The Weird and the Weary

Pedro Francisco of Portuguese and Jack Churchill (no relation) were two individuals who made Rambo and Dutch look like ballerinas as one was a 6'8" gigantic man named the Virginian Hercules (Pedro) and the other a damned wolf out of hell! Jack would go into battle swinging a sword off a boat while others struggled just to get ashore. Yeah, war is crazy. Send a good man to war and demons run for cover! Check out our latest episode, The Tale of Two Bad*** Soldiers!  

3/3/20 • 54:39

Death is an inevitable part of life, a ride we can all enjoy but for so long with the departure always being a surprise or any day coming. But in some cases, such as Harry Houdini's death that was possibly caused by complications from a flurry of punches belting away at his midsection without warning, it can be something of legends. Like Flukey Stokes and his son's lavish funeral complete with a coffin outfitted to look like a Cadillac while the deceased son was propped up behind the wheel, looking cool, detatched, and quite.....dead. Check out the raucousness the boys have to bring and please, don't bring your kids. It's THAT kind of party.

2/25/20 • 52:47

Sounds like an action-packed film about adventurer, Lake Natron and his search for the mystery behind the fires of the Darvaza Crater while falling in love and saving denizens of poor slaves, but alas, it isn't. It's about two of the scariest places on Earth. Lake Natron can calcify anything that touches it and leaves behind a macabre display of art that shows the balance of life and death. And while that fun is happening in Africa, Darvaza, "The Door to Hell" is open for business in far off Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert, and has been for almost 50 years now. Soviet geologists had come upon this methane producing crater and figured setting a fire to burn the gas would be a good idea. WRONG. It is a gas pocket that continuously produces methane and has not stopped since. What a world. Check out this week's episode on Lake Natron and the Darvaza Fire Crater.

2/18/20 • 40:59

Animals. Some find solace in animals more than people. Sometimes those people wind up hiring hitmen to kill a rival wildlife sanctuary business owner because that's an everyday occurrence, you know? Some burn just want to watch the world burn and others want to live a flamboyant lifestyle that doesn't care much for what other people want or think cuz hell, Joe Exotic means business. And sometimes that business leads to a 22 year jail sentence. You know, the usual stuff. Check out the weird life that is Joe Exotic's in this week's episode, The Weird Tale of Joe Exotic.    

2/11/20 • 67:42

Corn flakes and Vaseline. Who would have thought that two of the most commonly used household items in the world would have such an interesting and strange history. Such as the story of John Kellogg, his brother Will, and the invention of corn flakes by two men with one, John, wanting to incorporate it into a 7th Day Adventist diet which forbade sugar, alcohol, sex for fun (even among married couples!) basically everything fun while his brother wanted to add a little sugar to add another realm of sensation but NOOOOO! John nixed that. Then there is Robert Chesebrough, inventor of Vaseline, who supposedly ate a spoonful of it everyday to maintain a healthy lifestyle and applied it to burns and cuts to show off the healing properties of his new petroleum jelly. Smart indeed as he created the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company which would later become Pond's. Join us as we try out a bowlful of corn flakes and vaseline and see if we can live to 123.

2/4/20 • 68:45

Animals sometimes wind up being better companions than people and although sad to say sometimes animals show more humanity and courage than a handful of trash-talking beer wrestlers. Wojtek the Bear for example was a mimic but he exemplified the characteristics of a perfect soldier; strong, considerate, and a hell of a smoker and drinker. Then there is Lance Corporal William "Billy" Windsor who served in the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh, Infantry of the British Army who went wild and was demoted for a short while before regaining his rank later on and finally, Corporal Jackie, a baboon who served in the South Africa Army during WWI and was raised in rank from Private to Corporal and received a Medal of Valor for the injuries he suffered a conflict. What a little bad-boy! Check out the War Animals, this week on the Weird and the Weary!

