DAVID ADAMS reports on the odder side of life…
PICTURE: Noup Head Lighthouse on the island of Westray. (Chris Bazley-Rose/Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)
• A veteran flier was recently awarded a bouquet of flowers after becoming the millionth passenger on what is the world’s shortest air service. Anne Rendall has taken more than 10,000 trips on the Loganair service which flies between two of the Orkney Islands – Westray and Papa Westray – in Scotland’s far north. While the journey officially takes two minutes, it can apparently be done in as little as 47 seconds if the winds are right. The 2.7 kilometre flight route has been operating since 1967 (and yes, it holds the Guinness World Record for the shortest scheduled airline service).
• Spare a thought for poor super-spy James Bond. Alex Younger, the head of MI6 – Britain’s external spy agency – says he wouldn’t hire 007 because “in contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts”. “It’s safe to say that James Bond wouldn’t get through our recruitment process and, whilst we share his qualities of patriotism, energy and tenacity, an intelligence officer in the real MI6 has a high degree of emotional intelligence, values teamwork and always has respect for the law…unlike Mr Bond!” he said in an interview published on the Black History Month website, dedicated to the UK’s annual celebration of black culture and heritage.
• Ginger Coke? Odd as its sounds, Coca-Cola has temporarily added a new ginger-beer flavoured version to its Coke range in Australia in what is said to be a world first. Bizarrely, however, the list of ingredients in the drink apparently doesn’t include any ginger – prompting some to wonder whether the whole thing is a prank (Coke have apparently responded by saying ginger is included as part of the flavours listing on the bottle and that the ginger flavour is derived from ginger). Maybe we should just stick to Bundaberg.
