DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Bulgarian ultramarathon runner Krasse Gueorguiev exercises on a treadmill as he self-isolates inside a small glass cage for 15 days, as part of a social experiment aimed to raise donations to fund programs fighting addictions among young people, in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 30th April, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
• Bulgarian ultra-marathon runner, Krasse Gueorguiev, will live in a glass box for 15 days in a park in Sofia, to raise money to help young people fight addictions. Gueorguiev, a motivational speaker and charity ambassador, has run some 30 ultra-marathons worldwide, from the Arctic to Cambodia, as well as a 217-kilometre race in California’s Death Valley. “I want to challenge myself,” Gueorguiev told Reuters. “I want to show when you put someone in the box how psychologically they change.” The funds raised will be used for various projects to prevent addictions among children under 18, including drugs, alcohol, digital media and energy drinks. A box with three glass walls has been put on a pedestal in front of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. Gueorguiev, who began his experiment on Sunday, will have a bed and a treadmill and no access to books, a computer or phone, only speaking to members of the public for 30 minutes every day. “This is not a physical experiment, it is psychological experiment,” he said. In 2019 Gueorguiev ran 1,200 kilometres (about 746 miles) through Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania to urge governments to build better infrastructure to connect people. In 2003, American illusionist David Blaine spent 44 days sealed in a transparent box suspended over the bank of the River Thames in London with only water to drink, in a stunt criticised by media and the public at the time. – STOYAN NENOV, Sofia, Bulgaria/Reuters
PICTURE: Dan Gold/Unsplash
• A fog machine, a Danny DeVito Christmas ornament and a lightsaber (we presume it’s a toy) are among the most unique items left behind by passengers in Uber vehicles in the past year. The 2023 Uber Lost & Found Index, released late last month, found that clothing, phones, backpacks, purses and wallets were the most commonly left behind items – but others were a little stranger. While the US “50 most unique lost items” list also included a pin with a picture of Jesus holding a slice of pizza, six cheesecakes (at once) and 16 ounces of fake blood, Uber said that among items left in vehicles outside the US were a bathroom shelf (Canada), a blood pressure machine (Taiwan), and a jet washer (London). – DAVID ADAMS
Lucy Williams, from Aberfan, holds her son Daniel Williams, one, as he takes the handbag of Catherine, Princess of Wales, during her 28th April visit with her husband the Prince of Wales, to the Aberfan memorial garden, to pay their respects to those who lost their lives during the Aberfan disaster on 21st October, 1966, in Aberfan, Wales. PICTURE: Ben Birchall/Pool via Reuters.
• British royal Kate was briefly dispossessed of her handbag on Friday by a baby she met while greeting wellwishers on a visit to Wales. One-year-old Daniel Williams took hold of the small black bag from Kate, wife of heir to the throne William, and started playing with it as she chatted to his mother Lucy. Lucy, who was holding her son, told him to give the bag back and tried to wrestle it from him before Kate indicated he could keep hold of it while she greeted other members of the public. “Don’t eat it now,” Lucy told her son while Kate’s back was turned. The encounter occurred on a visit by Kate and William, the Prince and Princess of Wales, to the village of Aberfan to commemorate a disaster where a coal-tip landslide destroyed a primary school in 1966, killing 144 people. A Kensington Palace spokesperson said the couple “recognise the huge significance of this historic disaster to the people of Wales and wanted to pay their respects to those whose lives were lost as well as to meet people living in Aberfan now.” – ALISTAIR SMOUT and MICHAEL HOLDEN, London, UK/Reuters
