World's first Pastafarian wedding takes place

The world’s first Pastafarian wedding between a British groom and New Zealand ride has been held aboard a pirate ship in New Zealand.

Pastafarians belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CFSM), which the New Zealand government approved to conduct legal marriages in 2015. The church believes a god made of spaghetti and meatballs is just as likely as other gods. According to its website, its only dogma is ‘the rejection of dogma’.

British man Toby Ricketts and New Zealander Marianna Fenn have been together for four years. Although they never considered marrying before, when the first Pastafarian marriage celebrant was sanctioned by the country’s government they decided the chance to hold a humorous and original wedding was too good to pass up.

The bride and groom wore head-to-toe pirate regalia, and guests donned eye-patches, pirate hats and feathers for the ceremony which took place over the weekend. Fenn also wore a colander on her head – the official headdress of the church.

During the ceremony, Ricketts and Fenn exchanged rings made of pasta, and in his vows Ricketts promised to always add salt while boiling spaghetti.

The total cost of the wedding was NZ$3,000 (£1,460), and the couple supplied the wedding feast – 15kg of tomatoes from their garden, vegetarian meatballs, and plenty of pasta and bread.

The couple are the first to be married by CFSM marriage celebrant Karen Martyn who said she has at least a dozen more weddings lined up this year.

Original story here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/worlds-first-pastafarian-wedding-takes-place-in-new-zealand

Inky the Octopus makes a great escape

An octopus has escaped from the national aquarium in New Zealand by breaking out of its tank, slithering down a 50-metre drainpipe and into the sea.

Inky (pictured left) – a common New Zealand octopus – made his dash for freedom in the middle of the night after the lid of his tank was accidentally left slightly ajar.

One theory is that Inky slid across the aquarium floor – a journey of three or four metres – and then, sensing freedom was close, slipped into  the 50m drainpipe that lead directly to the sea on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Another possible escape route could have involved Inky squeezing into an open pipe at the top of his tank, which led under the floor to the drain.

Inky was brought to the national aquarium a number of years ago by a local fisherman who found him caught in a crayfish pot. He was in a bad way - scarred and ‘rough looking’, with shortened limbs.

Although the aquarium is not actively searching for a replacement for Inky, if a fisherman brought in another octopus it might be willing to take it on.

“You never know,” said Rob Yarrell, national manager of the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier. “There’s always a chance Inky could come home to us.”

Octopuses are known for being escape artists. Because they have no bones they are able to fit into extremely small spaces and have been filmed squeezing through gaps the size of coins. They are also understood to be extremely intelligent and capable of using tools.

At the Island Bay marine education centre in Wellington, an octopus was found to be in the habit of visiting another tank overnight to steal crabs, then returning to its own.

Read the original story here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/the-great-escape-inky-the-octopus-legs-it-to-freedom-from-new-zealand-aquarium