Tomb Raiders

Alejandro Cambronero Albaladejo is angry. No, he’s not angry about the syllabic train wreck that is his name, though he has every reason to be. He’s miffed because he no longer holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Tomb Raider games.

He was unseated by Amy Dyson, a British woman who bested the Spanish collector with a count of 291 unique copies of games in the franchise, including special editions, the same game across multiple consoles, and foreign-language releases. AL (for the sake of ease, I’m calling Alejandro Cambronero Albaladejo “AL”) had a collection that tallied 215 back in 2017.

Amy said the video game helps her deal with functional neurological disorder, which causes symptoms including brain fog, tics, tremors, and paralysis.

Interesting, the brain fog and tics. Might that explain why Amy purchased so many copies of the game, propelling her to a world record?

Maybe so.

But how do we explain AL?

Amy With Her Games

—Mitchell Hegman

Source of Original Story and Photo: UPI (Ben Harper)

Free Shipping

I don’t know why you’re still hesitating. For $72,800.00, the Unitree G1 Humanoid AI Avatar robot can be yours. It does back flips. It does front flips. Tariffs are included. Shipping is free. What more could a reasonable person want?

G1 Humanoid

—Mitchell Hegman

When You Have a Beautiful Wife

 

This is brief, lovely, and entirely to the point. Don’t miss the video I am sharing today:

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RTPDDeRat2A

—Mitchell Hegman

A Hundred Years of Baby Names

 Top 3 Girl Names in 2025 (Generation Beta)

1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Sophia

Top 3 Boy Names in 2025 (Generation Beta)

1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver

Top 3 Girl Names in 1975 (Latchkey Generation)

1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Heather

Top 3 Boy Names in 1975 (Latchkey Generation)

1. Michael
2. Jason
3. Christopher

Top 3 Girl Names in 1925 (Greatest Generation)

1. Mary
2. Dorothy
3. Betty

Top 3 Boy Names in 1925 (Greatest Generation)

1. John
2. William
3. James

—Mitchell Hegman

Television Crossover

Artificial intelligence (AI) is still negotiating its way around the learning curve. On occasion, an input might cause AI to swerve a little wildly. The other day, for example, an AI-generated police report claimed an officer from Herber City, Utah, was turned into a frog while answering a call.

Back in December, the Heber City Police Department started using a pair of AI programs, Draft One and Code Four, to automatically generate police reports from body camera footage. The frog issue occurred when, on a call, in addition to recording the words and actions of an officer, a camera also picked up a nearby television, which happened to be playing the movie The Princess and the Frog. AI, being ever-diligent in its transcribing work habits, tied everything into a nice, neat package and then turned the officer into a frog in the ensuing official report.

While a great deal of labor is saved using AI, the officers now know a certain level of oversight is required to keep their reports from drifting into fairy tales.

—Mitchell Hegman

Source: UPI

The Year of the Fire Horse

According to the Chinese calendar, we will not be chasing after snakes, monkeys, or roosters. Beginning in February of 2026, this is the year of the Fire Horse. Honestly, I don’t know what that means. But as long as I don’t have to feed it, I’m good.

Out of curiosity, I checked my birth year and discovered I was born in the Year of the Fire Monkey. That sounds more fortuitous than the Wood Sheep or Metal Rat. And even if it isn’t, I’ve decided it is.

After consulting the Chinese calendar, I did what anyone would do and searched for “random stuff on the web.” The third result was a video titled The WEIRDEST Websites That Actually Exist. I watched enough of it so you don’t have to. Consider it a public service.

Have a great start to your new year. I’ve posted the video here for those of you who don’t know better.

—Mitchell Hegman

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuEWJUQx98M

When a Comedian is Sincere

Jimmy Carr steps onstage, a well-dressed provocateur with an unmistakable (some would say annoying) laugh. Much of his comedy act is unscripted, often launched from audience questions that he turns, in real time, into remarkably well-engineered and often acerbic jokes. Beneath the salt and shock he tends to dispense is a sharp intelligence and a deep command of facts and language. Carr knows exactly where “the line” is, how far he’s leaning over it, and when to pull himself back with a joke at his own expense.

Given all that, Carr sometimes lands in an entirely different arena. Now and then, a person in the audience touches a chord of deep empathy or sympathy within Jimmy, and his responses are surprisingly tender and stirring. I’ve posted a short video featuring just such an instance.

Below the posted video, in the event you’ve never seen Carr in his normal mode, is Link #2, which you can click to watch another short video showing him in full, unfiltered performance mode.

