Feb. 23, 2025

Googly Eyes Mystery Solved

Show Notes
Transcript

In this episode, Johnny Mac shares five uplifting news stories. A lonely sunfish in a Japanese aquarium regains its health thanks to staff members' creative solutions during renovations. A 12-year-old boy identifies a meteorite after fireworks shatter his family's car window. Archaeologists uncover a once-in-a-century find in Pompeii, revealing a luxurious private bathhouse. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden witnesses the rare bloom of a foul-smelling corpse flower. Lastly, Jeff, a founder combating human trafficking, explains his light-hearted googly eyes project in Bend, Oregon's city art.

00:11 Lonely Sunfish Finds Comfort
01:12 Meteorite Discovery by a 12-Year-Old
02:00 Incredible Pompeii Archaeological Find
03:11 The Blooming of the Corpse Flower
03:47 Googly Eyes Mystery in Oregon

Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which says UNITERRUPTED LISTENING. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed! You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

John also hosts Daily Comedy News

Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app.

Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!

Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:10.640
Caloroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with five

2
00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:14.279
good news stories. Good news for a lonely sunfish in

3
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.920
an aquarium in Japan. You see, at the beginning of December,

4
00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.480
the aquarium closed for renovations, and then not too soon after,

5
00:00:23.079 --> 00:00:27.239
the sunfish started acting strangely. It stopped eating its jellyfish meals.

6
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.280
It would frequently rub its lumpy body against the tank.

7
00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:33.159
The aquarium posted on Twitter. We couldn't figure out the

8
00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.399
cause and took various measures because one of the staff

9
00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.320
members said, maybe it's lonely because it misses the visitors.

10
00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:41.520
We thought ninety nine percent, no way. But then they

11
00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.280
attached the uniforms of the staff members to the tank.

12
00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:47.119
The next day the sunfish was in good health. Again.

13
00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:51.000
They took cardboard cutouts of the staff's faces. They tapped

14
00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.240
those to the tank. Then they hung the uniforms on

15
00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.679
suction cups and put the uniforms below the cardboard cutout

16
00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:59.039
of the faces. One of the staff members said the

17
00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:02.679
sunfish was popped among visitors before the renovations. It's curious

18
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:04.480
and it would swim up to visitors when they approached

19
00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.400
the tank. When the renovation work is finished, I'd like

20
00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:10.920
visitors to wave to the sunfish. The aquarium is scheduled

21
00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:13.519
to reopen this summer. So Paul and his family were

22
00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:16.040
watching TV and they heard a loud bang outside and

23
00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.560
they were like, eh, some knuckleheads with fireworks. They went

24
00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.120
to bed. The next morning, they noticed their core window

25
00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.719
was shattered, and then their twelve year old Sun discovered

26
00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.079
a small, black, shiny rock nearby that didn't match any

27
00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:30.000
other local rocks. Nathan, the twelve year old, put a

28
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:33.239
magnet next to the rock. It was magnetized. He explains.

29
00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.879
I was looking around on the ground near the car,

30
00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:36.519
and right by the front wheel was a black rock

31
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:38.159
that stood out from all the others. I wondered if

32
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:40.959
it could possibly be a meteorite, but wasn't sure until

33
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.400
we used a magnet and researched it online. Now, if

34
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.400
you need to tell if a rock is a meteorite,

35
00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.640
here's what you do. You look for a dark, thin

36
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:51.239
fusion crust on its surface. Check if it's unusually heavy

37
00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.040
for its size due to high iron content. Test if

38
00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:58.959
it's magnetic, and look for unusual surface indentations. Archaeologists are

39
00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.560
all excited they found a once in a century fined

40
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.200
in Pompeii. The find had been buried under a volcanic

41
00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:08.639
rock and ash for two thousand years. It includes a

42
00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.759
private bath house, perhaps the largest ever found, complete with hot,

43
00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.520
warm and cold rooms, artwork and a huge plunge pool.

