StrangeSights

• Looking for a place to get away from it all? How about an entire village of your own, complete with pub and 40 inhabitants? The New Zealand village of Otira, on the South Island, has reportedly been put up for sale with an asking price of $NZ1 million. Current owners Bill and Christine Hennah bought the place in 1998 but say they now no longer have the energy to run it.

• They say that today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapping but that’s certainly not the case with one newspaper. It’s reportedly appeared in TV’s and films since the 1950s - everything from TV series like Dallas and Desperate Housewives to films like No Country For Old Men. Might be time to update the film prop, although some of the stories which appear in the paper - ‘UN Debates Mideast Crisis’ - are probably - and sadly - just as relevant as they were 50 years ago.

• Ever wondered what that horrible high pitched noise is when you’ve been outside in the UK? No, well you’re probably over the age of 25. The Council of Europe is reportedly looking at banning the use of ‘mosquito devices’ - which emit a high-pitched sound only those under the age of 25 can hear and are used to discourage young people from gathering in places authorities don’t want them to. Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty in the UK - where more of the devices are in use than anywhere else, told The Guardian newspaper the weapons contravene young people’s human rights. “What type of society uses a low-level sonic weapon on its children?” Good question.

• Collecting teabags would have to be one of the most unusual hobbies we at StrangeSights have come across - particularly used ones. But that’s what artist Patti Gaal-Holmes has reportedly been doing for the last 11 years, using the bags as a sort of diary and sometimes not only numbering them but writing on them who she drank the tea with and even what was talked about. The bags are apparently stored in suitcases. And yes, “they do smell a bit”, she concedes before adding that she finds it “a bit comforting”.

• North Korea has certainly adopted an efficient approach to supporting its soccer team in the World Cup with news this week that the team’s ’supporters’ - all uniformly dressed in red and led in their supporting by a conductor - had been handpicked to attend the event and even included a group of Chinese people specially recruited to cheer on their neighbours (and at the same time allow the North Korean Government to make sure there’s no defectors). Still at least they’ve had something to cheer about with the team only losing one goal to two when playing powerhouse Brazil in their World Cup opener.

• It probably won’t come as a surprise to most people that Darth Vader had a borderline personality disorder. French psychiatrist Eric Bui and a team from Toulouse University Hospital reportedly made the finding after a study of the Star Wars villain. “Turning to the dark side and changing his name could be a sign of identity disturbance,” he concluded, adding that he believed psychotherapy could have helped him. But then think how the Star Wars story would have suffered.

• Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men has reportedly found a new use as a means of attracting jaguars in the Guatemalan jungle. Biologists have employed the cologne to bring the big cats up to their cameras so they can study them and say the scent has proved surprisingly successful in bringing them in. The Wildlife Conservation Society say they intend expanding use of the cologne in other programs it’s conducting in South America.

• So you want to go out into the mud but are expecting a phone call and, with your mobile battery flat, you can’t leave the phone? If that dilemma’s been perplexing you, you need worry no longer - help is at hand. UK phone company Orange has released a pair of gumboots that will not only keep the mud off you but charge your phone at the same time. Developed for people attending outdoor music festivals such as the Glastonbury festival - where the product will be launched - the ‘Orange Power Wellies’ will give you one hour’s worth of charge for every 12 hours you walk.

• The recent launch of 3D TV is only one way in which formerly 2D media is becoming more interactive. In the US, one company has given an extra dimension to billboards by producing an ad for a grilled steak which does more than just look good to the drivers going past. It also smells good. Marketing company ScentAir says the sign, created for the Bloom grocery store chain and located in North Carolina, will dispense it’s aroma during the morning and afternoon rush hour until mid-June. Good preparation for the evening meal but not sure if I’d feel like a steak in the morning!

• Dog breeding has resulted in some strange mixes but spare a thought for a Golden Retriever and four Chow-Chows in China which have been dyed to resemble a tiger and four panda bears. The animals were all purchased by a pet park in Zhengzhou, Henan province, as part of a marketing bid.