Melon mania: Carving pumpkins at Halloween might be a normal thing to do, but carving watermelons to use as bandit masks is quite another. That’s what two thieves in Louisa, Virginia (U.S.), did to cover up their identities when they robbed a convenience store. They arrived at the business in a stolen vehicle, then strolled in, looking through carved-out “eyes” in the melons they wore on their heads. Police managed to find one of the culprits, and they are still searching for the other one. See the melon heads at...

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Colour change: Blaze, a Labrador retriever from Finland, suddenly changed from black to white, and his owner couldn’t figure out why. She wondered why a small patch of fur on her pet’s ear suddenly turned white. Then, over the course of a year, much of Blaze’s fur changed from black to white. It turns out that Blaze has vitiligo, a condition that causes the pigment in fur to lose its colour. Blaze doesn’t seem to care. He is a loving, healthy dog that likes to play and go for walks. Thanks to his owner’s posts, he has become a social media sensation.

Food art: The Japanese art called kyaraben involves arranging food into interesting and fun designs. One creative kyaraben-maker, known as Etoni Mama, lives in Tokyo and has three children. She became famous on social media for her version of the art. While any kind of food can be used in kyaraben, Etoni’s choice is fried eggs. She makes cartoon characters with runny egg yolks as the head and body, and then she adds harder, cooked pieces of yolk to serve as arms, legs, and feet. She dresses up characters with other food items, snipped and shaped to make clothing. Her children love it!

Fixing fences: Art Gladu has fixed a few fences during his time living in a house at a busy intersection in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). The reason? Vehicles somehow miss the corner and end up in his front yard. It happened in the mid-2000s when a truck backed onto the property before driving off. In 2015, another car careened into the yard, hitting his pine tree. More recently, in the wee hours, Gladu woke to a loud noise, only to find that yet another vehicle had punched through his chain link fence before coming a stop on his tree. He’s hoping the city will have a guardrail installed.

Cool cake: When Zahirah Macwilson and Aiman Hakim Redza got married, they wowed their guests by presenting a unique wedding cake. The Malaysian actors hired bakers to create a wedding cake that hung upside down from the ceiling to resemble a chandelier. The newlyweds stepped up onto a small stage to make the first cut. The cake was made by Lily & Lola Cakes in Kuala Lumpur. Owner Lily Osman got the idea to make such a cake a few years ago, but this was her first opportunity to actually do it. It took a week to make, and she needed help to install it from the ceiling of the wedding venue.

Fast food diet: Dieticians don’t recommend the food choices of a Belgian man named Rudy Gybels. He realized that he had a love for fried potatoes when he was 13 years old. His mother allowed him to eat the fried food for dinner if he would agree to eat a healthy lunch. Over three decades later, Gybels is still eating fries for dinner, along with a Dutch hot dog called a fricadelle. The fast food lover is not overweight, and he feels healthy, but admits that he hasn’t had a check-up for a while. He realizes that his diet isn’t great, but he likes fries too much to give them up.

Body art: Born in Italy, Johannes Stötter is an artist who is an impressive body painter. He uses human models as his canvas and creates realistic looking animals, insects, reptiles, fish, and more. As the models can’t stay in place indefinitely, he takes photos of the finished work. Often, it’s difficult to tell there is a human being (or two) in the photo. For example, he painted two models to look like a crocodile. He painted one curled-up model to look like a beautiful butterfly. Two models, one on top of the other, appear to be a scaly lizard. Aside from his painting, Stötter is also a trained musician.

Crazy furniture: A furniture maker from Auckland, New Zealand, has found a way to make his creations unique. Henk Verhoeff uses his carpentry skills to design and make furniture that looks like it’s warped or cracked – but it is not. In reality, every drawer opens perfectly on a dresser that appears to be crooked and broken, and a hole in the door of a side table is camouflage for miniature shelves on the inside. It is quite a feat for Verhoeff to accurately cut the angles so the moving parts work properly. Verhoeff’s work became known when his daughter posted some images on social media.

Car museum: Many famous automobiles have appeared in movies over the years. Anyone with a hankering to see their favourite movie vehicle can visit the Celebrity Car Museum in Branson, Missouri (U.S.). More than 100 such cars are collected there, from the Ford Explorer in Jurassic Park to the Flintstone’s granite car to the Batmobile from the 1966 TV series. The museum is the brainchild of the Velvet family, who have been car collectors for years. Displays change because the family regularly buys and sells cars. Visitors are welcome to pretend to be a movie star behind the wheel. See them here... www.myCoffeeNews.ca/extra

Cat handbags: A woman in Japan, known as Pico, designs handbags that look like real cats. Using faux fur, a handbag might appear to be a pure white kitten, a black and white cat about to pounce, or a green-eyed grey feline that wants to cuddle. One of Pico’s creations is a knapsack which, on the wearer’s back, looks like a house cat on its haunches clawing at a screen door. Pico’s work became known on social media, but she makes them in limited numbers because she is busy raising her young children.

