DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• We seem to have a bit of a cat theme running for the past few weeks but we couldn’t let this week pass without mentioning the fact that a Los Angeles animal shelter has announced Tara the cat has won its ‘Hero Dog’ award. The first cat to take out the annual award, Tara was given the gong for her valiant efforts in attacking and chasing away a neighbour’s dog when it sunk its teeth into her owner’s leg. The footage, captured on CCTV camera, went viral when it was subsequently posted online.
• Remember when a set of encyclopaedias was a must-have on your bookshelves? It might be time to revisit the idea with a US artist Michael Mandiberg writing a software program that would convert all of Wikipedia’s 11.5 million entries into a printed form. But before you rush out to grab a copy of all 7,600 volumes, consider the cost – $US500,000. Don’t expect a lot of sales.
• At more than 1.5 kilometre’s long, there should be no fights over the last piece. Italy has reportedly set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s longest pizza after creating a 1,595.45 metre long pie. Made by more than 60 chefs, it used more than two tonnes of tomatoes and more than 1.5 tonnes of mozzarella. Meanwhile, in the US there’s reportedly been an attempt to create the world’s longest line of doughnuts with the creation of a line at a festival in Michigan measuring almost 3.5 kilometres long. Verification awaits.
• While we’re talking records, here’s another recent one: 66 people reportedly crowded onto a single large surfboard at Huntington Beach in the US to seize the record for most people riding a surfboard. The group was able to balance on the board for 13 seconds – three more than the required 10 – to seize the record from Australia where where the previous record of 47 was set in 2009. The record breaking feat took place on International Surfing Day.
