That’s Odd

38 Benzene is a human carcinogen. Exposure to benzene can occur by inhalation, orally, and through the skin, and it The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 27, 2022 can result in cancers including leukemia and blood cancer, according to Friday’s recall notice. Last year, Procter & Gamble (PG) recalled more than 30 aerosol spray haircare products, including many dry shampoos and dry conditioners, warning that the products could contain benzene. P&G also last year issued a similar recall for more than a dozen Old Spice and Secret-branded aerosol deodorants and sprays, warning that the products could also contain benzene. Along those lines, cosmetics company L’Oréal, along with multiple other parties, is being sued over claims that its chemical hair straightening products put women at an increased risk of uterine cancer.

Middle Seat Lottery

Hate sitting in the middle seat while flying? You’re not alone. In fact, only 0.6% of more than 7,500 voters polled prefer – or, perhaps more likely, accidentally voted for – the middle seat, according to a recent social media poll by Virgin Australia.

Now, the airline is tackling middle seat anxiety head-on by making sitting squished between two other travelers a bit sweeter.

Virgin Australia has just launched the Middle Seat Lottery, a special raffle worth about $145,000. And it’s only open to those who sit in the middle seat – voluntarily or involuntarily – during a flight.

“Virgin Australia is an airline that’s doing things differently and we are having a lot of fun coming up with exciting innovations to make every part of the travel experience more wonderful,” says Jayne Hrdlicka, the chief executive officer of Virgin Australia Group, in a press release.

“Now we’re giving our loyal guests the opportunity to win from a prize pool valued at over $230,000 for simply sitting in a middle seat.”

From now until April 23, 2023, any Velocity Frequent Flyer member aged 18 years or older who is seated in a middle seat can use the airline’s app to enroll in the lottery.

Each week, a different prize will be awarded to the winner of a lucky draw. Among the innovative gifts up for grabs are a full day helicopter pub crawl (including return flights to Darwin) and a two-night holiday in Cairns including flights, accommodation, and a bungee jump.

For fans of the Australian Football League, there are flights and tickets to the Australian Football League Grand Final as well as exclusive access to the pre-game lunch and after party.

Travelers could also win Virgin’s “Platinum Velocity” frequent flier status for one year – along with one million extra Velocity Points – as well as a few refurbished, themed gallery carts.

May the most squeezed person win.

Doctors in Italy recently shared that a patient remained awake and played the saxophone during delicate brain surgery.

Paideia International Hospital in Rome said in a news release that the 35-year-old patient, identified as G.Z., was kept awake and played his saxophone during the 9-hour surgery to remove a tumor from his brain.

Doctors said the musical performance allowed the surgeons to map the different functions of his brain as they operated.

“Awake surgery makes it possible to map with extreme precision during surgery the neuronal networks that underlie the various brain functions such as playing, speaking, moving, remembering,

Bread Boy

A bakery in the San Francisco area is hawking more than just bread. The eatery now features a 6-foot life-size bread sculpture of “Star Wars” character Han Solo, seemingly frozen in carbonite.

Hannalee Pervan and her mother, Catherine Pervan, co-owners of One House Bakery in Benicia, California, spent weeks molding, baking and assem-

40 bling the life-sized sculpture using wood and two types of dough, including a type of yeast-less dough with a higher sugar The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 27, 2022 content that will last longer. The two worked at night, after the day’s business was done. The lovingly crafted details show Han Solo’s anguished face and his hands straining to reach out. Creating “Pan Solo” was particularly meaningful, Hannalee said, because she contracted covid in January 2021 and lost much of her senses of smell and taste. “So just to find joy in a different part of food is really important,” she said. The sculpture is now on display outside of the bakery, located about a halfhour’s drive north of San Francisco. It will be entered into a community-wide scarecrow contest, in which the public will vote on their favorite scary-thing created by local businesses. The Pervans, who are big science-fiction and fantasy fans, entered another “Star Wars”-themed creation in 2020 featuring the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. Eventually the bread boy will be composted – and not eaten. As Yoda wisely said, “Difficult to see; always in motion is the future.”

This pumpkin squashed its competition.

On Monday, Travis Gienger of Minnesota set a new U.S. record for the heaviest pumpkin after raising a giant gourd weighing 2,560 pounds. With that vast vegetable, he won the annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California.

“Minnesota has a great midyear, but our spring in our parts is really, really tough. So to do it in Minnesota, it just shouldn’t happen,” Gienger said. “It’s like winning the Tour de France on a big wheel. You know, you can only hope, but it worked.”

Gienger drove the gargantuan gourd for 35 hours to see his hard work pay off at the 49th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

“You think driving in a snowstorm is bad? Try driving one of these things,” he said.

Gienger, who also won the same contest in Northern California in 2020, broke a record set last week in New York where a grower raised a massive pumpkin weighing 2,554 pounds.

Despite Gienger’s huge numbers, a grower in Italy holds the world record for the heaviest pumpkin. He grew a 2,702-pound squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.

Sounds gourd-ess.

Auto-Manic

These people are crazy – in a good way. Greg Harris, Priya Singh, Michele Daryanani and Nevena Lazarevic all participated in the recent auto rickshaw challenge in India. Although the way, the two teams ended up setting a world record for the highest altitude drive for the type of vehicle.

The Canadian team, consisting of Harris and Singh, and the Swiss team, composed of Daryanani and Lazarevic, set the record while participating in the Rickshaw Run (Himalayan Edition).

The groups were challenged to drive auto rickshaws, motorized threewheeled vehicles often used as taxis in India, from the Indian city of Jaisalmer to the Himalayan city of Leh, a distance of about 1,430 miles. But they weren’t given a specific path to travel. The two teams decided to drive to the summit of Umling La Pass, which featured the highest altitude road in the world.

The auto rickshaws traversed the road at an altitude of 19,024 feet, which is now believed to be the highest altitude at which an auto rickshaw has ever been driven.

“The road grade climbing to the summit of the pass was so steep that much of the drive could only be done in first gear,” Harris said. “However, the Bajaj auto rickshaws were real workhorses and persistently made their way to the top, a drive usually only accomplished by higher powered motorcycles or cars.”

Umling La Pass, at a height of 19,024 feet (approximately equivalent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro), carries a real risk of serious altitude sickness. At such altitude, there is about 50% less oxygen per volume of breathable air than at sea level, creating breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness, nausea, as well as more potentially serious or fatal altitude related illnesses such as cerebral edema (swelling of the brain) or pulmonary edema (lungs filled with fluid).

Singh noted, “At the summit of the pass, we were breathing air with only half the oxygen found at sea level; so it was both the vehicles and the drivers that were oxygen deprived. Luckily, we had spent time prior to the attempt acclimatizing, so other than some minor discomfort, none of the team members suffered any serious issues.”

Aside from the altitude and the thinning air, the adverturers were able to sample interesting dishes along the way.

Lazarevic added, “While the world record was our ultimate goal, the entire Rickshaw Run of over 2,300 km from Jaisalmer to Leh, while quite difficult, was adventurous, thrilling and spectacular…. That being said – the culinary experience was amazing. The dishes changed totally from the desert bean pickles of Rajastan to spicy and aromatic curries around Shimla, until the momos in Leh.”

High excitement!

Did you know? Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling the shell with milk, honey, and spices and baking it.