Man sets record for dipping biscuit into tea during bungee jump

High tea: Guinness World Records marks new feat in field of ‘bungee dunking’

Offbeat

Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 13:29 Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 13:33

A British adrenaline junkie has given new meaning to the phrase “high tea” — writing his name into the record books in the process.

Simon Berry (24) from Sheffield in the UK, has become a Guinness World Record holder after completing the highest bungee dunk, combining his passions for biscuits and bungees.

Armed with a chocolate Hobnob and a head for heights, the ponytailed tea drinker leapt from a platform around 75m above the ground to plant his biscuit into a tea-filled mug below.

His technique involved clasping one wrist over the other to offer greater stability and precision as the snack surged towards its target.

Speaking after his feat in Bray, Berkshire, Mr Berry said: “It was pretty difficult — the team helped by getting me roughly in there in the right place, but going down and having to nail that cup of tea was pretty tricky.

“(It was) absolutely incredible — the feeling in my chest and seeing everyone’s smiles, it was fantastic.”

Mr Berry’s bungee dunk was one of a number of challenges confirmed as part of Guinness World Records Day.

Magician Martin Rees (28) from Hemel Hempstead, notched up the record for the most tricks performed in a single skydive, while Britons also wowed judges with their record-breaking ability to identify Queen songs, comic book superheroes and Oscar winners against the clock.

PA

Crikey! New groin-flashing frog discovered in Australia

New species of frog extends its legs and flashes its orange groin to startle predators

Offbeat

Wed, Nov 16, 2016, 11:16 Wed, Nov 16, 2016, 11:26

A new species of frog, whose groin flashes orange to scare away predators, has been discovered in Australia.

When biologist Simon Clulow spotted the frog’s unusual marble pattern on its belly, he knew it could be a previously unknown species, a find made all the more unusual as it was not in a remote habitat but on land close to an airport.

“Nowadays many new discoveries are based primarily on genetics, that is, the frogs look similar to other known species but when we analyse them in the lab we find they differ genetically,” said Mr Clulow, of the University of Newcastle, Australia.

“It’s almost unheard-of to pick up a vertebrate in the field and know instantly, based on appearance alone, that it is a new species.”

The species, found at Oyster Cove near Newcastle Airport in New South Wales, has been dubbed uperoleia mahonyi, or “Mahony’s Toadlet”, in honour of Mr Clulow’s mentor, frog expert and conservationist Professor Michael Mahony.

Although a frog rather than a toad, the word “toadlet” was added because the glands on its back look like those found on some toads in Europe and the Americas.

“They are highly secretive. Individuals remain well camouflaged and hidden under grass, leaves and sand,” Mr Clulow said, adding that the best way to find them is by following their mating call, an audible “squelch” of less than a second.

When confronted by predators, the frog extends its legs and flashes its orange groin, which Mr Clulow believes briefly startles predators, allowing it to escape. His findings, with co-authors, is published in peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. Reuters

Joe Biden memes: How US vice-president became internet star

Memes show Biden planning pranks on incoming president-elect Donald Trump

Offbeat

Tue, Nov 15, 2016, 08:54 Tue, Nov 15, 2016, 09:42

Over the past week, the vice-president of the US, Joe Biden, has emerged as the star of a collection of memes.

They depict him as more than a little disinclined to ease Donald Trump’s presidential transition.

In one, he claims to have changed the White House Wi-Fi password to “PssyGrbbr45”.

In all of them, Obama looks and talks like an exasperated parent.

Biden the comic character - an incompetent, coarse, ungovernable buffoon - has emerged by consensus over the years.

If it doesn’t bear much resemblance to the man himself, it isn’t really meant to. It is probably more a characterisation of the office of vice-president.

It is easy to imagine anyone in that position feeling restless, underoccupied, and mischievous.

It is also a role that has kept the outspoken Biden half in shadow for eight years. He is, relatively speaking, a blank canvas. Give him any sort of alternative persona and it will stick.

The satirical website the Onion went so far as to portray Biden as a lecherous, hard-partying hellraiser in the habit of washing his Pontiac Firebird Trans Am on the White House lawn.

The caricature was predicated on nothing (Biden is, among other things, teetotal), but it took hold.

If the real Joe Biden barely figures in all of this, it should be said that he is a little gaffe-prone.

At a ceremony to mark the launch of Obamacare, a microphone caught him telling the president that this was “a big f**king deal”.

He’s also almost imperviously good-natured, and reportedly enjoyed the Onion’s wide-of-the-mark depiction.

The post-election Joe Biden in these latest memes has been specially updated for the occasion.

He is bitter, petty and unable to play along with the dignified charade of transition, a class-clown hero.

Above all, he appears convinced that, in the present circumstances, only pointless, completely idiotic gestures will suffice.

For a lot of Americans, that captures the mood perfectly.

Guardian

Unmanned solar-powered boat sails from Canada to Ireland

After authorities persuaded owner not to cross Atlantic in it, the boat makes trip alone

Offbeat

Mon, Nov 14, 2016, 20:39 Mon, Nov 14, 2016, 20:39

A makeshift solar-powered houseboat has washed up on a beach in Co Mayo after apparently drifting across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada.

Authorities say the owner was intending to sail on the “floating caravan”, but was talked out of it before it broke loose from its mooring in Newfoundland within the last few months.

Locals on Cross Strand Beach on the Muller Peninsula spotted the boat, sparking an emergency rescue mission by lifeboat and coastguard crews.

No one was found aboard the 20ft timber and polystyrene boat but a message scrawled inside gave a clue to its origins. “I, Rick Small, donate this structure to a homeless youth to give them a better life that Newfoundlanders choose not to do! No rent, no mortgage, no hydro.”

Mr Small is an eco-adventurer from Ontario, who has travelled 7,000km (4,350 miles) across Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, on a solar-powered tricycle.

