Strange and Bizarre News with a Rodent of Unusual Size

This week we have a very big rat and a road full of hotdogs. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The news, opinions, commentary, and interviews. You need to start
your day, and you're listening to the West Carrol Morning Show.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Friday morning, eighth, the day of August. I'm west thanks
for joining me. We are just really a few weeks
now away from dragon Con. Three weeks basically Labor Day
weekend in downtown Atlanta. I guess things kind of start
getting going really on Wednesday, before Labor Day. It's not

(00:33):
an official day of dragon Con, things really start to happen,
some of it even Tuesday. Just being honest, it's become
like a full week long event. Don't feel overwhelmed, though.
If you're thinking of going, you don't have to go
for all of those days. You don't have to go.
If you're planning to attend dragon Con for really anything
more than a day, you can go for one day

(00:55):
and you can fit a lot in in a day. Now,
if you want to go the entire weekend, you have
to be very strategic in booking your accommodations. You should
start planning for next year as soon as Labor Day
is finished, and just start making the plans. You can't
most of the host hotels you can't book right away,

(01:15):
but you can get your plan in place at the
very least, or you can start looking at other hotels
that are nearby. There are some spillover hotels that are
taking sometimes special rates as well, and there's opportunities to
do that. So if you are thinking of attending the
convention but you're not quite sold on exactly which day

(01:37):
to go or what you want to go see, some
of that we will cover with this year's dragon Con
pregame Show that happens on the twenty third and twenty
fourth of August. Radio stations around the state of Georgia
about two hundred stations plus. We will have the Dragon
Con Pregame Show podcast. In it, we'll talk about some
of the things that you need to know. The parade,

(01:57):
for example, big topic of conversation for dragon Con. Go
on Saturday. You watch the parade, and then you go
and you can check out a lot of stuff at
the convention. The parade is also a good time to
kind of check out some of the things that maybe
will have a longer line if you're trying to get
into the vendor area and that sometimes has a huge line, well,
it will have a really huge line immediately following the parade.

(02:21):
So if you'd like to go when the parade is
going on, for example, see these are insider tips that
I can give you to help you have the kind
of dragon Con you want to have. Now, maybe you
want to see the parade, and the parade's fantastic. It's
one of the best parades that you can see in
the Southeast anywhere. And it really I mean, if you
want to talk about Marty Gras, you want to talk

(02:43):
about Saint Patrick's Day in Savannah, there's a handful of
other parades that happen. I know they're all big deal,
but to see this many people in character in the
Georgia heat walking through downtown Atlanta is really quite remarkable
and it's something you need to experience at least once
in life. You know, there's things you just need to

(03:04):
experience just once. This is one of those things. And
we will talk about all of that on the dragon
Con Pregame Show and the DragonCon Pregame Show podcast. We
got past episodes of that going back to I think
twenty eleven something like that. Most of those are there.
You can check out interviews with some now recently passed icons.

(03:25):
Lonnie Anderson comes to mind. I've got an interview with
her on there you can check out, and some that
have passed away since my interviews, it would Earnest Borg
nine and others, and I just encourage you to go
back check them out. You can hear some of the
conversation topics, some of the basically some are timeless. Some
of the interviews will live on forever. Some you know

(03:48):
you're kind of hearing them, little time capsule and things,
but it gives you an idea of what some of
the guests are like that will attend the convention, and
you can get ready. I saw just I guess yesterday
Dave Boorannas and others from the show Bones announced and
it's pretty exciting. I know a lot of people that
are fans of the show Bones, so that'll be another

(04:09):
group that will be there. They kind of book guests
in groups, and there's a good Star Wars contingency that
will be there this year as well, so that's not
always been the case. They kind of go in waves
where they've got different fandoms that are represented, so pretty
good stuff. There long list of guests on their website

(04:30):
DragonCon dot org, and you can check out past episodes
of the dragon Con pregame show some of those winners
at the Gabby Awards over the years. And I've just
really enjoyed covering this convention now for almost twenty five years.
I'm coming up on twenty five next year, so I
have to come up with something special to do. Thanks
to our sponsor for our coverage, Columbus State University's Coca

(04:53):
Cola Space Science Center and in a few weeks that
week of dragon Con. And this isn't really Dragon Con
pregame show, but there is a little pregame component to it.
Les Johnson who works at the Marshall. He's the chief technologist,
so when I say he works there, he's kind of
a big deal at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

