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Well, it's been too hot/humid and /or rainy for much in the way of walks, so I thought I'd try something I came up with the other day- hit the Wikipedia "random article" button and see if we get anything interesting.
First stop was Alberto Gallego Ruiz, a Spanish cyclist in the 2010s-2020s who torpedoed his career by using performance enhancing drugs. His bad test, which he attributed to "supplement contamination", came just 3 days into his pro career.
Second stop was Qatil Aur Ashiq, a Bollywood (ie Indian) movie from 1986, about which virtually the only thing I found about was the title means "Murderer And Lover". Not getting great stuff here yet, Mr Random!
Article #3 was about a song called "Close" by Canadian country artist Jade Eagleson. It was off his 2020 debut lp (self titled) and apparently was the "most streamed debut album by a domestic (Canadian) artist in the last ten years". You take your fame where you can get it.
The fourth stop was Doobidoo, an apparently cursed Swedish game show. The article told very little about the show itself (other than having to go on a year's hiatus while host Lasse Kroner defended himself against sexual abuse charges). However, it did say there was an Australian version attempted called You May Be Right. The curse took on a life of its own there:
Seven bosses ordered a major overhaul, including new sets and lighting, after the first show was plagued by embarrassing production problems. It took over four hours to tape the first one-hour show, due to various technical problems, faulty buzzers, over-running segments, and host Todd McKenney's repeated flubbing of his teleprompted lines. Ten episodes were originally planned, but after declining ratings the show was cancelled within a month of being on air.
At least the Swedish version lasted 16 years....
Fifth article is on Carfax College, which- to my American readers- yes, is a legit school. To the rest of you, my amusement would be due to this:
#6 is the Myrmarachne, which are spiders that pretend they are ants...
Seventh was for the soundtrack to Perambu, as Wiki is definitely pushing the Bollywood today. A lovely movie about a man working in a distant city to support his family when his wife decides she doesn't want to care for their disabled daughter (who, just to mess up us English speakers, is named Pappa), and dumps her off and disappears. Pappa and Papa try their best, but Pappa (the daughter) gets sick and Papa (the Papa) decides they'll end it all by walking into the sea. Suddenly a kindly trans "woman" comes along to stop them, and they all live happily ever after.
#8 is Jordy Peffer, a soccer/Futbol player from Belgium who is actually a big star for a team who just got promoted to the Belgian top tier. I wonder if he could ship me some tripels and quads...
Ninth is Minoru Watanabe, a Japanese stuntman, whose claim to fame was playing the bad kaiju in 2000s' Godzilla vs Megaguirus. Mega is apparently the queen of the species from which the giant dragonfly Rodan came from.
Our final stop is the 'Special Administration of the Holy See', which was a department started by Pope Pius XI in 1929 to manage the windfall they got from the treaty with Mussolini that gave the Pope his own country again. In 1967, it was combined with a commission started in 1878 to manage what was left to the Church after Italy ended said independence, and now the combined agency is basically the budget/treasury of the Vatican.
For the most part, I think I shall categorize this as a "looked better on paper" experiment.
