StrangeSights

• Excitement is growing ahead of Britain’s upcoming Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton and the range of souvenirs continues to grow - everything from commemorative plates, tea towels, coins and replica rings to name but a few. One commemorative mug produced by a firm in China, however, has been manufactured with what appears to be a slight flaw - it bears a portrait of the wrong prince. Next to a portrait of Kate Middleton is that of Prince Harry, her future brother-in-law, instead of that of her future husband Prince William.

• For the fashionista who likes to stand out from the crowd, look no further than these distinctive boots, designed to resemble a pair of horse’s hooves. The limited edition boots were released by UK betting company Betfair at the Cheltenham Festival to commemorate the horse-racing meet’s centenary. Reportedly priced at £1,300 a pair, they come in either ankle or knee length.

• Forget about calling yourself rich if you’ve only got a million dollars. A survey by US financial firm Fidelity Investments has found that 42 per cent of US millionaires said they did not feel wealthy (compared with 46 per cent in 2009), adding that they didn’t think they would do so unless they had at least $US7.5 million. Tough for some.

• In a case of life imitating art (or a cartoon, in this case), a team of scientists in the US have replicated the scene in the movie Up in which grumpy old man Carl Fredricksen’s attaches hundreds of helium balloons to his house to lift it into the air. The house reportedly didn’t get blown to South America like Carl’s, it did reach as high as 10,000 feet and set a new record for the largest cluster balloon flight ever attempted while doing so. The experiment was conducted by National Geographic as part of a TV series.

• When you get lemons, make lemonade. That’s what one Christchurch resident has done after a 30 tonne boulder crashed into his house during the earthquake which shook the city last month. Phil Johnson decided to raise some money for the the victims of the earthquake and auctioned off Rocky - for such was the boulder named - online. The sale reportedly raised more than $NZ60,000.

• Ever wondered what it would be like to drive a giant shoe? Your chance may yet come - a footwear maker in China has created an electric car which resembles a giant shoe. The shoe company is planning to make 40 more of the oversize clogs and use them as promotional tools. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a shoe car - a high heeled shoe car made headlines which it appeared in Washington DC back in 2007.

• A US designer has come up with a new way to keep your face warm - a woolly hat that comes complete with an attached woolly beard to cover the chin and cheeks. The hat and beard combo, available from www.beardhead.com come in a range of styles: from a ‘Viking’ complete with horns on the hat to the long grey beard of the ‘Grandpa’ through to the ‘Lumberjack’ and the pink ‘Bunny’.

• That noisy kid on the plane bothering you? Ban them, ban them all! A survey for the Business Travel & Meetings Show happening in London next week revealed that a massive 74 per cent of business travellers, when asked what annoys them first about first class travel, answered children. Eighteen per cent said what annoyed them most was people who had been upgraded for free when they’d paid the full fare, 15 per cent wanted more privacy from the plebs in economy and 12 per cent thought they received only an economy class service even when they’d paid for first class. The news has sparked calls for adults only cabins in planes.

• UK artist Aaron Savage has recreated famous album covers in Lego. Covered artists include Bruce Springsteen, the Bee Gees, David Bowie and Blondie. Follow this link to see if you can guess which albums the covers represent…