StrangeSights

• A hundred-and-sixty years after his death, a funeral service was held for author Edgar Allan Poe last weekend. The writer died some four days after being found wandering the streets of Baltimore and was buried following a funeral in which fewer than 10 people turned up thanks to a lack of publicity. Fans in the US - celebrating 200 years since his birth this year - decided to rectify that by staging a second funeral, complete with a fake body, which attracted more than 700 people (a big jump on the original seven who turned up)!

• ‘Whatever’ has been voted the most annoying conversational word or phrase in the English language in a US survey. A poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion found that almost half of the more than 900 people who took part in the survey voted it the worst followed by ‘you know’ (25 per cent), ‘it is what it is’ (11 per cent), and ‘anyway’ (seven per cent). Like, whatever…

• Looking to get married but can’t find a best man? Why not hire one? A recent article in The Guardian newspaper highlights the growing trend for people in Japan to hire “stand-ins”, whether they’re playing the part of your spouse or significant other, a boss or colleague, or even relatives such as a nephew or niece. The number of agencies providing such services has reportedly doubled in the past 10 years.

• Can it have come round so fast already? The annual Ig Nobel Prizes were officially announced last week. The 10 winners including Elena Bodnar, who took out the Public Health Prize for her invention of a bra that doubles as a pair of face masks; a team from the University of Bern in Switzerland who won the Peace Prize for determining whether it’s better to be smashed over the head with a full or empty bottle of beer; and, Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University in the UK who won the Veterinary Medicine Prize for showing that cows with names give more milk than cows without.

• 2012 marks a century since the sinking of the Titanic and to mark the occasion, a British company is reportedly planning a cruise that will travel the same route and arrive at the site of the sinking in the North Atlantic to hold a memorial service exactly 100 years to the day since the ship succumbed to the sea. More than 1,500 of the 2,223 passengers and crew aboard the ship died when it sank after striking an iceberg on sometime between the night of April 14 and early morning of April 15, 1912. The ship, which had sailed from Southampton in the UK, was headed for New York.

• So, the vote is in and Kraft’s iSnack 2.0 - a blend of Vegemite and cheese - has been replaced by…(drum roll, please)…’Vegemite Cheesybite’. Hmmm. Kraft said the name had attracted some 36 per cent of votes in a poll involving 36,000 Australians and New Zealanders, beating other contenders including ‘Vegemate’, ‘Creamymate’ and ‘Vegemite Smooth’. While ‘Chessymite’ was ruled out (the name has already been trademarked by another company), there are suggestions that use of the Cheesybite name might also come under challenge - this time by Pizza Hut which sells a ‘Cheesy Bites Pizza’. Meanwhile, the debate rages over whether the iSnack naming snafu was simply a clever marketing ploy.

• They did it. Reports this week that a gathering of people at the University of Melbourne finally broke the record for the most number of people dancing in unison - as robots. Organisers managed to bring together 318 people to break the previous record set by 276 students at the University of Kent in the UK. Isn’t it now time for a moon-walking competition?

• Paris Hilton now stands among the verbal luminaries of the world with news that her phrase “Dress cute where-ever you go, life is too short to blend in” has been included in the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin also made the cut with her line: “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick.” They’re just two of the dictionary’s 20,000 new entries.

• And, yes, we too can’t but help put our two cents worth in about iSnack 2.0, the name recently given to Kraft’s new Vegemite and cheese spread after a national contest. Much reviled, the name has now been withdrawn with Kraft announcing it would hold a new competition for a name. Our suggestion? Cheesymite. UPDATE: Apparently the name Cheesymite is owned by Bakers Delight, which explains why Kraft couldn’t use that name. So it’s back to the drawing board!

• It’s certainly copped its share of mockery thanks to those TV infomercials but the ‘Snuggie’ continues to make fashion inroads, recently reportedly appearing in New York Fashion Week. The “blanket with sleeves”, marketed as the ideal way to keep “totally warm” when feeling chilly, was modeled on the catwalk along with one of the latest manifestations of the concept - a snuggie for dogs.

