quote:

---

starbelly: I saw a man in Henley carrying a large metal sign under his arm that just said the word "Midget" on it in large white letters.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by LeRoc:

quote:

---

starbelly: I saw a man in Henley carrying a large metal sign under his arm that just said the word "Midget" on it in large white letters.

---

Was it a big man?

---

Regular sized.
 

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Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :
 
I don't know if it is recent enough to count, but last spring I saw a parade of undressed folk in (as I recall) Cardiff.
 

---

Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :
 
A new local distillery has announced that they are coming out with a "wheat vodka." Which strikes me as odd. What's next? A "potato wine"? A "grape whiskey"?
 

---

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
I have had potato wine. Orange peel wine is quite good too.
 

---

Posted by Angel Wrestler (# 13673) on :
 
I saw a woman crossing a busy inner city road with her pet pig in a perfect "heel" position.
 

---

Posted by Erik (# 11406) on :
 
I was at a museum the other week and happened across a woman walking around with a live skunk on her shoulder.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I occasionally see someone in the locality walking her ferret in a little harness (on the ferret that is, not her).

This week has, however, been bereft of strange sights - unless you count a perfectly incredible number of road works in the couple of miles between here and a local hospital: I've been to parts of the city I barely knew existed.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Yesterday I was part of what must have been one of the strangest sights some people had seen. I was with my Nordic Walking group and there were ten of us encircling two large trees, various ages, shapes and sizes with a heel on the ground with that foot up against a tree, while the back leg was stretched behind and our noses were close to the bark of the tree. We were doing an archilles (sp?) stretch, but looking over at the other half of the group I thought we looked like a bunch of tree worshippers.

Later we stood in a circle doing our cooling down exercises to the irritation of several Paradise ducks whose territory we had unwittingly invaded. They bustled around honking at us. Add to this a fluffy dog and a small boy enjoying each others company.

I really enjoy my Nordic Walking class, but it has been a challenge for me as an introvert who is often very awkward physically and overly conscious of that.

Huia - off to join the circus
 

---

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :
 
Yesterday there was a lone young man walking down our deserted mountain road, playing a guitar and singing. Looked like the cover a romance novel or the beginning of a commercial for air freshener...
 

---

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
I remember starting a thread with this theme several years ago. But not many people posted on it as they hadn't seen anything strange that week. Now the boot is on the other foot and I can't think of anything strange I've seen either. But I will keep a lookout, because you never know....
 

---

Posted by BessLane (# 15176) on :
 
I saw two very small dogs and a pot-belly pig all chasing a garbage truck down a rural road. The fact that I knew the driver of the truck made it so much funnier (although he did not seem to appreciate the video of it I posted on FB )
 

---

Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
I occasionally see someone in the locality walking her ferret in a little harness (on the ferret that is, not her).

---

Awwwh! When I was a girl I used to walk my rabbit in a little harness
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Several mornings each week I go walking with some neighbors for about half an hour. Sometimes my big old siamese cat will come out to beg some petting from everyone. This cat does not roam farther than about four house lots. But one morning late last week he took it into his head to follow our walk. He made it most of the way down our long block. I finally got worried that he would get spooked by a dog or something and run off, so I cajoled him into following me back home. My friends waited for me to rejoin them and we all had a good laugh.
 

---

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :
 
I live in a part of the city where strange is normal. It's not unusual to have to dodge someone riding a unicycle while crossing the road. There's a regular in one of the local bars who seems to be universally known as Ukelele Guy. We have a vegan supermarket where if you ask for honey you'll get a stern lecture about exploiting bees.

I love it here.
 

---

Posted by starbelly (# 25) on :
 
I saw a young couple in a rowing boat on the canal, the guy was reading from a book of poetry to his partner.

Should introduce him to the mountain singing guy...

Neil
 

---

Posted by nickel (# 8363) on :
 
how about hearing something strange? We now live a half-mile from train tracks, and have gotten used to train whistles several times per morning. It's always "long, long, short, long." But Monday morning one went "long, long, long, long, long." Followed a bit later by a regular "long, long, short, long" but in a more melodious, multi-tone whistle. What are those trains up to!
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by nickel:
how about hearing something strange? We now live a half-mile from train tracks, and have gotten used to train whistles several times per morning. It's always "long, long, short, long." But Monday morning one went "long, long, long, long, long." Followed a bit later by a regular "long, long, short, long" but in a more melodious, multi-tone whistle. What are those trains up to!

---

It's Spring! Must be their mating call.

 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by nickel:
how about hearing something strange? We now live a half-mile from train tracks, and have gotten used to train whistles several times per morning. It's always "long, long, short, long." But Monday morning one went "long, long, long, long, long." Followed a bit later by a regular "long, long, short, long" but in a more melodious, multi-tone whistle. What are those trains up to!

---

It's Spring! Must be their mating call.

---

I expect Baptist Trainfan to come running along any minute now...
 

---

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
As is often the case, Wikipedia is our friend.

Apparently the signals vary from country to country, in some cases from railroad to railroad, but generally speaking, in the United States, five long blasts means "flagman may return from east or north."

Long, long, short long is the standard signal blown when approaching a grade crossing. I am always reminded of the song "I've got my love to keep me warm" ("The snow is snowing, the wind is blowing"). But then again, I'm a strange one.
 

---

Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
Lyda*Rose, our Siamese once followed us to my father's house, a good half a mile or more.
The strangest thing I've seen is a man walking along a shopping street in Monmouth with an owl on his shoulder.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
It wasn't last week but a pigeon was waiting on the platform at Victoria Tube station with the rest of us, much to commuters' amusement. When the Tube train came in we skirted round the pigeon and boarded the train. The pigeon then hopped on board with us and stood there near the door. It didn't bother anybody, fly around or anything, just waited quietly like anybody else, then got off four stops later at Earl's Court and walked away.
 

---

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
It didn't bother anybody, fly around or anything, just waited quietly like anybody else, then got off four stops later at Earl's Court and walked away.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
I saw a road sign today warning of road narrowing. It looked to be a standard road sign, but underneath the diagram was the caption "give and take", which I've never seen on a sign before!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
I saw a road sign today warning of road narrowing. It looked to be a standard road sign, but underneath the diagram was the caption "give and take", which I've never seen on a sign before!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:

The strangest thing I've seen is a man walking along a shopping street in Monmouth with an owl on his shoulder.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
The strangest thing I've seen is a man walking along a shopping street in Monmouth with an owl on his shoulder.

