Strange and Bizarre News with Toy Turtles

This week's bizarre news gives us a man who tries to pass off live turtles as toy turtles. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Start your day with Wes. You're listening to the West
Carrol Morning Show.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Friday morning, fifteenth day of August. I'm Wes. Thanks for
joining me, and now less than two weeks i'llbe at
dragon Con. I hope you'll be there at dragon Con
with me and join me for the fun, the excitement,
the thrill that is Labor Day weekend in downtown Atlanta.
And it happens every year. This is like thirty four

(00:30):
or something. I forget how many they're up to. They're
up to a bunch. This is my twenty fourth dragon Con.
That's all I know. I've been doing this a while now,
covering this convention. But get ready for dragon Con because
what we'll provide for you is what we've provided for
the past many years. The dragon Con Pregame Show. The
podcast is already available for past episodes. You can listen

(00:54):
to past episodes now, sorry to me to get you
too excited about this year's show. The past episodes are
availab right now wherever you're listening to this podcast, the
dragon Con Pregame Show, and this year's show. Now, in
about a week, it'll be available for you to listen
to and on radio as well, on about two hundred
radio stations around the state of Georgia. You'll be in

(01:17):
neighboring states. You'll get a chance to hear it as
it bleeds over into those as well. Some of them
have towers in other states, so technically they're like Alabama
stations or South Carolina stations, or even Tennessee some in Florida.
You get some of that going on. But about two
under radio stations you'll be able to hear the show.
And we as always appreciate our sponsor, Columbus State University's

(01:38):
Coca Cola Space Science Center. And guests so far this
year Katie Sackoff, Diana Lee and Esanto and some others.
You'll know them soon enough. I don't like saying them
until the interview's done. I like the interview to be done,
and I've already done my interview with those two, So
that's where I'm at. All Right, let's jump into some

(02:00):
positive news before we dive into the strange and bizarre
news from around the world. And we'll start with Houston, Texas.
Remember hearing this guy Jim Mattress, Mac Macking, Veil, Mcingveil,
I guess as I say and He's done a number
of stunts and gimmicks and things over the years, and

(02:23):
he's a community driven guy. With his mattress store. He
opened Gallery Furniture Stores as a shelter to those displaced
by Hurricane Harvey back in twenty seventeen. Well, Mattress Mac
has been stepping up for those affected by flooding in
the last month, and he launched a campaign called Purchase
with a Purpose that provides a mattress to a family

(02:44):
in need for every mattress purchased. More than fifty volunteers
recently unloaded five eighteen wheelers full of mattresses at a
nearby high school. More than four hundred mattresses were given
to families in need. Mattress Mac says he hopes that
this inspired there's even more Texans to lend a hand.
He says, it's important for us to give back to
the community. We've done that for the past forty four years,

(03:07):
and it's important for Texans to help Texans. That's something
we've done for two hundred years. So we're here to
help Texas and there's a lot of need. Obviously, nicely done,
Mattress Mac. Not the first time we hear of Mattress
Mac doing nice things, and I'm sure it won't be
the last way to go, Mattress Mac. This is kind

(03:30):
of a fun story. It's a you know, kind of odd,
but it's still fun. Timothy Sullivan, a farmer from Ohio,
wanted to propose and decided, you know, let's take it
up a notch. So he planted a thirteen acre corn
maze that spelled out will you marry me Caroline. After

(03:54):
months of planning and planting, the big reveal happened when
he convinced Caroline to take a flight with him over
the cornfield. He told Caroline he wanted to learn how
to fly. In reality, he just wanted her to see
the cornfield. I mean, that's what he planted it for,
he said. I was just like so amazed that somebody
put that much effort into planning a proposal like that.

(04:15):
I'm sorry, that's what she said, according to Caroline, And
you know, I expected he would do something quite elaborate
and intentional, but nothing to that extreme by any means.
She accepted the proposal, and the couple is planning to
get married sometime in summer of twenty twenty six. No
word on really whether or not they're gonna get married.

