Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Around this time in 2001, eccentric Hollywood legend Marlon Brando held a 10-day seminar called “Lying For A Living" where he alternately taught acting and did very, very Marlon Brando things. Plus: this weekend in Florence, South Carolina, it’s the South Carolina Pecan Music and Food Festival. Marlon Brando’s Real Last Tango: The Never-Told Story of His Secret A-List Acting School (The Hollywood Reporter) SC Pecan Music & Food Festival  We coulda been a contender, we coulda been somebody. Oh wait, our Patreon backers made us somebody --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1800, President John Adams first moved into the president's house, which, despite rumors to the contrary, was always a White House. Here's how it gets repainted. Plus: for National Calzone Day, a visit to a place in West Virginia that serves a gigantic calzone challenge.  It takes a lot of work to keep the White House painted white! (White House Historical Association on Twitter) The Biggest Calzone In The World Is Melt In Your Mouth Good At This West Virginia Pizza Joint (Only In West Virginia) Every episode of our show gets a splash of color from our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Happy Halloween! Today we pay a visit to a house in Waxahachie, Texas that's a real-world replica of the home of TV's Munsters. Plus: today in 2002, a soccer record that probably won’t ever be equaled: a team from Madagascar scored 149 goals against itself.  Welcome to the ‘Munsters’ Mansion in Waxahachie (Texas Monthly) Mingle with monsters (and Marilyn) at the Munster Mansion, a perfect replica of the fictional family’s house (Roadtrippers) Team repeatedly scores own goals to protest refs (ESPN) We'd gladly share all our Halloween candy with our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1883, a bizarre headline in the New York Times: “Actor Demoralized By Tomatoes.” Why have audiences thrown tomatoes and other foods at performers? Plus: this weekend in Yardley, Pennsylvania, it’s Canal-O-Ween, a special stroll through a waterway of lit pumpkins.  AN ACTOR DEMORALIZED BY TOMATOES. (The New York Times) HAS THERE EVER BEEN AN ACTUAL CASE OF SOMEONE BEING PELTED WITH TOMATOES DURING A PERFORMANCE? (Today I Found Out) Canal-O-Ween: Pumpkins. Fire. Water. Magic - A Yardley, PA Experience (Experience Yardley) We want to throw a party for our Patreon backers, so join the party that keeps this show growing! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If you have fields, you almost certainly have weeds. Pulling them can take a lot of time or money, but farmers now have a new way to make that part of the job a lot easier: a weed-zapping robot that uses lasers. Plus: this weekend in Hiawatha, Kansas, runners are set to take part in the Great Pumpkin Relay. This new farming robot uses lasers to kill 200,000 weeds per hour (Interesting Engineering) City of Hiawatha October 2022 newsletter (City of Hiawatha) Our Patreon backers make every episode of this show grow, join them with your support today! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Mule Day, so it's a great day to celebrate a mule who singlehandedly… showed up at some Major League Baseball games. Here's the story of the official mule mascot of the New York Mets. Plus: The Instagram account Les Facades de Paris focuses on the fabulous fronts of Paris’s shops, homes and other buildings. Double Bray: When the New York Mets Replaced Mr. Met With a Live Mule (Mental Floss) lesfacadesdeparis (Instagram via Messy Nessy) Our Patreon backers carry us forward every day  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1944, the greatest concert in Carnegie Hall history, featuring a truly incomparable singer: the one and only Florence Foster Jenkins. Here's how the woman sometimes called the worst opera singer of all time ended up on one of the most famous stages of all time. Plus: today in 1912, the birthday of Grand Ole Opry comedian Minnie Pearl, who's celebrated in her hometown, Centerville, Tennessee, with a large statue made of chicken wire. THE WORST SINGER IN THE WORLD (Pacific Standard)  Remembering Florence Foster Jenkins (Carnegie Hall) Minnie Pearl Chicken Wire Statue (Atlas Obscura) With our Patreon backers we make beautiful music. Er, podcasts --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's United Nations Day, and UN headquarters in New York City is a pretty interesting place if you like geopolitics, world history or beekeeping. Here's a closer look at the UN's own beehives. Plus: a group of artists is raising awareness about the risks of "ghost gear" from fishing boats by making sculptures out of the lost material that resemble the marine life that's in danger.  The United Nations Makes Its Own Honey (Untapped New York) Tons of Discarded Fishing Nets Are Formed into the Wildlife They Entangle in Sculptures by Ghost Net Collective (Colossal) Our Patreon backers keep this hive buzzing --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Happy National Apple Day! Today it's the story of Maria Ann Smith, who discovered the tart, juicy green apple now known around the world as the Granny Smith. Plus: today in 1969, the Beatles’ record company, Apple, got a telegram asking if Paul McCartney wanted to come to New York for a pretty special recording session. Who was Granny Smith? (City of Ryde via Archive.org) Jimi Hendrix Sought Paul McCartney for Supergroup with Miles Davis (Rolling Stone) This show grows like an apple tree thanks to our backers on Patreon  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If we’re ever going to get to a world of self-driving cars we’re going to need ways to make sure that world is safe - and one way to keep pedestrians safe near autonomous vehicles may be… googly eyes. Seriously. Plus: this weekend in Pittsburgh, it's the Dirty Dozen Bike Race, which sends riders up the steepest hills in the city. Animated Googly Eyes Could Make Autonomous Cars Safer For Pedestrians (Gizmodo) Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen 2022  Help our show keep on driving as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A New York company has developed a process called Inflatable Flexible Factory Formwork that can quickly build inexpensive, sturdy and affordable houses. This may be the one type of inflation people in 2022 want to see more of. Plus: this weekend in Nashville, a literal presidential race at the home of our seventh chief executive.  