‘Broke loose’

The Irish Coast Guard have been in contact with their Canadian counterparts in Halifax. “They said the owner was hoping to cross the Atlantic in it, but they managed to discourage him,” a spokesman said. “It was last seen in Portugal Cove in Newfoundland during the summer and it broke loose. The Halifax authorities were amazed it made it to Ireland and was in one piece.”

Michael Hurst, of the Ballyglass Coast Guard unit in Co Mayo, was one of the first at the scene when the vessel washed ashore.

“I didn’t know what to think, I was just concerned about safety and securing it,” he said. “Then I thought: where in the name of God did this come from and who built it?”

Mr Hurst described the houseboat as like a “floating caravan” made from timber off-cuts, polystyrene, spray foam and Perspex windows with solar panels.

It is around 20ft long, 10ft high and about 12ft wide, he said. “I wouldn’t like to go out on it,” he added. “But if you were homeless, it would be like a castle.”

Crews used ropes to secure the vessel, which will now be handed over to Mayo County Council.

Locals are already talking about restoring it for use as an attraction on the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route.

Pet pooch hailed for saving boy trapped in tumble dryer

‘Hero’ cockapoo dog alerts mother to son’s distress by finding her and ‘going berserk’

Offbeat

Mon, Nov 14, 2016, 20:01 Mon, Nov 14, 2016, 20:35

A family dog has been hailed a hero for saving a young boy trapped in a tumble dryer at his Co Down home.

Riley Gedge-Duffy (5) suffered burns to his arms, back and head when the machine automatically started with the boy, who has Down Syndrome, stuck inside.

His father Aaron Duffy said their dog, Teddy – a cockapoo raised the alarm.

The 42-year-old told the Press Association: “My wife was upstairs Hoovering at the time and the dog ran upstairs and basically went berserk so she knew something was not right.

“When she went downstairs she saw our older son watching TV and asked ‘where’s Riley?’

“The dog was barking like mad and running backwards and forwards to the tumble dryer but because it was so dark inside, she could not see where Riley was.

“They could hear banging and crashing and could see his iPad going round and round. We suspect he was inside for a couple of minutes.

“She pulled Riley out and started pouring cold water over him.

“I arrived home about 40 seconds later, stripped him and took him into the shower to cover him in cold water. After that I just dialled 999.

“It doesn’t not bear thinking about what might have happened if the dog had not been there.”

Medical tests

The accident happened at the family home in Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland, on Sunday.

Riley was rushed to the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, and is currently receiving treatment.

He is expected to have a CT scan to check swelling to his head, said Mr Duffy.

“He’s doing very well, apart from the burns and bruising to the head,” he added. “But he is in good enough form and is getting back to his old self.”

A hospital spokeswoman has described the boy’s condition as “comfortable”.

Mr Duffy has spoken out to warn other parents of the dangers posed by tumble dryers and to thank ambulance and medical staff for their swift response.

He added: “You read about these things happening but, this happened in our house and I just want other parents to be aware.

“We have a bigger than usual tumble dryer because there are six of us in the house and we have lots of laundry.

“It’s not an old model or anything but by just turning the dial and closing the door that triggers it to start.

“It angers me really, when I think about could have happened.

“Kids have suffocated and the heat drawing the air could have killed Riley quicker.

“Only for our dog reacting the way she did, my wife would not have known something was up.”

It is the second time Teddy has warned of danger in the last two months.

“The dog alerted us that an iPhone charger was catching fire,” said Mr Duffy.

“She’s a brilliant dog, it is amazing.”

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service described the incident as “horrific” and said crews were on the scene within six minutes.

“Today, Reilly is back to his old self and we will maybe get him a wee visit to the station next week,” said the ambulance service.

– (PA)

Bruce Springsteen rescued by bikers after motorcycle breaks down

Group of New Jersey bikers from American Legion help ‘down to earth’ singer get home

Offbeat

Sun, Nov 13, 2016, 15:14 Sun, Nov 13, 2016, 15:42

Coming across Bruce Springsteen on a broken-down motorcycle on the side of the road could probably be a lyric from one of his songs, but it really happened for a group of bikers from New Jersey.

A group from the Freehold American Legion was riding after a Veterans Day event on Friday when Dan Barkalow said he saw a stranded motorcyclist up ahead near Allaire State Park in Wall Township.

“Bikers gotta stick together,” he said. “I stopped to see if he needed help, and it was Bruce.”

Mr Barkalow says they tried to help get his bike running, but when they could not, Springsteen – wearing a brown riding jacket and a red handkerchief – hopped on the back of Ryan Bailey’s bike and they headed to a local bar.

“We sat there and shot the breeze for a half hour, 45 minutes till his ride showed up,” Mr Barkalow said. “Nice guy, real down to earth. Just talked about motorcycles and his old Freehold days.”

Springsteen was raised in Freehold and still lives in New Jersey. The American Legion said he is eligible to join since his father was a veteran.

“It was nice to help out,” Mr Bailey said. “One Freehold person helping out another.”

– (AP)

John Lewis Christmas ad tries to cheer us up with Buster The Boxer

Wild animals and family dog lark about on new trampoline in unusually upbeat ad

Offbeat

Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 09:04 Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 13:08

John Lewis has released an upbeat Christmas ad featuring wild animals and a family dog larking about on a new trampoline, in a departure from the emotion-laden tearjerkers of recent years.

The highly-anticipated ad — considered a marker of the start of the UK Christmas shopping season — begins with a dad carrying out last-minute assembly of his daughter’s secret showstopper present on Christmas Eve as she bounces excitedly on the sofa.

The two-minute ad’s computer-generated stars — a couple of foxes, a badger, a squirrel and even a hedgehog who has ventured out of hibernation — later conduct a midnight test of the trampoline in front of furious Buster the boxer, who is stuck inside the house, before he finally gets his turn on Christmas morning.