(05:17):
And Sean Cruisin and I, who do the Mate of
Stars podcast together, talked with him today. We recorded an
interview with him for the week of dragon Con. I
think we're going to release it on the Tuesday before
Labor Day, so to be like a full week before
Labor Day kind of. I'll give you a chance to
check that out or interview with him. That'll be that
week's episode of Made of Stars. And we talked to

(05:40):
him about science and science fiction. And that's one of
the reasons that the Coca Cola Space Science Center sponsors
are dragon Con coverage. There is a direct correlation. It's symbiotic,
that relationship between science and science fiction. Once upon a
time you would go their science and then their science fiction. Well,
Les Johnson is a science fiction writer, very accomplished writer
at that, and he does both. You know, he works

(06:04):
at NASA and then he also writes science fiction books.
So if that doesn't tell you that there's a connection there.
And he will be at dragon Con this year with
some of the science tracks, talking with folks there about
actual science and then also talking about some of his
books and things that are coming up. So get ready

(06:24):
for that and again both of those podcasts wherever you're
listening to this show. All right, it's Friday. Let's get
into some good news, as we like to start our
Fridays with good news first and foremost. This is a
good story Buffalo Bill's football team. You know, the teams
are all getting into their preseason swing, and the Bills,

(06:46):
of course one of those teams. They lost the four
Super Bowls in a row. There's been high hopes for
them over the past few seasons, everybody keeps thinking they're
finally going to get over the hump, and then something
goes wrong and they're so close. What are something positive
that the team is doing is they're now in preparation
for the new football season and trying to live up

(07:08):
to the hype and expectations for them. And you know,
you get some good karma out there if you're want
of those believers in that. Maybe that's what they're doing.
I don't know, maybe they're just doing something nice. I
like to think of that. So the charity organization behind
the team basically put together a donation of more than
one hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars to fund summer
meals for area kids in Buffalo. So they basically gave

(07:33):
the kids a chance to meet some of the players
at training camp back on Monday, and while they were there,
the children received free backpacks and water bottles. Before they left,
the one hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars check was presented,
which will go a long way towards the No Kid
Hungry New York that will be providing lunches, school lunches,

(07:55):
and different organizations in rural areas providing free summer meals
to kids a nice way to close out the summer
right and Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York, says,
this event is more than a day at training camp.
It's a powerful statement about what's possible when communities come
together support children nicely done. You know, I don't know

(08:18):
if this means they get over that hump and get
to the Super Bowl or win a super Bowl finally,
but if they do, we can maybe look back to
this moment and think, See, they put good things out there,
and good things happen. Let's do one more around the world,
only in theaters for a limited time, Cat Video Fest
has returned. The event, which is a seventy five minute

(08:39):
Greatest Hits reel of cat video is projected on the
big screen, has been around since twenty sixteen and has
grown quite a bit. It's now on five hundred screens
in the US and Canada. Last year, Cat Video Fest
grows more than a million dollars, and through the years
it's raised hundreds of thousands to support rescue shelters. Many
theaters partner with organizations to courage moviegoers to adopt or

(09:02):
foster cats. This year's collection of cat magic hits theaters.
Anyone interested in an afternoon of pure cat bliss, and
anyone interested in helping cats in me encouraged to check
for local listings. I don't know of us having any
here in the Chattahoochee Valley, but wherever you're listening, check
and see if they're I don't know, maybe that is listed.

(09:23):
I didn't see it. But let's check for local listings.
See if the festival of Fun is coming to your hometown.
But doing good things and taking care of cats. You know,
I've told you before I am a dog guy, but
I got nothing against cats. All right, let's get into
some strange and bizarre I do like cats. Set it
that way. That was so dismissive. I like cats. I've

(09:46):
had cats in my life. We had a number of
cats when I was growing up. I'm just a dog guy. Now,
all right, strange and bizarre news from around the world,
and we'll transition from cats to rats, or at least
a really big rat. A British family has basically been
given a sign it's time to move out of their

(10:06):
home in New Yorkshire. The family discovered that they had
I mean, this is like rodents of unusual size from
the Prince's Bride type rat. They called in pest control
to trap this rodent, and when the worker captured the
two foot long rat that was yes about the size
of a cat, local councilors shared a photo of the