(04:37):
I mean they should get married in the cornfield, right,
that just makes sense, or at least maybe by then
he can learn how to fly and he can land
on the plane and have the ring, and that's how
they could Maybe they could leave, you know, cans hanging
off the back of the plane, some of those kind
of things. I don't know. All right, that's some positive stuff,

(04:58):
that's some good stuff. Now it's time to dive into
this strange in bizarre news. And you know the little
Boo boos, right, the old La Boo boos. Well, we've
now gotten to the point where we have a little
booboo crime. Police in southern California have cracked the case
involving thousands of dollars of stolen La Boo boos, these

(05:20):
collectible plush toys folks of all ages trying to get
their hands on. Authorities say the toys were swiped from
a warehouse in Chino over several days and ultimately found
at a home in the nearby Upland area. Cops recovered
fourteen boxes of La Boo Boo's worth about thirty thousand dollars.

(05:42):
The toys were reportedly being prepped for resale. Not a
surprise there, because they're really hard to find, and you know,
the original seller, PopMart is hard to get them from them.
Online resellers are charging quite a bit for them. So yeah,
if you steal a bunch of them and you're gonna
sell them, you're probably gonna get a lot of money

(06:03):
for them. I get it, you know, these LT boo boos.
Especially if they had just hung on to them, they'd
managed to keep them quiet until closer to Christmas. Oh man,
they might have really been able to cash in that way.
Not that I'm advocating the theft, no, no, no, I'm
not on their side. I'm just pointing out if only

(06:24):
that's probably what they're thinking. If they've been charged, they're
probably thinking, oh, we could I just held on to
them until Christmas time. A Brooklyn man facing serious prison
time after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle hundreds of
protected turtles into Hong Kong. Federal prosecutors say We Kwang

(06:44):
Lin admitted to illegally exporting about eight hundred and fifty
Eastern box turtles and three toad box turtles, species known
for their colorful markings and high value in the pet trade,
especially in China and Hong Kong. The turtles were an
estimated one point four million dollars in value and were

(07:06):
packed in socks and shipped in boxes labeled plastic animal toys.
Authorities intercepted the shipments during a border inspection found the
reptiles bound and taped inside knotted socks. Lynn now faces
up to five years in prison, three years of supervisor release,
and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Sentencing expected to happen in late December. So, yeah, they're

(07:33):
just plastic toys. They're just toys that are just you know,
they're wrapped up in socks. That's all. They are, just toys.
No big deal, nothing there, nothing to see, no big deal.
An Irish farmer has decided to sell his farm and
give away all his money to the poor, but instead
of being commended for his generosity, he's being blocked by

(07:54):
Ireland's High Court. The man, in his forties, sold his
farm for about six hundred and fifty thousand dollars has
already donated about three hundred and eighty thousand dollars to
homeless people and others that are struggling He told authorities
that God instructed him to give away all his money
to secure a place in heaven, but his generosity raised
red flags. His bank accounts are now an overdraft, and

(08:15):
just last week he handed over one thousand dollars in
cash to a homeless woman that he met on the street.
Concern for his well being, the Irish High Court has
appointed a guardian task with protecting his best interests. The
guardian now has authority to monitor his finances and take
necessary steps to prevent further financial harm. The guy is

(08:39):
just trying to earn his place in heaven. That's the instructions, apparently,
says he got. You know, if you just sell your house,
give everything away to the needy, to the people that
need it, then then you know you'll be granted access

(09:01):
to heaven. And they're just not letting him in the door.
They're not going to help him. Hey. Uh. Police in
Minnesota say that a seventy year old motorcyclist, Lonnie Corey,
kept riding his motorcycle after his sister was thrown off
the back of his Harley Davidson. Just thrown right off
the back. The two were reportedly heading home from a

(09:24):
bar in Prescott, Wisconsin, when Corey clipped the back of
another vehicle while trying to pass. The impact caused the
motorcycle to wobble, throwing his sixty year old sister off
the bike, but Corey didn't stop. Instead, cameras show him
pausing briefly at the top of the next ramp, looking back,
and then driving away. Brother of the Year whitness is

(09:47):
called nine one one and medics arrived to find his
sister with a severe head injury. See this is where
he gets sad. You know, had to get the joke
in before we get to the head injury. She remains hospitalized.
When police arrived at Corey's home later that night, he
reportedly admitted he knew she'd fallen off, but said he
got scared and just kept driving. A preliminary breath test

(10:10):
showed his blood alcohol level well over the legal limit. However,
he hasn't been charged with anything alcohol related. I guess
maybe it was too much of a gap. I don't know.
He was charged with criminal vehicular operation resulting in great
bodily harm and leaving the scene of a crash at
seventy I mean they in sixty, I mean their parents

