Creme de la Weird
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, a ritual event took place at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on April 22, The Guardian reported. The traditional “crying sumo” event features pairs of infants, held up by the parents facing each other, who are frightened into crying by staff wearing oni demon masks. The first baby to cry wins the match. “We can tell a baby’s health condition by listening to the way they cry,” said Hisae Watanabe, mother of an 8-month-old. “I want to hear her healthy crying.” Crying sumo events are held throughout the country. “In Japan, we believe babies who cry powerfully also grow up healthily,” explained Shigemi Fuji, chairman of the Asakusa Tourism Federation, which organized the event. [The Guardian, 4/22/2023]
Clothing Optional
Police in Mesa, Arizona, responded to the One Life Church on April 16 after receiving a call about a naked man in the church’s baptismal fountain, AZCentral reported. Officers said Jeremiah Sykes, 20, was asked to leave repeatedly but wouldn’t comply; he then wrapped himself in a blanket and wandered about the property. Sykes told officers he was baptizing himself. During his booking procedure, he punched two officers, compounding his charges. [AZCentral, 4/18/2023]
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Shivdayal Sharma, 82, died in a freak accident in the Alwar region of India on April 19, LBC reported. As Sharma urinated near a train track, a Vande Bharat Express train struck a cow, launching it 100 feet into the air before it landed on him. Sharma was killed instantly, and another man narrowly escaped being hit also. Ironically, Sharma worked at Indian Railways before retiring 23 years ago. Officials are calling for metal fencing to keep cows away from the tracks, along with the removal of garbage and vegetation. [LBC, 4/24/2023]
It’s a Dirty Job
The Blackpool Zoo in England is hiring! Wanted: “A team of people to join our Visitor Services team as ‘Seagull Deterrents.’” You, too, can dress up in a large bird costume and scare away pesky seagulls, which steal food from both visitors and animal enclosures. The Daily Mail reported that candidates must be “outgoing, as you need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume,” and hours will be variable. [Daily Mail, 4/23/2023]
The Passing Parade
On April 19, Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a bizarre plot she cooked up against a look-alike friend from Ukraine, NBC News reported. Nasyrova wanted to avoid being sent back to Russia, where she faced charges in a 2014 murder, according to the Queens district attorney’s office. So in 2016, she laced a cheesecake with phenazepam, a powerful toxin found only in Russia, and fed it to her “friend.” The victim survived, but her Ukrainian passport and $4,000 in cash were stolen. Nasyrova’s attorney said that she will likely be deported after serving her sentence. [NBC News, 4/19/2023]
The Continuing Crisis
In Carmarthenshire, Wales, residents have responded to the condition of a rural road that they describe as the “worst in the county” with a clever road sign, Wales Online reported on April 27. “Caution: Remove dentures. Adjust bra straps. Secure your nuts,” the sign reads. Abergorlech Road is full of potholes, and while some have been filled, residents believe “the road is so worn and damaged that it requires complete resurfacing in many places,” a spokesman said. “Whilst the sign is intended to be funny, the constant wear and tear on our vehicles is a real issue.” The Carmarthenshire Council contends that there is no money budgeted for resurfacing, but residents say it’s “ironic that the police can check our vehicles to ensure that they’re safe for the road, but no one is ensuring that the road is safe for our vehicles.” Maybe it’s time to call the Terminator. [Wales Online, 4/27/2023]
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