(10:28):
monster and warned that the rat problem in the area
was getting out of control. You think, they say this
wasn't just a one off, but a sign of a
growing infestation issue across the borough. They're calling for a
full vermin plant to battle the problem had on before
more residents encounter these massive home intruders. You gotta wait

(10:51):
for the flame right to come up out of the ground.
That's what you gotta do. You hear the noise. Anyway,
it's been a minute since I watched the movie. I
can't remember what the flames are called, all right. A
Minnesota woman who was arrested for auto theft after cops
read her diary, turns out will avoid jail time. This
is a follow up story for us. Let's go back
to when we had this story. Vanessa Guerrera was accused

(11:14):
of stealing a Ford van about a year ago and
then selling it for scrap. At first, she denied it
and then later, during a search of her home, police
found a personal journal belonging to her, which included an
entry where she wrote, totally stole a car today, something
I never thought of doing. Super freaking out about it.
Prosecutors use this as an admission of guilt, and Gera

(11:35):
took the plea deal. She had been looking it up
to five years in jail, but a judge said last
week it was decided he would take it easy on
her sentenced her to three years on probation. She was
ordered to pay four hundred and fifty four dollars fine
and barred from possessing alcohol, drugs, AMMA or explosives. She
will also be subject to unannounced searches. Maybe she could

(11:59):
move to the house that it has the giant rat
and then when they do the searches, they could also,
you know, look for rats. Traffic came to a sizzling
standstill in Pennsylvania on Interstate eighty three after a thousand
hot dogs spilled across the highway. A multi vehicle crash,
which involved a tractor trailer loaded with frozen hot dogs,

(12:21):
shut down a portion of the interstate for hours. Four
people were taken to the hospital with injuries. The cleanup
took a long time because thousands of hot dogs were
scattered across the road and it was quite a mess.
The greasy residue left on the pavement made the cleanup
more difficult. The road remained closed for about seven hours

(12:41):
before traffic was finally allowed to resume. You know, you
get seven or eight of those guys, the Joey Chestnuts
and those guys that come in and compete in those
hot dog eating competitions, they could have cleaned that thing
up in you know, twenty minutes. I mean, how many
hot dogs are we talking about. These guys seriously can

(13:06):
eat hot dogs at a very rapid rate. Why not
at least bring them in as experts. Just give them
an opportunity to show what they can do. I mean,
we've seen what they can do. We know what they're
capable of, So why not bring them in, give them
the water, Right, they get the water and then they

(13:27):
dip the There's no buns involved, I guess, but still
they would definitely have an opportunity come in, clean it up,
eat it up, move on, and they just be training.
They could write the whole thing off. That's just my
thoughts on it. And finally, an Ohio woman has chosen
a clever method of revenge against a car dealership that
repossessed her vehicle even though she had been approved for

(13:50):
a loan. Tim McCreary bought a twenty twenty two Kia
kfive from Taylor Kia of Lima in February of twenty
twenty four. She was approved for a loan and then
drove off a lot, but a month later, the dealership
repossessed the car while she was at work and said
the financing fell through. McCreary wasn't having it, so she

(14:11):
got to work on her revenge, did a little research,
did a little digging, and discovered the dealership. It let
its registration for the name Taylor Kea of Lima expire
and they never reregistered it, so she registered it herself.
She then sent a cease and assist letter to the
dealership telling them they could no longer do business under
the name without her consent. That battle has now gone

(14:35):
to court, McCreary suing the dealership and the lender, claiming
fraud and violations of consumer protection laws. The dealership tried
to push the case to arbitration, but an appeals court
sent it back to trial court. It could for her.
I don't know anything about what's going on with the loan.
I don't know anything about the lender. All I know

(14:59):
is this is a clever person. This is the kind
of person that you don't want to upset and make mad.
That's what you don't want to do, because they realize
there's more than one way to come back at you.
It's not just the most direct thing hit you where
it really hurts. So I say good for you, Tia.
Today's show brought to you by Columbus State University's Coca
Cola Space Science Center, inspiring and educating the youth and

(15:24):
future STEM leaders and STEM career holders that really of
all ages. I mean, they do it for school age
kids as school age kids visit the Coca Cola Space
Science Center, but they also do it through their university
programs where you can learn engineering, astronomy, physics, and the
careers in space and STEM fields are booming right now.

