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STRANGESIGHTS: APRIL FOOL’S DAY ROUND-UP; OF ISLANDS AND MAPS; AND, MARRIED IN A…SUPERMARKET?

Chocolate Whopper

DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…

• Yes, it was April Fool’s Day last Sunday (as well as, more importantly, Easter Sunday), so here’s a round-up of some of the pranks and gags. There were Maxwell Smart flashbacks as US telecommunications provider unveiled ‘The World’s First Smartshoephone‘ while Burger King unveiled the ‘Chocolate Whopper‘ (see below – watch this space), and Richard Branson’s cruise company Virgin Voyages announced plans for an underwater wi-fi service called Wa-Fi. Meanwhile, another US-based company FreshDirect said it going to offer herbs freshly foraged by rabbits while in England, archaeologists said bones found in 2017 were actually those of a ‘porg’ (those oddly adorable little creatures from the latest Star Wars film). And in Australia, the Queensland city of Townsville’s municipal authorities said they were turning Castle Hill’s eastern side into a sculpture of Rugby League legend Johnathan Thurston while Tasmanian Police unveiled a new type of “specialist detection dog” – Elvis, the ‘Hoon Dog’ – to detect traffic offenders, and, Australian Geographic published a story citing a new study which found ‘drop bears’ target people with foreign accents more than those who are Australian born. Meanwhile, in a prank sure to annoy right across the world kids were peeling off Easter egg foils only to find grapes inside. Never gets old.

In other news, a politician in Scotland is attempting to legally bar government map-makers from putting Shetland Islands in a box, demanding that it be placed the correct distance from the British mainland. Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott told a committee that government publications should “reflect the reality of Scotland in terms of its geography”. His position has reportedly found some sympathy which Orkney MSP Liam McArthur saying there have been number of occasions when the Orkney Islands have been “bundled in a box and stuck in the Moray Firth”. At least they’re included – remember the outcry last Commonwealth Games when Tasmania was left off a map of Australia on swimmers’ bathing suits?

It doesn’t seem like a natural fit for a wedding but aisle 13 at the local supermarket was where Larry Spiering and Becky Smith met so it was also where they got married. Aged in their 60s, the couple were married at the Community Supermarket in Lower Burrell in the US state of Pennsylvania last Sunday (the date of 1st April was chosen because of its proximity to the couple’s birthdays). According to a report, they met there 10 years previously when Smith was working there and Spiering asked for her number. The officiating judge said it was the first time he’d performed the ceremony in such a place. And that’s no joke.

 

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