Structure-inflating construction tech could give 3D printing a run for its money (New Atlas) 7th President 7k Run  Help us build new episodes of this show as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1924, the University of Illinois dedicated Memorial Stadium, which holds some 60,000 football fans and, legend has it, one bulldozer. We'll look at what really happened. Plus: this weekend in Crowley, Louisiana, it’s the International Rice Festival. Campus Mythbusting: Is there a bulldozer buried beneath Memorial Stadium? (University of Illinois Archives)  Crowley International Rice Festival Our Patreon backers are the real legends --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Pasta Day, and here’s a pasta fact that you might have guessed: Fettucine Alfredo comes from an actual guy named Alfredo. Plus: this month in 1990 that a swarm of so-called "killer bees" crossed into the US for the first time on record. The south Texas community of Hidalgo had a big reaction.  The Real Alfredo (Saveur) Hidalgo, Texas's, Killer Bee Statue, a nod to a historical moment in October 1990 when the first known swarm of these "Africanized" bees was documented to have crossed into the United States from Mexico and into this little Rio Grande River community in far-south Texas (Library of Congress's Public Domain Archive) Five stars for each of our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This month in 1964 that the country first began using its world-famous bullet trains, so we've got a few, well, fast facts about them. Plus: today in Bridgeville, Delaware, the Apple-Scrapple Festival is starting. Shinkansen about more than speed (Japan Times via Archive.org) 15 Things You Didn't Know About Bullet Trains (Thrillist) How Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains changed the world of rail travel (CNN) Tracing the History of Railways in Japan Through Art (Spoon and Tamago) Bridgeville Apple-Scrapple Festival Here's a quick thanks to our Patreon backers for supporting the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Back braces for scoliosis haven't always been the most comfortable or fun to wear in public. But Airy, the newest prototype back brace, could even be called stylish. Plus: today in 1960, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a World Series-winning home run, and the only video of that landmark moment came because a big star was too busy (or too nervous) to watch live.  'airy' scoliosis brace is designed for young girls to wear with comfort and confidence (designboom) Pristine film of '60 Series Game 7 found (ESPN) Our Patreon backers never stop winning --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Aerial Additive Manufacturing is a new process in which a team of drones 3D print while still flying, and then scanning drones fly by to make sure the job was done right. Plus: the story of a bridge in Ireland that shows sometimes a very little thing can keep a very big thing from doing its thing.  Drone Swarms that Can 3D Print While Flying (Core77) The Celtic Tiger bridge that wouldn't open because of a lost remote control (The Journal) Our Patreon backers are great teammates --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If you watched any of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, you know the UK has lots of traditions. Here's another one: once a year, sometime between about now and mid November, the city of London pays rent to the Crown for several pieces of land in what’s called the Ceremony of Quit Rents. Plus: around this time in 2013, a big typo on some coins struck for the Vatican.  The Ceremony of Quit Rents (Historic-UK.com) Vatican pulls papal medal which misspelt name of Jesus (BBC) We remember to thank our Patreon backers for all their support!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

October is National Stamp Collecting Month, and there are perhaps no more collectible stamps than the ones out of the small Asian country of Bhutan - like the "talking stamps" that were also vinyl records. Plus: a choice selection from some of the strangest responses to questions on geology tests. Little Ambassadors of the Country (Works That Work) “Coal Is Decayed Vegetarians" (Futility Closet) Our Patreon backers are full of surprises  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1916, a college football game that was about as one-sided as it gets: Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland College 0. Here's how this absolute squash of a game played out. Plus: today in Smithfield, North Carolina, day one of the Ava Gardner Festival. Revisiting Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0 and how it may have saved the school (CBS Sports)  220-0-THE INFAMOUS CUMBERLAND GAP (Chicago Tribune) Ava Gardner Festival  Our Patreon backers make us feel like winners every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1945 was the beginning of curse, or at least that's how frustrated fans of the Chicago Cubs. Here's the story of the Curse of the Billy Goat. Plus: today in Ketchum, Idaho, the Trailing of the Sheep Festival is getting underway. Are the Chicago Cubs Really Cursed? (LiveScience) Come on Down for the Big Cozy Sheep Parade (Thrillist) Our Patreon backers are champions every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support