• Colombia has a hippo problem. Authorities there have hippos in their sights as they look to round up the species - first brought to the country by now dead drug lord, Pablo Escobar. A debate has reportedly erupted over what to do with the hippos which Escobar originally imported - along with rhinos, zebras, giraffes and kangaroos - to stock a private retreat he had created. International experts have reportedly been brought in to help come up with a solution amid fears that the animals could cause environmental damage as well as injure people.

• And, yes, time for some more words. This time it’s a new British dictionary called Pimp Your Vocab which is aimed at providing adults with some insights into ‘teenglish’. The book was written by Lucy Tobin while she was at university, inspired when a tutor didn’t know what IM-ing (talking to friends via instant messaging) meant. Among the words explained in the book are ‘cool beans’ (similar to ‘great!’), ‘teek’ (’very old’ as derived from antique), and ‘neek’ (a combination of geek and nerd). Australian-based website Word Up also collates youth slang. It’s entries include ‘devon’ (when something bad happens), ‘chillax’ (combination of chill and relax), and ‘diss’ (meaning to disrespect).

• Don’t expect to knock this 18 holes over in an afternoon. Expected to be opened next month, a new 18 hole, 72 par golf course located on the Nullarbor Plain is being touted as the world’s longest. Nullarbor Links covers some 1,365 kilometres with holes located in both Western Australia and South Australia. Seven of the holes are reportedly located in existing golf clubs while the remaining 11 have been purpose built near roadhouses along the Eyre Highway. The average distance between holes is 66 kilometres but two of the holes are almost 200 kilometres apart. Score cards can be purchased at the Kalgoorlie or Ceduna Visitor Centres and it’s recommended four days be set aside to play the course.

• Time for some new words. The Collins English Dictionary has just published its 30th anniversary edition and it contains a 267 newly added words reflecting life in the new millennium. They include everything from ‘frugalista’ ( a person who tries to stay fashionable on a budget) and ‘Twitterverse’ (a term encompassing social networking site Twitter and its users) to ‘goon bag’ (the plastic bladder inside a cask of wine), ’supernanny’ (need I explain?), ‘mankini’ (a bathing suit made famous by Borat), ‘beer o’clock’ (the time of day when it is customary or acceptable to drink alcohol) and ‘mwah’ (representing the sound of a kiss).

• It was a case of old versus new tech when the pigeons took on the internet in South Africa. Employees of a South African IT firm - determined to show how poor their internet speed was - sent a pigeon to an office 80 kilometres away with a data card strapped to its leg while at the same time sending the same information over the internet. The pigeon reportedly made the delivery in one hour and eight minutes while the electronic data transfer took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds.

• Google Earth has been responsible for unearthing some interesting photos in the past but now comes word that it may have spotted Nessie (aka The Loch Ness Monster). Englishman Jason Cooke says he spotted a shape which looks something like a giant tadpole while browsing satellite images. With speculation rife as to what the shape could be, Google plan to investigate further. The image can be found by entering coordinates latitude 57°12′52.13″N, longitude 4°34′14.16″W in Google Earth.

• Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s been in the news a bit lately what with the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the staging of celebrations to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his military takeover and, in the US, protests against the dictator’s intention to erect a Bedouin-style tent in New Jersey when he visits the country this month. Now Gaddafi’s making headlines again - this time for reportedly planning to file a motion with the UN to abolish Switzerland and share out its land among neighbouring states. The UK’s Daily Mail reports that he apparently first floated the idea at the G8 summit in Italy in July, saying Switzerland wasn’t a state.

• A 1000 ‘icemen’ took about 30 minutes to melt into oblivion in Berlin this week as part of a campaign to draw attention to the earth’s melting icecaps. The sculptures were made by Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo and the art installation was sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. The melting denizens of Berlin can be seen here…

• If you’ve ever reached into your pocket to take out your wallet only to discover you’ve been the unwitting victim of a pick-pocket, you’ll know it’s not a pleasant feeling. More pleasant, however, is reaching in your pocket to find some money you didn’t put there. A group of former pickpockets have reportedly been recruited in London to do just that - slip anything from a £5 to a £20 note into the pocket or handbag of an unsuspecting tourist - as part of an initiative being funded by broadband provider TalkTalk. Known as ‘putpockets’, they’re visiting sites around London until the end of August, after which the initiative - all about helping people feel good in these times of financial cutbacks - will be rolled out countrywide. At least £100,000 is reportedly being given away.