---

What do he have on the other shoulder?
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
There is nothing strange about owls! Everyone should have one.

 

---

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
..., cars painted as cows and pigs ...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
..., cars painted as cows and pigs ...

---

We have a leopard print smart car that drives around the local area. Also one with Dasterdly spray-painted on one side and Muttley on the other.

---

quote:

---

L'organist: Highly intelligent, the pig

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
The strangest thing I've seen is a man walking along a shopping street in Monmouth with an owl on his shoulder.

---

What do he have on the other shoulder?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
I got up one morning and looked in the mirror - very strange sight!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
I got up one morning and looked in the mirror - very strange sight!

---

That's just begging to be made into a blues lyric!

---

Let me get back to you
 

---

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :
 
There's an elderly man who regularly does his shopping in my local Sainsburys on Friday afternoons, who sings love songs (rather well) in a loud bass voice as he walks around the aisles.
 

---

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
In a place where I walk regularly, there are three maple trees standing closely together. One of them has had new leaves since late January, all other trees around are still barren.
 

---

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
A man in a suit and tie, standing outside a government building and cradling very gently what looked like two baseball sized fluffy pink pom poms.

I still don't know whether they were animate or inanimate objects. And I'm still wondering about it!
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Did they look anything like this?
 

---

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Could be, if they were Irish (or "uilleann") pipes rather than Scottish ones. Bagpipes are not exclusively Scottish but are found in many places, especially those with a Celtic background. But they are not the same as each other.

So, for instance, I have seen and heard Scottish, Breton, Galician and Northumbrian pipes - and I'm sure there are more. (For instance there is a Transylvanian version).

---

Was the person playing them standing up (Scottish) or sitting down (Irish)? And were they blowing into them (Scottish) or using bellows under the arm (Irish)?

The uilleann pipes, by the way, for an shipmates who is unfamiliar with them, are a fantastic instrument, much more versatile than the familiar Scottish pipes, but quite demanding to learn.
 

---

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
I live close to the city centre. It is a warm Easter Saturday afternoon. A rooster is crowing. Loudly.


 

---

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Banner Lady:
A man in a suit and tie, standing outside a government building and cradling very gently what looked like two baseball sized fluffy pink pom poms.

I still don't know whether they were animate or inanimate objects. And I'm still wondering about it!

---

Tribbles?
 

---

Posted by Oscar P. (# 10412) on :
 
An older man came out of the grocery store, pushing a cart with several bags. He stopped at a riding lawnmower parked outside, loaded the groceries, then drove away. The road he used is a busy four-lane street which is one of the heavier travelled routes in my town of 50,000.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Oscar P.:
An older man came out of the grocery store, pushing a cart with several bags. He stopped at a riding lawnmower parked outside, loaded the groceries, then drove away. The road he used is a busy four-lane street which is one of the heavier travelled routes in my town of 50,000.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boogie:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
I occasionally see someone in the locality walking her ferret in a little harness (on the ferret that is, not her).

---

Awwwh! When I was a girl I used to walk my rabbit in a little harness

---

Ha! When I was a very little boy, my mother used to walk me in a little harness! I think that was the done thing at the time, luckily somewhat out of fashion now!
 

---

Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
There is nothing strange about owls! Everyone should have one.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aravis:
There's an elderly man who regularly does his shopping in my local Sainsburys on Friday afternoons, who sings love songs (rather well) in a loud bass voice as he walks around the aisles.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
A couple of hours ago, it was absolutely pissing it down on one side of the house, and not a drop was falling on the other. Most bizarre. Mind you, we did also get a decent rainbow.

AG

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by LeRoc:
I saw sunshine yesterday. In England.

---

 

---

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by jedijudy:
I always seem to miss the strange sights, but Daughter-Unit lives in the next town over and always sees stuff she really doesn't want to see. Naked (nekkid, as locals say) people dancing around is one of them. This week's version was probably number five over the past six or seven years.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I was walking down the street when a pear tart dropped out of the sky onto the pavement right in front of me (the source turned out to be an overambitious seagull).

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by starbelly:

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
..., cars painted as cows and pigs ...

---

We have a leopard print smart car that drives around the local area. Also one with Dasterdly spray-painted on one side and Muttley on the other.

---

There is one in Henley covered in Astroturf!

Neil

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
It must be on the move, I spotted it's evil twin a couple of days ago.

---

There used to be a little car in Oxford made out of wood, shaped vaguely like a truncated pyramid.

There was also someone who used to cycle on a very long, low bike, lying down. He looked as if he'd be quite tall standing up.

And I have seen a tandem built for a family of three (is that a triadem?) but it's that kind of place.
 

---

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
On the subject of odd cars, this passed me a few months ago.

AG
 

---

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I think if I saw that coming towards me, I'd assume that the Top Gear chaps were up to their old tricks.
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
In the grocery store today there was a display of what they called "dish pans" -- which looked like this.

 

---

Posted by duchess (# 2764) on :
 
I saw a woman with very thick, black with grey around the edges...mutton chops. Just thick as can be, would make Elvis in the 70s look like child's play. She was working as a cashier in the groceries.

It wasn't the transgender thing that shocked me. It was the fact she didn't even shave. I say "she" as the hair was long in a nice bob and she had on lipstick. (What I'm used to is...like a church member going thru transition goes to electrolysis, wears dresses and looks very feminine. Not chops straight of of the 70s). I am not used to seeing this, so I was fascinated. I kept secretly trying to look at those glorious mutton chops, the way I would stare at a John Oats type mustache.

But wrong? I can't say it's wrong. And the only thing people cared about in my line was the talkative SLOW woman holding all of us up. The guy in front of me, turned and even grimaced in my direction as he was cussing up a storm mumbling in Spanglish.

But being Silicon Valley, nobody reacted. We just wanted to quickly buy our groceries and be out of there.

[eta: more flowery description.]

[ 20. April 2016, 03:46: Message edited by: duchess ]
 

---

Posted by duchess (# 2764) on :
 
talkative woman even apologized to the whole line. She was getting more stickers for her grocery game (you save them up and get a discount). Cashier was unmoved.
 

