Man gets inspired by 'Vikings'; research finds snacking over toilet enjoyable

Stipe Petic a 57yearold Bosnian man with no nordic background was so impressed by the Vikings TV series that he started calling himself Ragnar Kavurson and making axes for a livingPetic claims that his fascination with the culture started with a bingewatching session of Historyrsquos hit series Vikings Coming back to his hometown of Tomislavgrad in Southern Bosnia after 10 years of working on construction sites in Germany he became fascinated by the saga of the legendary hero Ragnar Lothbrok and his wife Lagertha After changing his look to mimic that of a Nordic warrior of legend and borrowing the name of his favourite Viking character Ragnar the lsquoBosnian Vikingrsquo started making intricately decorated Viking axes and shieldsldquoThe first season is my favourite At first I liked Ragnarrsquos personality but to be honest I like Lagertha too She blew my mind awayrdquo said Petic ldquoI had a lot of free time because I live here alone and then while watching the series I saw Ragnarrsquos axe I liked it and I wanted to make one just like itrdquo Kavursonrsquos workshop in Tomislavgrad is now full of Viking axes and shields alongside portraits of logs used for axe throwing practice and detailed portraits of Ragnar and Lagertha as portrayed by Travis Fimmel and Katheryn Winnick Outside the workshop is a functional lsquodrakkarrsquo a flatbottomed Viking boat that the 57yearold made himself and that he sometimes takes out on a nearby lakeSporting a long white beard and braided hair and wearing traditional tunics Ragnar Kavurson looks very much the part of a modern Viking He has a job working as a driver for the regional government but he dedicates all of his free time to his passion making Viking axes and shields that he then sells for anywhere between 25 and 300 EurosBuild your own sockA sock factory in Japan has everyone pedalling their feetSouki Socks a small sock factory in Japanrsquos Nara Prefecture has devised a machine that allows people to knit their own socks by pedalling on a stationary bicycleBefore pedalling factory visitors choose the size of the socks as well as the colours of the threads they want to use Specialised staff connect the threads to the machine and when theyrsquore done itrsquos time to pedal Making a pair of socks is said to take about 10 minutes After yoursquore done pedalling the staff sew the toes and pressfinish the knitted socks for you to take homeWith the COVID19 pandemic keeping people from travelling as much as they used to many didnrsquot have the opportunity to visit the factory and knit their own socks so Souki decided to have their management do the pedalling for themSeagulls cause menace in VeniceHotels in Venice Italy announced guests are being armed against the cityrsquos aggressive seagulls with an unusual form of protection water guns The AVA said it has been considering further measures to protect tourists from gulls including the use of electrostatic and soundbased devicesAlabama man steals 70ton craneAn Alabama man who called a wrecker service asking to have a 70ton crane pulled out of the woods is now charged with stealing the heavy machinery sheriffrsquos officials said The man who wanted the crane moved fled before officers arrived driving the rig into a ditchMessage from the pastA message in a bottle that was thrown into the Atlantic ocean in 1995 was discovered after it came ashore in Brittany France The bottle came from Jonathan lsquoIvanrsquo Saunders who was working as the engineer on a fishing boat from Gloucester Mass named the Hannah Boden Saunders left his address at the bottom of the message and also placed a dollar bill inside the bottle The letter was dated April 20 1995 and the bottle was released near Puerto RicoSnacking over toilet is enjoyed by some ResearchA new poll has found that a shocking number of people have voluntarily eaten food out of garbage cans But in a more alarming reveal more than onefifth of those surveyed said they have no problem eating food in the bathroommdashand 18 per cent of those surveyed admitted to eating while actually sitting on the toilet The concerning findings come from 2000 UK adults who confessed to the most bizarre places where they have shamelessly eaten food ldquoThe locations speak for themselves of the lengths people will go to have a quick bite Sometimes simply just snacking away from others can give you a moment of peacerdquo psychologist Jo Hemmings said