Happy News Thursday
- Editor OGN Daily
- Aug 28
- 4 min read
A smorgasbord of tasty upbeat news nuggets to brighten the day.
Not in Kansas Anymore
Ruby slippers as tall as a house poke out from underneath the Sphere in Las Vegas. An ultra-immersive cinema experience commences today with the opening of The Wizard of Oz. “You will have sound through your seats, and vibration through your seats. You’ve got wind, you’ve got scent, you’ve got flying at you,” Sphere's COO Jennifer Koester told Neon. “Your hair is going wild as though you are with Dorothy in that tornado. And that’s just one aspect of what you will feel in those moments throughout this this experience, where you are effectively next to Dorothy during this journey." Koester declined to specify the cost, which has been reported at about $80 million, or $1 million per minute of content. The film has been condensed to 75 minutes, one of the most notable editing decisions, to fit the multiple daily screenings.
You're Never Too Old
A 102-year-old Japanese man just became the oldest person ever to climb Mount Fuji. With the assistance of his friends and his 70 year old daughter, Kokichi Akuzawa recently scaled the 12,388-foot peak - the tallest in Japan. Akuzawa had already scaled Mount Fuji a few years earlier, when he was 96. Still, he decided to climb Fuji one last time - taking the easiest of the mountain’s four routes - a journey that takes the average climber six hours, but the route still features some 5,800 feet of vertical elevation gain. Known as the Yoshida trail, it is the mountain’s most popular route, and it’s equipped with many mountainside huts, five shops and three first-aid stations. Akuzawa stretched his journey over three days, spending two nights on the trail.
Antigua's Solution
A new Caribbean desalination solution has opened in Antigua, providing 1 million imperial gallons of drinking water daily. Developed through partnership between APUA and Seven Seas Water Group, this seawater reverse osmosis plant is the first of two facilities that will secure Antigua's water supply for the next 12 years. The plants will eventually provide up to 3 million imperial gallons of drinking water per day, making this one of the more substantial Caribbean desalination solutions implemented in recent years.
Real Estate Advert
In good news for his descendants, a painting stolen from a Jewish collector during the Second World War has been discovered in Argentina after the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi put her home up for sale. More than 80 years after its theft, Portrait of a Lady, by the Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, was spotted hanging over a sofa in the lady’s living room in a photograph on a real estate advert. The painting was one of hundreds stolen or purchased under duress from the collection of Jacques Goudstikker, a successful Amsterdam art dealer who helped fellow Jews fleeing Nazi oppression. At least 800 pieces from Mr Goudstikker’s collection were stolen by Hermann Goering, the head of the Luftwaffe and a known art collector. Around 200 were returned in the early 2000s as part of a Dutch government investigation into artworks stolen by the Nazis. But hundreds, including Portrait of a Lady, were lost. Now the painting’s whereabouts are known, the descendants of Goudstikker are set to mount a challenge to retrieve it through their American lawyer.
A Good Weeknd?
The Weeknd is reportedly in "early" talks to land a whopping $1 billion for his music catalogue. According to Bloomberg, the New York private equity firm, Lyric Capital Group, is negotiating a landmark deal with the Blinding Lights hitmaker, which would see the artist - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - free up funds while keeping ownership of his music with his stake in his publishing rights and master recordings used as collateral. Tesfaye was born in Toronto in 1990, the only child of Ethiopian immigrants.
In Odder News
Scottish Borders council is evicting members of the "Lost Tribes of Hebrews" who have set up camp in a wood near Jedburgh, said The Telegraph. Ghanian-born Kofi Offeh proclaimed the Kingdom of Kubala in the unlikely setting with his wife and an American woman, who claim to be "descendants of indigenous black people in Scotland" expelled under Elizabeth I. In one video, Offeh "is seen being given an 'offering' of Irn Bru and shortbread fingers".
"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot." Robin Williams
On This Day
28 August 1963: Some 200,000 people marched on Washington, D.C., an event that became a high point of the civil rights movement, especially remembered for the famous “I Have a Dream” speech of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today's Articles
Norway: World's first commercial carbon storage facility begins operations deep under the North Sea.
The Original Birkin: Jane Birkin's original Hermès Birkin becomes the world's most expensive handbag.
Mood Boosting Video
Classic British Humour: The famous Two Ronnies 'Four Candles' sketch from 1976 never disappoints!