1/28/20 • 53:49

Have you ever just wanted to tell someone to kiss you where the sun don't shine? Unless you're a nudist who frequents the beach but never you mind, because we have a treat for you! The term "kiss my @$$" was born from the mind of a mercenary who lost his right hand in battle against a cannonball and died an old man with numerous children and an autobiography. His story was even made into a play by Goethe! Who said that the human condition wasn't always full of scatological fair? Ask Mozart, he's got plenty of jokes for ya! Check out this week's episode, Götz and the Origin of a Classic Term.

1/21/20 • 42:21

Idols exist in all forms but one of the most prevalent in today's society is that of the music icon, the bright star that rises high and sometimes crashes hard for all the neck-craning, amateur smartphone videographers to catalogue and gawk at on social media. Sorry, had a "get off my lawn" moment. Anyway, South Korea is home to many treasures such as kimchi and of course, K-Pop. But behind the scenes lies some disturbing truths about what lies behind closed doors and closed lips. Enter a sordid tale as we briefly touch on the Burning Sun Scandal aka Burning Sun Gate (really, can we please do something beyond Nixon?) and the sad deaths of two beloved Stars, Sulli and Goo Hara, beautiful souls with demons too powerful for them to endure; the hatred and viciousness of cruel individuals. Check out this maudlin tale of the Burning Sun, Tortured Souls. The Weird. The Weary. And everything possible in between....  

1/14/20 • 59:54

Welcome fellow Weird and Weary, uh, -ers to our 65th episode, and we go over the five top stories that we decided were a mix of n00bness and learning, finding weird stories and trying to make sense of them in a raw, unfiltered discussion akin to debating the merits of sci-fi or whether or not the last Star Wars really was a proper sendoff to such a classic story a la Joseph Campbell and such. Sorry. I just finished reading a Tom Robbins book. For those of you who have been there since day one, thank you. Lurkers or not, huge audience or small, some of you have heard us and some of you have enjoyed while others may despise and loathe us but we're doing it selfishly for our selves while selflessly throwing together this podcast for someone out there to laugh out loud to some of the awesome comedy gold you will find. Or not. But probably yes. Check out our 65th episode (only 35 left to that special 100th) and thank you for staying Weird and Weary, and be good to each other and especially yourself.

1/7/20 • 68:59

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year's Eve! Another year has come and gone and as we reflect on our numerous blessings and so forth, we wonder, how do some other countries do for celebration? Such as Mexico in Guadalupe where the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated over almost five weeks with numerous Catholics congregate and celebrate their faith while in South Wales, an event called Mari Lwyd where a horse's skull is placed on a stick, and a group of people sing and try to convince the houseowners to let them in to eat. Some people are so damn rude! Check out what we have to say as you drive to work, eat your lunch, or pass out from all that holiday eatings! Be well, people!  

12/31/19 • 73:41

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS!!!! Imagine watching TV with your kids, some Christmas Special or something of the sort when suddenly and without warning a strange man in a familiar pop icon mask from the 80s being weird and telling the world to kiss his arsecakes. Or watching a football game when suddenly pornographic images pop on the screen to your sheer embarrassment (or enjoyment, we aren't judging). Yes, these things happened as well as a few more such as a failed attempt at holding a tv host hostage while they read the interloper's manifesto. This and more is covered quite hilariously by your three knuckleheaded hosts, Jason, Kevin, and Lee at the WEIRD AND THE WEARY!!!

12/24/19 • 60:01

Rube Waddell was born on a Friday the 13th and died on April Fool's but this man was something else. Something of an eccentric, an athlete who defied as much as he defined the WTF nature of humankind, Rube would set baseball pitching records that wouldn't be broken until almost 50 years later. Join us as we take a brief glimpse into the wild story of Rube Waddell, baseball player, football player, soccer player, and all-around wild stallion.  

12/17/19 • 93:17

In Rochester, Minnesota, during the winter months, murders of crows congregate in urban centers and cause the downtown and nearby Mayo Clinic to be inundated with crow feces. This is a problem for many different reasons (uh, POOP!) but a small group of people known as the Crow Patrol do what they can to keep Rochester crow poop-free. And in Oregon, other incidents with animals have people puzzled and wondering what could possibly be mutilating their prized bulls and mother cows and draining them of their blood? Without leaving a drop of blood or tracks behind? Hrmmmmm. Check out this hilarious episode as we talk about the Crows, the Cows, and the Bulls!  

