DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• Hot on the heels of news of CatConLA, comes news that a company in the Romanian capital of Bucharest has hired a cat as its director of communications. Nine-month-old blue Scottish Folds cat, ‘Bossy’, reportedly beat off 700 other applicants for the position at internet start-up Catbox.ro which carries a £110 a month salary. Certainly has gained them some international attention.
• No good at thumb wrestling? Maybe toe wrestling is for you. The world championships have just ended in the Derbyshire village of Fenny Bentley in the UK with events for both males and females. The ‘sport’, which insists on cut nails and washed feet, is said to date back to 1976 and was first held in a pub in Staffordshire (apparently so the English could win at something) but it’s since attracted interest around the world. Alan “Nasty” Nash reportedly won the men’s title for the 12th time while the women’s title went to Tracy Tippy Toe.
• Citizens of Mars, Pennsylvania, in the US, are preparing to mark the Red Planet’s new year with three days of celebration. The Martian New Year, which occurs on Thursday, 18th June, takes place about once every two Earth years and so to mark the event NASA is joining with a range of organisations in sponsoring a series of exhibitions and events in the town, which lies north of Pittsburgh. These include a “blast off dinner”, costume contest and mobile science lab. The next Mars new year will occur on 5th May, 2017.
