DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Screenshot from a Reuters TV video of the dog wedding in Peru.
• Peruvian four-legged friends tied the knot on Monday in a massive dog wedding in Lima during the Valentine’s Day celebrations. Dressed in Andean-inspired clothing, Cynthia Ceballos’ dogs were the winners of Lima’s MatriCan – a play on Spanish words for “wedding” and “dog” – a local competition celebrating Valentine’s Day by dressing dogs as if they were about to get married. “I saw an Andean wedding and said, ‘why can’t I do the same with my little dogs,” Ceballos said. “We are a family from Cusco; we live from art. So I wanted to design [typical garments] for them.” Mass weddings are common in Peru, especially on Valentine’s Day, a way for Peruvians who cannot afford a wedding of their own to celebrate and also ensure their union is legally recognised. Mass dog weddings are just a twist on the tradition. Some dogs were dressed in more conventional attire – a bow tie for the dog groom, a white bell-shaped dress for the bride. Others were dressed in colourful, summery attire, fit for the hot season in the Southern Hemisphere. One owner even put a veil on one of the dogs. The owners then helped their dogs sign their marriage papers by lifting their paws and pressing them on paper. In the end, the dogs and the owners all took a picture together. “In this very special Valentine’s Day, we have married eight dog couples,” said Patricia Ballari, Lima’s representative of parks services, the organisers of the event.
• It seems an impossible challenge – balancing eggs on top of each other. But now a man from Yemen has broken his own new world record by balancing four eggs on top of each other. Mohammed Muqbel, who previously held the world record for three eggs, set the new record while in Istanbul in Turkey. He told Guinness World Records – who have officially recognised his feat – that many around the world “fail to realise the hard work associated with balancing”. “The art of balancing involves tremendous patience, focus and calmness,” he said. “I would even say it is linked to the science of physics and engineering.”
• A team of four sculptors have created a sculpture of India’s iconic Taj Mahal monument made from snow in the northern town of Gulmarg in the Jammu and Kashmir region. The 4.9 metre-tall sculpture was completed in 17 days and is now proving an extra draw to the tourist town know for its skiing opportunities. “We felt very nice after seeing this snow sculpture of the Taj Mahal here. It is very different and it is nice to see that they have made a Taj Mahal in Gulmarg,” said Rashmi, a tourist who traveled to Gulmarg for the first time just to visit the sculpture. Tourists attracted by the snow Taj Mahal will also be able refresh themselves at an igloo cafe that serves hot food and drink on tables made of ice and snow.
– With Reuters TV
