DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
People eat food at a flooded restaurant, where patrons stand up from their tables every time the waves come in, on a river bank in Nonthaburi near Bangkok, Thailand, on 7th October. PICTURE: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun.
• Riverside restaurant owner Titiporn Jutimanon was convinced a bout of flooding in Thailand could be the end of a business already struggling from the pandemic. But with the rising tide of the Chao Phraya river last week came an unexpected opportunity. Instead of closing for the floods, Titiporn’s eatery made waves in Thailand by staying open for customers who are revelling in shin-deep dining, and the thrill of avoiding the rush of water set off as boats go by. “Customers absolutely love the waves,” said Titiporn, who runs the Chao Phraya Antique Cafe in Nonthaburi, north of Bangkok. “What I thought would be a crisis turned into an opportunity.” Videos have gone viral on social media of customers sitting on drenched chairs, taking mouthfuls of food as long-tail boats buzz by, then moving out of the way as waves hit. Customers were seen cheering and laughing as their wooden stools are knocked over by the water that breaches the restaurant. “It’s a fun challenge – you don’t know if you’ll get washed away somewhere while eating,” joked one customer Jetdanai Boonrod.
• A group of Star Wars fans in Russia’s northern province of Yakutia have recreated an fullsize X-wing starfighter. Ilya Burnashov, one of the makers, said the “main task” was “to make our dreams come true, because all of our team are great Star Wars fans”. “It means a lot to see your dream come into real life. Also, to bring joy to people, now everybody can come here to the park, take pictures, touch it, see what it’s made of, and get some positive energy.” It took the team three months to build the spacefighter, which first appeared in the 1977 movie Star Wars: A New Hope, at a cost of about $US5,500. They also recently built a model of the Razor Crest ship from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. Asked about their next project, another of the builders, Ayaal Fyodorov, said: “Our next project? Of course, our dream is to build the Millennium Falcon. We haven’t found sponsors yet, but if we do, we’ll make it. A life-size copy.”
• Seeking to please his wife who had wished for a more diversified view from their family house, a Bosnian self-thought innovator has built a rotating house allowing her to watch a rising sun in one moment and passers by in the next. Vojin Kusic said he’d had enough of his wife’s complaints and frequent refurbishing of their family house and had told her: “I’ll build you a rotating house so you can spin it as you wish, even the entrance itself. So if you see unwanted guests coming, turn the entrance to the other side.” Kusic said the house can make a full circle in 24 hours at its slowest speed. A full turn takes only 22 seconds at its fastest speed.
• Some 174 items belonging to the Capone family were put up for auction in Sacramento, California, on Friday night, bringing in more than $US3.1 million. The items put up for grabs included Al Capone’s favourite Colt .45 pistol, a 1946 picture of him relishing his freedom after being released from Alcatraz where he served more than seven years for tax evasion, his platinum and diamond Patek Philippe pocket watch and as well as a vintage hand-coloured silver print of Al and his son, Sonny Capone, furniture and kitchenware. Diane Capone, 77, the second of Al Capone’s four granddaughters, said the decision to sell the items was based on her and her sisters getting older, as well as the increasing threat of wildfires to their homes in Northern California.
– With JUARAWEE KITTISILPA and NATHAN FRANDINO, Reuters/Reuters TV.
