Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today in 1932, the birthday of Johnny Cash, a singer/songwriter who who seemed like he’d seen and done it all. And in some ways, that was true: for example, Johnny Cash is one of the few music stars who ever got in a fight with an ostrich. Plus: today in 1953, the birthday of singer Michael Bolton, who reportedly once auditioned to be the lead singer of the heaviest metal band of all time. Johnny Cash once tried to fight an ostrich and, predictably, suffered a heavy defeat (Farout)Tony Iommi says Michael Bolton once auditioned to be in Black Sabbath (NME)Backing our show on Patreon is a lot more fun than getting kicked by an angry ostrich

Today in 1970, Ernie from Sesame Street first sang his signature song, “Rubber Duckie.” So it's a great time to talk about how so many people became awfully fond of rubber ducks. Plus: the town of Boring, Oregon didn't get its name because it's a boring place! Rubber ducks (Quartz)No, the town of Boring wasn't named such because it was a dull place to be (KGW)Float on over to our Patreon page and help this show grow

Today in 1978, pro basketball player Clifford Ray got to lend his extra long to help a dolphin named Mr. Spock caught in an odd situation. Plus: hot sauce maker Sauce Shed is partnering with Atari for a line of hot sauces inspired by (or at least sharing graphic design with) games from the old 2600 console. Ray’s Flipper Saved a Dolphin (New York Times)Atari Sauce Hot Sauces (The Awesomer)Backing our show on Patreon doesn’t cost an arm or a leg (or even a bolt)

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the stuff painters use. In this episode from October 2020, the story of Fordite, a substance that looks just like the stuff of colorful jewelry, but it’s actually a byproduct of the automaking process. Plus: Make.com posts plans for how to make a special mold of your own face, and then use that to make your own face into a bread bowl. Your Earrings Remind Me of Grandma’s Gran Torino (New York Times)How To Make A Bread Mold Of Your Own Face (Make)Together, Cool Weird Awesome and our backers on Patreon can make great art – join us!

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the stuff painters use. In this episode from October 2020, scientists at Purdue University find a way to help keep us cool even without air conditioning, and it starts with a fresh coat of paint. Plus: the community of Asbestos, Quebec, chooses a new, less carcinogenic-sounding name. New ‘Super-White’ Paint Can Cool Down Buildings and Cars (Interesting Engineering)Goodbye Asbestos, hello Val-des-Sources: Que. town changing infamous name (CBC)Our backers on Patreon are really, really bright

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the stuff painters use. In this episode from September 2019, paintings made with Day Glo paint, some made by well-known and influential artists, are losing their glow over time. Scientists are trying to keep the glo for as long as possible. Plus: a research team in Massachusetts figures out how to make a color that absorbs 99.995 percent of incoming light. Day-Glo masterpieces are fading. A conservator and her team are racing to save them (Los Angeles Times)How DayGlo Went From Utility Pigment to Design World Darling (AIGA Eye on Design)Engineers Just Unveiled a New Blackest-Ever Material, Even Darker Than Vantablack (Science Alert)Make life more colorful when you back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the stuff painters use. In this episode from September 2022, a school near Atlanta finds a partial solution to scorching hot asphalt playgrounds, and it’s as simple as getting a fresh coat of paint. Plus: for National Bunny Day, a visit to southern California's Bunny Museum. Thanks to an innovative new paint, this school’s playground just got 12 degrees cooler (Fast Company)LA’s Bunny Museum will redline your rabbit-o-meter (Boing Boing)You can back this show for just $1 a month as a backer on Patreon

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the stuff painters use. In this episode from February 2022, the story of Mummy Brown, a pigment made by combining white pitch and myrrh with the ground-up bits of actual mummies. Plus: seventeen years after the opening of King Tut's tomb, a musician played a trumpet found there for a radio broadcast. Mummy Brown (Florida State University Department of Art History)A Pigment from the Depths (Harvard Art Museums)Tutankhamun’s ‘cursed’ trumpet that stirs ‘deadly conflict’ has arrived in London (ClassicFM)Our Patreon backers will be hailed as heroes for centuries and centuries

Today in 1964, Elvis Presley donated a historic ship to help a Memphis hospital raise money. That ship had once been a favorite hangout for President Franklin Roosevelt. Plus: today in 2018, authorities in Australia found a very odd situation involving a man, a pipe organ, and "remnants of a cheeseburger." USS Potomac History Former Brisbane Freemason Glenn Langford apologises after being found naked in broken pipe organ, surrounded by cheeseburgers (The West Australian)No need to donate a ship to our podcast, just back us on Patreon

