Whale swallows lobster diver, rejects him as meal

A Massachusetts lobster diver survived being swallowed up and then spat out by a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod.

Michael Packard said that it happened in a flash and when he realised he wasn’t bitten or in any pain, he knew he was inside the mouth of a whale and fought to locate his breathing regulator, fearing he could run out of air and suffocate. But the whale had other plans moments later.

“I was in his closed mouth for about 30 to 40 seconds before he rose to the surface and spit me out. I could feel the whale squeezing with the muscles in his mouth,” Packard said.

Packard was battered, but had no broken bones.

Colourful ‘Candy Land House’ for sale!

A pastel-coloured Chicago home, popularly known as the ‘Candy Land House’, is up for sale. The house in the Roger’s Park neighbourhood was built in 1891 and was remodelled into a pastel work of art by current owner Jackie Seiden and her husband, Don, who has since died. They lived in the house for 47 years.

“The whole house is pastel-coloured and glittering from head to toe,” Kathy Schrage, the Redfin real estate agent listing the home, told. “It’s the most eclectic house I’ve seen in 20 years as a Realtor.”

Seiden would prefer to sell the home to someone who would keep the house’s unique elements, but the market will ultimately decide.

Robot server at pizzeria

A Rhode Island pizzeria unveiled the latest addition to its serving staff: a robot designed to take on the heavy lifting.

Bill Kitsilis, co-owner of Angelo’s Palace Pizza in Cumberland, said he purchased a robot, known as a Servi, to help take some of the pressure off his staff. The robot is programmed with the layout of the eatery, so the operator needs only to put in the table number and the Servi will know where to go.

“I feel like if my servers are able to spend more face-to-face time with the guests, instead of running back and forth in the restaurant, it just makes the job easier,” Kitsilis said.

Cardboard motorcycle replicas

An amateur sculptor in Brazil is making waves online after sharing his latest passion project: life-sized cardboard replicas of motorcycles.

Henry Goncalves, 19, of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, spent 10 months creating his first motorcycle replica, a Honda Hornet, from cardboard, PVC pipe and screws. Goncalves, a lifelong car enthusiast, said the Hornet was the first bike to spark his love of motorcycles.

But it was his second motorcycle, a BMW R1200, which brought him his first viral attention.

The second bike took four months to make as it is much more difficult than the Hornet, but was easier to do as he had a certain amount of experience by then. Goncalves is now setting his sights on even larger projects, and aspires to eventually build an entire cardboard house.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 3rd, 2021