Care Bears, Beanie Babies, and more! A deep dive into the world of stuffed animals!

Today is a deep dive into the world of stuffed animals! We'll be talking about everything from Beanie Babies, to teddy bears and maybe even some strange taxidermy as well - listen in to find out!

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous News as a production of I Heart Radio and
Cool Cool Cool Audio. Yeah yeah, with amazing and crazy
topics to tag in the jews you would now tune
and too ridiculous news. We gets us. The viewles are
working the rules of broadcasts and m all sks a
while the course that he was aving a brand up

(00:20):
beat journalism, the strange and the usual stowies, and well
we gave a win. It's all about ridiculous news. Everywhere
we told about ridiculous news over here. Hey everyone, welcome
to Ridiculous News, not your average news show. We cover
stuff you didn't realize was news from the wild and funny,
to the deep and hidden to the absolutely ridiculous. I'm
Bill Worley, and Lanta based filmmaker and comedian. And when

(00:43):
I was a little kid, I came down one Christmas
morning and there's a giant stuffed bear and I named
it Bear and it's today still today, one of my
favorite stuffed animals. I love that. Hey everyone, I'm Our Kendle.
I'm an Atlanta based comedian and while I don't remember

(01:03):
sleeping with a stuffed animal, I do remember really enjoying
the care Bears TV show and I also had a
care bear growing up, or care bear animal, because I
guess there are other animals as well, but just besides
the bear, I think so, I think, so right, there's
maybe a line. I don't know, but but what I
had was a care what I remember having a care
bear growing up as well. And y'all today is a

(01:26):
deep dive episode, And if you haven't guests already, it
is about stuffed animals. So we're gonna be talking about
some fun news headlines related to stuffed animals in some way.
We're gonna cover some interesting facts as well as the
history about you know, this wonderful toy. We might even
explore some of the psychological reasons for why we carry
on with stuffed animals into adulthood. Uh so, yeah, So

(01:48):
let's kick things off with some news and nibbles billing. Yeah,
this story is Pantucket woman eight six creates a stuffed
animal zoo on her front lawn. This is a little
bit of an older story but really touching. It was
during the pandemic and any six year old Pautucket woman
has taken a walk on the wild side by creating

(02:08):
a zoo right in her front yard. She said, quote,
I went through World War Two, which was tough, but
it's nothing like what's happening now. Everything is so sad.
People are walking up and down the street looking very sad.
And I thought, well, what can I do. I'm handicapped.
I can't go out there and do anything. But people
love animals. So she took her stimulus money mark and

(02:30):
she built a zoo in her front yard. She said
she used every penny of it on the animals, and
she was happy she did. Um. Some are stuffed, some
are statues, There are lions laying on her lawn, monkeys
hanging around. Um. She would have spent the money on herself,
but to her, her zoo is priceless, because she said, quote,

(02:51):
it makes me happy to see people happy again, even
if it's only for a couple of minutes, and things
like that rattening up, you know the look of your neighborhood.
I'm sure that there's studies that are done, but that
has like a huge impact, you know, whether it's like
you know, a painting, you know, a zoo, whatever it
is that that that makes a big impact on all ages.

(03:13):
You know, I love it, you know, growing it up
in some of these fun neighborhoods in Atlanta that are
living in some of these neighborhoods that I've had a
chance to, you know, like in Kirkwood, there's a house
where they have all these crazy mirrors and decorations and
it's just always fun. I like that. I kind of
not a big fan of h where everyone's yard has
to look the same and all those things. I'm alaly

(03:35):
supportive when someone can do something different in their front yard.
It it makes me happy and not want to call
code enforcement. Yeah yeah, yeah. Well this next story, uh
from several years ago, but still definitely heartwarming story. So Madison, uh,
little girl of three years old. They were shopping with
their mom at Publics and you know, by mistake, they
left behind they're you know, stuff toy and the manager

(04:00):
of the store, Mike Gayheart, saw the post from the mom,
you know, saying hey, my little girl lost her toy.
Would it be possible? You know, she looked for help online.
The manager happened to see it, and so they used
security cameras all right, so they were able to track
a little girl, Madison's bunny, from the store to the

(04:21):
parking lot, to the cart to a trash can. And
a dumpster and then it went to yeah, absolutely, and
it went to a trash compactor before being dumped into
a garbage truck and driven to a landfill. But they
didn't give up. So the manager as well as three
other employees went to the landfill and started digging, and

(04:44):
they found the stuff toy and yeah, yeah, and so
it it. It was great obviously to be able to
have them return no, this bunny. It was a step buddy,
uh to the little kid, and that was really heart
warning and so apparently the bunny still has like a smell.