(10:35):
may be still alive. I'm guessing not, because I would
think he'd have a lot of explaining to do, especially
if it was his mom. Moms aren't going for that.
Headline says, if you can read this shirt, my sister
fell up an animal at a rescue shelter Rhode Island
looking for someone to adopt a pet parrot with a

(10:56):
vocabulary more colorful than its feathers, and Scott felt that
are quite colorful. The Forever Paul's Animal Shelter in Fall
River received a twenty year old parrot named Hendrix who
was surrendered by its owner. Hendricks came to the facility
in pretty bad shape, malnourished because the owner wasn't feeding
him the proper diet for a parrot. It's arriving at
the shelter and getting the necessary care. He's made a

(11:18):
swift recovery and now ready to be adopted to a
forever home. The problem, though, is that potential adopters need
to know that Hendrick speaks a lot and has a
very vulgar vocabulary. A post on the shelter social media warning,
if you adopt Hendricks, you're basically adopting Samuel L. Jackson. Yeah,

(11:42):
Chantell Rogers, of staffer at Forever Paul's says, sometimes when
you give him something, he'll say thank you. If you
call him a pretty bird, he'll say thank you. He'll
say good morning baby. And that's about as far as
he goes. With the nice cities. It's a lot of slurs, curses,
things you can't repeat on camera. This is according to

(12:03):
the woman from the shelter.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
So I would think maybe this could be a really
popular item, this pet, this bird. That's what I would
think it maybe just maybe it could be, uh, you
know exactly the pet bird that somebody needs. Michigan Highway
was left in a mess after a truck sprung a

(12:27):
leak and covered the roadway in thousands of pounds of
chocolate syrup. Interstate seventy five Monroe County driver was flagged
down by a passer by who noticed chocolate spewing out
of the back. The driver safely pulled over and walked
to the back, and that's where they saw chocolate fountain
coming out. Local police and firefighters jumped into action with

(12:51):
cleanup gear. Social media show puddles of chocolate coating the pavement.
The truck was eventually patched up. The ramp was cleaned,
driver sent on his way.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
No word on exactly how much chocolate was lost. Probably
a decent amount, though I mean probably a lot of chocolate.
A Wisconsin woman has been told to go straight to
jail after she pleaded guilty to forging lottery tickets at
the gas station where she worked. Twenty six year old
Hope Johnson admitted to printing more than eight hundred lottery

(13:20):
tickets without paying for them, costing the gas station over
eighty eight hundred dollars. She then allegedly took the winnings
to another gas station at Casha Man, pocketing more than
twenty eight hundred dollars in winnings. She's been sentenced to
ten days in jail two years probation in order to
pay thirteen thousand dollars in restitution. She is also prohibited

(13:42):
from working anywhere that sells lottery tickets. Wonder why why
can't she work somewhere that sells lottery tickets. Today's show
brought to you by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space
Science Center, Inspiring and educating the youth and future STEM

(14:03):
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, and you

(14:25):
can learn more about maybe getting your degree on their
website CCSSC dot org. While you're there, also check out
some of their upcoming 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. It's unlike

(14:47):
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 traction that happens right here
in Columbus inside the planetarium at the Coca Cola Space
Science Center and the new season of Music under the Dome.

(15:10):
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 Sean Crusan

(15:34):
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 maintenance that it's

(15:56):
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

(16:18):
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 insulation
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

(16:39):
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
to work on your own cars in there, or maybe
you just want a little man cavid you'd like to
be able to open the door up and not invite
all the insects in. They can do that for you
as well, and again they do after our calls. There's

(17:01):
nothing worse than that thought of having your car trapped
inside your garage and your garage door won't open and
you need somebody to come help. And they do those
as well. Seven oh six thy 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. So do you and your partner like

(17:31):
to gossip about other people? If so, you're probably happier
and more bonded than couples who don't gossip. But I
thought gossip was bad. This is According to a new
study from the University of California Riverside Study, participants gossiped
for an average of thirty eight minutes per day, with

(17:52):
twenty nine of those minutes spent gossiping with their significant other,
and it seems that gossip after a social event really
made couples feel more connected, reinforcing the idea that they're
on the same team. While all the couples who gossiped
reported high levels of happiness and relationship satisfaction, same sex couples,

(18:13):
particularly lesbian couples, had an even higher level of well
being after their gossip time. So do with that as
you will, you know, I don't know, I mean, is
it exclusively gossip? I mean, can it just be that
sometimes you just like, you know, chatting with your significant other,