44
00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:20.599
Gabriel is director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii until

45
00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.400
the BBC. It's these spaces that are really part of

46
00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:25.599
the Pompey effect. It's almost as if people had only

47
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.280
left a minute ago. The bathhouse changing room has red

48
00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:32.840
walls and mosaic floor and stone benches. They found two skeletons,

49
00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.439
one a woman in age between thirty five and fifty

50
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.159
who was clutching jewelry and coins, and a younger man

51
00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.639
in his teens or twenties. They had barricaded themselves into

52
00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.280
a small room, but were killed as a tsunami of

53
00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.000
volcanic gas and ash ripped through the town. An entire

54
00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.840
block of Pompey has now been uncovered, revealing a laundry,

55
00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:52.840
a bakery and the big house. It's believed they were

56
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.639
all owned by one wealthy individual, perhaps all as rusty

57
00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:01.199
as Virus, an influential politician in Pompeii. The biggest room

58
00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.840
is the Frigidarium aka the Cold Room, surrounded by red

59
00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.479
columns and frescoes of athletes. A visitor could cool off

60
00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:09.840
in the plunge pool, which is so large twenty to

61
00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.719
thirty people could fit in it. Good news sort of

62
00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:16.439
if you missed out on the Smelli flower. Apparently, you

63
00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:18.800
know those flowers that bloom every now and then and

64
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.479
smell terribly. One was happening at the Brooklyn Botanic Gordon.

65
00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:25.319
The corpse flower bloom for the first time since arriving

66
00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:29.240
in Brooklyn in twenty eighteen. Native to Sumatra, the corpse

67
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.319
flower is known for its height and carrion scent, which

68
00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:36.159
it uses to attract pollinators. Gardner Chris noticed the bloom

69
00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:39.840
happening around New Year's Eve. It only lasted a few days.

70
00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.479
He explains, it's the first time it happened here, and

71
00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.240
it's not going to happen next year. It's going to

72
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.280
be several years before it happens again. And good news

73
00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.360
and update on the mysterious googly eyes and the Oregon

74
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.719
City of Bend. Jeff is the founder of a group

75
00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:58.439
called Guardian Group that works to combat human trafficking. He

76
00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.280
said that he used ducta to attack the googly eyes

77
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.960
on two sculptures, and that for him they serve as

78
00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:07.000
a respite from the emotional toll of his work. He explained,

79
00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.479
it's a place for me to cope with some pretty

80
00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.240
heavy stuff. He didn't think the googly eyes would receive

81
00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:13.800
that much attention that he went to city offices to

82
00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:17.079
offer to pay for any damages. The city didn't immediately respond.

83
00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.519
The city has said that you know, they're not like

84
00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:21.399
trying to be bad guys. They're just trying to explain

85
00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.000
that the adhesives can do damage to the art collections,

86
00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:25.959
So you know, can you just cut it out. They're

87
00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.800
not like mad about it, just don't ruin the art,

88
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:30.199
that's fair. Keith says. I think the biggest thing for

89
00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:31.959
me is just to get a laugh when I come

90
00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:34.160
up from these roundabouts and I see people laughing, like

91
00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:37.040
hysterically laughing at these makes for a good time. And

92
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.360
those are your five good news stories for today. Hey,

93
00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:42.920
if you would like the program without the commercials, like

94
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.279
I get it, I get it, but like I got

95
00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:46.800
a heating bill. Do you know what the heating bill

96
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:49.040
is this month? Yeah, So if you'd like the program

97
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:51.519
without commercials. There's a link in the show notes. I'll

98
00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:53.920
explain how you do it. Short version five bucks a month.

99
00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.439
If you're on Apple Podcasts, there's a banner there it

100
00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.600
says uninterrupted listening. Click on that and for five bucks

101
00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:02.800
a month, no commercials, and on Apple you get a

102
00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.079
thirty day free trial. So why wouldn't you try it anyway?

103
00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.240
Just for the thirty days free Right in day twenty nine,

104
00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.560
just be like, eh, I get it, totally get it.

105
00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:10.480
Have a great day.