The retailer said it had aimed for a sense of fun in this year’s campaign, after 2016 had proved to be “quite a year”, and comes after it acknowledged “a few murmurings” that last year’s Man On The Moon was “a bit sad”.

The ad is set to a cover of Randy Crawford’s 1980 jazz hit One Day I’ll Fly Away by London electronic group Vaults, who recorded it at Abbey Road studios with a 70-strong choir and 66-piece orchestra.

The Wildlife Trusts are this year’s charity partners for the campaign, and they will receive a donation from every soft Buster or wild animal toy sold in connection with the ad.

Craig Inglis, customer director at John Lewis, said: “2016 has certainly been quite a year, so we hope our advert will make people smile. It really embraces a sense of fun and magic, reminding everyone what it feels like to give the perfect gift at Christmas.

“Each year we work with a charity which fits our ad, and we hope this year’s campaign will encourage more children to discover a love of British wildlife and encourage support of The Wildlife Trusts.”

The Wildlife Trusts’ chief executive Stephanie Hilborne said: “The Wildlife Trusts believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife and wild places in their daily lives.

“So John Lewis putting some of our most beautiful British wild animals at the centre of their Christmas advert and making The Wildlife Trusts their charity of choice this Christmas is great news.

“With this support we will be able to inspire thousands more children about the wonders of the natural world.”

The ad, named Buster The Boxer, was created by adam&eveDDB and directed by Dougal Wilson, who also helmed three previous John Lewis Christmas ads including 2011’s The Long Wait, 2012’s The Journey and 2014’s Monty’s Christmas.

John Lewis declined to put a price on the ad, saying only that its budget was similar to previous years, when it spent around £1 million on putting each campaign together and another £6 million on television slots.

The ad launches at 8am today on John Lewis’s website and social media channels and on Sky, and the full version screens for the first time on terrestrial television at around 9.15pm on ITV1.

Other major retailers set to reveal their Christmas campaigns within the next few days include Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.

PA

Toblerone orm: Chocolate bars feel wrath of ‘shrinkflation’

Toblerone widening the gap between triangles in effort to reduce weight and cost

Offbeat

Conor Pope

Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 10:57 Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 16:22

Passing through an airport will never be the same again after the makers of Toblerone confirmed that the gap between the triangular chunks of chocolate is now almost wide enough to park a jumbo jet.

Mondelez International, which makes the chunky chocolate bars , said it had decided to widen the gap between the peaks and to reduce the weight of its 400g and 170g bars while keeping the price and the packaging the same.

It blamed the rising cost of ingredients on the move which will see the weight of the 400g fall to 360g. However, the 170g bar which be reduced to 150g in the UK will remain at its full size in the republic .

If the company had hoped consumers wouldn’t mind the gap they were left sorely disappointed by the reaction to the news on social media with hundreds of people lining up on Facebook and Twitter to condemn the move.

Mondelez International is the parent company of Cadbury and while it employs over 900 people in Ireland the Toblerone is manufactured in Switzerland.

It is just the latest high profile company to engage in a dubious practice known as shrinkflation and many products beloved of Irish consumers have gone through the process in recent years.

The Yorkie bar which maintained its size was what made it special for years after its debut on our shelves in the 1970s has been reduced in size from 70g in its heyday to just 46g today.

The pink Snack started giving its devotees two fingers over a year ago after Cadbury reduced its three-fingered treat by a third.

A multipack of Cadbury Creme Eggs meanwhile fell from six to five while the Snickers bar has also shrunk alarmingly in recent years and Twirls now have barely enough chocolate in them to make their way round a small ballroom even once.

The list of products hit by Shrinkflation goes on and on. One- litre tubs of Carte D’Or ice cream turned into 900ml tubs, while a litre of Innocent smoothies became 900ml. Magnum ice creams, which used to be 360ml, are now 330ml and even the biscuit coating on a Brunch has been significantly diminished.

Ratula Chakraborty, a senior lecturer in retailing in the University of East Anglia has been researching how companies use Shrinkflation to pass on higher costs to consumers rather than raising prices and she warned that there would be more cases of changing chocolate sizes and shrinking sweets in the months ahead as a result of Brexit.

“The new gappy-teeth Toblerone is yet another example of shrinkflation, where shrinking pack contents allows for a backdoor price rise,” Ms Chakraborty said.

“The packaging sneakily remains the same size and it is only when you open it that you discover you have been short-changed.

“Unfortunately, we can expect to see many more cases of sly, shrinking products in the coming months as international producers try every means possible to pass on rising prices in the wake of the falling Pound.”

Canada investigates mysterious ‘pinging’ sound on sea floor

Hunters in the remote Canadian Arctic concerned about sound that is scaring animals away

Offbeat

Sat, Nov 05, 2016, 09:39 Sat, Nov 05, 2016, 09:41

The Canadian armed forces have sent a crew to investigate reports of a mysterious “pinging” sound that seemed to be coming from the sea floor.

Hunters in a remote community in the Canadian Arctic have become concerned about a pinging or beeping sound they say they’ve been hearing in the Fury and Hecla Strait, a channel of water that’s 120km north-west of the Inuit hamlet Igloolik.

Paul Quassa, a local politician, told CBC that the sound seems to be coming from the sea floor, and is scaring animals away from a popular hunting area of open water surrounded by ice that is usually abundant with sea mammals.

“And this time around, this summer, there were hardly any. And this became a suspicious thing,” he said.

Several reports were passed to the military, which sent a CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft to investigate on Tuesday under the mandate of Operation Limpid, a domestic surveillance programme designed to “detect, deter, prevent, pre-empt and defeat threats aimed at Canada or Canadian interests”.

In a statement, Department of National Defence spokeswoman Ashley Lemire said: “The Canadian armed forces are aware of allegations of unusual sounds emanating from the seabed in the Fury and Hecla Strait in Nunavut. The air crew performed various multi-sensor searches in the area, including an acoustic search for 1.5 hours, without detecting any acoustic anomalies. The crew did not detect any surface or subsurface contacts.

