Ripley Radio – Weird Festivals and a Trip to the Titanic

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Less than 200 people have gone below the sea to visit the Titanic in the 100 years since it sank. Fran Capo, a regular Ripley Radio Oddcast contributor is one of them. This week, she relates how she got to be one of the lucky ones, the world record she set while submerged more than two miles below the surface, and she candidly tells us what her greatest fear during the trip was. You’ll be surprised as to what it was!

May is the start of the summer in most regions of the Northern Hemisphere and that means the start of a long string of unusual and bizarre fairs, festivals and events. If weird is in your travel plans for 2012, make sure you listen as our ensemble talks about everything from the Garlic Festival and the Monkey Buffett Festival to the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival and the Redneck Games. We also cover the Twins Festival and as many of the food throwing festivals we could find!

Other intriguing, weird, bizarre and absolutely unbelievable things we discuss this week:

• In this, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, National Geographic magazine features an amazing story that unveils a lot of new and unbelievable facts about the ill-fated ship and its voyage. Ralf talks with the author of that article, Hampton Sides.

• Tom Roy makes his debut this week. He’s the one who invents a lot of those weird and bizarre holidays that we celebrate during the year. As the keeper of the website wellcat.com, Tom has “invented” more than 90 such days. This week, he tells us how best to celebrate No Socks Day and Eat What You Want Day.

• Have you ever heard of a radio station giving away a baby as a promotion? We hadn’t either until we ran across this story. We talk with the station manager and find out the real truth behind the hype.

• Scott Fais, the “Florida on a Tankful” reporter for News 13 in Orlando, joins us for several shows in May and amazes us with some of the strange things he has seen and reported on during his treks across the state. This week, in keeping with the theme, he tells us all about the Gator Hatching Festival in Palmdale, Fla.

• In our Weekly Weird news segment, we hear about a man who was held at gunpoint in front of a McDonald’s in Utah and was forced to do the moonwalk.