(05:06):
I had a smell upon it being returned because you know,
it was in a landfill. But the little girl, Madison
didn't care. She was just very happy to be reunited
with this toy. And I almost kind of wonder, I mean,
I don't know, this is just me pure conjecture, but
I was kind of wonder if the manager and or
the employees that went to go dig they're just like,
you know what, I lost my toy, or I know
how important it was to me, because it's just like

(05:27):
that's a huge commitment, a huge, very kind active service,
right jumping into a landfill dig and you know it
doesn't smell great, it doesn't feel great. Maybe it's better
than stock and food at the store. It was a
good outside. I just want to be public, so there's
too much green in here. Um. But yeah, I what
a wonderful sweet thing for them and what a like

(05:50):
just you know, I hope this guy was recruited by
the FBI or the GBR Georgia Bureau of Investigation because
you know, a lot of times in life, investigation aren't
like they are on C S I or whatever, you know,
But this seems like it was the way that he
tracked that is super impressive. And um, you know, maybe

(06:12):
he's going to be a manager of a of a
squad that we'll see on primetime television in the future,
and not just the public fun sitcom show though or
not necessarily a sitcom, but just like a fun television show.
I don't care the genre. But it's just someone that
you know, you're really great at tracking down people's lost items.

(06:33):
Have you ever thought about tracking down lost souls? You know,
something like that, the ghost of publics Um, that's amazing. Yeah,
and we're pitching it so those records hit us up. Um.
This next story as opposed to be uplifting is a

(06:55):
little bit more creepy. It's a nightmarish hybrid accidermy that
could land a artist in jail. Uh, like a modern
day Frankenstein. Enrique Gomez de Melina creates hauntedly stunning hybrid
sculptures made from the stuffed parts of dead animals. So
these are real animals that he's like combining together to

(07:19):
create these kind of horrific nightmaric panslamp brand the type creatures.
At times, it's these beloved mythical creatures that could land
this artist in jail for up to five years in
up to two k that still dollars and fines. Uh.
He takes these once living animals emerges as them together

(07:42):
to create strange beings. One example features the head of
two swans on the body of a goat, and another
shows the head of a squirrel messed with a crab
and I just that uh well. The artist claims that
he aimed to raise awareness with his work the danger
faced by you know a number of species, these surreal

(08:04):
pieces kind of representing to him the dangers of genetic
engineering and human intervention, you know, and science in that process.
You know, I don't think we've gotten to double swan
head goats or squirrel headed crabs yet, Um, I don't
know that that's on anybody's radar, but I you know,
he's pulling the slippery slope argument. And his website where

(08:29):
he showcases his work says that the impossibility of my
creatures brings me both joy and sadness at the same time,
and that makes me kind of think, Wait, who's the
person wanting to create the I know, I'm curious. I'd
be curious to hear about what his clientele is like,
because I mean, this person is clearly a very skilled taxidermists,

(08:54):
like looking at the pictures, but it is scary. It
seems like it would be a very specific place that
you'd want a hybrid squirrel crab, you know. Like, so
I'm curious. I'm just curious to know what, you know,
what what that audience is, right right, and and you know,
like there's a mix of our rooster and the goat

(09:15):
as well, and they're all very well done to your point,
mark like they look. It's not doesn't look like someone
just like duct tape these things together. There's clearly a
lot of thought into it, and they kind of morphed
together in a way that makes it seamless. Um, which
is really interesting and you know, I know what kind
of kind of cool looking um. Definitely, you know, maybe
he's got a job in in film and TV production,

