October means that it’s spooky season, even if the warm weather in Athens has a mind of its own. Grab a pumpkin spice latte as you unwind from the week with these funny news stories.
Pumpkin Paddle Race
Nothing says fall like pumpkins, and Lohmar, Germany openly embraces the fall spirit. The third annual pumpkin boat race took place Wednesday at Krewelshofer lake.
The course spanned 115 feet and the first to paddle across the finish line received a cash prize. The vegetable boats had to weigh at least 550 pounds and there were six categories of prizes for the fastest boaters.
A New World Record
About 200 people gathered in Soka, Japan, to help break the Guinness World Record for largest rice cracker mosaic. The mosaic is comprised of more than 23,000 rice crackers and resembles Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa painting. Crackers of seven different hues help “paint” Mona Lisa, which spans about 1,250 square feet.
The event was sponsored by the Sokasenbei Promotion Council. The council’s goal for the event was to promote rice crackers produced in the region.
Lucky Numbers
Ronnie Martin is a frequent lottery player, but he only recently struck gold. Martin won $1 million in the New Jersey Lottery, all thanks to a fortune cookie.
Martin received the numbers 1, 2, 4, 19 and 29 in a fortune cookie he opened years ago. Martin had liked the numbers and thought they would bring him good luck.
Martin and his wife, Shirley, plan to pay off their house with the winnings and save the rest.
Pets Taking Cover
On Wednesday, United States cellphone users received a presidential alert from the National Emergency Alert System. The message was just an alert, but it did leave some spooked.
Pets around the country were frightened by the loud buzzes cellphones emitted. Twitter users reported entire neighborhoods of dogs barking and cats hiding under rugs. Photos of the scared pets garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of retweets on Twitter.
Prosecco Paradise
A winery in Conegliano, Italy, faced a flood of massive proportions. The flooding wasn’t from rainfall, but rather, a 30,000 liter fermentation tank at the winery.
The tank of sparkling wine burst open for unknown causes. The tank is suspected to have been overfilled, or the lid may have developed a fault.
An employee caught the explosion on video, which spread across Facebook and other social media platforms.