---

Posted by Sarasa (# 12271) on :
 
I bumped into a man coming out of his house with two dachshund puppies dangling from his hands (he was holding them by their collars). they looked very sweet with their little legs dangling, but mighty odd as well.
 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
The other day, on my way to work as I walked past St James the Less I passed a guy who was walking slightly slower than me. As I did so, he spoke to me (I was slightly irritated as I was reading a book as I walked) to ask me if we were heading north.

As it was just before 9am and the morning sun was directly behind us, I thought it should have been obvious that we were walking in a north-westerly direction. I said "roughly" rather than give an impromptu lesson in navigation.

He then said to me "So if I keep going, will I end up in Leicester?" I indicated that he would need to veer right just a little bit but that given we were both heading towards Victoria that he might want to consider a train or a coach as a quicker means of getting to his destination than walking. He indicated that they weren't viable options.

I've never considered walking from London to Leicester, though it's only 100 miles, so I'm not considering doing that after I finish the North Downs Way.
 

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Posted by M. (# 3291) on :
 
I'd forgotten this!

The other day, I got out of the train with about 3 zillion other people and started walking towards the barrier. As there were a lot of us, we were walking close together and I was having trouble because the man in front of me appeared to have a very odd and uneven gait. I suddenly realised he was avoiding the cracks, just playing a little game to himself.

It made me smile.

M.
 

---

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was ...

Walking back from church last Sunday evening, I was passed by a car that stopped a few yards in front of me, the driver wound down his window and calmly tossed a takeaway box half full of chips out on to the road.

I was so shocked I just called something like "What?!" He gave me a dirty look like "Want to make something of it?", wound up the window and drove on without turning a hair.


 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
I'm not sure this shouldn't be a Hell post...

This morning I arrived at church to discover that some of the guests for the baptism had arrived even earlier and had set up camp in the sanctuary, complete with blankets on the floor, baby-gym, etc, etc. Sidesman hadn't spotted (or was hoping it was a bad dream) so self and a member of the choir approached to point out that the area around the altar was going to be busy and they couldn't stay there.

This was greeted with incredulity and belligerence but eventually they moved to set up 'camp' at the back near the font.

At the end of the service we discovered they'd moved one of our rather fine pews - apparently without noticing that it was fixed into the floor so now we have to repair the herringbone parquet floor and then re-fix the pew
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
L'organist, that would have been perfect for any TICTH thread. May the Lord look over that child.
 

---

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
The season finale of "Lucifer" tonight. Oh my my my!

Talk about unrestful theology!

Track it down and watch it online, on Fox. And there definitely will be a second season! w00t!
 

---

Posted by luvanddaisies (# 5761) on :
 
This isn't a real thing but an Internet thing, but its existence makes me happy and puzzled at where the concept originated.

Disney Princesses Re-imagined As Cement Mixers

It works, and someone has obviously spent time doing it, but what makes me unreasonably pleased to see it is the wondering of why they did so.

[ 26. April 2016, 22:20: Message edited by: luvanddaisies ]
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
The wheelie bins are out tonight for collection tomorrow.

Looking out of my window, i saw a local, retired vicar and canon going down the street opening all the bins and looking inside.
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
Walking home late this evening I saw a man on a unicycle, with all the legal lights and reflectors, cycling up a hill in Banbury. I wanted to shout to him to cycle on the pavement, but he was a touch wobbly and I didn't want to shock him into losing his balance and ending up under a 4X4.
 

---

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :
 
The complex my uni classroom is in was designed during the "industrial chic" phase, so has high ceiling with exposed metal beams and ductwork (somewhat function for mounting projectors). Today in the middle of my lecture I looked up to see that someone can carefully placed four different fluffy stuffed animals 20 feet up along the exposed beams. They were posed to look like fluffy Aristocrat, Minion, Goofy Squirrel and Hello Kitty were about to contribute to our class discussion...
 

---

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Not from this week, but this still amuses me. I got out of the late afternoon train at my small station on a cold winter afternoon . It was almost dark. Platform on the other line was deserted except for a man sitting in the partly open waiting room. He had taken electric guitar from case, stretched out cord and was sitting playing. No sound. Just finger movements which went well with his singing. Also no sound, just mouth opening and closing.
 

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Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
Saw a late model black BMW with personalised number plate on it the other day...and the name was my maiden name. It is not a large city, and the name is unusual...so there are now many ?s in my mind!
 

---

Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
Last night I followed a roe deer stag home down our road in the car. Wouldn't have been so surprised if it was a muntjac, but didn't expect a roe!

The real surprise was that it led me down the street and then stopped on the grass at the side of our house...
 

---

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Was the number plate a local one or perhaps from interstate?
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
This afternoon we were driving past a road junction near our town (just into the country). One of the exits leads to some bolted gates into a disused sugar refinery. In front of the gates a kilted man was practising the bagpipes.

We are 300 miles from Scotland.
 

---

Posted by Doublethink. (# 1984) on :
 
I past a lorry woth "Erection Specialist" painted in foot high letters on the side, I refuse to believe the occupants were unaware of the double meaning ...
 

---

Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :
 
I saw a man outside yesterday walking on his heels.

Jengie
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
A woman with a child in a pushchair in the supermarket this afternoon had some difficulty with the self-service checkout. While waiting for an assistant, she put the child's bright purple dummy into her mouth and started chewing on it.
 

---

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :
 
Over the past fortnight in my local park I have seen:
A girl walking a small Shetland pony on a leading rein
A bald man unicycling over a bridge
Two brown rats sitting in a river swishing their front paws in the water
A man in full medieval armour (imitation I presume) talking to a woman in T shirt and shorts
A group of about 30 Sikhs sitting on the grass playing drums

This is just random stuff, not festivals or anything.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aravis:
Over the past fortnight in my local park I have seen:

A man in full medieval armour (imitation I presume) talking to a woman in T shirt and shorts

---

quote:

---

A woman with a child in a pushchair in the supermarket this afternoon had some difficulty with the self-service checkout. While waiting for an assistant, she put the child's bright purple dummy into her mouth and started chewing on it.

---

Not having any idea what a bright purple dummy was until I did a google search all kinds of strange things drifted through my head this week.
 

---

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I'm grateful to the lady we saw on the way to work this morning, taking her pet pig for a walk on a lead; it caused us both to smile, and to wonder what would be going through the minds of any dogs they met on their stroll.
 

---

Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :
 
A well dressed man strolling through an intersection playing a harmonica.
 

---

Posted by Marama (# 330) on :
 
Yesterday I saw a (black, of course) swan with 6 or 7 cygnets. Nothing odd in that, you'll say, except that the frosts are about to arrive, and the cygnets should have been hatched about 5 months ago.

