across bears. Simsbury about two years ago, not knowing they might run across bears, we just kept joking that they probably have been there before, but we have not seen a bear go down a play scape before. That was a first. So that just goes to show you that. Show you I can't talk today. That just goes to show you that even bears can have fun today. That just goes to show you that even bears can have fun. So, yeah, there's your three wild news stories of the week and we are going to transition to our top 10 list of the week right after this break. Thank you, all right. So yeah, we're back, we're back, we're back, we're back, we're back, we're back. So today, instead of the top 10, necessarily it's a top 10, but it's not a top 10.
Speaker 1:I thought it would be a good idea, since we have Mother's Day coming up. So we're going to go over some top gifts for Mother's Day. Now, this one is according to Amazon. There is, of course, like 100 lists out there. I think the New York Magazine has one, I think Wirecutter has one, I think the Post has one. All kinds of people have their own. You know Mother's Day ideas, quote unquote, and whether or not they're sponsored by greedy companies that want a lot of money, I cannot say for sure. So you know Amazon, not any different, but I thought these ideas were kind of cool. We should go over some of them. So if you are stumped and you are looking for some ideas for Mother's Day, here we go.
Speaker 1:So first one on the list I thought was cool is a personalized mom puzzle sign. What is a personalized mom puzzle sign? Well, that is exactly what it sounds like. So it's literally one of those signs that you would see like live, laugh, love, kind of deal across the thing and it says on the sign you are the piece that holds us together, kind of a cute little saying there. And then on the bottom it has pieces and on those pieces are the names of your family members. So you can put all the names of your family on there. So if you have a bunch of people in your family, you could put a bunch of puzzle pieces on there. If you have just a few, you can put just a few, and of course they come in different colors, um, different frames, that kind of thing. So that's an interesting, unique. That's an interesting, unique, personalized gift.
Speaker 1:And this one comes from I don't know how to say this shop's name, but it's Pofily P-O-F-I-L-Y. Anyway, it's on Amazon. It's probably one of the first ones that pops up when you click on Mother's Day Gifts idea. And then, of course, here's a fun one If you wanted to do a photo in a different way. There is a company that does a 3D crystal photo and you can get pictures of your family and it has this acrylic block and inside the block is a crystal clear picture of your family and it's done in black and white. So that's a pretty cool one.
Speaker 1:There is, of course, jewelry. Jewelry is a big thing. Number one gift, I think, on Mother's Day is flowers. So obviously, tons of flowers are going to be sold this Mother's Day. This one's really funny. I like this, I like this idea. I feel like I would buy this for my family just as a laugh. So it's not your main gift idea, but there is a candle called Mom's Last Nerve. Oh look, it's on fire, is what it says on the bottom. So yeah, that's that's a funny one, I think. I think my family would would love that one. And it's not your main gift, but it is kind of like a little gift you can get her. That's really funny.
Speaker 1:There are other things like I see a lot of, uh, crystal, acrylic customizations. Of course I'm sure you can get custom mom gifts. There's jewelry. I see scented candles. I see candy. Of course chocolate is a big thing for Mother's Day gifts or just candy in general. I don't know. I mean, I know people who are teachers.
Speaker 1:But there's one suggestion about ballpoint pens. You could get her a custom ballpoint pen. There's a rose jewelry set. That's an interesting idea. Um, or you can get, like I know in our Walmart and like different Walmarts. They have like the massagers. Like you can get them for feet, you can get them for eyes, you know, for back, whatever. Those are also fun little Mother's Day gifts they have on here as well.
Speaker 1:They have those wooden statues. I don't know if I know some people that were fans of those wooden statues. They were just like handmade wooden statues that has the mom and daughter, has the mom and son on it, that kind of thing. And then there are, of course, like custom house sets that have like bags and pillows and blankets and cups and things like that with all kinds of custom stuff about mom. Then there's a really fun one that's like a fill in the blank journal says what I love about mom. There's just all kinds of stuff. Let's go over a few more. We have the spa kits. Everybody like sells the spa kits. Like you can walk in to Walmart or somewhere and the spa kits are there so you can get a spa kit for for mom.
Speaker 1:They have garden stuff Of course. You can get the lights and the pretty like lanterns and things you can get for outdoor gardens. They're just all kinds of stuff. The blankets, the custom mom blankets, are a big thing. So those are a thing, of course. If you wanted to get her coffee, I know my mom and many other moms like coffee, so coffee is a great idea as well.
Speaker 1:Or gift cards. Like I said, gardening stuff that's also a thing. There's full-on garden sets, there's roses, there's just stuff to make your life easier. There's custom personalized gifts, like those glass, acrylics, just all kinds of stuff. If you're having a hard time, you're really just not looking. And of course, every store this year will have hundreds and hundreds of Mother's Day gifts out front. They know the whole marketing thing so they know how to do the marketing, especially at Target, kroger, walmart and what's another one, tj Maxx. They got the marketing down for the holidays. So you just walk into a store and there's Mother's Day gifts everywhere and cards and that kind of stuff. So if you're really looking for an idea, just walk in somewhere and guarantee you'll find somewhere, all right. So that's all I've got today. I will see you again, maybe later this week, maybe tomorrow, I don't know. But we're going to continue our weird news and we're going to keep bringing you the best and funniest things out there. So tune in to Weird World Variety next time. Thank you, thank you, brr bruh.