(09:38):
you know, creating things. But apparently, I guess some of
the issues with this was that the artist, he did,
plead guilty to illegally importing parts from endangered species to
make some of these unique species of art. You know,
it's kind of a real um you know, twist ending

(09:59):
there where the guy who's trying to to celebrate these
animals as also might be responsible for them being killed
and sold on the black market. You know, that's where
the demand comes from. Yeah, I'm curious how that came about,
Like is he illegally importing these dead animal parts? But yeah,
but to your point, it's just like, wouldn't that then

(10:21):
increase the demand for them? You know, So I don't know.
I mean, I'm on the outside here, but but it
is kind of odd that he would. Yeah, curious story. Yeah,
you know, looking at these different kind of crazy contraptions,
I mean, most of them are kind of creepy, but
then you know, some of them are I don't want

(10:44):
to say cute, but well, there's like a there's an
artistry to it. I think maybe maybe there's maybe that's
what it is. You don't know right right, And you know,
going back, you into back in you know, old like
Barnum and Bailey old school, that old school circus is
where you know, they would have a tint full of
crazy creatures and that's what it was. They were taxi

(11:05):
dermy things very similar to what this gentleman is doing,
where they would combine a couple of creatures and dumping
and from alta high and then it would be super creepy. Um.
I do remember, I don't know if I think a
lot of these circuses that did things like that have
changed their policies, you know, um since then. But it's
stuff is very interesting, uh I. You know, if you

(11:26):
want to check out his work, it's in Riquet Go
Mas Day Molina and the article is from the Daily
Mail online. And yeah, Marca, if if you could combine
two animals to make a super animal, that that I
would say for good, hopefully for good. What do you
think I'd say, like an elephant in a whale. That's

(11:48):
just me just kind of going off the top. As
a kid, I loved elephants, and I feel like whales
are elephants of the sea, so and I also think
they're both. I mean, I can't speak for all whales,
but there's certain whales that are really kind. There's some
animals that are there elephants rather, that are really kind.
So maybe an elephant whale, you know, so that so
would it be so not below the sea, you would

(12:10):
be above the sea hybrid. So it's just like I imagine,
like I guess it'd just be like an elongated elephant
with a large tail that if it wanted to, it
could just go underwater. And I guess I imagine it like, uh,
you know, making elephants sounds but underwater you know. So
that's what I amphibious. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, what about yourself, Like,

(12:32):
you know, I it's funny that you have amphibious because
I feel like, like my favorite creatures growing up were
dolphins and dogs. So you know, if you could have
a dolphin that could transition, you know, with with four
legs and you know, you're playing with them in the
water and there and then they're helping you track down

(12:55):
folks above ground, maybe maybe we should be the ones
in jail. Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna take a quick break
to hear words from our sponsor. Yeah, would amazing and
crazy to ridiculous news. So we're going to continue our

(13:20):
deep dive into stuffed toys, and so we'll talk a
little bit about some of the history behind these really
celebrated objects. So, cultures around the world have created replicas
of animals since the beginning of recorded history by painting, carving,
and even chiseling animal figures and heads. In fact, while

(13:41):
the modern stuff toy dates back to the late eighteen hundreds,
the first true stuff toys were created in Roman times
with the creation of rag dolls. These dolls were made
of fabric scraps and filled with h more of the
same straw by poor children who couldn't afford expensive wooden carvings.
And some of these dolls have been dated as late

(14:02):
as three hundred BC. And so this is from some
of the research that are mating the researcher case he did.
And so this is from an article called the History
of stuff Toys from License to Play dot com. Yeah,
it's so interesting that they've been arounding to their point. Yeah,
we've always loved animals and drawing animals. And you know
there's this super famous story, uh about in nineteen o

(14:24):
two when Theodore Teddy Roosevelt went on a hunting trip
and spared a bear cup that had been caught from
the expedition from being shot. He spared it from being
be shot, and The Washington Post immortalized the story in
a cartoon, which was then made even more famous when
a shop owner known as Morris mitched Hum, who had
already duplicated this stuffed toys in his shops, saw the bear.

