News of the World MMCCII

Suspicions Confirmed

In January, Demetra Street of Baltimore attended a memorial service for her husband, Ivan, complete with a photo of him next to an urn at the front of the room at Wylie Funeral Homes. But after the service, funeral home personnel whisked the urn away and wouldn't turn over Ivan's ashes, she told The Washington Post. Now she thinks she knows why: Ivan's ashes weren't in the urn. Instead, his body had been buried three days earlier, according to the wishes of another woman who claimed to be Ivan's wife, at Baltimore's Mount Zion cemetery. In early August, Street filed a lawsuit against the funeral home for $8.5 million, calling the urn displayed at the memorial service a "sham." The funeral home's president, Brandon Wylie, denies the accusation: "We vehemently deny the claims advanced by Ms. Street and assert that the underlying matter was handled with the utmost sensitivity toward the loved ones of the deceased." [Washington Post, 8/16/2021] 

Awesome!

In July, customers at Tesco supermarkets in England were greeted with motivational posters encouraging camaraderie during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Daily Record reported. However, some patrons were amused by the placement of the messages -- especially one reading "Together we can do this" found in a urinal stall in the men's restroom. Users posted the sign online, prompting replies such as, "Nah I got this one all by myself thanks Tesco" and "Ok, but only three shakes please." [Daily Record, 7/6/2021] 

Inexplicable

Metro News reported on Aug. 15 that authorities in the village of Wonersh in Surrey, England, are stumped by a serial baked bean bandit who is pouring the savory legumes on doorsteps, cars and into mail slots. Officers have promised to step up patrols in the area, but residents are seeing the lighter side: "What half-baked idiots would do this? I hope they get thrown in the can!" and "Absolutely Heinous crime." [Metro News, 8/15/2021] 

Say What?

The Guardian reported on 19 JUL about a phenomenon among American preschoolers called the Peppa Effect. The hypothesis is that children who watched a lot of "Peppa Pig" during the pandemic lockdown have developed British accents and started using British terms like "mummy" (mommy), "give it 107 a go" (try it) and "satnav" (GPS). Wall Street Journal reporter Preetika Rana tweeted that her niece "had an American accent before the pandemic. Now she has a posh English accent." One responder agreed: "And for Christmas I had to put out a freaking mince pie for Father Christmas, or, as we call him here in the States, Santa Claus." [Guardian, 7/19/2021] [Source: https://www.uexpress.com/news-of-the-weird | August 31, 2021 ++]