DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life..
• You may know that Tuesday this week was Shrove Tuesday – the celebratory day held before the season of Lent every year in which people all around the world join in eating pancakes. But did you know 9th February this year in the US was also National Pizza Day (not to be confused with National Cheese Pizza Day, celebrated on 5th September, or National Pizza with Everything Except Anchovies Day, celebrated on 12th November) and National Bagel Day? The coinciding of the days has led to some creative responses such as the “pancake pizza”. Little wonder Shrove Tuesday is also known as Mardi Gras (which translates as Fat Tuesday)!
• A new flying squad may be in the wind. Police may use eagles to take down illegal drones in the UK, according to reports. Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has reportedly been impressed by a Dutch program in which birds of prey have been used to hunt down wayward drones amid concerns they are increasingly being used by criminals to spy out homes for burglaries and even deliver drugs and other illicit items over prison walls. Sir Bernard was apparently impressed with what he saw when shown a YouTube video which had filmed the birds in action.
• Know any Bond villains looking for a new lair? A Cold War-era nuclear bunker has gone on the market in Northern Ireland. The bunker, which reportedly has room for 235 beds and includes a conference room and broadcasting suite, was built in the late 1980s and opened in 1990 amid concerns over a Russian nuclear attack. With views over the rolling hills to the north of Belfast, it comes with a price tag of £575,000.
• And so to this week’s odd church – this time it’s the cone-shaped Roman Catholic Cathedral of Maringá in Paraná, Brazil Completed in 1972, at 124 metres high, it’s among the tallest churches in the world and was designed by architect JosÉ Augusto Bellucci who was apparently inspired by the Sputnik satellites of the USSR and the idea of being “close to God”. You can see the cathedral on Wikipedia here.