“The crew did observe two pods of whales and six walruses in the area of interest.

“At this time the Department of National Defence does not intend to do any further investigations.”

That hasn’t stopped people from theorising about the source of the sounds, which have been variously attributed to the sonar surveys of local mining operations or to Greenpeace activists.

Sonar is used by mining companies to make detailed maps of the sea floor in their search for offshore oil and gas. The sonar is known to disturb marine mammals such as whales and dolphin.s

However, the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, which has conducted sonar surveys nearby, told CBC it has no equipment in the water at this time.

Others believe that Greenpeace is creating the sound on purpose to scare wildlife away from Inuit hunters - an allegation Greenpeace denies.

Mysterious sounds have a tendency to send people’s imaginations into overdrive. Earlier this year a high-pitched flute-like noise kept people in Portland, Oregon, awake. The steady whistling noise had also been heard by residents several decades previously.

Meanwhile in Ontario, a low rumbling sound known as the “Windsor Hum” has confounded residents for six years, with some describing it as like thunder or a subwoofer that can rattle windows.

The sound appears to come from an island surrounded by fences that’s home to a steel plant. The secrecy surrounding the plant has led to wild and unfounded speculation that the sound comes from an alien aircraft or from the construction of an underground tunnel by a billionaire.

Guardian Service

Viral photograph of ‘giant’ huntsman spider an optical illusion, says expert

Photograph of ‘Charlotte’ was posted last year, but only went viral this week

Offbeat

Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 16:01 Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 16:01

A huntsman spider which has been terrifying the internet for its seemingly large size is in fact “quite normal” and only looks so big because of angle of the photograph, an arachnologist says.

The photograph of the spider named Charlotte was posted by Barnyard Betty’s Rescue in Australia last year, but only went viral this week, ABC Online reports.

According to the rescue organisation’s Facebook post, someone saved the “amazing creature” from being killed last year and before releasing it onto a farm.

Charlotte is described as a “beautiful, calm spider” and “not aggressive in any way”.

“Like most spiders she just wanted to go about her business eating bugs and living in peace,” the organisation said on Facebook.

However, its seemingly large size is in fact an optical illusion, says Dr Robert Raven, principal curator (Arachnida) at Queensland Museum.

“The tree and the broom are in focus so you’re getting this unusual perspective.”

“It’s quite a normal size of this species - and I’ve got a live one on my desk at the moment - the placement of the tree behind it makes it look like it is as big as the tree,” he told ABC news.

“The biggest huntsman in the world by leg span is a south-east Asian one, [which has ]a 30cm leg span,” he said.

“We’ve got species of that genus in Australia and the ones in North Queensland get up in size - not to 30cm - but they get big, big spiders there.

“The one pictured is one of biggest species in North Queensland.”

Dr Raven said the spider appeared to be an adult, so it would be unlikely to get any bigger in leg span.

Man stumbles across 49,000-year-old settlement while looking for toilet

Cliff Coulthard came across site which shows Aboriginals settled 10,000 years earlier than previously thought

Offbeat

Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 15:31 Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 15:32

A man on a toilet break in the Australian outback ended up stumbling upon the oldest-known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in existence.

Clifford Coulthard, an aboriginal elder, was surveying the territory with archaeologist Giles Hamm when he needed to go to the toilet.

“Nature called and Cliff walked up this creek bed into this gorge and found this amazing spring surrounded by rock art,” Mr Hamm told ABC news.

“A man getting out of the car to go to the toilet led to the discovery of one of the most important sites in Australian pre-history.”

Mr Hamm said the pair noticed a rock shelter with a blackened roof and knew immediately it was a sign of human activity.

Mr Coulthard came across the arid site, known as Warratyi, which showed Aboriginal Australians settled there 49,000 years ago, 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, The Independent reports.

Researchers who are now excavating the rock shelter in the Flinders Ranges have unearthed ancient artefacts including burnt eggshells and stone tools.

A bone from a now-extinct creature known as a Diprotodon optatum - a huge wombat-like marsupial - was also retrieved, offering the clearest evidence yet that humans interacted with such creatures.

The discovery of some of the earliest artefacts of their kind in Australia, including certain stone and bone tools as well as red ochre and gypsum pigments, has challenged ideas of how and when such items came to be used.

Additional reporting - The Guardian

Steven Seagal granted Russian citizenship by Putin

US actor, who praised Putin, joins Gerard Depardieu as a citizen of Russia

Offbeat

Shaun Walker

Thu, Nov 03, 2016, 15:06 Thu, Nov 03, 2016, 16:54

Call it the “full Gerard”.

First, you travel to Russia and make complimentary remarks about president Vladimir Putin. Then you go to Chechnya and hang out with the Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov, laughing off concerns about his abysmal human rights record and dancing the traditional folk dance in the style of a man being Tasered.

You’re then invited back to Moscow, where you spend some one-on-one time with Putin and develop a personal rapport. You lap up the fawning media attention that nobody gives you back home any more.

For good measure, you throw in a few bizarre and thoroughly inexplicable trips to other countries in the region, in this instance to Belarus, where “the last dictator in Europe” feeds you a carrot, and then Kyrgyzstan, where you ride on horseback into a packed stadium, clad in the armour of a medieval warrior.

Finally, for Steven Seagal, as for Gerard Depardieu before him, comes the final stage: Russian citizenship.

“Vladimir Putin signed an executive order according Russian citizenship to Steven Seagal,” announced the sober decree published on the Kremlin website on Thursday morning, among other items of national importance such as government reshuffles and international treaties.

So far, there has been no personal man-to-man handover, as was the case in 2013 with Depardieu, when Putin handed him his new maroon travel document, and the corpulent actor grasped the Russian president in a sweaty embrace.