Loyal pet: A Russian woman named Svetlana is not able to leave her pet husky at home. Svetlana goes to work in a mall, but when she leaves her dog in her apartment, the neighbours complain that he howls all day. So, she dresses him up in a blue sweater and takes him to work, leaving him on the sidewalk outside the mall. A homemade sign explains the situation to passersby. Svetlana spends lunch hours and breaks with her pet, but she won’t give his real name, so the press has dubbed him “Russian Hachiko.” The husky is happy waiting for Svetlana. He gets greetings from shoppers all day long!

Hard cheese: It may not appeal to everyone, but there is a type of cheese made in the Himalayas that provides a great source of protein for those who must survive in cold mountainous regions. Called Chhurpi or Durkha, this cheese is made from the milk of yaks or chauri, a yak-cow cross. The cheese can be cured to be soft or hard. It is the hard version that is the most unusual. It is so hard that, before biting into it, people must keep it in their mouths to soften it up, and chew on the outer layers as they soften. It can take a couple of hours to eat a piece of this cheese in this way, but there is no loss in flavour. See how it is made: www.myCoffeeNews.ca/extra

Chalk replica: “Along the River during the Qingming Festival” is a centuries old Chinese work of art on an approximately five-metre (16-ft.) long scroll. It is a favourite of art teacher Zhao Wenrui of Shanxi Province, China. Wanting to surprise his students after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, he made a replica of the famous work using chalkboards and chalk. The finished product took him three months and covers eight chalkboards and, like the original, reveals the lives of the people of the time, from farmers to vendors to boatmen, along with an amazing array of landscapes.

Weird name: A young Mexican man who grew up in the United States had always been called “Bambino” by his parents and friends. However, when his family of four went back to Mexico, the parents decided to let their son know his real name. It is “Zero Zero Three,” or “Cero Cero Tres” in Spanish. The parents gave him the name because he is the third of four children. His complete name is “Cero Cero Tres Miller Santos Chablé.” Zero Zero Three was able to use his name to his advantage. He won a prize offered by a pizzeria in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, for having the weirdest name. He received two large pizzas as the prize.

Picturesque burglary: If you are going to rob someone, try not to take a picture of yourself on the victim’s phone. That’s what Ashley Keast did after breaking into a home with the intent of stealing. Keast, of Rotherham, South Yorks (England), stole a SIM card and put it into a different phone before posting a selfie. He didn’t realize that the photo was seen by the victim’s co-workers, who called the cops. It didn’t take long to find the thief, who was caught with the victim’s £4,000 Rolex watch. Keast ended up in jail for his bad deed.

Unusual art: Artist Reijo Kela of Finland must have been a bit bored when he decided to make some friends – literally. He came up with an art installation consisting of over 1,000 “people” made of wooden frames and dressed in colourful clothing. All the figures, which have heads of peat and hair of straw, face the same direction. Called “The Silent People,” the installation is situated in a field near a highway, in the Finnish municipality of Suomussalmi. Drivers who are accustomed to the sight may not look twice, but those who don’t know about it experience quite a shock when they first view the army of scarecrows. See these creepy creations here:

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Plant lover: Joe Bagley lives in his own personalized jungle. His home is a one-bedroom coach house in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and it is filled to the rafters with all kinds of potted plants, from cacti to ivy and from tropicals to succulents. All told, he estimates that 1,400 plants live in his abode. His love of plants started when, as a boy of 13, his grandmother gave him a spider plant cutting. Since then, collecting and caring for plants has become his passion. Even his work involves plants: he works in a garden centre.

Close proximity: Those who live near busy highways may not be thrilled with traffic noise, but that’s nothing compared to a situation in Cairo, Egypt. Designed to carry fast-moving vehicles, Teraet Al-Zomor Bridge is under construction just 50 centimetres (20 in.) from four high-rise apartment buildings. Apparently, the bridge is an important addition to the infrastructure, and the construction has a permit. The apartment dwellers will have to relocate, as the buildings will be torn down. For now, though, the view from some of the suites is definitely blocked, but hopefully the compensation to the renters will be worth it!

