2020 – A Weird and Whacky Year
We have different opinions on just about every theme that entered the national conversation this year, but we can all agree on one thing: thank goodness 2020 is over. Our differences in opinions have escalated to violence on multiple topics including wearing a mask, getting inoculated with the new vaccines, the right to bear arms, defunding the police, who to vote for, and if the election was rigged. Everyone knows how awful 2020 has been (no need to elaborate further here; we all know the disheartening statistics and many of us have suffered great loss), but have we had a moment to reflect on how weird and whacky it was?
Here at Kroma, we’re a bit of a quirky brand of creatives pushing the envelope of design. We are on a mission to enable every consultant, entrepreneur, salesperson, marketing, and social media manager to present, pitch and post like a pro. Between our creative assets that you won’t find everywhere else, our data visualization and professional presentation templates, we’ve got you covered. We’re doing things a little differently than everyone else, so we’re going to look at 2020 a little differently than everyone else who is blogging about the year that we’re leaving behind in our rearview mirror.
2020 will go down in infamy, this is certain. But the following weird and whacky stories will likely disappear from our memories by the time that we ring in the new year. Here are some of our favorites – they are deliciously bizarre!
2020 Was Bonkers in So Many Ways
Let’s highlight a few of the most “out there” stories of the year. Some of these stories were truly “out there” from a galaxy far, far away …
- We lost a star but found a planet
For the last two decades, astronomers have been studying a star from a galaxy 75 million light years away. But it’s suddenly gone. Usually, when a star collapses into a black hole, it goes out in a blaze of glory by exploding into a supernova – but not this time. It just quietly disappeared and that’s a first. Fret not, because there’s always balance in the Universe. On his third day of his internship with NASA, a 17-year old student discovered a planet nearly seven times larger than Earth. How about them apples?
- Jupiter kissed Saturn
Alright, so it wasn’t quite a kiss, but, in terms of interplanetary activity, it’s the closest thing to connecting in a special, not socially distant way short of collision and the end of the world as we know it. These two planets haven’t been this close since Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei was alive (mid- 1600s) when he was busy developing advanced telescopes to discover Jupiter’s moons and giving astronomers many other gifts.
- Monoliths were on the move
Is it an alien life form having a little fun or has some deviously brilliant group of people found a way to make the 10-foot high monoliths appear – and disappear – all over the globe? Nobody has a clue who’s doing it or how they’re managing to do so undetected. These monoliths have appeared more than 80 times in Morocco, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway and numerous other countries including the USA.
- C gave birth to X
True, everyone needs to be their authentic self but naming conventions and rules must be followed – even if you are one of the richest people on the planet. Claire Elise Boucher, a Canadian music artist, better known as Grimes, and better known as the baby mama of Elon Musk’s seventh son (his first son tragically died at only 10 weeks of age), gave birth to X Æ A-Xii (which is pronounced X Ash A-12). Shortly after giving birth, Grimes legal changed her name to the letter, C. The boy’s name began as X Æ A-12 but numbers are not permitted in birth registrations, so they modified his name using the Roman Numeral convention. What does it mean? According to C, “X stands for the unknown variable, Æ stands for my elven spelling of Ai, and A-12 is the precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft).”
- Murder hornets were no match for dental tools
Murder Hornets – their very name conjured up tremendous fear and loathing then outright panic as it was somehow discovered that a pair were on the loose somewhere on the West Coast. Entomologists and budding hobbyists were all down with finding the murderous pair who would likely wreak havoc and carnage on the already compromised and vulnerable populations of honeybees. Although the “Defcon-5” level of swarm suit and high-tech vacuum suction apparatus that ultimately safely removed the nest (and the tree that it was found in), it was a low-tech piece of dental floss that assured the doomsday fate of the venomous bees. That’s right, a piece of floss, equipped with a micro-transmitter, was tied to the leg of one hornet who would reveal the secret location of the next and then, that was that.
- Green dogs and ham
Sounds like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, right? A couple in Scotland were shocked when their Golden Retriever delivered four pale gold, nearly white puppies along with one green one! Apparently, although rare, this phenomenon is documented. Biliverdin, the green pigment found in bile which also makes your bruises turn green, can leak into the amniotic sac and the weakest pup in the litter will emerge with fur dyed green. Not to worry though, “Hulk” is doing just fine and his green hue will fade over time.
- Cannibal rats were on the rampage
Like the pandemic wasn’t enough to contend with? Generations of rats in highly populated locations have been dependent on humans, feeding off the plentiful food scraps tossed into and around dumpsters. With fewer patrons frequenting the restaurants, the rats’ food supply had all but dried up. Limited access to food spurred some rather horrible behaviors including infanticide and cannibalism. Yuck! Let’s get our restaurants and their workers back to work so that we can keep the rats happy!
- Planting a scam
Back in July, thousands of people around all 50 US states received odd packages from China containing seeds. Most people didn’t place an order for seeds, so they raised the alarm. The USDA stepped in, urged people not to plant them and started an investigation. They found more than 5,000 seed species coming from 44 countries of origin. Although the mystery hasn’t been solved, the leading theory is that the China-based seed vendor perpetrated a “brushing” scam where they created “legitimate” customers and sales transactions so that they could then create “verified purchase” false reviews. Definitely in the realm of a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk style fairytale.
- The evolution gap
Whichever side you’re on regarding the theory of evolution, it is an undeniable fact that Sir Charles Darwin traveled in the HMS Beagle, by sea, in the mid-1600s, collecting and observing plant and animal species. His lab notebooks are priceless and were housed safely at Cambridge University’s library, until they weren’t … they were removed from their protective casing in late 2000 for a photography shoot. Two months later, at a routine inventory audit, there were nowhere to be found. But here’s where things get extra weird and whacky: they didn’t report the lab notebooks as missing until a month ago, twenty years after they went missing!
- The UNprincess
Everyone dreams of becoming a princess, right? That is, everyone except Meaghan Markle. She became a princess, married her Prince Charming, but then fled the castle – and royalty – with her prince in tow. “Megxit” has forever changed the course of royalty.
Well, that was a lot more fun than citing all of the horrible COVID statistics, now wasn’t it? All of us here at Team Kroma wish you a wonderful 2021 – and a year that is a whole lot less whacky and weird.