But the strength of the friendship between Seagal and Putin is well established. The US actor has said the Russian president could well be “the greatest world leader alive today”. One of the only bits of publicly known information about the private quarters of Putin’s residence comes, somewhat incongruously, from Seagal, who noted in an interview that it contains a life-size gold statue of Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo.

Aside from his admiration for Putin, and a valiant though dubious attempt to enunciate Russian swearwords when he played a Russian gangster in the 2009 direct-to-DVD film Driven to Kill, Seagal would appear to have fairly limited grounds on which to qualify for Russian citizenship.

Apparently, though, that is enough.

“It was his wish; he really was asking for citizenship persistently and for quite a long time,” said Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on Thursday. “He is known for his warm feelings to our country, which he has never hidden.”

Seagal joins a number of westerners who have sought, and been granted, Russian citizenship. In addition to Depardieu, the boxer Roy Jones Jr and the mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson were given the honour last year.

For Seagal, Russian citizenship may give him the chance to burnish his film career with new opportunities and funding. Speaking in Kyrgyzstan in September, the actor also said he had a more lofty ambition: “to bring all people together, to live in harmony”.

Guardian Service

Austrian airline offers ‘world’s shortest international flight’

Flight takes passenger across Lake Constance between Switzerland and Germany

Offbeat

Thu, Nov 03, 2016, 14:22 Thu, Nov 03, 2016, 14:22

An Austrian airline has begun what it claims is the world’s shortest regular international connection — an eight-minute hop across Lake Constance between Switzerland and Germany.

The flight offered by People’s Viennaline connects St Gallen-Altenrhein in Switzerland with Friedrichshafen in southern Germany.

It is part of a route which continues onward to the western German city of Cologne. Passengers can book only the short part for €40 euro .

Swiss Green Party politician Meinrad Gschwend has said he wants to see the flights banned on environmental grounds.

The airline responded by saying that driving around the lake for an hour would produce as many harmful emissions as the short flight.

AP

Heavens above: Kerry sees wettest October day in 77 years

Rest of country extremely dry last month, Met Éireann figures show

Offbeat

Rachel Flaherty Patrick Logue

Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 12:58 Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 15:12

Poor old Kerry. Healy-Rae country bucked the trend in October and saw record-breaking rainfall, according to new figures published by Met Éireann on Wednesday.

The majority of Ireland had its driest October in a number of years but in the south west God seemingly was having a joke with the county’s most famous son and TD, Danny Healy-Rae.

During a debate on climate change in May, Mr Healy-Rae famously told the Dáil that there had been patterns of climate change going back over centuries, “before there was ever a combustible engine working in this or any other countries.

“God above is in charge of the weather and we here can’t do anything about it,” he told the debate.

We can’t confirm a connection, but the heavens certainly opened in Kerry last month, where the wettest October day in 77 years was recorded.

The latest monthly weather statistics showed most parts of the country recorded less than half their normal rainfall for the month with reports of “extremely dry” weather in places. More than two-thirds of the areas reported their driest conditions in a number of years.

Belmullet in Co Mayo reported its driest October in 60 years and Shannon Airport in Co Clare broke its dry weather record for the last 51 years.

Only 27.9mm of rain was recorded for the month in Fermoy, Co Cork, which meant it was its driest October since 1970.

However, there was only one weather station nationwide to report above average rainfall for month- Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry, where rainfall was 105 per cent of the average October figure. Elsewhere in the country rainfall was below average for the month. For example in Sligo, rainfall was only 22 per cent of average and most stations reported less than half their normal rainfall.

Valentia recorded its wettest October day in 77 years when on October 3rd the rainfall reached 105.5mm. It was also its wettest day for any month since 1980 for the area.

The report stated the weather over Ireland for the month was “quite settled” due to anticyclonic conditions coming from Scandinavia.

The sunniest spot in the country for the month was Dublin Airport with a daily mean of sunshine for 3.5 hours a day.

Both Dublin Airport and Malin Head in Co Donegal recorded the most sunshine in one day on October 2nd with 9.7 hours.

The dullest area was Knock Airport in Co Mayo with the lowest monthly total and daily mean of 2.4 hours of sunshine daily.

The temperatures almost everywhere were on or above average. Markree in Co Sligo and Mount Dillon in Co Roscommon were the only two areas to fall below the mean air temperatures with with -0.1 and -0.2 degrees respectively.

The long-term averages are compiled from average monthly totals recorded from 1981-2010.

It was hottest in Shannon Airport with a highest maximum on October 5th of 18.3 degrees, while Sherkin Island in Co Cork had the months highest mean temperature at 12.4 degrees.

The mean wind speeds during the month were “generally low” due to the predominance of high pressure conditions.

Mexican activists demand soap operas about drugs be banned before midnight

Programmes ‘glorify crime’ in country increasingly overwhelmed by drug war violence

Offbeat

Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 12:45 Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 12:47

Mexican politicians and conservative activists are demanding that television shows about the drugs trade be banned before midnight to spare impressionable young people from exposure to the gratuitous violence and lavish lifestyles of mafia kingpins.

They argue that shows such as Lord of the Skies - which dramatises the life of Juarez cartel founder Amado Carillo Fuentes - and Queen of the South - the story of a fictional female kingpin - glorify crime at a time when the country is increasingly overwhelmed by drug war violence.

In a joint statement this week, the presidents of the radio, TV and cinema commissions of the senate and chamber of deputies said that authorities should not allow television stations to “promote apologies for violence and make narco-trafficking and its activities appear aspirational as a lifestyle”.

Zoe Robledo and Lia Limon accused the so-called narconovelas of weakening Mexico’s social fabric “by promoting false values and aggressive social behaviour, which provides regrettable feedback to organised crime”.

The call for a ban comes as Mexico approaches the 10th anniversary of the launch of a militarized crackdown on organised crime - a campaign that has cost an estimated 150,000 lives, left more than 25,000 missing but failed to impose the rule of law or slow down the drugs trade.