I fear it's global warming at play
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Early this morning, a dustcart pulled up otside my house and a dustman got out and put a large alarm clock on top of the wheelie bin opposite.
 

---

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Piglet:
I'm grateful to the lady we saw on the way to work this morning, taking her pet pig for a walk on a lead; it caused us both to smile, and to wonder what would be going through the minds of any dogs they met on their stroll.

---

There's a TV ad here for a bank (Chase?) where they talk about how with it they are, and show someone coming in with a pig on a leash.
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
The students next door sunbathing on the gable end of our shared roof. I am concerned that they might damage/dislodge the lead from my roof but mpre concerned that if they fall asleep and roll over they'll drop 3 stroreys to their desth.
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
An educational charity letter came through my door this morning that asked pupils if they were 'bored of revision?'

Surely it should be 'bored with'

I blame the teachers!

[ 12. May 2016, 19:34: Message edited by: leo ]
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
I think that might derive from the cod take-off, Bored of the Rings .
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
Bored of the Rings
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
Sorry - first flood control; refused to post, then it posted while I was finding the url.
Bored of the Rings
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
Sorry - first flood control refused to post, then it posted while I was finding the url.
Bored of the Rings
 

---

Posted by Cathscats (# 17827) on :
 
I saw the sun. Indeed I have seen it for four days in succession
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Is it yellow, as it is fabled?

-- Lost in Fogtown.
 

---

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
It's been visible here off-and-on for the last few days, and it is indeed yellow.

eta: Hang on a minute - I thought Kellyland was wall-to-wall sunshine ...

[ 13. May 2016, 00:01: Message edited by: Piglet ]
 

---

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Piglet:

eta: Hang on a minute - I thought Kellyland was wall-to-wall sunshine ...

---

quote:

---

Mark Twain said:

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

---

quote:

---

We're only slightly south of London, latitude- wise.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by duchess:
A huge cockroach in my condo. They sprayed again. Even my extremely tidy neighbor found one. They migrate every time they spray the outside of a bldg in the condoplex. Good times.

---

The things survive anything. Practically immune to DDT, explosions and radiation and they can get through ridiculous gaps. Really, really tough.
 

---

Posted by Anselmina (# 3032) on :
 
About three hours ago, right outside our front door, there marched down the street, a flute band, marching soldiers dressed in World War I gear, what looked like their mascot of two husky-like dogs leading the procession; with a bunch of collar-etted orangemen following in the rear.

No. Wait, the thread title says 'strangest'. For Northern Ireland that's probably pretty normal!
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Isn't it a bit early in the season for Orange bands?
 

---

Posted by Anselmina (# 3032) on :
 
They've got to get their practice in!! I mean, it's nearly June already, and marching season is July. The flags'll soon be out on the lamp-posts. Sigh.
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
<tangent>
Cockroaches
To exterminate like this you need a concrete path or slab:

• put a flashlight or bicycle lamp on either side of a concrete path - 4 is even better
• take a quantity of caster sugar and soak in 3-in-1 oil, or similar
• spread sugar/oil mixture between the two light sources and switch on lamps
• watch as cockroaches are attracted to sugar and begin to feast
• when you have sufficient, throw on a match

The cockroaches explode from within: messy and smells appalling but it works.
 

---

Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :
 
During the sermon on Sunday I was mesmerised watching the stole around the preacher's neck slowly working its way down on one side and up on the other as he preached enthusiastically about Pentecost, waving his arms around as he did so. He was quite oblivious to it. I had a quiet joke with my daughter about how long it was going to take until it fell on the floor but sadly at the last moment, when one end had reached his neck and it was about to go, he stepped on the other end of it, which by now was dangling on the floor, noticed what was happening and yanked it back down round his neck. But not far enough to stop the same process starting again. I was wondering if the short end would make it up to his neck again before the end of the sermon but he made it to the end before it happened!


 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
This has been going on for a couple of weeks now. A large camper van is parked either on our block or the next one up. Its curtains are drawn. I never see anyone in it or going to it - yet it moves around. Who are these nocturnal tourists? And how much longer is their pantechnicon hogging the parking?
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
This has been going on for a couple of weeks now. A large camper van is parked either on our block or the next one up. Its curtains are drawn. I never see anyone in it or going to it - yet it moves around. Who are these nocturnal tourists? And how much longer is their pantechnicon hogging the parking?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
The things survive anything. Practically immune to DDT, explosions and radiation and they can get through ridiculous gaps. Really, really tough.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
[QB] <tangent>
Cockroaches
To exterminate like this you need a concrete path or slab:

• put a flashlight or bicycle lamp on either side of a concrete path - 4 is even better
• take a quantity of caster sugar and soak in 3-in-1 oil, or similar
• spread sugar/oil mixture between the two light sources and switch on lamps
• watch as cockroaches are attracted to sugar and begin to feast
• when you have sufficient, throw on a match

The cockroaches explode from within: messy and smells appalling but it works.

---

This will never happen. But it makes for an entertaining picture in my head. I will instead use boric acid water and sugar.

I am now done talking about this subject. Just wanted to give a nod to these 2 shipmates posts but I realize I've gone off on a tangent.

/done.
 

---

Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :
 
I was going to say "two pigs being walked on a leash downtown." Then saw someone else had posted "pig on a leash" and thought, "Guess it can't be that unusual." Then I saw that it was piglet and thought, "Very likely the same pigs!"

They were certainly attracting a lot of attention from passers-by.
 

---

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
"Covering a Church Floor With Mirrored Discs Turns Out to Be a Great Idea" (Curbed).

Looks slippery, and the pattern mind-bending. Plus difficulties for anyone wearing a skirt, dress, kilt, cassock...
 

---

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Today, I saw a small (about two and a half feet) alligator lying upside-down by the side of the road. I assume it had passed on.

It still had its pretty baby stripes showing.
 

---

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
Older lady came into doctor's office while I was in the waiting room with a walker and wearing 3 inch high peep toe heels. I was in awe.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Golden Key:
"Covering a Church Floor With Mirrored Discs Turns Out to Be a Great Idea" (Curbed).

Looks slippery, and the pattern mind-bending. Plus difficulties for anyone wearing a skirt, dress, kilt, cassock...

---

It's an art installation. The mirrors don't rest directly on the floor; they are on clear pedestals. It's fun to look at.

