Unusual but true: Sparks fly with proposal at active volcano
2019-05-31
In unusual but true stories this week, we have the Deep Week free-diving festival in the Philippines; Britain's oldest judo master, who is still fit and teaching at 90; a foldable, portable sofa; a race with rolling cheese; and a proposal at the top of an active volcano.
These odd and interesting anecdotes from around the world are here in our review.
Going deep in free-diving festival in Philippines
Deep Week brings the world's best free divers, free-diving instructors and experts to one place where they can share knowledge and maximize the learning experience.
Each day, free divers attend workshops on a range of different free-diving topics and dive in the lake, trying to reach greater depths on a single breath with greater comfort.
Free-diving is the art of diving underwater, especially in deep waters, without the use of any breathing apparatus, which means participants must hold their breath for staggeringly long amounts of time while reaching unfathomable depths.
Britain's oldest judo master still teaching at 90
At 90 years of age, Bill Root is Britain's oldest judo master, still a fit fighter as he continues to teach the martial art after nearly three decades. The grandfather first took up judo at the age of 29 and has been an instructor for 59 years.
After having his own judo club for 30 years, Bill now focuses on training senior students aged 40 to 50 to be coaches. In each 90-minute session every Wednesday, he can be seen arm-locking and choking opponents, throwing them to the floor and holding them into submission.
Now a sixth Dan judoka – an instructor who is six degrees above a standard black belt – he wears a red-and-white belt which highlights his superiority in the sport.
Amazing foldable, portable sofa that fits in a box
Designed to change the way we buy and move sofas, the Elephant in a Box is a collapsible sofa that comes delivered in a compact box and, according to its creators, takes less than five minutes to assemble and two minutes to disassemble.
Engineered using honeycomb technology, Elephant in a Box sofas, which weigh just 45 kilograms, are able to expand and recover their shape after being unpacked.
The honeycomb structure of the sofa is very durable and can last more than 10 years in normal living conditions. Each sofa comes with six-inch foam cushions that provide the perfect density for a comfortable, supportive place to sit or lounge.
Rolling out cheese for unusual race on hill
In the past nearly 20 years, England has held the Cheese Rolling race at Cooper's Hill with some regularity almost every year, typically on the last Saturday in May, with a Master of Ceremonies presiding over the unusual event.
It has been celebrated for centuries and is thought to have its roots in a heathen festival to celebrate the return of spring. The event has grown a bit beyond that to attract international attention in the past few years.
Several thousand people get together and watch roughly 20-40 contestants chase an 8-pound wheel of cheese down a very steep hill (about 90 meters) in the English countryside. There are typically five downhill races -- four for men, one for women.
Sparks fly with proposal at active volcano
When travel blogger Jarod popped the question to his girlfriend, Alison, he decided to up the ante even further by doing it somewhere completely out of the ordinary — while the couple were perched at the top of a 7,600-foot active volcano in Indonesia.
The couple was climbing their first volcano, Mount Bromo in Indonesia, when Jarod asked for his girlfriend's hand in marriage.
After meeting on a Teacher Education Program in Ottowa, the couple, who shares a love for travel and physical activities, has been inseparable.