Welcome to another entry in our column, “Weirdest World News of the Week.” As you may know, the world is a very strange place. So, every seven days, we round up the strangest events that have happened around the world, purely for your enjoyment.
From the Phish fan who faced punishment for stealing a bong to Elon Musk's Starlink exposing isolated tribes to pornography, these stories are sure to provoke amazement, or at the very least bewilderment, at the strange world around us.
Phish fan banned from MSG after bong plagiarism scandal
Fans of Phish, who made headlines after reportedly ripping the first-ever bong hit at the Las Vegas Sphere, say Madison Square Garden Entertainment has banned him from all venues.
Instagram user @acid_farts, who did not reveal his real name to reporters, posted a video on April 20 that showed him smoking a hookah at a Phish concert at the $2 billion Las Vegas venue.
In the caption, the user boasted that they had “smoked their first ever bong” with the Sphere. The post garnered more than 1,000 likes and nearly 5,000 more after it was reposted on another Instagram account.
The man, whose name has not been released at this time, says he received a letter from MSG's lawyers informing him that he will be banned from all of the entertainment giant's venues for the foreseeable future.
“You knowingly violated our guest code of conduct by openly smoking inside the venue,” MSG deputy general counsel Christopher Schimpf reportedly wrote in the letter.
“In consideration of your conduct, you are hereby banned indefinitely from Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and all other MSG venues.”
China's tallest waterfall appears to be pipe-fed
China's tallest waterfall has become the subject of controversy after hikers discovered that the flowing water actually comes from a pipe jutting out of a rock face.
A video shared on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, on Monday shows water gushing from a pipe at the top of Yuntai Mountain Waterfall, known as the tallest uninterrupted waterfall in China.
“A story about how I made the hard journey to the source of Undai Falls only to find a pipe,” the hiker wrote in the caption.
The post received 74,000 likes and sparked a debate on social media, leading local government authorities to investigate the popular scenic spot.
The park's operators later acknowledged in a social media post that they had installed the pipes to improve the waterfall's appearance during the dry season.
“Because it is a seasonal landscape, it may not always be at its most beautiful,” the park wrote in a statement about the waterfall.
“I've had a little cosmetic work done just so I can look my best when I meet up with friends during the dry season.”
World's largest fossilized feces collector opens museum
The owner of the world's largest collection of fossilized feces has opened a museum in Arizona to display the collection.
George Fransen, who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of fossilized feces, has collected a total of 8,000 pieces of ancient feces over the years.
After a series of virtual exhibits and touring museums, Fransen is now opening a permanent exhibit in Williams, Arizona, where people can get up close and personal with dinosaur dung and other fossilized waste.
Fransen was inspired to open the aptly named Puuseum after noticing “a complete lack of depictions of coprolites in mainstream sources and museum exhibits.”
Admission to the Puuseum is free for all visitors, and most of the museum's revenue comes from its dinosaur-themed gift shop.
Amazon tribes get hooked on porn after Elon Musk's Starlink launches internet
Amazon tribes got hooked on porn and gaming after being introduced to Elon Musk's Starlink 😠pic.twitter.com/clb7J8YYRp
— Stativist (@Stativerse_) June 7, 2024
A remote Amazonian tribe given access to the internet through Elon Musk's Starlink service has become addicted to porn and social media.
According to The New York Times, the Marbo people, who live along the Itui River in the upper Amazon basin, were excited when they first got internet access, but tribal elders say things have changed dramatically since then.
Alfredo Malbo, leader of the Malbo Village Association, expressed concern that members of the isolated tribe are being exposed to pornography. Young men are sharing explicit videos online, he told The New York Times, and some Malbo leaders have noticed that young men are behaving more sexually aggressively.
Elder added that he was “concerned that young people might be tempted to try” the explicit sexual acts depicted in the video.
Pornography isn't the only problem: Some in Malvo have complained that people are spending too much time on social media, leading leaders to impose daily limits on internet time.
“The internet has made young people lazy,” said Tsainama Malbo, 73. “They're learning the white man's ways.”
“But please don't take away our internet,” she added.
[Image credit: NY Times]