[ 19. May 2016, 04:36: Message edited by: Lyda*Rose ]
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
The photo was enough to bend my brain. I think it might be what is known as sensory overload. Lead me to some peaceful gloom....
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Looks pretty but a nightmare to walk on.

This morning's offering was a young woman getting on the train who immediately proceeded to do an exercise workout using the floor and poles. She was on all fours on the floor with her bum to the doors when the train slowed down to approach the next station. Unfortunately she got up and went off to do stretching exercises in a nearby seat before the train pulled in.

I hope she's not going to be a regular commuter. She managed to effectively block the entrance to the seats by standing there posing so other commuters couldn't get past her.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
One on from the women doing their makeup en route I suppose. Reminds me of a very funny sketch I saw some years ago where a woman gets on the bus in her dressing gown and then in a routine of wonderful comic gymnastics gets dressed under it while simultaneously talking continuously on the phone to her office.
 

---

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Or Mr. Bean going to the dentist.
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
a young woman walked down my street this morning cleaning her teeth
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
There's a woman in a high vis jacket who comes to the gym every Wednesday morning. She does a few stretches and then goes round talking to people.

Today - and 'you couldn't make it up', she went up to bloke who is carer who sits by while his client does a workout. She put her hand up the back of his shirt.

Odd.
 

---

Posted by Jonah the Whale (# 1244) on :
 
The other day I was out jogging when a guy cycled past in the opposite direction, juggling. Just like it was the most normal thing in the world.
 

---

Posted by Daffodil (# 13164) on :
 
I was just thinking that I had nothing to contribute to this debate, as I feel when I read most of the threads, then I looked outside and saw a rucksack hanging of the back of a chair, which was stood on a table.
Not an extra extraordinary sight, but odd enough to warrant a mention, especially if you do not know the saga of the cat up the tree which led to the rucksack, hanging from the back of a chair which is stood on the table.

By this morning, all that is left is the chair upon the table - reminiscent of a classroom in the dim distant past. Whilst this maybe unusual for this household, it would in no way qualify as "strange".

Meanwhile I will go about my day, alert for "strangeness"
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jonah the Whale:
The other day I was out jogging when a guy cycled past in the opposite direction, juggling. Just like it was the most normal thing in the world.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
It was Bike to Work Day last week, and I saw a guy biking along with his bike togged out like a Viking warship. Corrugated cardboard formed the flanks of the ship and the dragon beak in front. There was also a mast and a square red sail, which must have made pedaling uphill difficult. The cyclist wore a horned helmet.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
We saw the sun on Bank Holiday Monday!

---

A dour London cabbie once assured me that it was the law that it always rained like the clappers on a Bank Holiday.
 

---

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
Saw and heard . . . in a "budget" clothing shop in London today. A woman asked the assistant if she could bring the clothing back for a refund if it didn't fit. She announced loudly that she couldn't use the changing room in the shop because she wasn't wearing any underwear today.


 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
We saw the sun on Bank Holiday Monday!

---

A dour London cabbie once assured me that it was the law that it always rained like the clappers on a Bank Holiday.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
We saw the sun on Bank Holiday Monday!

---

A dour London cabbie once assured me that it was the law that it always rained like the clappers on a Bank Holiday.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wet Kipper:
I saw someone on what looked like an electric, self balancing Unicycle thing going along Princes St. in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

---

"self balancing"

Moo
 

---

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Was it a Segway? I have ridden one -- fell off.
 

---

Posted by Gamaliel (# 812) on :
 
Not particularly strange if you live near water, but striking nevertheless ... several families of goslings being ushered across a road towards a mere (a lake if you're not in the north-west of England) by their Canada Geese parents. I stopped the car and my wife got out to chivvy them across. Some of the goslings had decided to nestle in the middle of the road.

They waddled across and into the grass when my wife drew closer.

What else ...? A Shetland pony foal. Now that was pretty strange. It looked more like a puppy. The wee creature's head and hooves were out of proportion to the rest of it - but it was lolloping along and having a rare old time.
 

---

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Was it a Segway? I have ridden one -- fell off.

---

There certainly exists an electric unicycle with the same sort of self-balancing engine as a Segway. Here and here are a couple of different takes on the concept.
 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
Whilst out walking the other day, I had a pair of labradors come up to me, lined up, and then proceeded to engage in synchronised urination upon the adjacent bush. The timing of the leg lift was perfect, both in ascent and descent.
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
Tonight was our final Symphony concert of the season -- next door to Symphony Hall is the Convention Center where Phoenix Comicon is taking place. I couldn't possibly say what was "the strangest thing I saw this week," but walking through downtown and riding the light rail were interesting! Even the concert* was designed to attract some of the Comicon kids. The young man in front of me was wearing a costume I couldn't identify and a turquoise wig.

(*The website now shows the concert being tomorrow evening -- Friday and Saturday evening concerts are the same.)
 

---

Posted by guinness girl (# 4391) on :
 
A squirrel running halfway across the road and leapfrogging the bonnet of a moving car. No, really.
 

---

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
On my regular walks on the path through the bush I meet many interesting dogs (on leads, owners with little plastic bags).

The other day I met a dog walker with maybe nine dogs. I couldn't name them all; there was a beautiful Samoyed, two Corgis, and two of those small trembling terriers.

GG
 

---

Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
A thing that made me chuckle . A chappie got out of his car and was was starting to walk to the house he was visiting just as the ice-cream van arrived. With a big grin on his face, he danced to the music of the chimes.
 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
On Saturday, when hunting around for holiday reading, I popped into two different branches of a small chain of bookshops (half a mile apart)...and was served by the same person in each one!

She was as confused as I was.
 

---

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
Not her twin sister, I assume.
 

---

Posted by Helen-Eva (# 15025) on :
 
Walking through central London on Saturday afternoon I saw a group of about seven women dressed as Victorian small girls - all hooped skirts and lace and ruffles and bonnets. If it was a hen party it was the oddest one I've ever seen. They were near the Wallace Collection so they may have been going for afternoon tea there.
 

