June 13, 2004

FIRST off, apologies for the non-appearance of last week’s column. After my staff of highly-trained chimpanzees triple-checked the facts, they came to the conclusion that I messed up. I know, I can hardly believe it either, but rest assured I’ve arranged a suitable punishment for myself by watching "Saturday Night Live" 'til my brain tops itself. So read on to see what you missed last Sunday. Knowing that both of you skim over this on the way to the crossword makes my effort seem almost – but not quite – worthwhile.

Ever made a sandcastle when you were younger, patiently building up the walls, turrets and moat with layer upon layer of sand, doggedly ignoring the bits of sand that got in your jam sarnies, only to sit back and watch the sea ravage your magnum opus? Well stop whining and think how the poor blokes at the AIA Sandcastle Competition feel when the tide’s in.

Based in Houston, Texas, the AIA (aiasandcastle.com) involves 2,500 architects and designers heading for the beach at Galveston to design and build the most intricate, biggest and most extravagant sand castles in the world.

They’re given 10 cubic yards of sand, whatever tools and moulds they need, and are let loose with their imaginations to produce some stunning creations. They only have five hours to actually build their sculptures and the fact that there’s a booze-up with free drinks the night before can’t do much for them.

The 80-odd teams taking part can win awards for best of show, public favourite, funniest creation, best team T-shirt and best traditional sandcastle.

Make sure you take a look at the picture gallery pages to get an idea of the scale and detail of these constructions, and be sure to check out the superb Homer Simpson one.