THE BATTLE for Booksellermagazine's coveted award for the oddest book title of the year is under way, and we are pleased to bring you the shortlist:
Baboon Metaphysicsby Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press);
Curbside Consultation of the Colonby Brooks D Cash (Slack Incorporated);
The Large Sieve and its Applicationsby Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press);
Strip and Knit with Styleby Mark Hordyszynski (CT);
Techniques for Corrosion Monitoringby Lietai Yang (Woodhead);
and (Magpie's personal favourite) The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Fraisby Prof Philip M Parker (Icon Group International).
Now, where’s the nearest Paddy Power?
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If you applied for that “dream job” on Reef Island, part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, that Magpie has been banging on about, take heart! There are only 34,683 other applicants . . .
Readers with memories will recall that the best job in the world, which Tourism Queensland is trying to fill, basically involves lazing about in the sun for six months, indulging in a spot of snorkling, diving, sailing and island-hopping, while being paid A$150,000 (€76,850) for your troubles.
The highest number of applicants came from the US with 11,565, followed by Canada with 2,791, Great Britain with 2,262 and Australia with 2,064. No figures were available for Ireland, sadly.
The organisers will announce a shortlist of 50 applicants on the Island Reef Job website (www. islandreefjob.com) on March 3rd.
They will be narrowed down to 11: 10 will be chosen by Tourism Queensland, while an 11th “wildcard” applicant will be chosen by popular vote.
The winner will be announced on May 6th.
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Bournemouth and Poole College in Dorset, meanwhile, is starting a two-year surfboarding course.
Students will spend much of their “study” time on the beach and will go on residential trips to top surfing locations such as Cornwall, Devon and possibly abroad. Fees are £4,012 (€3,148).
The surf academy will open in September and will coincide with the completion of Europe’s first artificial surf reef in Boscombe, Bournemouth. A waste of money?
Not so, says champion surfer Terry Crump. “The course is a brilliant idea. Surfing is a growing industry and it’s always good to see youngsters getting enthusiastic about it.”
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An American granny with 23 ex-husbands has been recognised as the most married woman in the world. Linda Wolfe (68), who first wed at 16, admits she became “addicted to the romance”of getting hitched.
The Indiana mother of seven’s longest marriage lasted seven years; her shortest just 36 hours. The best lover was Jack Gourley, who liked skinny dipping and impromptu trysts. She married him three times.
The strangest exchange of vows took place at the Indiana reformatory in Pendleton with a one-eyed inmate named Tom Stutzman.
Wolfe has been single for 12 years. “But I would get married again,” she said, “because, you know, it gets lonely.”