StrangeSights

• A prized 19th century fresco depicting Jesus Christ at a church in Spain has reportedly been all but destroyed after a grandmother, apparently with the very best of intentions, decided to carry out her own restoration project. The 120-year-old fresco - Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elijah Garcia Martinez, is located at the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza. It had been damaged by water but was still relatively intact before the woman, aged in her 80s, decided to fix it by carrying out her own touch-up job, since labelled by some as the worst art restoration of all time.

• Dog-shaming has become the latest internet craze thanks to a Tumblr site in which users submit pictures of their dogs looking appropriately guilty as they stand or sit next to a sign stating their crimes. The Dog Shaming site has garnered attention from media around the world and gained a strong following on Facebook as owners apparently eagerly dob in their pooches. Among the more palatable entries we’ve seen: “I ate the remote control”, “Soccerballs terrify me!”, and the rather painful “Porcupines are NOT chew toys”.

• It’s not a swimming pool for the faint-hearted. A hotel in Shanghai has opened which comes complete with a swimming pool which partly projects out of the building 24 stories above the ground and comes complete with a glass bottom so you can watch those so, so far below while you have a swim. The glass-bottomed pool, at the Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao, is apparently not the only pool of its kind. Take a look here to see some further examples.

• Roman Catholic Capuchin monks in Switzerland have taken to advertising in the newspaper’s classifieds section to recruit new monks. An advertisement reportedly appeared in the banking and insurance’s classifieds of a recent Saturday edition of the Alpha newspaper, asking for “bankers, journalists, teachers, theologians, tradesmen, lawyers and communication experts” aged between 22 and 35 to consider signing up. While the ad makes it clear there’s no pay for the job, it says the monks do offer “spirituality and prayer, contemplation (and) an egalitarian lifestyle” as well as freedom from personal material riches. The Franciscan order in the country currently boast only 200 monks and the average age is apparently 70.

• Caution: this article could contain a spoiler. News this week that David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the ‘original’Star Wars movies, let slip the secret that Darth was Luke Skywalker’s father two years before the Empire Strikes Back came out during an autograph session with fans. But, as was the case in the days before social networking, no-one seemed to pay much attention - even a newspaper report of the autograph session didn’t pick up on the revelation, saying only that Prowse in his comments - “Father can’t kill son, son can’t kill father” - “offered a glimpse of a possible plot for the second sequel”. Ah, for the good old days.

• Paying $1 a week to rent a farmhouse isn’t a lot these days. That’s what the New South Wales community of Trundle, about 50 kilometres north-west of Parkes, are offering in a bid to attract new families to the district and save the local schools. Applications for the positions close on 12th December, 2010. Five farmhouses are available to rent straight away but, be warned, they do require some work.