(18:36):
And I mean, I guess that is what costs me
in Maybe it's just in good fun. You're just speculating.
Maybe that's what it is, or it's gossip. I don't know,
but you know, you have to have that connection with
your significant others. So is it a bad kind of gossiping?
I don't know. I don't know how this works. I
really don't know, but I can tell you this. It

(19:00):
brings you closer together. According to the experts. That's the
best I can do is tell you that. So there
you go. Astronauts heading to the Moon in twenty twenty
seven will be rocking some very stylish, very functional eyewear
gold plate advisors made by Oakley. The visors look they

(19:21):
came off a movie screen as they feature multiple coatings,
including twenty four carrot gold to block out solar radiation,
infrared and UV light. They're scratch resistant, tough enough to
deal with lunar dust. There's also a flip down visor
to completely block light from the upper portion of the
visor during super harsh conditions. The flip down you know,

(19:45):
like the old like the outfielders. Do they still wear those?
I think they do, don't they are? They just wear sunglasses?
I like the old flip down ones, you know, like
was Dwayne Wayne on a different world. He just had
the They would flip up and down, the little round ones.
Lest time you heard Twain was listening, he heard his
name mentioned in public all right. Described as a ten

(20:10):
day long celebration of automotive excellence, Monterey Car Week has
been going on in California since the weekend and Some
of the events will include ridiculous auctions featuring some of
the most expensive and exclusive cars on the planet. Just
to get an idea of what we're talking about, a
rundown of some of the highest priced cars up for sale,

(20:31):
A bunch of Ferraris fifty five through ninety three those
years worth anywhere from five and a half to nine
and a half million dollars. A nineteen thirty five Mercedes
Benz expected to sell between five and a half and
seven million dollars. A twenty twenty Bugatti Divo will fetch
between seven and nine million dollars, and all eyes though

(20:52):
expected to be on the And I'm not a car guy,
sorry if I'm mess any of this up. The sixty
one ferrari A two fifty GTSWB California Spider Competision, that's
the one I don't know. I like the one from
Ferris Bueller and expected the price for it to be

(21:13):
an excess of twenty million dollars. So you know, there's
that A sprawling thirteen million dollar estate in La joy California.
I'm sorry, it's La Jolla, California, right, La Joya, Yeah,
that's right. You do the Spanish pronunciation in La Jolla, California,

(21:36):
up for auction with some unique terms. Instead of potential
buyers bidding the price up, it will be a Dutch auction.
That means the price tag will drop two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars each week until a buyer steps up.
The eleven thousand square foot house no joke. It's got
six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, a view of the coastline,

(21:57):
eleven car garage, and a basketball court. Anyone interested will
be watching the price decrease until someone with you know,
the money actually presses the buy button. So and it's official.
AOL has finally officially disconnected. Did you know that they

(22:17):
still did dial up internet service? I don't know that
I did. After thirty four years, the old school dial
up service that involved customers waiting for a familiar you know,
finally being discontinued next month. At its peak in the
late nineteen nineties and early two thousands, AOL had over
twenty three million subscribers in the US. These days, only

(22:40):
one hundred and seventy five thousand still rely on dial
up for internet access, and in September, those one hundred
seventy five thousand users will have to figure out a
different way to get online so you can still do that.
Are people that are using a phone that actually runs

(23:02):
through the internet, right, If you got one of those phones,
it's basically connected to your modem. Do you use that phone?
I don't know. I mean I could see if you're
in one of those old school bomb shelter type scenarios
and that's the phone that's in there. But all right,
then I'll do it for this Friday edition of the show.
Thanks to our sponsors and patrons. Thank you for listening.

(23:24):
I'll catch you back here Monday morning.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
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 (23:39):
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, or 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. Seven oh six three

(23:59):
five five eight forty five hundred seven oh six three
five eight forty five hundred Odccolumbus 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

(24:20):
if you live in the State of Georgia or one
of the states 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

(24:40):
the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast wherever you listen to
your podcast, yes, where 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 Sin Universe, many

(25:01):
animated stars, some of your favorite Disney stars. Chances to
hear interviews with them, and this year's dragon Con 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

(25:26):
behind the science fiction and the connections between 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

(25:47):
CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this year's dragon Con
the website, which is DragonCon dot org