DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
PICTURE: Posted by a model. Ronny Satzke/www.freeimages.com
• Almost anything can be competitive – even, it seems, grave-digging. Two brothers from Slovakia took out an international competition for digging the fastest grave earlier this month. A jury reportedly declared not only were Ladislav and Csaba Skladan the fastest at digging the 1.5 metre deep grave, they also beat other teams from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary for neatness. Only picks and shovels are allowed in the competition which took place at an event to promote the funeral industry.
• And you thought those old Pokémon cards weren’t worth anything. A Pokémon card recently sold at auction for a record price of almost $US55,000 in the US. If it sounds a lot, the fact that it was one of a limited run of which only some 30 cards were ever released may help to explain the price. And while we’re talking record breaking prices for oddities, an almost complete skeleton of the long-extinct dodo has sold in Britain for some $US470,000. It’s apparently one of less than 20 such skeletons in the world.
• Speaking of records, the Bronx Zoo has recently claimed the Guinness World Record for a campaign which resulted in the creation of almost 80,000 origami elephants. The campaign, run in support of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s 96 Elephants initiative, reportedly saw people from 40 different countries around the world send 78,564 of the elephants to the zoo, with Guinness awarding them the record for the largest display of origami elephants. The 96 Elephants campaign aims to increase awareness of the fact that the ivory trade kills 96 elephants a day. And in what has to be one of the weirdest records of the year, Englishman Simon Berry has recently taken out the record for completing the world’s highest ‘bungee dunk’ by dropping down 70 metres to dip his chocolate Hobnob into his cup of tea.
