DAVID ADAMS reports on the odder side of life…
• The US election has brought new-found fame to the mayor of the Japanese town of Yamato in the south-western prefecture of Kumamoto. Mayor Yutaka Umeda’s name may not seem to initially spark any connection to the US poll and those involved in it, but that changes when its written in Chinese kanji characters when it can then apparently be pronounced as ‘Jo Baiden’ (seeing the similarity now?). The mayor reportedly had no idea of the connection until some family members pointed out last week that he was trending online. Umeda told reporters that “although there are differences in the positions of a US presidential candidate and the mayor of Yamato here in the centre of Kyushu, our passion is the same”. “We continue working to fulfill our duty to ensure the happiness and spiritual richness of our residents.”
Giovanni Contardi seen during the creation of the Rubik’s Cube mosaic on 26th October prior to the Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup. PICTURE: Francesco Agostini Produzioni/Red Bull Content Pool
• Giovanni Contardi, a full-time “Rubik’s Cube artist”, has created a massive artwork made of thousands of Rubuk’s Cubes. The Italian – who created the work to celebrate the Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup which was held on the 40th anniversary of the game’s invention last weekend – says the work involved 6,111 of the colourful cubes and took him about 16 hours to complete, making it the biggest ever completed in less than 24 hours. This year’s Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup was a virtual event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Having missed a trip to Disneyland because of the coronavirus pandemic, a pair of Californian brothers decided to bring a little bit of the theme park to their home by creating a home grown (and smaller scale) version of the Matterhorn roller coaster in their backyard. Brothers Sean and Michael LaRochelle reportedly enlisted the aid of their parents and two other siblings in constructing the coaster – which features a track of about 130 metres, reaches a height of just over six metres and takes about 50 seconds to ride – and had the project completed by July. “Growing up, Disneyland was something I loved,” Sean LaRochelle, who handily happens to be an architecture graduate student, told the Napa Valley Register. “I’ve always wanted to create a roller coaster.”
