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StrangeSights: Vlad the vaccinator; the ‘Battle of the Joshes’; and, Putin hits the ice…

Romania Bran Castle

DAVID ADAMS reports on the odder side of life…

Romania Bran Castle

Bran Castle towers above Bran commune, in Brasov county, Romania, on 8th May. PICTURE: Inquam Photos/George Calin via Reuters.

Fourteenth century Bran Castle – famous for its association with 15th century Romanian prince Vlad the Impaler who is said to be the inspiration for the vampire in Bram Stoker’s novel famous Dracula (even though Vlad apparently never stayed there– is now home to a COVID-19 vaccination centre. Doctors and nurses with fang stickers on their scrubs are offering free Pfizer shots to all-comers at the castle in Romania’s Carpathian mountains. Anyone can turn up without an appointment every weekend in May. They also get free entry to the castle’s exhibit of 52 medieval torture instruments. “The idea…was to show how people got jabbed 500-600 years ago in Europe,” the castle’s marketing director, Alexandru Priscu, said.

Hundreds of people with the first name Josh turned up at field in Lincoln, Nebraska, last month where, armed with pool noodles, they battled it out for the right to the name. The event organiser, Josh Swain, reportedly said the idea for the event came when, during a spell of “pandemic boredom” last year, he began a hunt on Facebook for all the people who shared both his first and last name. In an invitation he sent out on social media, Swain, a 22-year-old student from Arizona, challenged anyone with the same name to a duel for the right to it, including the date 24th April, 2021, and a random set of coordinates. While it was sent as joke, Josh’s challenge went viral and so the event emerged. Only one other Josh Swain turned up at the event on 24th April, incidentally, and, hailing from Nebraska, he took on Josh of Arizona in a battle of rock, paper, scissors for the right to the name Josh Swain – Arizona Josh reportedly won. The Swainbowl, as it was known, was followed by the general melee involving anyone with name Josh and the winner of that fight was declared to be four-year-old Josh Vinson, Jr, of Lincoln, Nebraska. But win or lose, the ‘Josh Fight’ was all for a good cause – more than $US10,000 was reportedly raised for medical services to children over the day.

Vladimir Putin ice hockey

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey game of the Night Hockey League in Sochi, Russia, on 10th May. PICTURE: Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters.

It’s not uncommon for Australian Prime Ministers to bowl a cricket ball or two while in the US Presidents have been known to venture out onto a baseball pitch. Russian President Vladimir Putin, already famous for his shirtless horse-riding and judo prowess, has, however, upped the ante somewhat – taking part in a game of ice hockey in an amateur league on Monday. Wearing full ice hockey kit and a number 11 shirt, Putin scored nine goals at the indoor gala event organised in the southern city of Sochi. Others involved in the game included Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyev, as well as some retired Russian ice hockey stars. It’s not the first time the President has taken part – last time he did so was in 2019 when he managed to score eight goals. 

– With Reuters reporters LUIZA ILIE in Bucharest, Hungary and POLINA IVANOVA in Moscow, Russia.

 

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