DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
A screenshot from one of the videos posted online.
• Thanksgiving came early on the New York City subway this year when a group of people held a feast while riding the rails. Video footage posted online shows a table laden with food set up in a carriage on the Brooklyn-bound L train and being enjoyed by a crowd. Stand-up comedian Jodell “Joe Show” Lewis reportedly claimed responsibility for the stunt which he said was months in the planning.
• Must be the season. A black labrador lefted locked in a car in the US state of Florida decided to entertain itself and reportedly put the car into reverse, doing circles in a cul-de-sac. The owner, who has apparently stepped out of the car after making a wrong turn, called police and it was an hour before they were able to stop the car by entering a code on a driver’s door keypad. No-one was injured (although a post box and rubbish bin were knocked over). Meanwhile, still in the US – this time in Louisiana, a chihuahua left alone inside an SUV at a petrol station managed to drive the car in reverse across a busy street. Police shared footage from a security camera with a warning for people to exercise caution when leaving pets in cars.
• The French institution charged with safeguarding the purity of the French language has warned against the rise of “franglais” – a term to describe the mixing of French and English words. L’Academie francaise, which was established in 1635, said in a statement last week it was “seriously concerned” over the development of “franglais” and that a 1994 law which insists on the use of French in all government publications, commercial contracts and advertisements, was being “repeatedly violated” by an “invasion” of Anglo-Saxon terms. “If they do not react vigorously, if the public does not appreciate the danger that threatens it, French will cease to be the living and popular language we love,” the academy said in the statement (here translated by Google Translate).
