The weekly weird

Published June 27, 2020

An adorable ‘bunny wedding’

An adorable video of an Irish hotel’s ‘bunny wedding’ has gone viral. The unusual feel-good story put a smile on the face of thousands as Bugsy and Roger tied the knot.

The Kilkenny’s Newpark Hotel, Ireland, may be closed to humans, but a skeleton crew of staff still have to look after animals on the onsite farm. And to celebrate its scheduled reopening on July 20, hotel manager Niall Dunne planned the unconventional nuptials recently.

More than 120,000 people watched the unusual wedding story on the hotel’s Facebook page. Filming the short clips has kept spirits up during a very uncertain time for staff.

Manager Niall told: “It’s been surreal for us. When you take away that main ingredient it’s a very scary atmosphere to walk into a hotel that’s usually bustling and suddenly there’s nobody there. We are planning to reopen, which is great, but for the time being the videos are keeping us sane.”


Handmade Nike prototype shoes up for auction

A pair of handmade shoes created by the co-founder of Nike for a University of Oregon runner in the early 1970s is expected to sell for up to $150,000 at an upcoming auction.

Auction house Sotheby’s said the shoes were handmade by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman when he was serving as track coach at the University of Oregon in the early 1970s.

The shoes, which have spikes on the soles as well as the first instance of Nike’s iconic waffle design, were made for John Mays, then a runner on Bowerman’s team. Mays has possessed the shoes ever since.

Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, and they renamed the company Nike in 1971.


Man rides stationary bike for 297 hours

Ben Miles, from Spain, broke a Guinness World Record when he spent 297 consecutive hours riding a stationary exercise bike.

He began his Guinness World Record attempt for the longest marathon on a static bike on June 5, to celebrate International Environment Day. His aim was to raise awareness of environmental causes. He had to keep up a speed of at least 12 mph during his attempt, and rode for a total of 12 days and nine hours. He was allowed a 20-minute break every five hours to change his clothes and take a brief nap.

Guinness adjudicators were on hand during the entirety of the ride to ensure all their protocols were followed during the attempt.


40-foot fishing lure earns record

A Canadian company’s 40-foot-long sculpture of a fishing lure was declared an official Guinness World Record, more than doubling the size of the previous record holder.

The Thompson-Pallister Bait Co. Ltd., manufacturer of Len Thompson Lures, announced this. The lure, which was installed in May 2019 in partnership with the Lacombe Fish and Game Association, Echo Lacombe Community Grant Fund and Comet Welding, was found to be considerably larger than the previous record holder, a sculpture in West, Texas, measuring 15 feet and 6.72 inches long.

The Lacombe lure measures a total 40 feet, 5.25 inches long.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 27th, 2020

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 27th, 2020

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