12/10/19 • 74:00

Sharon Elizabeth Kinne aka La Pistolera is the longest standing fugitive in history who made a daring escape from a Mexican prison on murder charges after being acquitted for one of her boyfriend's wives murder. And she was supposed to face a fourth trial for the death of her husband but guess that isn't happening now. Check out the crazy %^% stuff this woman did just so she could be "comfortable". What in the hell? On this week's episode, we speak of the Abhorrent Acts of Ms Kinne.  

12/3/19 • 70:43

Imagine a nice beach on a sunny Australian day where you and your loved one are about to enjoy one of the best vacations ever in Somerton then onward to whatever other dangers the Bush has in store for an unsuspecting traveler. And then you see what you think is a man napping but in actuality he is a dead as nails corpse with a mysterious writing in Persian in his presence and no explanation as to what happened. Join us as we chat about the Mysterious Case of the Somerton Man.

11/26/19 • 67:06

Life is a trip. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but never dull. But some things just need to die. Such as the need to zero in on a particular area and designate it as worthless while leaving the inhabitants to the wind like starving dogs. Or the need to try and convince wicked men with hearts full of vitriol and violence to turn their lives into a positive one. Join us as we talk about the designation of 'most incarcerated zip code in the nation', 53206, and the audaciousness of Daryl Davis, a blues and R&B African American 'friend' of 'reformed' KKK members. We can't make this up.    

11/19/19 • 54:08

Words eludes us when we read about cases like this. We wonder why such events have to occur and how people can be so damn cruel and inhumane towards one another but that can only change one realization after another. This week we talk about the dastardly ignoramus known as Franklin Delano Floyd and how we helped a bunch of elderly ladies, no just kidding, how he didn't want to do all the work involved with starting and raising a family so he kidnaps his stepkids and well, you have to check it out! On this week's episode of the Weird and the Weary, FU, FDF!  

11/12/19 • 48:41

Halloween is the time for spooky yet innocent times however not everyone is on the same page when it comes to not doing harm. Such was the case with Cindy Song, a young, intelligent, hardworking Penn State University art major who disappeared late into the wee hours of Halloween in 2001 and has not been heard from since. It is a mystery that is puzzling and tragic in its missing details, false leads, and a horrifying discovery. Then we cover the 1974 case of Ronald Clark O'Bryan whose son, Timothy, was the victim of a tainted pixy stick and died a painful death after an hour of agony. The police were baffled but when a straight shooter like former Harris County Prosecutor Mike Hinton got wind of this tragic occurrence, his due diligence would bring to light a murder most foul and profane. Find out why some people just don't like to go out and do ANYTHING because damn, there is some serious crazy stuff out in this world. Come check it out on this week's episode, The Mysterious Disappearance of Cindy Song and The Case of the Deadly Pixy Stix.  

11/5/19 • 55:30

China is a hotbed of political activity from human rights violations to protests in Hong Kong against the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill which many fear would erode the foundation of justice in effect within China. It seems as if China is not just the #1 importer many worldwide deal with but also a big bully that doesn't know which way to terrorize, through laws or straight up violence. Five of the bullied are covered this week when we discuss the Causeway Bay Books Disappearances. They worked for a bookstore, Causeway Bay, that specialized in books normally banned in China. Eventually, the political party tired of their insubordination and seemingly orchestrated a series of events that turned their lives inside out and upside down. This week, on the Weird and the Weary, The Causeway Bay Books Disappearances.

10/29/19 • 53:17

Reddit is one of the most frequented websites on the Internet. There are categories for just about anything you could imagine and even things you'd never thought could exist but some redditor investigators may have found something so Byzantine, so insane that it had to be a hoax but what if it wasn't? This story starts with an innocuous message stating that a fellow redditor had passed away. The redditor had a website that hosted barely legal pictures and what would be further discovered would be scrutinized and analyzed to find hidden messages within the HTML of the website. Messages seeking people with certain qualifications and skills that may have been deep black ops. But can the internet truly be trusted? Is this a well-maintained host or maybe an admin having fun for the past 7 years. What a long con! Check out this week's episode, Lake City Quiet Pills!