The ban is supported by a campaign group known as In Favour of the Best, which argues that in a country where more people own TV sets than refrigerators, terrestrial TV channels “influence the conduct and the aspirations of millions of Mexicans”.

“This tragedy cannot be turned into entertainment,” said Francisco Gonzalez Garza, president of In Favour of the Best, who said that in theory, existing rules already ban shows with excessive violence or sexual themes from primetime.

The move is not without precedent: some states and municipalities have approved ordinances banning narcorridos - songs which lionise drug lords

But Rodolfo Soriano-Nunez, an anthropologist in Mexico City, said that there is no evidence that such bans have any effect on behaviour. Such ordinances prove population with politicians, he said, “because it is easier to chase a singer than a narco”.

Mexico’s two biggest over-the- air networks - Televisa and TV Azteca - have long histories of producing and exporting steamy soap operas known as telenovelas but have steadily lost audiences in recent years as tastes change and Mexicans opt for other programming such as shows on streaming services and cable channels.

Mexican films such as El Infierno, Miss Bala and Hell have confronted the cost and carnage of the drug war - but most of the narco series are actually produced in the US or Colombia, suggesting the appetite for shows based on unpleasant realities is still somewhat limited.

“Countries outside Mexico have generally been known for their tolerance of more realistic TV drama,” said Paul Julian Smith, professor at the City University of New York.

This week’s call for a ban came after a new network, Imagine Television, launched in October with a twice weekly prime time show on the drugs business named El Capo.

Guardian Service

TG4 viewers ‘shocked’ after weather report Halloween prank

Irish channel pulls off inventive disappearing act during Monday night broadcast

Offbeat

Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 11:38 Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 12:00

Viewers were left “shocked” after a TG4 Halloween prank during a weather report on Monday night.

Weather presenter Caitlín Nic Aoidh disappeared after she was struck by a lightning midway during the forecast.

TG4 cut the programme and went to a off-screen title card.

One viewer asked on Twitter: “What just happened on @TG4TV ?

Did she just get electrocuted or was that a Halloween prank?”

Many viewers were impressed by TG4’s “very clever” prank.

“TG4 just produced the greatest weather report of all time,” tweeted @TiobraidArann1, while another viewer John Roycroft said: “Still not as scary as the usual weather in Galway #TG4W.”

World’s shortest flight celebrates millionth passenger

The 1.7-mile hop between islands in Orkney, Scotland can take less than a minute

Offbeat

Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 11:33 Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 11:35

The world’s shortest flight, which can take less than a minute, has celebrated its millionth passenger.

The 1.7-mile hop between Westray and Papa Westray in Orkney is in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest flight in the world.

Its official duration is two minutes, but under ideal wind conditions it can take just 47 seconds.

The eight-seater plane is part of the Orkney Inter-Isles Air Service, which departs from Kirkwall on the main island and connects the Orcadian isles of Eday, Stronsay, Sanday, North Ronaldsay, Westray and Papa Westray.

Loganair has operated the route since 1967 and on Monday honoured one of the veteran passengers at a ceremony at Kirkwall Airport.

Royal Bank of Scotland flying banker Anne Rendall was given a bouquet of flowers by newly-appointed route captain, native Orcadian Alex Rendall — no relation — and said it was “fantastic” that she could help mark the milestone flight.

She has flown more than 10,000 trips on the service, visiting island communities across Orkney and tending to their banking requirements.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s managing director, said: “The route is a jewel in our network and known across the world. However, despite its fame, it’s an essential life-line service for the people of Orkney, connecting the individual islands via a convenient air link.

“It’s used by teachers, doctors, policemen and school pupils, helping them to go about their daily routines with ease and simplicity.

“We’ve been operating the service on behalf of the Orkney Island Council for 49 years, with our eight-seater aircraft a stable fixture above the Orcadian skies during the time.

“I’d also like to congratulate Alex for being promoted to captain of the Britten Norman aircraft, while thanking Anne as one of the airline’s most frequent passengers.”

PA

Ireland’s Eye mystery: A murder gripped Victorian Dublin

The small, picturesque island off Howth was once synonymous with a ‘foul’ murder case

Offbeat

Dean Ruxton

Fri, Oct 28, 2016, 14:09 Fri, Oct 28, 2016, 16:40

On sunny weekend days, the little boats that take people to Ireland’s Eye - a small, rocky island just off Howth Harbour in Dublin - are routinely full. People wrap up and squash in for the short voyage, phones in hand, snapping away as they approach the hilly landmark. A Martello tower and the ruins of an 8th century church are the only real beacons of previous life and it’s long been uninhabited.

Tourists, rock climbers and birdwatchers are the island’s regulars and it is the type of postcard fodder that doesn’t make the news often, save for the odd gorse fire. But that wasn’t always the case.

“Until some seismic or other supernatural agency shall happily have effaced Ireland’s Eye from the surface of the waters where it now stands, and perhaps long after, it will be associated with one of the foulest and strangest murders that have ever been perpetrated.” Those are the words that begin a crime feature in The Weekly Irish Times on March 23rd, 1904, recalling a time when this tourist favourite was associated with a sinister mystery which gripped Victorian Dublin fifty years earlier.

William Burke Kirwan and his wife Maria lived at number 11 Upper Merrion Street in Dublin’s city centre. In September 1852, the couple were renting a room in Howth, from where they would often take the journey over to the little island. William, an artist of “no mean order”, sketched the craggy mounds and shoreline, while 31-year-old Maria, described as a woman of “prepossessing appearance” and a “remarkably fine looking person”, accompanied her husband on these trips, taking walks and swimming in the sea.

Quoting from the Freeman’s Journal at the time, The Irish Times archive piece describes the events on the “beautiful autumn day”, Monday September 6th, when the Kirwans set out from Howth Harbour for the last time.

