If it’s news to me, it must be news to you!‘
Witch way: Hundreds of witches swapped their broomsticks for paddles to paddleboard the Willamette River in Oregon.
Dog Days: If my suggestion last week of taking a job as an elf didn’t appeal, how about being paid $100 an hour to play with puppies at the dog-friendly Mutts Canine Cantina in Fort Worth, Texas.
Blue diamonds: Mike Huron of West Virginia has been sending gifts of diamonds and jewellery to women Conservative MPs since 1997 when they say something he particularly approves of. You can listen to his interview by the BBC’s Anna Foster below.
Wordy wise: What do a ballpoint pen, videotape and a whoopee cushion have in common? They are all words and terms that first appeared in print in the year I was born. You can check yours at Merriam-Webster Time Traveller. Ironically, the word ‘counterfactual’ first appeared in the year Donald Trump was born.
Garçon: Hundreds of Argentinian waiters took to the streets of Buenos Aires in the annual waiters’ race to complete the course without spilling their trays of drinks.
Extraordinary ordinary: One worth following on Twitter. Adam Hillan takes the ordinary and makes it look extraordinary.
Batty: One of those hidden images puzzles, this week for Halloween. Can you spot the hidden bat in this picture? If not, here’s the solution.
Brief lives: Leicester City owner and philanthropist Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha;Virtuoso juggler Rudy Horn (Google Translate required); long-serving Manchester Evening News football reporter David Meek; BBC producer Derrick Sherwin who brought Dr Who from black and white to colour; calypso singer Mighty Shadow; inventor of the pacemaker Earl Brakken; tv producer Pamela Lonsdale who created the children’s show Rainbow and; Mario Segale, the real Super Mario.