10/22/19 • 66:06

Food. It is something we can't live without there is no arguing that. But sometimes regular food isn't enough for some people. Yes, we had an episode awhile back about strange foods that people eat (chalk with a side of ortolon, anyone?) but this week's episode just abotu takes the cake. Tarrare, an 18th century Frenchman, had a strange problem; he was constantly hungry. He was so danged hungry that his family had to kick him out of their home because they could scarcely afford his eating habits. So he traveled with less than savory characters begging and stealing for food before becoming a warm-up act for a traveling carnival. And then he became a soldier. And everything went downhill from there. In hindsight, this poor chap never really had an uphill unless he was passed out after eating enough food for a basketball team. Check out this week's topic, The Insatiable Appetite of Tarrare!  

10/15/19 • 59:16

Fighting is part of human nature regardless of venue; a street corner, a disco floor, a living room, or an auditorium during a debate. But some things are a little weird to be fighting over such as a bucket. Yeah, a bucket. Like Bologna and Modena did back in 1325. It really was over who had more power from God, the Pope or the Emperor. Then we discuss how the Dutch became the supreme distributor of the nutmeg and how such a little spice caused such a furor during the 17th century. Come join us in the insanity as we hit our one year anniversary of the Weird and the Weary! FANFARE STARTS NOW!!

10/8/19 • 42:20

Some people like routine. From the morning routine to the late night routine, humans are creatures of habit. Like a bully who never changes and becomes a menace to a town like in the case of Ken Rex McElroy, one of the nastiest bastards to walk the earth. He would shoot you in a heartbeat and set fire to your house so he could marry your underaged daughter. Yeah, this piece of joy was Debo, Biff, and Jabba the Hut in one. And then something happened! Murder! Intrigue! And a town that didn't witness a thing when he got his comeuppance. Then we have people who help so much that it actually becomes annoying and you really want to tell them to go knit or something. On this week's episode (and one away from our 52nd episode!) of the Weird and the Weary, A Town Terrorized by A Terrible Troublemaker!

10/1/19 • 55:01

Crazy world we live in. I know what you're thinking, "It's always been crazy!" Well not so crazy that the world needs a 16 year old beautiful mind to tell the world leaders to shut up and stop destroying the world or that a tv 'star' could be in one of the highest seats in the nation. Or that your baby can turn into a hairy little thing after ingesting mislabeled medication as was the case for 17 children in Southern Spain. Or someone is insanely arrogant enough to believe that the lack of a medical degree shouldn't prevent them from practicing medicine on suffering children in Uganda in an attempt to "save them". And what about a 16 year old being charged with child pornography after two former friends shared a video clip the young girl had made showing her performing a sex act on another minor? What in the actual f...? Check out what our thoughts were on this week's episode, Doc, Google is Not a Colleague.                                      

9/24/19 • 42:24

A lot of people may dream about being a star hence why there are actors. And YouTube celebrities. Snapchat. IG. Twitch. OMG we get it! Everyone is a star! But sometimes that allure isn't all as glamorous as depicted. Sometimes people get what they think is the part that will jumpstart their career but winds up becoming a wake-up call to the reality that they should never have started. Which is the unfortunate case for Jake Lloyd, a child actor who had starred in "Jingle All the Way" with Arnold Scwarzenegger and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" as young Anakin Skywalker. Then we chat about the case of Scott Schwartz, the actor who portrayed Flick in the cult classic "A Christmas Story". He was the one who got his tongue stuck to a flagpole during winter on a stupid bet. Well, he wound up sticking his tongue on a different kind of pole later in life and would wind up eBaying Corey Haim's possessions left behind after his death. At Haim's family's request. And finally,  Joe Maggard, a set crewman who claimed to have been Ronald McDonald for a period of time. But actually was not such a nice guy. Especially when he would call someone in the McDonald persona to threaten bodily harm. Take your fryer smelling arse outta heah! So fasten your chin straps and check out this week's episode, Always Have a Backup Plan.