Big loaves: The country of Vietnam holds many tourist attractions, but one unlikely item has people talking – giant loaves of bread. Baker Pham Thi Bac of An Giang province in the Mekong Delta, started making the big loaves in 2018, just for fun. At about one metre (3 ft.) long and weighing approximately three kilograms (6.5 lbs.), the loaves taste great and are glazed with butter and seeds. Local people heard about the bread first and started asking for it. Then tourists joined in, wanting to take home a loaf or two as souvenirs – if they could figure out a way to carry them! See them here...

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House for raffle: Katherine Jablonowska and Ryan Mclean wanted to do something different, so they took on a unique project. They bought a 19th-century cottage on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales and renovated it. But their goal was not to live there. Instead, they plan to raffle it off for £5 per ticket, with the lucky winner becoming the new owner. Originally a working barn, the home is now a beautiful, peaceful abode, with all the “bells and whistles” of modern life. When selling tickets, the pair is requesting a £1 donation, which they will match and donate to The Children’s Society.

Underwater art: A young Bahamian girl sits beneath the sea off the coast of New Providence, an island in the Bahamas. Actually, the girl is a statue, made of sustainable materials designed to encourage the growth of coral. Named “Ocean Atlas,” this statue was made by Jason deCaires Taylor, an artist and photographer. “Ocean Atlas” was installed in 2014 under the water near the city of Nassau. It is 5.5 metres (18 ft.) tall and weighs over 60 tonnes. It is possible to go snorkelling in the area to see this interesting art installment up close.

Tiny tree: Fairy Lake near the town of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island, Canada, draws people to its shores so they can view a little fir tree. This small conifer is special because it is growing out of a log that is submerged in the lake. The tree is thought to be between 30 and 40 years old, and no one is quite sure how it survives on the log, which is the source of its nutrients. The tree is the subject of many photographs, and no two are alike. In times of high water, it may be almost submerged, while on still summer mornings, it sits peacefully in the mist. Take a look here... www.myCoffeeNews.ca/extra

Twice lucky: His last name has not been released, but “Joe B.” is one lucky fellow. From Pueblo, Colorado (U.S.), Joe bought two lottery tickets on the same day at different stores located a few blocks apart. He purchased one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both tickets turned out to be $1 million winners! Joe used the same numbers (his lucky ones) each time. It took him a month to claim his prizes, and when he did, it was via a drive-thru window set up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Animal hospital: The Nairobi National Park in Kenya has a special centre for injured animals. Called the Nairobi Animal Orphanage, this centre takes in and treats animals and birds of many different species. On any one day, there may be lions, hyenas, cheetahs, parrots, ostriches, and more. While the animals are ill or injured, they are nursed back to health by the orphanage’s staff. The centre’s goal is for the animals to be rehabilitated and returned to their natural habitats. Often, park rangers are the ones who find and bring in animals and birds that need medical treatment. The public can visit the orphanage for educational tours.

Lost in the maze: Those who don’t mind getting lost might want to visit the rare Elizabethan hedge maze in the VanDusen Garden in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast. Planted in the fall of 1981, the maze is made of over 3,000 pyramidal cedars, which have been growing ever since. Some people come to test their sense of direction as they walk through its cool passageways, while others enjoy finding a quiet spot to contemplate life. Those who are afraid of getting lost can view the maze from an observation terrace and watch others try to find their way out! Check out the maze & gardens here: www.myCoffeeNews.ca/extra

Sandy art: Visitors to a beach in Basque Country in Spain could be forgiven if they ran away in fear because they saw a big bull sitting in the sand. However, what they saw wasn’t a real bull. It was a sculpture created by sand artist Andoni Bastarrika. For a decade, the artist has been making sand sculptures mainly to entertain people, but images of this life-size bull went viral on social media and made him famous. Bastarrika uses his hands to get the shape of his subject, and then moves to brushes, sticks, and toothpicks to sculpt the fine details. In addition to creating his own art, he also teaches sand sculpting workshops.

Stay home! The originator of Batman probably never envisioned the caped crusader as a virus fighter. However, that was the case in the Mexican city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. A man dressed up in a real Batman suit drove around the city in a Batmobile, taking it upon himself to tell people to stay at home. He blasted a recorded message from the vehicle asking people to keep their distance from each other. The vigilante apparently was Candelario Maldonado, a Batman impersonator known in the city. See Maldonado in action here:

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Cat sense: Dogs tend to get all the recognition for being heroes in times of trouble, but a cat in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, Newfoundland (Canada), deserves some credit for being a “watch cat.” The black and white feline, called Joey, is owned by Scott White. Just after midnight, White had put some food in the slow cooker, expecting it to be ready in the morning. However, he woke up a few hours later to find Joey pacing around the bed and whacking him with a paw. Turns out the slow cooker had caught fire. Without Joey, the house might have burned down.