Patrick Nagle, a local fisherman, had been paid by William to drop the pair over at 10am. Maria asked the small crew - consisting of Nagle and three other men - to return at 8pm that night for the homeward journey. Carrying a basket and a small bag, they walked from the landing place and the fishermen returned to the mainland.

When Nagle’s boat returned that night, the men called out for the couple.

“It was then dark. Mr Kirwan answered and said he was there. They then got into the landing place and Mr Kirwan was standing on the bank above,” reads The Irish Times account.

‘Gone astray’

Nagle, from the boat, asked Kirwan “where was his mistress and he said she had gone astray on the island and he could not find her”. She had been missing since 6pm, he said. One of the other boatmen went with Kirwan to search the island and Nagle followed soon after, walking east along the shore.

At about 10pm, they found Maria’s body. “The body was on the rock, just out of the water,” reads the piece. She was wearing her bathing suit and her clothes were discovered a short distance away. William “appeared to be in very great trouble when the body was found”.

The above story was recalled at the inquest of Maria’s death the next day in Howth. The remains were examined by a medical student named James Alexander Hamilton, who noted various scratches on the body, which were deemed to have been likely caused by the rocks. He concluded that Maria Kirwan accidentally drowned while swimming.

So concluded the first part of the Ireland’s Eye saga, but as The Irish Times put it in 1904, there remained “powerful factors at work in the interest of justice, and bearing directly on the guilt of William Burke Kirwan”.

Several people standing on the mainland pier later reported hearing “heart-rending, agonising screams,” from the island on the evening of Maria’s death, similar to the sounds “uttered by those who see themselves at the point of death from some violent cause”.

Then, shortly after the inquest, police made a discovery that tied motive to the mystery. William was found to be leading a double, secret life with a different woman on Lower Dorset Street, with whom he had children.

Theresa Kenny, like Maria, believed she was the only woman in William’s life, until the two women encountered one another about six months before Maria’s death - around the time the Kirwans moved to Howth, according to testimony from the first day of the trial reported in the Anglo-Celt.

Infidelity

William was swiftly arrested, one month after his wife’s death, and on the same day authorities travelled to Glasnevin cemetery to exhume Maria’s remains.

Infidelity was a scandal of larger proportions in Victorian Dublin and when the case went to trial in December 1852, Green Street Courthouse was thoroughly “packed” and “crammed” for the three days, such was the fierce interest.

Kirwan pleaded his innocence, and was “needless to say. . . ably defended” by his barrister and future politician, Isaac Butt.

The evidence against him was mainly circumstantial; the fishermen who helped locate Maria recalled his trousers were already wet when they saw him first, from his boots to his knees. The screams heard from the harbour would prove damning, as would the fact he was found to carry a sword cane - a weapon concealed in his walking stick. Among the other evidence, according to the piece in The Irish Times, was that William insisted his wife’s body be washed before the first examination. Testimony regarding fighting between the couple, given by the couple’s landlady in Howth, was also heard, according to the Anglo-Celt.

The evidence surrounding the examination of Maria’s remains was a different story, complicated by the fact that when they exhumed her body, she was found to have been buried in two feet of water. “The medical evidence, as usual, was contradictory,” according to the article.

“The theory of the Crown was that Kirwan first murdered his wife with the needle-like sword and afterwards placed the body in the position in which it was found by the boatmen.”

The jury found Kirwan guilty of murder. Judge Philip Cecil Crampton sentenced Kirwan to death, though, as the report notes, he didn’t immediately set an execution date.

Doubt

Despite the verdict being received “with great satisfaction by those in court”, the aftermath saw newspapers “teemed with letters”, by people who urged “that there was a doubt and that Kirwan should get the benefit of it”. A public meeting was held in London over the verdict “and a movement was set on foot for, at least, a commutation of the death sentence. That movement daily gained strength.”

That strength proved effective and Kirwan’s death sentence was reduced to life penal servitude by the lord lieutenant of Ireland.

“Even the jury who convicted Kirwan (was) very greatly pleased with the commutation and the foreman, a Mr Dennis, wrote a long letter to the newspapers, in which, inter alia, he declared that the minds of the jury were much relieved,” according to the author of The Irish Times piece.

The author goes further to say there was not a “shadow of a doubt that had not Kirwan’s married life been what it was proved to be, the jury would never have agreed”.

Accusations quickly mounted that the new sentence was a product of public pressure. Such was the backlash that the under secretary at the time, John L Wynne, defended the move in a newspaper letter, in which he assured that the lord lieutenant “neither solicited, nor received the advice of any other person whatsoever”.

Kirwan served more than 25 years penal servitude for the murder of his wife on Ireland’s Eye. He was released in January 1879 and, according to The Irish Times, was recognised by some about Dublin city at the time.

This story is part of the Lost Leads series - a re-visiting of lesser-known stories that have made the pages of The Irish Times since 1859. What can you find? Let us know @irishtimes. For more information on subscribing to the archive, visit www.irishtimes.com/archive

Australian minister apologises for chauffeur-driven trip for his dogs

Corrections minister had his driver transport Ted and Patch in his parliamentary car

Offbeat

Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 11:15 Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 11:15

A senior Australian minister his come under fire for using his parliamentary car to chauffeur his pet dogs to his holiday house in the countryside.

The corrections minister, Steve Herbert, who represents Victoria, had his driver transport the dogs – named Ted and Patch – in his parliamentary car from Melbourne to the house in Trentham, 97km north-west of Melbourne.

Mr Herbert was not in the car while the Jack Russell terriers were transported.

Mr Herbert issued an apology on Wednesday night, saying, “on reflection, this use of the ministerial car does not meet community expectations and I apologise”.

He did not clarify how many times he had ordered his driver to escort the dogs to Trentham, a historical town located on the Great Dividing Range and described by Tourism Victoria as “punching well above its weight in the eating and drinking stakes”.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, told ABC radio on Thursday morning that he would not be sacking Mr Herbert, although he conceded the minister had made “an error in judgement”.

