StrangeSights

• Those badly spelt signs annoying you? Take heart. Two Americans have just released a book about a journey they made travelling across the US correcting spelling and punctuation. Jeff Deck, a write and editor, created the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL), and in early 2008 set off on a 73 day journey in which he and several companions targeted signs outside shops, public buildings and parks, rounding up stray apostrophes and fixing wayward spelling (and learning a lesson about always asking for permission to fix a sign along the way). Together with one of his companions - Benjamin D. Herson - he has subsequently written the book about the experience The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World. Bad spellers be warned!

• A month long water pistol tournament has just come to an end in the UK. Known as StreetWars, the “water pistol assassination” tournament kicked off in New York in 2004, and has since visited numerous cities including, during August, London (which also played host to the tournament in 2006). As many as 300 players were expected to take part. Concerns have reportedly previously been expressed over the appropriateness of such a game.

• It’s the ultimate in train sets. A house has gone on the market in Lincolnshire that comes complete with a more than 300 metre long model railway, complete with scale trains, castle, fairground and a full-size fish pond. The owner reportedly spent years creating the backyard playground.