—Mitchell Hegman

Video Link #1: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nNdzRJG6Prg?feature=share

Video Link #2: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ahuuG6qrnq8?feature=share

Something Herbert Hoover Said

Herbert Hoover served as the 31st President of the United States (1929–1933). He entered office with a reputation as a humanitarian and skilled administrator, but his presidency was defined by the onset of the Great Depression just months after he took office. Though often portrayed as inactive, Hoover did pursue relief measures: public works projects, loans to banks and businesses, and other forms of federal intervention. At the same time, his deep belief in limited government, balanced budgets, and voluntary cooperation kept him from embracing large-scale, direct aid. His policies, combined with poor public communication, made him appear out of touch with widespread suffering. Today he’s viewed not as uncaring, but as a capable and principled man whose philosophy proved mismatched to an economic catastrophe of unprecedented scale.

Following are three of Hoover’s quotes:

—"All men are equal before fish.”

—"About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends.”

—"I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him.”

—Mitchell Hegman

A Twisted Teddy Bear

The premise was pretty noble: make a teddy bear that could interact with children in a realistic way in real time. You know have a bona fide conversation. Maybe the bear could answer a couple of questions. You know, something like tell a kid why the sky is blue.

A prefect job for Artificial Intelligence. With this in mind, Singapore-based toy maker FoloToy stuffed AI capabilities into a cute $99 teddy bear named Kumma.

Brilliant!

Curious about the bears capabilities, a group of researchers from the U.S. and Canada held test conversations with Kumma. Well, let’s just say Kumma got a little frisky.

The researchers said they found it easy to get the bear to discuss sexually explicit topics, including spanking, roleplay and BDSM. Kumma would take a single sexual topic introduced into the conversation and run off the cliff with it, escalating in graphic detail while introducing new sexual concepts of its own. 

The researchers noted the bear "discussed even more graphic sexual topics in detail, such as explaining different sex positions, giving step-by-step instructions on a common 'knot for beginners' for tying up a partner and describing roleplay dynamics involving teachers and students, and parents and children; scenarios it disturbingly brought up itself."

The teddy bear also offered other worrisome advice, such as where to find sharp knives in the house.

Following these conversations, FoloToy immediately removed the raunchy stuffed toy the sales shelves… almost as if they knew I would have bought one the instant I heard about it.

Kumma

—Mitchell Hegman

Source: UPI

The Upside

I would like this blog to be the equivalent of a whisper. I especially want to keep this on the down-low while in the vicinity of any teenagers.

Gather up. Here it is. Apparently, teenage binge-drinking may provide a key to success later in life.

According to Norwegian sociologist Willy Pedersen, young people who knock back drinks together may be doing more than loosening up. They may also be wiring in valuable social skills.

Two asides here. First, drinking alcohol at any age has a host of well-established downsides. Second, there is some wiggle room for distrusting a sociologist named Willy. That said, Pedersen’s long-term study tracked more than 3,000 Norwegians from early teens into adulthood and found that the hard partiers in their late teens and early twenties ended up with higher levels of education and income than those who barely drank at all.

The theory is simple enough: alcohol, in a social setting, acts like a kind of glue. It helps the shy find their footing, smooths the edges of awkwardness, and nudges doors open that might otherwise stay shut. Pedersen even points to groups like Oxford’s infamous Bullingdon Club, a drinking society whose alumni list reads like a political résumé.

But before anyone hands out six-packs to teens to boost their prospects, a quiet reminder: correlation is not destiny. As The Times of London noted, many of these high-flyers may have already been halfway up the ladder. And it must also be noted that some of my party-going high school buddies crashed later in life.

Still, whispered or not, the idea lingers: maybe a little communal chaos in youth can age into something surprisingly polished down the line.

Cold Smoke Beer

—Mitchell Hegman

Message in a Bottle

More than a century after Private Malcolm Alexander Neville sailed off to fight in World War I, a message he wrote to his mother washed ashore on a remote Australian beach. Written on August 15, 1916, and sealed inside a Schweppes bottle, the letter struck a hopeful tone. “Having a real good time,” he wrote. “Food is real good so far, with the exception of one meal, which we buried at sea.” The 28-year-old soldier signed off, “Your loving son Malcolm … Somewhere at sea,” and added a note asking that whoever found the message send it to his mother in tiny Wilkawatt, South Australia. Neville was killed in action in France in April 1917.

The bottle surfaced 109 years later on Wharton Beach near Esperance, discovered by a family while collecting rubbish. Amazingly preserved by sand and time, the cork still held, and inside lay the faded pencil letter of a man long gone but not forgotten. “We believe it’s been buried because it’s so well preserved,” said Debra Brown, who helped recover the note. “If it had lived in the ocean for 109 years, it would have sunk to the bottom.” Using surgical tweezers, the family gently freed Neville’s two-page letter and later tracked down his surviving relatives, who were deeply moved by the message that had finally made its way home.

