DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• The Emerald Downs racetrack in the US state of Washington took a break from horse-racing earlier this month to instead play host to some T-Rex racing. The third time the event has been held, it saw a couple of dozen people wearing inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex costumes sprint down the straight (and in some cases stagger) to the finish line. Among them, according to the race caller, were Rex Girlfriend, Dino Dasher and Ramblin’ Rex with Regular Unleaded declared the winner. The bizarre race apparently has something to do with a pest control company although StrangeSights is not as yet entirely sure what that connection is. Oddly, the real T-Rex couldn’t actually really run but instead has been described as a “speed walker”.
• Almost two million people have signed up on a Facebook page to join in “storming” the mysterious US Air Force site known as Area 51 in the Nevada desert on 20th September so people can “see them aliens”. The satirical Facebook page, known as ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us‘, also shows a further 1.4 million people are “interested” in attending the event and points to a website where T-shirts are for sale. The US Air Force was apparently not amused with the prospect – a spokeswoman reportedly said Area 51 was “an open training range for the US Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces” before adding, rather ominously: “The US Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets”. The US college student behind the page, Matty Roberts, has reportedly told people not to take the page too seriously, saying it was meant to be funny and that he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He’s now looking at the possibility of holding a music festival.
• Oops. A giant work of street art in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg was mistakenly partially covered with ashphalt just a few days after it was completed recently. The work, which depicts a giant black and red cross, was created by street artist Pokras Lampas and, with the approval of local authorities, took him and some 20 volunteers three days to complete. But, as the BBC reports, a roadwork crew turned up a couple of days later and started pouring ashphalt on it, affecting some 10 to 15 square metres before they were stopped. Not everyone was upset – one representative of the Russian Orthodox Church said it was outrageous the cross was put on the road, where it could be trampled, in the first place. Local authorities attributed the ashphalt accident to a miscommunication. The artist, meanwhile, is hoping to restore the work.