European Puff Peace

Right breeze, wrong place. In this edition of Odd News PAC, we’re serving up a bizarre, breezy international dispute that will blow you away. Plus, a classic throwback clip that features a product name that will leave your tongue tied. Wither the wind: European puff peace Our main Odd News story this time around will take you to Europe. That's where two neighboring countries are seemingly involved in a game of high-stakes atmospheric shenanigans. Find out how location, location, location is leading to arguments about "air rights". Who's right? Who's wrong? When you hear the details, you'll find out why there are big fans on both sides of this debate. Abby Falmacher has baskets that bounce We're also dipping into the comedy vault to celebrate the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast (PAC). This time, we revisit a classic bit from 2018. Abby Falmacher, owner of The Little Wicker Basket Company ("Little Wicker Baskets. They're everywhere!") , as she faces down the looming threat of a trade war. Her response? You know Abby. She pivots with a bouncy new product. You'll have to hear the commercial to believe what she's come up with. You'll find it all in this episode of comedy4cast's Odd News PAC! If you are ready for a quick laugh to brighten your day, hit that play button and check out "European Puff Peace"! >> You can also support comedy4cast by becoming a patron on Patreon>> Or you can get Clinton a Dunkin' card or a cup of coffee via Ko-Fi>> Follow comedy4cast on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, MeWe, and Mastodon >> Give us a call via the Super Secret Phone Line [phone]>> Also check out Clinton's other podcast, The Topic is Trek>> Certain sounds effects heard on comedy4cast are courtesy of freeSFX and FreeSound.org Click here for a transcript of this episode. Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog ear that for now.
Oh hi, Clinton here. Welcome to the Dog Days of Pumpkin Spice Season.
Yes, August got away from me because life. So this is my unofficial extension of Dog Days.

(00:20):
For more information on that, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.
I always use Dog Days to give you 31 episodes full of some interesting,
yet totally useless, odd news.
And this year, to celebrate the Platinum Anniversary of comedy4cast,
or PAC for short, I'll end each Dog Days episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.

(00:44):
So, let's get started with...
Odd News PAC!
Chicago is known as the Windy City. A book has been written about wind in the
willows, and some caution about candles in the wind, yet claim it is beneath
their wings, even if there is some dust blown in it.
But all that talk about the breeze pales in comparison to a claim being made

(01:08):
by the CEO of the Dutch Weather Forecasting Service, Whiffle.
CEO Remco Verzijlbergh is calling Belgium a wind thief.
But is he just full of hot air?
Verzijlbergh says the Belgian wind farms in the North Sea have an advantage over
Dutch ones because of their placement.

(01:28):
Wait, are the Dutch ones in upside down? To be fair, those blades do look like roots.
Hmm, a quick check tells me no. The Netherlands has followed the manufacturer's
installation instructions.
So what's all this about? The CEO explained how, as we already know,
a wind turbine is designed to extract wind from the air.

(01:51):
But if you measure the wind speed after it passes the turbine,
it, to quote Verzijlbergh, blows less hard.
When you have a whole turbine farm, you really see lower wind speeds exiting the setup.
Now, Belgian wind farms are located southwest of the Netherlands arrays.
And it just so happens that the wind itself often blows from that same direction,

(02:15):
the southwest, which means the wind gusts the Dutch get are,
without getting too technical here, not as gusty.
In fact, the wind intensity is lower by as much as 3%. This byproduct of wind
turbines is well documented and known as wind shadow or the wake effect.

(02:36):
Verzijlbergh was quick to point out that the phenomenon is purely accidental
in this case, because of the location of the wind turbines.
But he is pleading for better coordination between countries in the near future,
because this kind of wind theft will become a bigger issue as more wind farms
get installed across the North Sea in an international race to become carbon neutral.

(02:59):
So what's the important lesson in all of this? What's our takeaway?
I think it's this. If you don't want a sudden gust of wind blowing your hat
off your head, visit the Netherlands!
They know which way the wind blows.
And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4cast with this classic clip.

(03:20):
In this commercial, Miss Abby Falmacher prepares for a trade war.
Taken from an episode released in July of 2018, here's the clip.
Hello, I'm Abby Falmacher, owner of the Little Wicker Basket Company.
Little Wicker Baskets, they're everywhere.

(03:44):
As a business owner, I don't like to get involved in politics.
I let my money take care of that.
But recently, there have been threats of a trade war that could affect my supply of wicker.
While nothing is certain, I've decided not to take any chances.

(04:06):
I've gone out and secured some additional resources.
That's why I'm proud to announce the introduction of these new Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Baskets.
They're stylish, on point, and they bounce when you drop them.
And because we here at Little Wicker Baskets believe in saving the planet,

(04:30):
Every bumper in a rubber baby buggy bumper basket is made from old shredded baby buggy bumpers.
That's right. These are genuine recycled rubber rubber baby buggy bumper baskets.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Abby, what happens if your supply of recycled

(04:54):
rubber rubber baby buggy bumpers runs out?
Don't worry. I went around the country and bought a ton of baby buggies when
Toys R Us was going out of business.
I guess that means you could call these bankruptcy, buyout, recycled rubber,
rubber baby buggy bumper baskets.

(05:15):
Well, it looks like it's time to get back to the live wake. I mean live show.
This is Abby Falmacher reminding you little wicker, that is,
rubber baby buggy bumper baskets.
They're everywhere.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Clinton and break his keyboard for

(05:40):
writing this commercial.
That about wraps it up for today's Odd News PAC.
But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,
including our producer-level patrons Paul Barrie from the A Window to the Magic

(06:01):
podcast and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.
You, too, can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else
for as little as $2 a month. Just search for comedy4castt,
all one word with the number 4, on Patreon.com.
Lending their voice in this episode was Bonnie Kenderdine. Additional voices,

(06:25):
story, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025.
All rights reserved. Talk to you again next time. But for now,
that's it. We're done, done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.