The Bottle

Malcolm Alexander Neville

—Mitchell Hegman

The Tomato Fight

Normally, throwing a tomato at a friend or, especially, a stranger is considered rude at a minimum. But exceptions do apply. Once a year, for example, the quiet town of Buñol, Spain, encourages — in fact, promotes — full-on tomato fights. On the last Wednesday of August, tens of thousands of people gather in the streets to take part in La Tomatina — a festival born from the whimsy of children back in 1945.

For the festival, trucks roll in with 120 tons of overripe tomatoes, grown only for this event. Not for slicing into salads. Not for simmering into sauces. These tomatoes exist for one purpose: to be hurled.

There are no teams. No overall strategies. Only one rule must be abided by — squash before you throw. After an hour of relentless fire, the cannon sounds, and the battle ends.

By then, the cobbled streets are rivers of puree. Participants stand ankle-deep in tomato mash, exhausted and stained.

No doubt I would have reveled in such an event as a boy, but even now, as a chronological adult, I find myself smiling at the thought of pitching a squashed tomato at someone — especially knowing I can apply a vivid red stain.

That’s good stuff.

Here in Montana, I’ve “bapped” a few apples across the street with a baseball bat and tossed raw eggs on occasion. But 120 tons of tomatoes is the stuff dreams are made of.

La Tomatina

A Splash of Tomato Sauce

—Mitchell Hegman

Sweet Tune, Sweeter Chocolate

Apparently, chocolate tastes even better if you pair it with the right soundtrack. That’s not just me talking — that’s science.

Dr. Natalie Hyacinth, a music-loving mastermind from the University of Bristol, has spent a lifetime studying how sound lulls the brain. Her conclusion: silky piano notes make chocolate taste creamier, lush strings add extra sweetness, and sharp tones crank up the bitter bite. (Fast beats, meanwhile, are best reserved for drive-thru cheeseburgers.)

To prove it, Galaxy Chocolate — a brand of chocolate products made and marketed in the United Kingdom — hired her to compose Sweetest Melody, a 90-second track designed to melt in your ears while the chocolate melts on your tongue. Think piano for sweetness, strings for silkiness, and a harp to keep things smooth.

Turns out the brain does a party trick called “multisensory integration,” where senses mingle. In other words, your ears and your taste buds are willing to clasp hands and skip along together. Music really does mess with your experience. One engineered track (Weightless by Marconi Union) has been proven to drop anxiety by 65%. Meanwhile, neuroscientists swear Bach’s Goldberg Variations can flip your brain into deep-focus mode — like Pavlov’s bell but with harpsichord.

So yes, your playlist matters. Sweet chocolate, sweet song. Bitter chocolate, maybe crank up some Metallica.

Posted below is a brief video featuring the song Sweetest Melody, composed by Dr. Natalie Hyacinth. Grab a bar of chocolate and take a listen.

—Mitchell Hegman

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIeD03OGPv8

Another Weird World Record

I recently read the story of Anya Bannasch, a California woman who set a Guinness World Record by fitting 711 golf tees into her hair. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure—but I tend to prefer some of the more outlandish records.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

 

Most Canned Drinks Opened by a Parrot in One Minute

Record: 35 cans

Holder: Zac the Macaw (San Jose, USA)

Zac used his powerful beak to pop open 35 drink cans in just 60 seconds.

 

Most Toilet Seats Broken by the Head in One Minute

Record: 46 toilet seats

Holder: Kevin Shelley (Germany)

Armed with his forehead and a questionable sense of self-preservation, Shelley smashed 46 toilet seats in 60 seconds.

Tee Hair (Anya Bannasch)

—Mitchell Hegman

The Rendering

On July 26, a married couple, Cristen Amanda Brink and her husband, Clinton David Brink, were attacked and stabbed to death while hiking with their two daughters at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. The girls, aged 7 and 9, managed to flee and seek help at a visitors’ center.

The attack seemed utterly random, but a possible male suspect caught the attention of other park visitors, who worked with a forensic sketch artist to create a composite image of the man.

Five days after the murders, police arrested a man named Andrew James McGann at Lupita’s Beauty Salon in Springdale, Arkansas, while he was in the middle of getting a haircut. He reportedly admitted to the murders once taken into custody, though no motive has yet been revealed.

What I find most incredible is the accuracy of the sketch produced by the forensic artist based on witness descriptions—the sharp chin and the too-deep, dead eyes. The sketch captured what arresting officers described as the murderer’s “soulless” look.

I’ve posted a photo of McGann and the forensic artist’s rendering for comparison.

The Artist's Sketch

Photo of Andrew James McGann

—Mitchell Hegman

The Rock Band That Isn’t

A strange thing is happening over on Spotify. A band called The Velvet Sundown has suddenly emerged from the digital mist, fully formed, with two full albums and—at last check—more than half a million monthly listeners. Problem is, no one seems to know if they’re real.