“He’s apologised,” Mr Andrews said.

“That’s the right thing to do. This doesn’t meet community expectations.”

He said he was yet to speak to Mr Herbert about the incident but said he would be doing so after he returned from Brisbane, where he is attending the Coag domestic violence summit.

The opposition leader in the upper house, Mary Wooldridge, said the situation reflected a “law and order crisis in Victoria”.

“The one thing Victorians don’t want in a minister for corrections is someone who makes errors of judgment,” she said.

“Victorians should also be concerned by reports that Daniel Andrews has not yet spoken to his minister.”

She was echoed by the opposition leader, Matthew Guy, who called on Herbert to be sacked.

“This minister should go,” Mr Guy told reporters on Thursday.

“This minister has been caught rorting the system.”

Victorian MP and leader of the Australian Sex party, Fiona Patten, said Herbert should repay all taxpayer dollars spent on chauffeuring Ted and Patch around.

“Seriously, who would ever think it was OK to have your pets chauffeur-driven at taxpayer expense?” she said.

“I work closely with minister Herbert, and I know he is a good man, but you have to say that this dog debacle shows a serious lapse of judgement.”

However, she did not believe he should resign.

“The minister should pay back any funds that were used in these dodgy doggy misadventures and apologise to the Victorian public,” she said.

“But this government doesn’t have the depth in its ranks in the upper house to replace an experienced minister like Mr Herbert – talent is a bit thin on the ground right now.”

Halloween sorted: your guide to having the craic this weekend

Looking to pass the time on Halloween? Here are some old and not-very-old traditions

Offbeat

Dean Ruxton

Wed, Oct 26, 2016, 14:56 Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 11:33

Ouija boards

Right - in at the deep end. Originally a parlour game and a bit of a laugh, these things have a heavy reputation, mostly due to spooky stories told by grandmothers and portrayal in films.

This is probably less terrifying for people who don’t believe in spirits etc. You can print out an alphabet and grab a CD to use as the planchette (the part you put your fingers on), or you can buy the official Hasbro board game. There’s even one with batteries that lights up.

Bobbing for apples

For many, this game is more hassle than craic. Nevertheless, for some reason it retains its position atop the list of well-known Halloween games. Get a bucket of water and add a few apples. Try to get them out with your mouth. Prepare to be soaked. Next.

Snap apple

Games were seasonal back in the day. Apples are in good supply, so apple games are, too. Hang an apple from the ceiling using a piece of string. Everybody has to try and get a decent bite out of the apple with their hands held behind their back - some versions have guests blindfolded and in others, you have to eat the whole apple.

Postmortem

Blindfold everybody and place various gooey foods into bowls and invite your guests to feel the various parts of the “body”. If there’s something that’s more craic than pretending a bowl of spaghetti is brains, then frankly I don’t want to hear about it.

Cluedo

“Cluedo isn’t a Halloween game,” I hear the chorus sing. Well it’s a mystery game and if you wear a witch’s hat, anything can be a Halloween game. It’s not like there’s a “Halloween Monopoly” I could include.

Halloween Monopoly

In Googling “Halloween Monopoly” to firm up my statement in the previous item, I came across the real deal. It’s called Boooo-opoply. Why didn’t they call it Monsteropoly? It’s hardly likely there’s another Halloween-themed Monopoly game with that exact name.

Monsteropoly

As it turns out, this is also already a thing. I’m now undercover in the murky world of ghoul-themed versions of Monopoly. It’s a topsy-turvy universe of metal dogs, little men with moustaches and a recklessly lenient penal system.

Ghost stories

An upturned flashlight under the chin and you’re good to go. Or, you could adapt the tradition for 2016 and use your smartphone while reading stories from the spooky corners of reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghoststories/

Dressing up

A time-old tradition. If you don’t want to be like everyone else and dress up as Harley Quinn, The Joker or Eleven from Stranger Things, check out these alternative costume ideas: http://iti.ms/2eakIJA

Barmbrack

It wouldn’t be Halloween without metal in a cake.

Baked inside this fruity snack, traditionally, was a piece of cloth, a coin and a ring. If you got the rag, you’d be poor, while the coin predicted riches.

The ring - the only inedible object from the traditional “recipe” still typically included - is a sign of impending marriage.

Carving pumpkins

Jack-o-lanterns are another long-held tradition. Scooping out the innards of a pumpkin and carving grotesque, mostly triangular faces is a must-do around Halloween.

Variations include turnips and even sugar beet, apparently.

In recent years, the Teal Pumpkin Project, promoted by allergy awareness groups, has had some momentum in the US. If you see a blue pumpkin on somebody’s doorstep, it isn’t gone off, it means there are “non-food” treats, for the benefit of kids with allergies.

Ivy Leaf

These old traditions seem to be big on fortune telling. Everybody grabs an ivy leaf and places it in a cup of water and leaves it overnight. If, in the morning, your leaf is intact and not spotty, you’ll have good health for the year. If it isn’t, you’ve added nicely to your morning-after-Halloween misery.

Colcannon

Cabbage or kale and mash was eaten as part of the traditional Halloween spread. They really liked putting hunks of metal in food back then; the game here would be to wrap a coin in foil and put it into the potato for the kids to find. Probably not a good idea.

Find the recipe here: http://iti.ms/2dI6Aec

Spooky night out

If all else fails, you could go full Derek Acorah and hit up one of the thirteen spookiest spots around Ireland: http://iti.ms/2eajs9e

Or, if massively long graveyard tours are your thing, have a look at these 50 must-see graves: http://iti.ms/2dI6Yto

Spooky night in

Netflix is currently streaming the Goosebumps TV series from the 1990s. I’ll say no more.

For a list of events on in Ireland around Halloween, go here: http://iti.ms/2eapDdi