(14:46):
He made a plush version and named it the Teddy Bear,
of course after Theodore Teddy Roosevelt. Shortly after, in the
same year this, the company began producing Teddy Bears and
an icon was born. Um, it's just so funny. Yeah,
as a kid, I didn't realize that it was Teddy
Roosevelt till later when I heard that. Likewise, I didn't either,

(15:06):
and so hearing that was like, okay, what an interesting connection.
Another fact that I thought was interesting, Bill was stuffed
toys started out small, and we're often a toy for
either the very privileged, where the poor who could make
them themselves with rags and fabric scraps has always got
to be class in all these times. However, during the

(15:29):
early nineteen hundreds, mass production allowed Teddy Bears to make
their way into nearly every home, becoming a childhood staple
alongside a variety of other stuff toys created by companies
like Gun and Mattel. Yeah, when I think about even
depictions of older, earlier times, you know, you typically have

(15:50):
the bedroom and there's some stuffed animals and they're at
least as a teddy bear, UM is represented, and you know,
the stuffed toys that we kind of know, you know,
I was born in the early eighties. UM hit the
market around that time, and companies added fictional characters from
movies and cartoons, you know, branding. It's funny it took

(16:13):
them that long, but like you know, brands like Mattel
got Winnie the Pooh and you got Sesame Street um,
while American Greetings did my Pet monstery remember that? And
Strawberry Shortcake, and like you said, where there's there's the
care Bears and all those were, you know, so interesting
growing up. It's funny, you know that I think about
those specific types and I don't think it's a kid.

(16:36):
I was like I need that specific type. I did
have stuffed animals, but not necessarily that specific type like
my my ones that were important to me. As I
mentioned that the opening, I'll never forget my my Bear.
I named Bear so original. I don't know. I also
haven't have Mark. Growing up, I was really into There

(16:56):
was a story called Natural Wonders in them all. I
don't know if you remember that. I don't think it
doesn't exist anymore. But it felt like you were walking
into a rainforest. They had like you know, did youry
jews and the rain sticks and you know, there's like
sounds of rain when you walked in. It was it
was for a kid. It was paradise for me. And

(17:16):
there was a wolf stuffed toy and it was actually
a puppet. You could put your hand in and move
the wolf's mouth, and for some reason I really wanted
it and we would go with them on. I told
my parents, and it's like I think it ended up
being like a birthday or Christmas present, and you know,
not wanting to be uncreative and trying to you know,
improve on myself. I named it Wolf and uh so

(17:42):
like would always hug it and love it. Was so
excited about that toy wolf. And then the bear was
actually a huge stuffed bear, so it was, you know,
bigger than I was as a kid, And nowadays I
would say it was, you know, the size of like
a large um. Maybe maybe two labs put together that

(18:03):
were a taxidermy earlier. You shouldn't stick too labs together.
But that was about the size of this giant stuffed bear.
And as I continued to love him and hug him
and drag him all over the place, he lost his stuffing,
so he got very deformed. It was like kind of
half droopy and all of those things. For you, Mark,

(18:23):
did you have any stuffed animals growing up that we're toys?
That The main one that I remember growing up was
the care bear that I got, and I got that,
you know, ever since I was born, So I think
it was important to me, not so much because I
played with it because but more so like, oh, this
was given to me, and you know, I gotta take
care of it because this is behind and I've had
it for a long time. But I don't remember playing

(18:45):
with them very much. However, one thing I do remember, Bill,
and I'm curious if you remember this as well. Is
it starting in the late nineties there was the beanie
boom crazy. So Tie Warner was the creator of this
very popular plush toy. And this is from the New
York Post. Part of the reason for the incredible success

(19:05):
of the Beanie Babies is that Warner Tie Warner would
retire specific animals at whim, creating scarcity in the market
and inspiring collectors to pay up to five thousand dollars
for a plush toy that originally maybe was sold for
five bucks. And so then by early nine the scarcity
strategy was working. You know, his parents began paying up

