Leap Day Fun – Memphis Flyer

Saw That Coming

You might have missed the first-ever Florida Man Games in St. Augustine on Feb. 24, but it’s never too early to plan for next year. United Press International reported that hundreds of people paid $55 each for a ticket to watch Floridians compete in a mullet contest and a “Florida sumo” event where competitors tried to spill each other’s beers. Other events included a pork butt eating contest, a race that simulated stealing a bike, and an “evading arrest obstacle course.” One winning team walked away with the $5,000 prize. “We understand that Florida is weird,” said Pete Melfi, organizer of the event. “We embrace it.” [United Press International, 2/26/2024]

News You Can Use

Legend says that if the seven ravens who protect the Tower of London (six, plus one spare, as decreed by King Charles II) ever leave the landmark, the tower will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. So it’s no surprise that the tower has a ravenmaster, and 56-year-old Michael “Barney” Chandler has just been installed in the job, the Associated Press reported. Chandler is a former Royal Marine who said, “We don’t know if [the prophecy is] true or not, because we’ve never let the number drop below six — and it’s not going to happen while I’m here.” As the sixth holder of the post, Chandler will be in charge of four other Beefeaters who look after the ravens. “You never know what they’re going to do,” he said. “They’re all totally different, personality-wise.” His favorite is Poppy, who hops up to him to accept a treat of a dead mouse now and again. Spoiler alert: The birds’ feathers are trimmed so they can’t fly away. [AP, 3/1/2024]

Leap Day Fun

• In Rye, New Hampshire, Lillian Edin celebrated her 25th birthday — although she is 100 years old. “I feel 25, until I start trying to walk,” Edin said, according to WMUR-TV. “I can’t believe I’ve lived this age. I really can’t.” She was feted with lunch and cupcakes. [WMUR, 2/29/2024]

• A brother and sister who were both born on Leap Day four years apart are getting to celebrate the unusual birthday for the first time. Omri Demchak, 8, and his sister, Scout, 4, celebrated with more than 50 people at the coffee shop their parents own in Brooklyn, New York. Most years, the family celebrate Omri’s birthday on Feb. 28 and Scout’s on March 1. Mom Lindsay Demchak said neither of the leap kids was due on the special day. “It was truly serendipitous,” she told the New York Post. [NY Post, 2/29/2024]

• Issue 12 of France’s La Bougie du Sapeur (The Sapper’s Candle) has hit the newsstands, the BBC reported — which is kind of a big deal because it is printed only on Feb. 29, every four years. The first edition was in 1980. Editor Jean d’Indy said the 20-page tabloid is “put out by a few pals. We meet in a bar and toss around ideas over drinks. We have a lot of fun, and if the reader does, too, that’s the icing on the cake.” It has a print run of 200,000, costs about 5 euros, and is not available online. [BBC, 2/28/2024]

That’s Sporting

The 2024 Iditarod race in Alaska got off to a messy start, Sporting News reported on March 7. On the first day, musher Jesse Holmes went mano-a-mano with a moose that became aggressive toward his dogs on the trail. Holmes punched the moose in the nose and went on his way. Soon after, Dallas Seavey and his dogs came upon a moose — it’s not clear whether it was the same one — that was “threatening and belligerent.” When the moose got entangled with his dogs, Seavey dispensed with the heroics and shot it. As per the Iditarod’s rules, Seavey then stopped for about 10 minutes to field-dress the moose, but he was later assessed a two-hour penalty at the next checkpoint because “the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher.” A third musher, Wally Robinson, ran across the moose carcass in the dark, on a trail curving through woods. Race Marshal Warren Palfrey confirmed that “we are making sure that every attempt is made to utilize and salvage the moose meat.” So there’s that. [Sporting News, 3/7/2024]

Clothing Optional

Looking for something light and airy to do at the end of April? Set your GPS for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Crafton Ingram Lanes, where Balls Out Bowling will return on April 28, according to WTRF-TV. The Pittsburgh Area Naturalists are hosting the event, which requires nudity (except women are allowed to wear bottoms). Participants must be 18 or older, and sexual activity is not permitted; harassment will result in being ejected from the bowling alley. And leave your cellphone at home; no photos or videos allowed. You won’t have anywhere to carry it anyway! [WTRF, 3/4/2024]

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