---

Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :
 
A fancy umbrella, more like a parasol, open, undamaged, just lying outside a building. It wasn't raining, either.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Not this week, nor yet this year, but one hot day before Gove, I was reading to the class outside in the field when we saw a white lace parasol suspended in the air, level with the roof of the school and over the adjacent road, gently twirling. A short while later, a whirlwind came from the other direction, and crossed the playground and the school buildings, stirring up dust as it went. Apparently, it stirred the sails of a Viking longship on the wall in the assembly hall as it passed over - all the windows being open.
Somewhere east of Dartford generates the things on hot still days - we once had one cross the games field on sports day, lifting programmes up a couple of hundred feet.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Also some years ago, I saw a giant bottle of whisky drifting above the rooftops. A hot air balloon of course (rather than a Call to a more abstemious life. Just as well.)
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
What is weird is that I saw something strange yesterday, and thought I ought to post it here, and can not, despite my best endeavours, recall a thing about it. Somewhere on my trip to Waitrose, it was, but that's it. Total blank.
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
It wasn't a case of what I saw, but what I didn't see. When I went to water the hanging flower-basket outside the front door yesterday, it wasn't there - nicked; pinched; gone walkies. Annoying, especially as crime is rare here.
 

---

Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
Today, on the platform of a 9-track railway station: tall, balding man walking past, perhaps early to mid-60s, in the left hand an old Nokia-type mobile phone, those with the big keys and the small display - and in the right hand a sizeable magnifying glass, which he peered onto the screen with!

Human inventiveness!
 

---

Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
Too late for ETA... Thus add-on: The man wasn't wearing glasses and proceeded at quite some speed, obviously used to it!
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
It should not be srange and i am very pleased to have seen it on TV - one of the acolytes but St. Paul's Cathedral was in an electric wheel chair, processing in with the cross for the Queen's birthday service.
 

---

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
Loved seeing this!
 

---

Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
On the edge of a busy bendy road into the Big City today, a goat having a feast on the sort of grass that is always greener on the other side (I stopped to let the surprised owner know)
 

---

Posted by Martin60 (# 368) on :
 
Of seen nowt strange for years, but the last thing was a freshly lit cigarette smoking itself on a long empty path.
 

---

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :
 
Where I live in Tacoma, WA there is a mixture of people. Some nice, normal, neighborly folks and then some holy roller Jesus freaks and then some crazy homeless people and then some crazy non-homeless people!

There is this odd woman I see all the time on public transit. She seems to be in her mid thirties. She usually has a very precocious girl child with her. Today the girl child was wearing black glittery high heels, a bright pink swimsuit, an large adult's t-shirt that was about ten sizes too big for her and fell to her knees, and a purple blanket with dinosaurs on it. Her mother was wearing raggedy jeans and no underwear--her rear end was on prominent display, and a shirt that was fashionable in the 1940's.
 

---

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :
 
I should add: The girl is seven years old. She told that to some old man in the back of the bus. It was creepy.
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
I was driving round our town's Ring Road. A car was (badly) parked at the edge of the busy road. The driver was doing press-ups on the grass verge.

[ 11. June 2016, 17:16: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 

---

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :
 
Two things from my favourite walk in the park.
1. A tall, immaculately dressed woman in high heels and an expensive looking dress, expensive bag etc, walking a small dog. In her left hand she had a small bag of dog poo that she was trying very hard to pretend was nothing to do with her.

2. Five minutes after this I heard some loud shouting and swearing just off the path ahead. Other people seemed to be giving the area a wide berth. As I went closer I saw a group of teenage boys sitting on the grass huddled over some items I couldn't see. The conversation at that point went something like this:
"You ******** ********! *********!"
"What's your problem, you ******** **********?"
"I need a ********* yellow, you ********!"
Assuming this was drug related, I looked at them more closely as I went past...and found they were playing Uno.
 

---

Posted by Oscar P. (# 10412) on :
 
While driving home yesterday, I passed a man who was skating on rollerblades in the center turn lane of the busy major street. Besides the danger in dodging traffic, the temperature was about 94 degrees F with a heat index of over 100 at the time.
 

---

Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :
 
Blown-up balloons is a church waste bin.

Now I am used to the shrivelled ones that were once full hanging up in church halls for months after the party and the odd popped one behind the sofa. However, in fully blown up ones in a waste bin where other users chuck left over food and hot tea bags just seemed odd.

Jengie
 

---

Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
I've just been to the funeral of an elderly lady who liked pink. She had planned her own funeral, and we were all asked to wear something pink. I didn't expect the coffin to be pink, or that she would be taken out to "Lily the pink" or that the family car would be a pink stretch limo.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Probably the Strawberry Moon (full moon + summer solstice) is going to win it for this week. And it actually is a pinkish gold. Forty-six years til the next one.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The father of a small child, probably female, certainly too young to be properly aware of environment, holding her on the wall of the viewpoint at Addington Hills, and laying her upper body backwards over the fairly considerable drop. She couldn't see that she was over a drop, only her father and the sky. Nothing was said, either to the baby or between the father and the mother. Then they put her back in the pushchair and went away. I don't know where they went after that, as they hadn't got back to their car before me, and I had stood there a long time afterwards.

It was peculiar, but not bad enough to do anything about.
 

---

Posted by Al Eluia (# 864) on :
 
At a shop in Las Vegas I saw a display of caps with the mascots of the Democratic and Republican parties (a donkey and elephant, respectively) in red, white and blue rhinestones.
 

---

Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
A sign as we drove onto Dartmoor warning of "Sheep lying on road" - and yes, they do.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
SHEEP SPEAK TRUTH - but you do not listen.
 

---

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
This came back to mind while I was posting over in the July Book Group. I was over in the local Barnes & Noble big-box bookstore, and they had all their dud items on a Clearance table. Marked down 80& off was a Walter White action figure. This is from the hit TV show Breaking Bad, which you may recall was a dark action drama involving violent and corrupt drug dealers in the Southwest US. He was complete with his orange haz-mat jump suit, his big face-filter and goggles that protects him from the dangerous fumes when he's cooking methamphetamine, and (I believe) a teeny plastic machine gun.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Strangest thing seen this week: around 7.30 am, a little middle-aged, bespectacled Japanese lady in a simple dark grey kimono and Japanese shoes, making her solitary way along the main road in a not exactly cosmopolitan area. Whence? and why? and whither?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I haven't see her for a while but there's a Japanese woman dresses in the kawaii style - all exaggerated little girl dresses, gingham and big bowd. Except she's palpably in at least her sixties.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
My son observed an interesting situation this week. He went to the Police Lost and Found, where he overheard the following:
Policeman: "I'm sorry, but we don't have your trousers."
Irate man "If you've got my hoover, you must have my trousers"
Policeman "We have your hoover but we don't have your trousers"

Exit irate man, clutching a hoover.
 