(15:48):
And you can learn more about maybe getting your degree
on their website CCSSC dot org. While you're there, also
check out some of their UPco programs. They've got this
incredible collaboration that they do with the Schwob School of
Music from Columbus State University called Music under the Dome.

(16:09):
It's unlike any concert experience that you can get anywhere else.
It's one of those things that when you're watching it
in Columbus, Georgia, you think, is this really in Columbus, Georgia.
I mean, this is a major city attraction that happens
right here in Columbus inside the planetarium at the Coca
Cola Space Science Center and the new season of Music

(16:32):
under the Dome. Check out upcoming dates for the shows,
and also check out when the next Astronomy Night's coming up.
Where you can get outside. Sometimes you do it at
the Cocola Space Science Center. Sometimes you get outside somewhere
outside the city lights. You don't want any light interference,
and you can do that as well upcoming Astronomy Night
events also on their website. It's CCSSC dot org. As

(16:56):
Shaan Crusen says, Charlie Charlie SamSam Charlie dot org. I
just remind you that it stands for Coca Cola Space
Science Center CCSSC dot org. Today's show brought to you
by Overhead Door Company of Columbus for all of your
garage door needs, commercial or residential. Maybe you have regular

(17:18):
maintenance that it's time for. It's always good to get
maintenance on anything that has parts that move and have electronics.
The folks at Overhead Door Company of Columbus can take
care of squaring that away for you, and while they're there,
you can always ask them questions about some of the
maybe cosmetic changes you'd like to make to your garage door.
Maybe your curb appeal isn't quite what you want it

(17:41):
to be and you need some repair work done to
the outside door. Maybe you need a brand new garage
door completely. Maybe it's making a noise when your garage
door opens and closes. Maybe it's some sort of installation
issue that you've got. With colder or warmer weather, sometimes
that stuff gets in and it's inconvenient. Maybe you're looking
at a situation where you'd like to add a screen

(18:02):
door to your garage door system that you can put
down and you can use your garage space as a
sort of outdoor but indoor, you know, if you like
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(18:24):
nothing worse than that thought of having your car trapped
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you need somebody to come help, and they do those
as well. Seven oh six thorty five eight forty five
hundred seven oh six three five eight forty five hundred
o dccolumbus dot com more West Carol Morning Show. Right
after the break, South Florida's battle I guess invasive Burmese

(18:55):
pythons is getting very serious. The pythons have read the
local ecosystem because they breed rapidly and compete for food
with many native animals, including mammals, birds, iguanas, and alligators.
Snake hunters are there using solar powered remote control robot
rabbits to lure pythons out of their hiding for easier capture.

(19:21):
The robot rabbits are equipped with cameras to monitor the
movements of the pythons and alert officials once they are detected.
Let's keep the robot rabbits in check, because once they
get any form of artificial intelligence or in trouble. I've
said many times before my concern with AI is when

(19:44):
we start producing anything that has AI that can self replicate. Right,
you've heard me talk about this. If you get some
sort of machine that can reproduce it and it has
artificial intelligence, that's when we're done. What more clever way.

(20:06):
It is a little scary than putting it in a rabbit.
You know, you know what they're known for. I mean,
they're known for eating carrots, but they don't really eat carrots.
The other thing they do, and they do it a lot.
You get two rabbits and then suddenly you know, you
got a thousand rabbits. That's all I'm saying. So let's
be aware of what's going on with the robot rabbits.

(20:29):
Scientists may have officially found a hangover hack that works
running Good luck with that. Researchers at the University of
Houston compare different hangover cures from eggs and bacon to electrolytes,
vitamin cocktails, caffeine drips, and it seems that sweating out
a hangover with high intensity exercise does the most to

(20:50):
get your body right after a night of drinking. The
trick is to trigger endorphins in the body, and not
just to leisurely stroll. You got to really get some
sweat going on, and that's when the endorphins kick in
and the exercise decreases inflammation caused by drinking too much
alcohol in a short period of time. Listen, I myself

(21:14):
never been hungover, never been intoxicated. I've had beverages. I
do enjoy the occasional beverage. I do not drink to
the point where I get hungover. And you have these issues.
But I hear from friends, and I've witnessed friends that do,
and I can tell you they don't want to go

