#1 The marmot and the fox
If you’ve ever tried to take a picture of your furry family members you know it’s practically mission impossible to get them to stay put. And yet, wildlife photographers manage to capture perfectly timed, dramatic images of wild animals going about their daily life. Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao won London’s Natural History Museum prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for his patience and lightning-quick reflexes that resulted in his winning almost slapstick perfection of a marmot and a fox. This needs to be made into a cartoon or a children’s story ASAP!
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#2 Advance to GO, Collect $200
Hong Kong hold your horses, there’s a new moustachioed Rich Uncle Pennybags in town – Mr. Monopoly is moving into Victoria Peak! Monopoly Dreams is a real live, fully immersive experience, and it’s inspired by the 84-year-old board game. Slated to be the latest attraction at The Peak and set over 20,000 square-feet, the town of Monopoly features classic Monopoly elements such as “Jail”, “Water Works”, “Electric Company” and “The Bank” where you can catch Monopoly cash coupons to be spent at the park’s gift shop, and other interactive activities in seven themed zones.
#3 Trust no app, not even Google Maps!
#Sardegna – Troppi dispersi, #Baunei vieta l’uso di #GoogleMaps sui sentieri ogliastrini
https://t.co/DOxARgzQwZ— L’Unione Sarda (@UnioneSarda) October 14, 2019
The Italian town of Baunei is posting signs banning the use of Google Maps. Baunei is located on the island of Sardinia, and the rugged seaside landscape is particularly striking. Out-of-towners looking for a scenic drive following the app can quickly find themselves driving their car up narrow, pedestrian-only hiking paths with no way of turning around. There have been 144 rescue missions in the past 2-years alone where sedans, small cars and even off-road vehicles have gotten stuck on impassable paths! The app has also wreaked havoc in Venice by leading drivers to travel along the canals, only, all vehicles are banned, and pedestrians along the Grand Canal have almost been hit by surprise cars.
#4 How skimpy is too skimpy?
A 26-year old Taiwanese woman visiting beautiful Boracay with her boyfriend found herself in hot soup with the police for her choice of bikini – a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy-oh-wow-is-that-just-string bikini that she wore to Puka Beach, where she shocked onlookers. Photos of her went viral on the internet and caught the attention of the Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group (BIAMRG) who directed the island’s police force to act. She was tracked down to her hotel where she was arrested and fined 2,500 pesos (about US$ 50) for lewd photography. Natividad Bernardino, head of the BIAMRG, said, ‘There is no dress code, but it is just common sense.’ We applaud the body confidence, but perhaps some bikinis are just not meant for public consumption.
#5 Birds of a feather
What would you do for the perfect “candid-but-not-candid” shot? Well, if you’re around Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, there are “pigeon spookers” who will stamp their feet and wave flags for about 20 baht (about US$ 0.65), so you can get a picture of birds in flight swarming around you. The gate is well-known for its flocks of pigeons, but they’re not a particularly active flock. Do note that city officials sent out a notice warning people not to feed the pigeons near the gate for public health and hygiene reasons back in 2018. Anyone caught trying to sell bird feed nearby or deliberately trying to scare the birds may be fined 20,000 baht (just over US$ 650!). Pigeons are practically sky-rats after all, so would you?
#6 How far will you go to be heard?
Up to 200 people were arrested for performing various stunts protesting the environmental impact of air travel at the London City Airport. Part of the climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion have been gathering around London for the past couple of weeks, and some even allegedly glued themselves to floors and pavements while others blocked entrances.
James Brown, a visually impaired cyclist and former paralympian was also arrested for climbing on top of a British Airways aeroplane scheduled to fly from London to Amsterdam. Brown had climbed up during boarding where he live-streamed, “We’re protesting against government inaction on climate and ecological breakdown. They declare a climate emergency and then do nothing about it.” He spent about an hour on top of the plane before being taken away by police.
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On another flight, another man who has yet to be identified refused to sit in his seat on a flight bound for Dublin as it taxied out to the runway. Instead, he walked up and down the aisle with his iPhone delivering a lecture on climate change. The man remained calm and polite, even when refusing the cabin crew’s orders to take his seat and when escorted off the plane after it taxied back to the gate.
By the afternoon, police said most of the protesters had left the airport.
Protests have also taken place at Tube stations where protestors were violently dragged off from the roof of trains by angry commuters. A protest at Gatwick Airport was recently called off as well.