---

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
But was he wearing any trousers???
 

---

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Just got back from that fine old American tradition, thousands of people trying to leave the park at the same time after fireworks at 10 pm. While waiting, I looked across the street to see that there was a family with several little ones set up in the graveyard with fireworks and flashing lights and sparklers, having a great old time around a grave.

I tried imagining the backstory and decided I'd better stay out of it.
 

---

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
There is a long tradition of gathering in graveyards to picnic and have fun. More doable in rural and country cemeteries; doesn't often happen in urban settings.
 

---

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
There is a long tradition of gathering in graveyards to picnic and have fun. More doable in rural and country cemeteries; doesn't often happen in urban settings.

---

This is an inner ring suburb of St. Louis city, and I've never seen such a thing here. Particularly at night, with small children! It was focused on a single grave in particular--they stood surrounding it.
 

---

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Gosh, you're right. There's a novel in there, possibly by Stephen King.
 

---

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 

 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
A couple of years ago I gave a talk about a local suffragette to a church women's group. My talk included the fact that she was buried in the graveyard surrounding the church. The women asked if I could show them the grave, and produced a couple of torches from the church kitchen. So we all sallied out.

I got home to discover that someone had posted a "what is happening" query on Facebook. Apparently their window overlooked the graveyard and they thought that they had spotted bizarre scenes of suspected who-knows-what involving old women by torchlight in the graveyard.....

Fortunately I was able to quell the rumours before they got completely out of hand.
 

---

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
Nope, still haven't seen anything strange. I lead a sheltered life...
 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
How does a conservative christian demonstrate the virtues of virginity using foodstuffs? Like this!
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
That is vile and ignorant. (It represents the vulva, not the vagina, and assumes variants are the result of activities, which they are not. No wonder girls want cosmetic surgery.)

I can't process this - the mind behind it is beyond belief corrupted from normal thought.

Does this belong in Heaven?
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sipech:
How does a conservative christian demonstrate the virtues of virginity using foodstuffs? Like this!

---

I think we're better confining this thread to things we've seen in RL - rather than icky memes wot I found on the 'net.

While the image is not inherently NSFW, the accompanying commentary does move it into Brain Bleach territory.


Firenze
Heaven Host
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
As I was driving home about sunset, facing east, I spotted a faint rainbow against cloud, rather like a sundog, but in totally the wrong place. By the time I managed to find a layby, it was brighter, and another part of the arc had become visible to the left. Neither part extended down to the ground, and there was no trace of rain at ground level. It never joined at the top, became faintly double and then faded away. I did photograph it with my phone, but I don't think it has worked well colourwise.
 

---

Posted by Callan (# 525) on :
 
Ray Winstone has just been cast as Tobermory in a remake of "The Wombles". Ray. Winstone.

Although, thinking about it, you'd totally pick up your litter with him around.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Seeing as he's at a loose end these days, Boris Johnson could audition for Bungo. I mean, he wouldn't even need the makeup.

[ 08. July 2016, 10:27: Message edited by: Firenze ]
 

---

Posted by Doone (# 18470) on :
 

 

---

Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :
 
I saw a delivery guy on a motorcycle going the wrong way on a one-way service road, quite in defiance of the law.
 

---

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
Down by the Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, a man riding a bike along the towpath. Where we saw him he was crossing the road, complete with vocal blue and orange parrot riding on the handlebars.

[ 10. July 2016, 14:21: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
An artist is sued because he claims he did not paint.
 

---

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
Kneelers in a Presbyterian church.
 

---

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
While that is a fascinating story, lilBuddha, (and not icky at all!) I would like to remind everyone that Firenze has just posted that this thread should be about things we've seen in RL.

I do think that your post would be perfect for the Interesting miscellany thread, however, and I will copy it there for you!

jedijudy
Heaven Host
 

---

Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
Kneelers in a Presbyterian church.

---

There have been rumours of such in Presbyterian and Congregational churches for generations. It is normally the sign of a high Calvinian minister*.

Jengie

*i.e. one who seeks to put into practice Calvin's teaching on worship, not just a take on his theology or church government.
 

---

Posted by Erik (# 11406) on :
 
I was at a wedding, sitting inside, when I happened to glance towards the door in time to see a rubber chicken, attached to a number of helium balloons, go floating past about 2 foot above the ground.
 

---

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
It's just gone 11:20pm and someone has walked past my window, down the road, playing a tuba!

I say playing; that's a bit generous. They were blowing down it and some sounds came out.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
A wren in my garden - hooray! Dismembering a butterfly or moth, or attempting to, while the insect attempted to escape. Oh dear!
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Not seen but heard: a "spam" advertising phone call beginning, "Now that winter's here ...".

I know that the British weather is awful but ...! And that was the third time!
 

---

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I occasionally cycle to work, and today I did. A deer was standing beside the trail. She did not look up as I passed, close enough to pat her. (I didn't -- we have deer ticks that spread Lyme disease around here.) She seemed to be pondering serious matters -- Brexit, or the world economy.
 

---

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I occasionally cycle to work, and today I did. A deer was standing beside the trail. She did not look up as I passed, close enough to pat her. (I didn't -- we have deer ticks that spread Lyme disease around here.) She seemed to be pondering serious matters -- Brexit, or the world economy.

---

Given your location, probably contemplating getting out of D.C. after November's election.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
As I was driving a few blocks from my home I saw four teenage boys walking (not quite marching) single file. The first and last had drum sets around their waists, which they were playing. I stopped at a stop sign, and as they crossed in front of me the second (drumless) boy looked over at me and grinned as if he and I were in on some joke. There were no phones evident (!), no signs, no indication of what their purpose was -- but they made me smile.

 

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Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
A woman was riding a bicycle with frame covered in garlands of faux flowers. I spoke to her, she grinned, and said she has a string of lights as well and turns them on after dark. -- no more eccentric than I am.
 

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Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :
 
I saw a skunk snuffling around my bus stop last night. This is in the Bronx. I am told there are lots of skunks in that neighborhood, but I never saw one before.
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
There was me, outside, gardening today. That's pretty exceptional
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
A 6' tall youth on a tiny little purple bike, sized about right for a 6 year old, cycling the wrong way up the road and performing manoeuvres.