(19:28):
to ten or twenty dollars for entire beanie babies that
originally went for five bucks. And so then by the
end of n ty's sales were like two million dollars apparently,
and yeah, then risen tenfold because of this scarcity strategy.
And I don't know about you, Mark, but I had
friends who loved their beanie babies, and the parents, you know,

(19:54):
were did actually think of it as like an investment.
You know. They remember had a friend who had kind
of like a roof ledge around his room and he
just it was all beanie babies by you know, the
time they had collected him all, and they thought of
it as an investment, and they were going to buy

(20:14):
them at you know, people are selling them in parking
lots and and things like that, and it's kind of sad. Um.
You know, even as a kid, I thought I thought
they were a little pricey, uh, And I never was
that into them. And sure enough, the first signs of
decline came in January when after Tie announced a series

(20:37):
of retirements, the prices then stayed stable. So before you know,
it caused it to shoot up all of a sudden,
it's not happening anymore. Um. And so by early two thousand,
newly retired Beanie babies that were once going for you know,
tenn twenty dollars, some people could pay you five thousand
dollars or some of these things, they were selling three

(20:57):
for ten bucks for these new retired ones. And then
by later that year, the toys were available in dollar
stores nationwide. Um. And let me tell you something. I
bet you some people who invested a lot of money
and beanie babies did not like going into the dollar
store and seeing that little Tie tag. Um. You know,

(21:18):
I you know what, I just remembered that I have
a beanie baby. Actually I have one, yeah, because I
was really into ducks as a kid. I had that
started the Duck Club in six Craws made cards for
my friends. What was tell me about the duck Club?
What was the duck Club? Was just for some reason,
I liked Mallard ducks. I don't know why, specifically specifically

(21:44):
Mallards and I made these cards and were probably duck Club.
And I gave him to a couple of friends and
we greet each other by saying, quack quack uh in
the duck. And so when my friends at the time
knew that I love ducks, and he did give me
a beanie baby of a Mallard duck. And that beanie
Baby's name is Jake. And you know, I'm looking around here,

(22:05):
but you know, I think I might still have it
in my house somewhere. Uh. And it did mean a
lot to me. And you know, it's funny. I don't
think it meant a lot to me because I thought
the value would go up. I think it meant a
lot to me because I liked ducks and my friend
gave me a good absolutely bill. I guess I just
got first of all, that's an awesome story. And then

(22:25):
I guess my my follow up question is like, do
you remember what led to the fascination of ducks, and
more specifically Mallard ducks, Because I mean, for me not
knowing a ton about ducks as pretty specific and so
as a as a as a newbie, you know what
what led to that? Yeah? You know, I remember going
to lakes and ponds growing up and we would You're

(22:48):
not supposed to do this anymore, so don't do this,
but we would feed the feed the ducks, and I
always just thought they were really pretty and interesting. They
always seem so calm above the water. Um. I thought
it was cool, you know, birds in general, in them
in their flight. But you know, if there was one,
I don't know if there's a specific moment that they

(23:09):
jumped out. I just remember for some reason latching onto
those animals. That's magical, the magical Mallard a very normal duck,
but to me, they were the bomb. Yeah. We will
be right back with more ridiculous news after this short break. Yeah, yeah, ye,

(23:37):
don't confused. Ridiculous news. Great, and so we're back continuing
our talk about stuffed animals. And you know, there was
a study done. And this is an article for Metro
News saying that one in three British adults still sleep
with a soft toy. And I thought that this was

(23:57):
really cool survey. You know, so as many as thirty
adults um still sleep with soft toy every night, while
admit that they can't sleep without it, so confess they
still cuddle a teddy when they're upset. And apparently one
in ten in this study, or nine percent, say they'd

(24:19):
rather share a bed with their teddy than their own partner.
And so this study was carried out by hot Point
to celebrate the launch of their active care washing machine. Uh.
And so they spoke to two thousand people and found
that almost half or of the nation. Right, So I
guess this would be you know, the British nation have

(24:42):
been held onto their teddies and dolls, whether at their
house or their parents home. And uh. The article goes
on to say, with such reliance on childhood toys, it's
no surprise that when they do go missing, the effects
can be severe. So I think given back to that
public's story where you know the manager was really looking

(25:03):
for that toy, I'm just purely curious, like I wonder
if it kind of came from that realization of how
important these things can be two people. So again, more
interesting statistics on the study is people who had misplaced
to Teddy or doll said they felt devastated by the
loss of their beloved toy. Yeah. As a kid, I'm
trying to remember if I lost anything, they devastated me.