The supposed members—Gabe Farrow, Lennie West, Milo Rains, and Orion “Rio” Del Mar—don’t exist anywhere else online. Not in other bands, not in old interviews, not in the musical sidebars of the internet where even the most obscure garage acts tend to leave a trace. Their Spotify profile includes a made-up quote from Billboard. Their Instagram is littered with glossy portraits that fall apart under close inspection—too-perfect faces, visual tells that AI image generators often leave behind.

Music platforms like Deezer have already flagged their tracks as possibly AI-generated. Spotify and Apple Music have not.

This all raises the larger question everyone’s dancing around: What does it mean when AI-generated music gets pushed into our ears right alongside the work of struggling indie bands, live musicians, and lifelong artists?

Are we hearing the entirely digitized future of music?

The song “Dust on the Wind” has garnered a lot of traction. I will admit to finding it a catchy song, though slightly formulaic in structure. The lyrics, though, leave me feeling cold. Having seemingly been fed through a rhyme generator, the words strike me as thematically abstract and empty.

So, here we are, floating somewhere between false echo and invention.

I’ve posted a photograph of the band and a video featuring the song “Dust on the Wind” so you can listen for yourself.

The Velvet Sundown

—Mitchell Hegman

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzX1YFZW0jc

Seat 11A

 

On most days, sitting in seat 11A on a jetliner doesn’t mean much. It’s a window seat ahead of the port wing, and next to an exit. Two days ago, a British national of Indian origin, named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, took seat 11A a few minutes before the plane he boarded was scheduled to depart from the city of Ahmedabad, India. All around him, other passengers jostled into place, fought carry-ons into the overhead bins, chatted.

At takeoff, the thrust of the Boeing Dreamliner’s engines pressed him firmly against the seat as the jet streaked down the runway. The plane lifted into the air, climbed. And then something odd happened. Later, Vishwash recounted: “After takeoff, after 5–10 seconds, it seemed like the aircraft was stuck.”

Horror absolute.

The plane rather sank in the air and crashed into buildings in the city below, generating a fury of impossible sounds, infinite and unbinding chaos. Somehow, once all the forward momentum ceased, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh opened his eyes. He was alive, but surrounded by the mangled dead. Beside him, the exit door had cracked open. He untangled himself and squeezed out into the light.

All of the other passengers and crew on the flight, including his brother, who had been sitting in a different row, had perished—241 of them. And somehow Vishwash found himself alive and staggering down a street surrounded by shocked and unfamiliar faces.

By what providence, by what flip of luck, had seat 11A saved him?

Dreamliner Seating

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh

—Mitchell Hegman

Something Groucho Marx Said

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) is one of my favorite humorists. Mustachioed and animated, he was known for his razor-sharp wit, rapid-fire wordplay, and subversive humor that skewered social conventions. His signature style combined clever puns, biting sarcasm, and an irreverent disregard for authority figures—especially the pompous or powerful—making him a favorite among audiences seeking laughter that felt both smart and rebellious. With his leering eyebrows, rolling eyes, and ever-present cigar, Groucho delivered zingers that walked the line between absurdity and insight, often mocking high society while celebrating the underdog. His humor was deeply verbal and intellectual, drawing on vaudeville timing and a playful, anarchic spirit.

Following are three Marx quotes:

—"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.”

—"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.”

—"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”

—Mitchell Hegman

Shot Into Space

A host of newly viable private aerospace companies—such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin—are allowing the ultra-rich and celebrities to pay hefty fees for the chance to be shot into space. On the downside, these flights also bring them back down again.

PHOTO: solar-mems.com

—Mitchell Hegman

A Lightning Strike

I would not recommend trotting outside during a severe lightning storm in hopes of getting struck by lightning as a way to change your eye color, but apparently, the opportunity exists.

Take the case of aptly named Carly Electric, a stand-up comedian from Queensland, Australia. One moment, she was outside, filming a brawling lightning storm. The next, she was on the ground, her body seemingly paralyzed, her limbs taking on a peculiar discoloration. Her breathing came in gasps, her nerves ringing like a struck bell. A stroke of lightning had delivered her this way.

Lightning does not tap lightly. Really, it’s an instant touch of hell. And Carly found herself recovering in a hospital—suffering from temporary paralysis, discolored limbs, and breathing difficulties. She remained immobile for nine hours before regaining movement. And then, in the aftermath of survival, she noticed something remarkable—her green eyes were now dark brown.

Doctors believe the change in Carly Electric’s eye color from green to dark brown after being struck by lightning is likely due to damage to the melanin-producing cells in her iris. Carly has made a full recovery and has, thankfully, learned to enjoy the new color of her eyes.

Carly in the Hospital Following the Lighting Strike

Carly with Brown Eyes

—Mitchell Hegman