For a 'quick' bite

When Georgia resident Angela English Hansberger's decade-long career as a food and beverage writer went on hold during lockdown, she turned a miniature wooden picnic table on her front porch into a restaurant for squirrels and chipmunks.

Angela Hansberger's restaurant venue has a table with a cocktail umbrella, and a vase made of a discarded piece of plastic. Pics Courtesy/@englishanj, Instagram

On day one when a first course of a few walnuts was served, a furry customer was quick to come over to dine. "When I first saw the chipmunk, he was sitting there like a tiny person, his hands resting on the table. I went to the pantry and gave him some nuts leftover from a holiday pie," Hansberger told Jam Press.

As the critter became a regular, Hansberger upgraded her bitty venue, adding a tablecloth, cocktail umbrella and a vase made of a discarded piece of plastic. Hansberger calls him Thelonious Munk who comes visiting twice a day at fairly regular times and is served home-cooked meals made from nuts, berries, grains and veggies, and herbs from her garden.

While Munk sometimes climbs on top of the table, most days he sits like a respectable diner. His etiquette, however, is tainted by kleptomania, and he frequently steals bowls, glassware and the occasional decoration. The project and her sole customer have significantly helped in alleviating some of her pandemic-induced anxiety.

Living a masked life
A Japanese company in the business of buying the rights to people's faces so it can sell them in the form of hyper-realistic 3D-printed masks is overwhelmed with offers received from Tokyo residents. The rights will be bought for $380 (Rs 28,000) a pop, and the masks will be sold for an estimated $940 (Rs 70,000 approx). The controversial project, named That Face, reportedly aims to give a sci-fi twist to the idea of buying and selling faces, but no one yet knows what will happen to a world full of the same faces as you.

Is she Ukraine's Elizabeth Bennet?
A woman has shunned her jeans to dress like characters from a Jane Austen novel
Mila Povoroznyuk from the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa, has shunned modern clothing for intricate ensembles from the 19th century. Instead of running after fast changing trends, Povoroznyuk chose to go back to a time that will never go out of fashion.

Think long dresses, corsets, and elegant hats and footwear from the late Victorian era. Although getting dressed is more of a hassle now, Mila says it's worth it, as the style makes her feel comfortable. "First, I started wearing a vintage blouse, then a skirt, and somehow vintage clothing started filling up my closet," Povoroznyuk told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. She finds blouses and shoes in second-hand shops, also sews taking inspiration from old books. For accessories, she scouts the collections of similar enthusiasts, and shops at flea markets.

24-karat gold soap is world's most expensive
A family-owned factory, Khan Al Saboun in Lebanon that has been making soap since the 15th century, claims that it is selling the world's most expensive bar of soap at $2,800 (R2,07,333). The soap is said to contain about 17 grams of 24-karat gold, a few grams of diamond powder, pure olive oil, organic honey, aged oud and dates.

Mysterious monolith found in Utah desert
A photo showing a metal monolith installed in the ground in a remote area of red rock in Utah has everyone talking. The smooth, tall structure was found during a helicopter survey of bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah. The exact location is so remote that officials are not revealing it publicly, worried that people might get lost or stranded trying to find it.

Lowa's ‘bat' man
Tommy Rhomberg, a 12-year-old boy from Iowa, is selling baseball bats made from fallen trees to help storm victims. He has crafted more than 200 baseball bats from fallen branches. Each bat, about 30 inches long is made with his grandfather's whittling tools and sandpaper and is selling for $100. Tommy has donated $20 from each sale to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. His bats are a hit on social media and he now has a waitlist of more than 600 people.

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