DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
IN AND OUT: The Top Hat token survives but the wheelbarrow is among those going. PICTURE: John Siebert/www.freeimages.com
• The boot and wheelbarrow have, like the thimble, gone the way of the dodo, with a rubber ducky, penguin and a T-Rex making their first appearance. Such are changes to its tokens announced by Monopoly earlier this month following a poll which saw more than 4.3 million votes cast from people in more than 100 countries. The most popular token was the Scottish terrier while other more traditional favorites include the top hat, car, battleship and cat (this entered the game in 2013). Meanwhile, Hasbro – the makers of Monopoly – have reportedly teamed up with a Broadway production company to create a musical based on the board game. Key questions, however, remain unanswered as yet – such as whether you receive the taxes paid when landing on free parking.
• Authorities in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi have rejected a plan to build a life-size statue of King Kong in the city. The idea was reportedly proposed by the country’s ministry of culture to make the most of the recent release of the film, Kong: Skull Island, which was partly filmed in the country. But local authorities said Hoan Kiem Lake was an important national heritage site and any statue would have to be set well back from it.
• A group of scientists are campaigning to have Pluto, previously the solar system’s ninth and smallest planet, re-recognised as such. The US scientists – led by Kirby Runyon of Johns Hopkins University – are arguing that Pluto, which was redefined as a “non-planet” in 2006, deserves to be a full planet along with more than 100 other bodies in the solar system. Under their approach, the Earth’s moon would also be considered a planet. As would Jupiter’s moon Europa. Would certainly make constructing a model of the solar system more time-consuming.