• Don’t like Mondays? Apparently - despite all the songs - you are more unusual than you might think. Researchers at the University of Vermont in the US have reportedly studied 2.4 million blogs over the past four years, scoring each on it’s emotional content. Their conclusion was that Monday was the second happiest day of the week while people were feeling their worst by Wednesday.

• A new ‘kosher’ internet search engine was launched in Israel earlier this year. Known as ‘Koogle‘, it’s a Rabbi-approved Hebrew-language search engine which filters search results so that items deemed unsuitable for Orthodox Jews don’t appear. “There are lots of orthodox homes that don’t have computers but for business purposes, or for people who want to be part of the 21st century, if you’re going to have one the best way is to use one that filters the internet,” Amos Azizoff, who helped to set up Koogle, was quoted as saying in The Guardian in June.

• Australia’s COSMOS Magazine is calling for people to provide them with short messages which will be beamed out into space later this month to a planet located outside our Solar System known as Gliese 581d, which, according to the magazine, may support life (and hence, potentially, someone to read the messages). The ‘Hello From Earth’ initiative is aimed at celebrating National Science Week in Australia and the International Year of Astronomy. As well as NASA - who will beam out the messages via a radio signal emanating from the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Tidbinbilla - the project also has the support of Australia’s Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and the CSIRO. The messages - which must be no more than 160 characters - can be left at the website www.HelloFromEarth.net - until 5pm on 24th August.

• Kirvat Yam, a town is Israel located on the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa, has reportedly offered a US$1 million reward for proof of a mermaid’s existence after dozens of sightings of the elusive creatures. A spokesman for the council has told Sky News that many people had reported seeing what appeared to be a mermaid. “They say it is a female figure, it looks like a young girl,” Natti Zilberman is quoted as saying. The town is apparently hoping the offer of a reward will help boost tourism in the region.

• So you’d like to pray at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall but can’t get there? Alon Nil has reportedly started new Twitter page for wall at which you can tweet your prayers which will then be printed out and taken to the wall. Mr Nil says he has been swamped by the response to the service since it commenced in July. See http://twitter.com/theKotel.

• Like an authentic Indian curry? Doubts have emerged over the origins of chicken tikka masala with claims it was invented in the Glasgow. Ahmed Aslam Ali, whose family owns the Shish Mahal restaurant, reportedly says the dish was invented in his restaurant when a customer suggested his chicken tikka was a bit dry and has local MPs now calling on the European Union to grant it “Protected Designation of Origin” status. Indian chefs, meanwhile, have called the claims ‘preposterous’.

• Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly signed a deal with a record company which will see him release an album of him singing litanies and chants backed by the Choir of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome in recordings made in St Peter’s Basilica. The album, due out in late November on the Geffen label, will also feature him reciting passages and prayers in several languages. He’s apparently not the first pope to release an album - Pope John Paul II released one in 1999.

• Need Fluffy or Spot to take a plane trip but don’t want them sitting in a dimly-lit, cold cargo hold? Pet Airways may be just what you’re looking for. Your beloved pets will travel in their own pet carrier in the main cabin instead of with the cargo; they’ll be constantly monitored by a trained pet attendant; and you can monitor the trip remotely with the company’s “pet tracker”. At this stage sadly, it only operates in US cities.

• The Church of England is asking clergy to make sure that overweight and bald people feel welcome in their congregations, with the realse of a book which says they should be regarded like other ’special needs’ people such as the blind and deaf. The UK’s Daily Telegraph reports that the book, Everybody Welcome, claims that only one in 10 visitors to church return because congregations are so unwelcoming. The book suggests clergy may want to consider whether overhead heaters are a problem for bald people and whether the size of their pews are big enough for larger people.

• The 8th World Games - which sees competitions in sports ranging from billiards and petanque to artistic roller-skating, canoe-polo and flying disc - have just finished in the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung. More than 3,000 athletes from 91 countries, including Australia, were scheduled to take part in the games which provide the opportunity for people to compete in more than 30 sports, many of which you won’t see at the Olympics. (Korfball, anyone?) Russia finished with the highest medal tally - 18 gold - while Australia, which retained it’s lifesaving title, finished in 10th place with five gold, 10 silver and five bronze.