9/17/19 • 49:37

Street art. The misunderstood artform that many consider destructive while others embrace it as another tool amongst the disciplines of art; an expression of who one is and what they are about, and at the same time, gives the viewer something to ponder or reflect upon. That was one of the motivators for Al Diaz and Jean-Michel Basquiat when they met in high school at City As School in NYC. Al is a graffiti artist, a troubleseeker who ran the streets painting buses and subway cars as if they were his own personal canvasses. Jean-Michel rolled with a slightly more passive crowd yet they were no less talented. Once these two artists became friends, adventures would birth SAMO©, the savior of the hedonists and the young Lower East Side. But all would not be as blissful as it seemed as the two went their separate ways; Al walking away to make music and continue graffing while Jean-Michel slowly became the darling of the NYC art scene. Some of you know the rest but Al Diaz, a living part of NYC graff history, didn't get the press and spotlight that Jean-Michel did. And it seems as if he couldn't care less. Al is doing Al. And we're doing a little episode in honor of SAMO©; the unforeseen birth, death, and resurrection of a moment in time, on this week's episode, SAMO© Had Two Heads.

9/10/19 • 42:52

Everything is a brand whether it is a product or a lifestyle choice, everything and anything that can be described can be a brand. But some brands really seem to be more of a forced decision than an informed one. Such a shame. In this week's episode, we touch on a little-spoken about part of Disney that really makes one wonder if we are just a bunch of Mouseford People placing rosy-colored shades on everything while our pockets are emptied into the Disney rainy day funds. And we touch upon the Pepsi-Russia Connection that started back in the 80s between a guy called Donald and a Russian named Khrushchev. This week, on the Weird and the Weary, join us in CorpLand. Or, How I came to Love My Own Despair.    

9/3/19 • 67:04

There is nothing quite like the female form in nature other than nature itself; beautiful, varied, provider of life, and sometimes, defiled due to ignorance, hubris, or plain old masochistic misogyny. In today's episode, we explore the horrors of the Daddy Cut and one woman's memoir that exposes this cruel and unnecessary procedure. Then we speak upon the notion of men attempting to restore their foreskins in an attempt to recreate the sensations one would have if it hadn't been taken in the first place. Yeah, we're talking about human anatomy ya'll and how some people are just a bunch of clowns. Join us for this week's episode, Genitalia Graphica!  

8/27/19 • 59:54

Humans and violence are akin to air and lungs; there seems to be no way to really be able to separate the two. Whether it is due to various jealousies or envies, it matters not. Violence seems to be stitched in our DNA and sometimes people have no choice but to give in. But there are alternatives, no? This week we talk about an underground fight club meant to prevent further escalations of violence to death and squash beefs. Then we speak about the En Bo Fight Club, a club that "adopted" left-behind children in various poor Chinese provinces to train for caged MMA fights. Too much trouble int he world indeed but let us guide you through a way to alleviate the chaos; listen to us and join in the coemdy, the tragedy, The Weird and the Weary.

8/20/19 • 44:28

Nature is an incredible gift that needs to be respected and paid attention to. It feeds us, provides us with light, gives us direction, yet also can kill us, freeze us, heat us up, and maybe one day, shake us off like fleas off a dog. But we're not on a round, flat disc supported by huge elephants on the back of a flying tortoise. No, at least I don't believe so.... But speaking of support, a man in Athens, GA decided that he was going to be the proto-Lorax and begin something that would wind up being spoken about and celebrated for years on end, the case of the Tree Which Owned Itself (I wonder if he ever wondered that about the people that were working those fields prior to the tree). Then we speak about a couple of asshats, owner of the Washington Resdksins and a couple in Sonoma, both parties being guilty of clearing out surrounding land or easements of trees that did not fit the aesthetic they envisioned for their dream homes. One of the unfortunate victims was an 180 year old tree. What a shame they didn't come to life and stomp them out like a bunch of vengeful Ents. That is a talk for another time. Join us for this week's episode, Who Speaks for the Trees?

8/13/19 • 48:09