A team at the University of Guelph has developed a substance that can generate electricity and could help in a multitude of medical situations. What is it? High-tech slime. Plus:tarting Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona, it’s the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest.Walking could soon generate electricity with new slime that powers up when stepped on (Interesting Engineering)World Championship Hoop Dance ContestPower up our podcast as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1809, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. The 16th President has been called the Great Emancipator, Honest Abe, The Railsplitter… and if you go far enough into his backstory, you could call him "Bartender In Chief." Plus: this Saturday in Clear Lake, Iowa, it’s the Color The Wind Kite Festival.Bartender-In-Chief: Abraham Lincoln Owned A Tavern (Chicagoist)Annual Clear Lake Kite Festival Backing our show on Patreon costs less per year than a bottle of cheap wine (we checked)

Today in 1833, the birthday of Melville Fuller. He would eventually become Chief Justice of the United States, but not before the country asked whether a member of the US Supreme Court could be fair and objective if he has a mustache (!) Plus: this Saturday in Devils Lake, North Dakota, it’s ShiverFest.Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888 (W&L Law Scholarly Commons)  ShiverFest We once again mustache you to back this show on Patreon

This week in 1945, a fascinating fact for anyone who didn’t have to live it firsthand: wartime airplane mechanic Margaret Horton accidentally ended up airborne on the tail of a plane. Plus: today is National Umbrella Day, so you could head to Portland, Maine and the Umbrella Cover Museum.Riding a Spitfire: the story of Margaret Horton (Royal Air Forces Association) The Umbrella Cover Museum Come fly with us as a backer on Patreon

Football fans will be watching this weekend for some of those spectacular passes that can change the course of a game. Amazingly, there was a time when the forward pass was against the rules of the sport. Plus: tomorrow in Morristown, New Jersey, it’s Mac & Cheese Mayhem. How the Forward Pass Saved Football (History.com) Mac & Cheese Mayhem Don’t pass up the chance to back our show on Patreon

There’s new research that shows just how powerful music can be: it found that classical music can have a positive physical effect on a baby before it’s born. Plus: a guy lost his watch, but four years later another guy found it and got it back to him. Music can touch the heart, even inside the womb (EurekAlert) Fratello Exclusive: Rolex Submariner Found By Australian Surfer In Pacific Ocean Is Reunited With Its Original Owner (Fratello Watches) Let’s all calmly go over to the Patreon page to see what positive effects backing this show has

Today in 1969 was the premiere of Turn-On, a show that the ABC network more or less turned off during its first episode. Plus: today in 1974, a really big game for a teenage basketball player in Sweden.  Turn-On’s Turning Point (Tedium) Facts, Oddments for the Book (Los Angeles Times) Keep our show running far into the future as a backer on Patreon

Today in 2004, an important historic designation for a historic district in Wichita Falls, Texas. One of the buildings that makes that district so historic is the Newby-McMahon Building, also known as the "world’s littlest skyscraper." Plus: the story of an 18-foot tall statue of a hand holding a Cheeto. Legend of the World’s Littlest Skyscraper (Texas Co-op Power)  Cheetos statue unveiled in Canada, an homage to Cheetle, the orange dust's official name (Boing Boing) Help our show grow by feet, not inches as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1932, the start of a road trip you don’t see too often: a nine year old and his horse set off through Australia by themselves for more than 600 miles. Plus: around this time in 2020, an artist in Berlin decided to do a high-tech trick of sorts on Google Maps. The nine-year-old who rode a pony 1000km to Sydney (Sydney Morning Herald)  Man Uses 99 Phones and a Handcart to Create a "Virtual Traffic Jam" on Google Maps (Interesting Engineering) Help this show keep moving as a backer on Patreon

The birth of André-Jacques Garnerin, a man who helped bring about the modern parachute. And his vision came to him at a very unusual time. Plus: tomorrow in Scottsdale, Arizona, it’s the Parada del Sol Parade & Trail’s End Festival. 1797 - The modern world's first parachute jump (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)    Scottsdale Parada del Sol  Jump into our Patreon community and support the show

This week in 1819 was probably the first European sighting of Antarctica. It’s different from all the other continents in so many ways - including how, from a certain point of view, a big chunk of Antarctica is “ruled” by a guy who’s never even been there. Plus: today in Tomah, Wisconsin, it’s the annual Freeze Fest. How a Pennsylvania man started an imaginary country in Antarctica and got 2,300 people to join him (The Times Leader)  Freeze Fest  Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is really cool