His girlfriend was clearly embarrassed by him and just kept on walking (on the pavement) as if she had nothing to do with him while he circled round and avoided oncoming traffic and got stared at by lots of passersby.

I'm guessing they were taking the bike home to be given to a child of a more appropriate size, but you never know.
 

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Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
Yesterday, in Sainsbury's, the person in the queue next to me was buying 35 bags of ice. It seemed so excessive, I couldn't help but ask if the BFG was nearby and whether he had a sprained ankle.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
I saw a car in the library parking lot with a license plate that said SWERVE.

I'm still trying to figure out what that's about.

Moo
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I don't know either, but I'd take it seriously.
 

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Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Sipech:
Yesterday, in Sainsbury's, the person in the queue next to me was buying 35 bags of ice. It seemed so excessive, I couldn't help but ask if the BFG was nearby and whether he had a sprained ankle.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sipech:
Yesterday, in Sainsbury's, the person in the queue next to me was buying 35 bags of ice. It seemed so excessive, I couldn't help but ask if the BFG was nearby and whether he had a sprained ankle.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
The Knotweed and I have just followed a car, on our way back from ringing practice, with a coracle strapped to the roof.

Video deliberately picked for maximum lunacy. And Essex.

AG

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quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Oh lord, I want one!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Oh lord, I want one!

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Here you go!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
I thought I saw something strange in our local branch of Sainsbury's yesterday: a wooden bench, inscribed "In memory of ...". I remember reflecting that, at least, they hadn't put "... who loved this view", as the bench faced the checkouts rather than any lovely view.

My wife told me later that the bench had been installed to commemorate a young staff member who had died of cancer. So not strange but perfectly relevant, and I felt suitably abashed.

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Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Nicolemr:
I saw a delivery guy on a motorcycle going the wrong way on a one-way service road, quite in defiance of the law.

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quote:

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Originally posted by nickel:
I had heard of snout-nosed butterflies, but never saw one before last week. Not particularly pretty, but it caught my eye because I've been craving something other than cabbage-whites here at the new house.

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I've never heard of them before. They look seriously weird.


Huia
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Not so much a strange thing in itself, but in context it was.

At the moment, we're staying in a rather grotty motel (we're moving into a flat on Tuesday), and this morning when we left to go to church there was a very flash black Lamborghini parked outside the next unit but one to ours.

Now why on earth would someone who could afford a Lambo be staying at the Motel Grottsville?


 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Perhaps they took out a huge loan to pay for the car and are now having to pay it back in instalments, leaving little money over for other frivolities?
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
1) You can't save up money for expensive cars by staying in expensive hotels.
2) Last chance to find somewhere for the night.
3) Stolen.
4) Drug dealers.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Last night an old friend came for dinner, a fellow organist. After dinner he produced a wedding Order of Service that he'd been handed 2 weeks ago when he arrived at the smallest church in the multi-parish benefice where he played. After many, many howlers (Lord of all hoplessness, anyone?) it reached a glorious climax: Exit Music (sic) The Cocaine Overture by Edmund Elgar

Not only that, but he was expected to play this on the ancient harmonium which is all the church has by way of an instrument
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
1) You can't save up money for expensive cars by staying in expensive hotels.
2) Last chance to find somewhere for the night.
3) Stolen.
4) Drug dealers.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
1) You can't save up money for expensive cars by staying in expensive hotels.
2) Last chance to find somewhere for the night.
3) Stolen.
4) Drug dealers.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
The Cocaine Overture by Edmund Elgar

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The lesser-known brother and black sheep of the family.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Surprising rather than strange. I was on welcome duty at the church, with another woman. We were both standing at the door in full smile mode. A church member, a retired school teacher, also in full smile mode stepped off the pavement to cross over to the church, having failed to notice a speedy cyclist. Fortunately the cyclist missed her, but she exclaimed "FUCKING HELL!" before pulling herself together and returning to Sunday smile mode. We, the welcomers, fussed over her, pretending not to have heard, then we both cracked up once she was safely seated and out of earshot.
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
The Cocaine Overture by Edmund Elgar

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The lesser-known brother and black sheep of the family.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
After many, many howlers (Lord of all hoplessness, anyone?) it reached a glorious climax: Exit Music (sic) The Cocaine Overture by Edmund Elgar

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• a can of baked beans a month;
• three cans of different beans a year;
• a 500g packet of dried beans a year

quote:

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Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
So how did they taste before you knew the awful truth?

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They tasted odd -- not in flavor (sugar and chocolate mask a great deal) but in texture. No real crumb, but rather fudgy.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Aren't brownies supposed to be fudgy?
I prefer them with beetroot as an additive!

[ 02. August 2016, 16:35: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
These were not precisely fudgy, they were weird. I bought some oatmeal raisin cookies today, to help me recover.
 

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Posted by Tree Bee (# 4033) on :
 
I made brownies a few times containing red kidney beans. The texture and taste was just right but daughter Erin now asks me suspiciously what I've hidden in anything I've baked.
 

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Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
Better errin' on the side of caution, then.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Groan of the Month Award!
 

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Posted by Tree Bee (# 4033) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wesley J:
Better errin' on the side of caution, then.

---

 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Young woman in leather Robin Hood hat with red feather accompanied by chap in cardboard gold crown followed by person dressed as furry chicken. Edinburgh in August.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Some bloke dressed as Spiderman standing on a traffic island holding a signboard advertising a local pizza company and gesturing at passing cars.

I think it was meant to be a friendly wave in the direction of his signboard but it was a bit hard to tell.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Graffiti on the glass rear of the village bus shelter, done in the sort of pen the police use in detective stories, bright yellow:

NASA LIES
MOON LANDING
HOAX!

Maybe not so strange, except that on the side window the same hand had added:

JESUS
IS
TRUTH
-----
-----

And then on a disused and messy door:

MOON
LANDING
WAS A
HOAX

And then on a phone box:

NASA
LIES!!!

And on the wall behind the box, over a Fire Point (red notice, picture of firefighter's helmet and flames - I'm not sure how much a sign of cleverness in the writer this is.)

ARE U
SAVED?

A mother pushing a pushchair noticed me taking pictures to share with my friend from NASA and said she thought it was awful having this graffiti everywhere.

[ 08. August 2016, 18:14: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Ha. It was just yesterday that I had to explain the whole "moon landing was faked" thingy and exactly how tinfoil hats are supposed to work.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
What's really weird is the link between the hoax and evangelism.
 

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