The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful

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We played the alien aptitude test which had four different games in it. My favourite was a Pacman-style game which involved moving around the space to collect points in a short amount of time. This is a great test of co-ordination and agility… it’s also really good fun! Explore London’s Ghost Stations Being a father himself now, the creative relates to both the son and the dad in the script. “That was one of the reasons why we landed on the narrative. Every time we read it to someone, people get hooked emotionally to different bits,” he continues. “Tesco is a ubiquitous brand; everyone goes through its doors. So, we wanted to make sure it wasn’t too niche, wasn’t speaking to a particular group but embodying a feeling and a truth about Christmas that everyone can get into.” The house is an artistic recreation of the life of a Huguenot weavers family from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Rabbits, apart from the blind spot in front of their nose, have nearly 360° panoramic vision to allow them to detect predators from all directions. the practice of registering well-known names as Internet domain names, in the hope of reselling them at a profit

The York House Watergate is one of the few remaining watergates that used to provide entry to the riverside mansions that lined the shores of the river. There’s no shortage of Harry Potter finds in London– but a trip to Platform 9 ¾ to take a picture of you pretending to run through the wall is pretty much mandatory. You’ll find it in Kings Cross Railway Station. Leake Street Graffiti Tunnelan invented term said to mean ‘a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust’, but rarely used except for its curiosity value In ancient Greece and Rome, doctors used spider webs to make bandages for their patients. Spider webs supposedly have natural antiseptic and anti-fungal properties, which can help keep wounds clean and prevent infection. It's also said that spider webs are rich in vitamin K, which helps promote clotting.

The banking of the Thames was a feat of Victorian engineering. The Thames is a tidal river, and prior to the banking project, its shores extended way beyond the river we see today. The fake houses of Leinster Gardens in Bayswater are one of the more obscure things to do in London – probably because they’re so difficult to spot. Serradourada Guimarae wants to make people smile with this ad; he feels that the era of trying to make people cry with festive spots isn’t right for now. To coincide with the TV ad, there will also be free Santa’s Grotto activations in store that are available to families and also festive screenings at Cineworld cinemas for staff throughout the Christmas period. In Bewilderworld, step into a vortex tunnel and see if you can stay on your feet while it spins around you! Catch your shadow and shake it with your hands in the Magic Gallery, while in The Puzzling Zone you can watch yourself shrink and grow in the Ames Room and morph into your favourite animal! If it’s extreme that you’re looking for to satisfy your thrill-seeking kids, The Slide is the place to be. Described as a ‘hair-raising London experience’, The Arcelor Mittal Orbit stands as the UK’s tallest public art display. Travel 80m to the top and then down the longest tunnel slide, at a whopping 178m long!

Opossum Facts

of a bird such as the ostrich or emu) unable to fly because of having a flat breastbone, to which no flight muscles are attached

They are antidotes to globalisation. At a time when similar arrays of brands inhabit the main streets of cities everywhere, it’s a pleasure to find an object that could only come from one place. Some have the power to convey disappeared worlds, such as the Soviet-era postcard books of mountain ranges, baroque palaces or Rubens paintings bought in Tallinn, Estonia. I always reference that if someone showed up to your doorstep in September and started singing, you’d call the police. During Christmas, you’re like oh, that’s totally fine.” Out of the millions of creatures on Earth, humans are only 1 of 3 species capable of laughter, the other 2 being chimpanzees and rats. A private collection of all things neon – curated by the late Christopher Bracey, it’s like walking into a film set. Costa Rica’s butterfly species is abundant. The range makes up around 90% of all Central American butterflies and even more impressively, 18% of the world’s total butterfly species.Once upon a time, South London was a rural area – a patchwork of farms, woods and clean, wholesome air. While those days are long gone, finding and visiting the bits that remain is one of the more unusual things to do in London. Though it’s small, there are a couple of fun interactive exhibits – you can test your skills at pulling people’s teeth, or using a treadle-powered drill to drill into a tooth (don’t put it in your mouth, it’s sharp enough to do damage).