Mixed Shots

Climbing With Covid

This climbing season—the short fair-weather April-May window—Nepalese ­authorities can hope mountaineers infected with Covid won’t pass it on to anybody else because “scalars aren’t vectors”. Jokes apart, what other alibi could they call up other than the obvious—dollars of rich foreigners—in their new record of issuing 394 permits so far for expeditions to Mount Everest? The previous feat was 381 ­permits in 2019, the year 10 climbers died as they were all stopped nearly three hours at dizzying altitudes—forced to burn up their ­precious oxygen supplies as they waited for a crowd of 150 others to clear the Hillary Step, the “death zone”. A foreign climber pays US$ 11,000 for the permission. For the record, Covid is a nifty climber too, and cases have been reported at the Everest base camp.

The Flying Turtle

It’s not unusual for rocks and other debris to crash through a windshield and injure a driver or passenger—but a turtle? A 71-year-old woman riding with her daughter on Florida’s Interstate 95 suffered a gashed forehead when a turtle smashed through the windshield of their car, striking her. The daughter pulled over and was surprised by what she found. An actual turtle! The turtle was likely crossing the interstate and got knocked into the air by another vehicle.

The Naked Lawmaker

With more people than ever working from home, everyone is kind of getting the same crash course about the myriad number of innovative ways that people can totally screw up. Here’s an emblematic experience. Canadian Liberal MP William Amos, who has represented the Quebec district of Pontiac since 2015, appeared on the screens of his fellow lawmakers completely naked and says his video was accidentally turned on as he was changing into his work clothes after going for a jog. A screenshot shows Amos standing behind a desk between the Quebec and Canadian flags, his private parts hidden by what appears to be a mobile phone in one hand. He apologised “for this unintentional distraction”.

What a trill

A $13,000 flute that went missing nearly a decade ago has been returned to its owner after police recovered it from a Boston music store. The flute was reported missing in 2012 after its owner left it in a taxi cab. It had been a cold case until this February, when a worker at a Boston music store called with a tip. The worker told police that someone had come to the store with an expensive flute asking about its value. The employee took down the person’s contact information and took a photo of the flute and its serial number. It turned out to be the missing flute. 

Every Dog Has Its Day

The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan celebrated its new state holiday honouring the native Alabay dog breed. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov established the holiday to be observed on the same day that Turkmenistan lauds its ­Akhla-Teke horse, a breed known for its speed and endurance. Alabay, traditionally used for guarding livestock herds, are among the world’s largest dogs, ­weighing as much as 80 kg. A 50-foot golden statue of the dog was unveiled last year in the capital, Ashgabat.

Brevis

Illustrations: Saahil, Text curated by Alka Gupta