(25:25):
That's a good question. I think the thing that comes
back to mind for me, I wasn't devastated, but I
mean it's I still remember it, so, I mean I
was sad. But in um sixth grade, I was twelve,
I had a Michael Jordan's jersey and it was like
a pin stripe. It was like the black and red
they had in season They're away jersey or one of

(25:48):
their away jerseys was a black jersey that was pin
striped red, so like pin stripes of red with the
black jersey, and I just thought it was so cool.
And I had a nice Michael Jordan's like away jersey,
and I just left it out once I was playing,
and like I left it on a picnic table or something,

(26:08):
and it was it was lost and I couldn't find it,
and you know, probably someone just um grab it because
it was you know, and yeah, I was just like, Man,
I was just like because I didn't. I don't think
I lost a ton of stuff as a kid really,
And um yeah, I remember that thing. I've said it
and so it wasn't a step toy, but I mean
it's something that you would wear, and um, yeah, and

(26:33):
I had a lot of meaning and value. You know.
I feel like, you know, if I had lost Bear
or my Wolfie or things like that as a kid,
I probably would have been pretty upset. And you know,
I think to me, I would like to say that nowadays,
I don't really have as much attachment to physical things.
You know. Um, I've had been on filming and shoots

(26:57):
where things get lost or broken, and it's kind on
of I don't think it affects me as much as
it would have, because that's just part of life, right,
Things change. But what I realized, Mark, as I'm saying
this to you, is that when I don't know where
my phone is, you know, sometimes even for a couple

(27:17):
of minutes, I get I'm like, wait, oh my god,
am I gonna miss the most important message? And so
in that case, I feel very much attached to this
piece of information. The reasons are different, not necessarily more healthy,
but you know that that same feeling of oh my god,

(27:38):
where is it? Where is it? Where is it? I
guess that's you know, how this little girl felt when
she lost her bunny at the public's. You know, it's like,
can you imagine if instead of her bunny, if it
was your cell phone, you might be out with a
shovel um that a you know, land Phil. Yeah, the
phone is a great comparison to make. Like, I'm about
to travel for the first time in a while, and

(28:01):
it's just like if I mean, hopefully I don't, but
it's like, if I were to lose my phone on
this trip, that would be upsetting. I wouldn't just be
because I mean, I'd be able to figure something out,
but it's just like I'd just be very upset that
It's just like I feel off, you know, proud to
say that, but but it's just like I feel so
off without my phone, and the idea that I would

(28:23):
miss a message or a text or something, I'm just like,
even thinking about it, I'm just like stressing. Yeah, I'm
sorry to start to put you in that space, but
I you know, I think I think that that's so interesting.
And it's interesting because that's something we talked about on
the show, and I think someone continued to challenge ourselves
and our listeners on Hey, you know, if you feel
that way about your phone, you know that's addiction. We're addicted.

(28:47):
I got to do things to help help us get
a joy from other places beyond our phones and and
having that constant connection. Um. You know, and this next
article talks about speaking of you know, anxiety and eef
and all these things that can come is is that
the snow gold is real. This is actually from Time
magazine and they said, whether folks are dealing with anxiety, stress, grief, isolation,

(29:10):
memory loss, countless people found solace and stuffed animals, weighted
blankets and other soft comfort objects. UM, and I would say, yeah,
I have a weighted blanket, mark and I really enjoy
my weighted blanket. It it does. It's like having a
little hug when you're going to bed. And I also