(21:36):
for a run typically the next day. I can understand
where it could be beneficial. They always say, when you're sore,
your muscles are sore after exercising, the best thing to
do is more exercise probably works basically the same way.
But my point is basically, you probably will have a

(21:56):
hard time being motivated if you're hungover. That's the whole point.
But it seems like it would make I mean, it
makes sense that it would work, So I'm not arguing
with the fact that it would work. I'm just questioning
whether or not you could get motivated enough to do
it if you are in fact truly hungover all right,

(22:18):
most people are looking to different alternatives to ways to
meet that special someone I told you. I think at
the beginning of the week, people are traveling and going
places to meet people. They're kind of ditching the apps.
They're probably ditching some of the speed dating. So there's
a new thing now apparently called read dating. And the

(22:39):
way it works is singles go to a bookstore cafe
with their favorite books in hand, and then they make
a connection with someone. They give them their book, which
has their contact info inside, and what happens next, you know,
unwritten like the song goes. I assume that means they
bring their books from home or they buy books in

(23:01):
the store. I hope you're not encouraging shoplifting. You don't
want your first day to be going to bail each
other out of jail because you know Shenanigan's at the bookstore.
Hines and Smoothie King if teamed up to answer the
age old question if tomatoes are a fruit, then is
ketchup a smoothie? The Hines Tomato Ketchup Smoothie says, the

(23:21):
answer is most definitely yes, it's available. It selects Smoothie
King locations while supplies last. The smoothie contains the Hines
original fifty seven ketchup a chai sorbet, apple juice, strawberries
and raspberries. Sounds interesting. Don't know that it sounds good,
but it sounds interesting. Disney has made a big announcement

(23:45):
that the Hulu app will be going away next year.
The company already has a Hulu page built into Disney
Plus for bundle subscribers. Next year that will become the
only way to access Hulu. Customers will still be able
to buy a Hulu only plan, but Disney is hoping
to get many more bundle subscribers with this new move.

(24:07):
I think it'll and I know that there's some things
changing at ESPN. I've heard rumblings that there are some
changes coming there. So we'll see how all this plays
out for all of those bundles. That'll do it for
this Friday edition of the show. Thanks to our sponsors
and patrons. Thank you for listening. I'll catch you back
here Monday morning.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
This is the West Carrol Morning Show powered by Overhead
Door Company of Columbus. The Holiday Inn Resort in Panama
City and CSU's Coca Cola Space Science Center.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Overhead Door Company of Columbus has all of your garage
door needs covered, residential and commercial service and repairs. If
you need a new garage door, you're just looking to
upgrade or repair your current door, Overhead Door Company of
Columbus has you covered. Plus they've got your emergency repairs
or service covered as well. SEVENO three five eight forty

(25:01):
five hundred seven oh six three five eight forty five
hundred o dccolumbus dot com. Get ready for dragon Con
twenty twenty five Labor Day weekend downtown Atlanta with the
dragon Con Pregame Show coming August twenty third and twenty
fourth to a radio station near you if you live
in the state of Georgia or one of the states

(25:23):
near enough to the State of Georgia to pick up
a radio signal coming from the network of stations in
the State of Georgia that'll be carrying the show, and
there are many in Alabama and Tennessee and the Carolinas
that'll have a chance to hear it even down into Florida,
or simply listen to it on the dragon Con Pregame
Show podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, Yes, where

(25:46):
you're listening to this podcast. You can also find past
editions of the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast with interviews
with William Shatner, other stars from Star Trek, The Walking Dead,
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many animated stars, some of your
favorite Disney stars. Chances to hear interviews with them and

(26:08):
this year's dragoncn Pregame Show will drop to the podcast
on August twenty third, and you can hear this year's interviews.
It's sponsored by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center,
where doctor Sean Cruisin and I often like to discuss
the science behind the science fiction and the connections between

(26:31):
where science fiction sometimes leads to science science sometimes leads
to science fiction. It's just a weird connection that's already there.
It's built into it. And I say it's weird, but
it's really not. It makes perfect sense. The two go
together very well. Learn more about the Coca Cola Space
Science Center at CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this
year's dragon Con the website, which is DragonCon dot org