(29:30):
tend to shift around a lot when I sleep. I'll
wake up in the covers, will be all. I don't
know what kind of vicious nightmares I'm having, but um,
you know that helps reduce that. And there's something about
even if I'm sitting at a friend's house, you know,
on a on a if if I'm watching a movie
and some folks are piled on a couch, I'll find

(29:51):
myself sometimes like hugging a pillow or something like that,
especially if it's a scary movie. Uh, it's it's interesting.
I mean, there's now even a fully robotic seal um
for people with dementia or awaited Teddy Bear, which this
makes so much sense, speaking a way to blankets for
grieving adults, and there's a cushion that can mimic breathing

(30:15):
to help people calm down. I can only assume, you know,
we talk in our Mental Health Minute about the importance
of breathing and breath work, and if you have a
cushion that's expanding in in releasing at a pace that's
healthy for you to be breathing, that's an easy way
to learn how to control your breath a little better.

(30:35):
That's great, that's great. There's a quote from Dr David
Spiegel in this article is the Associate chair of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and they're talking about
how it makes sense that you know, people find comfort
in these types of objects, and they said, we know
children love stuffed animals. They're what we used to call
a transitional object between just being by yourself and being

(30:58):
connected with another human. He's as objects like these likely
play a similar role for adults. So they go on
to say, it's not surprising that humans can, you know,
stimulate thoughts and feelings related to interpersonal contact with an
inanimate stuffed object. Right, There's a dog named susan little
Traua terrier who's very sweet, and when their training dogs.

(31:21):
We went to a training and they actually rolled out
as stuffed dog, and the dogs react to the stuffed
dog like it's a real dog, which is very interesting
to see because you're like, can't they tell don't they
have a sharper sense of smell than us or whatever,
But they definitely reacted to it like it was real
documents on wheels and it's just kind of wheeling this dog.

(31:44):
But you know, so I think it. It goes across
mammal platforms and mantal the mental platforms of ducks versus humans,
but can really you know, it's so nice to know
that it can help us have feeling of interpersonal contact
even when when that's not real, um, and that clearly

(32:04):
that's important for people, whether it's a kid trying to
get used to their mom and dad being out of
the room and that separation anxiety, or someone in old
folks home or with dementia who might not know, you know,
if it was someone in the room with them, even
if they were there, you know, just thirty seconds ago. Absolutely. Yeah,
So we'll wrap things up with this, uh last story

(32:26):
that I thought was really interesting. So, you know, speaking
of using stuffed animals to you know, help you get through,
there's a Japanese cafe that lets you dine so low,
but instead of simply dining by yourself, you sit with
a large stuffed animal to keep you company. So this
is the more main cafe, so m O O R

(32:51):
m I N Cafe, and the franchise is based on
a series of finished picture books about a family of
hippopotamus like creatures, and the cafe has food, drinks, and
the core inspired by the characters, and so it's a
way for you to kind of like sit by yourself,
but not completely by yourselves. And I thought that that

(33:14):
was interesting, just kind of given what we had just
kind of discussed in terms of people still being able
to get something out of being around these objects. Yeah.
This article goes on to say, work, I love this,
that they're two ways you can live your life, being
sad and eating by yourself or being open minded and
eating with a snork maiden. It's your decision. So that

(33:37):
brings us to one of our favorite segments always which
to leave you are wonderful listeners, with which is a
spring of inspiring inspirations. And so we were talking some about,
you know, stuffed animals, but by extension loneliness a little bit,
you know, And so I thought that this quote from
Mandy Hale was good. Says a season of loneliness and

(33:59):
isolation is the caterpillar gets us wings. Remember that next
time you feel alone. Yeah, you know, you're just you're
turning it into a beautiful butterfly all and to all
our beautiful butterflies listening, whether you're a caterpillar, whether you're
midway through changing. As we all go through changes in
our life, one of the best changes or decisions that

(34:21):
you've made was to tune in to ridiculous news because
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and we greatly appreciate you genuinely, thank you so much
for tuning in. Yes, thank you so much. And you
can email us at Ridiculous News at I heart media
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and you can check out our comedy videos at Mark

(34:43):
Kendall Comedy By All See You but Culus News is
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(35:03):
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