Sideswipe: 31 Oct: Mortein or Lemsip?

5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 31, 2012

Who needs horses?

Horse showjumping is a long-time Olympics sport, but for the last 10 years equestrians have been performing in "horseless" showjumping, in which horse courses are run by "riders" on foot. According to an October report in the Wall Street Journal, an international association headed by retired pro equestrian Jessica Newman produces at least 15 shows a year, with between 40 and 130 competitors galloping over jumps that vary from 60cm to 1.2m, with the "riders" marked, timed, with points off for touching the rails. Explained Newman about the shows' success: "It's just fun to be a horse." (Source: News of the Weird)

More funny business

Gerald has a few more amusing business names. "In Whakatane there is a septic tank business called Pete's Takeaways and in Martinborough there is a mason with 'get stoned and laid' written on his car business sign. And in Dunedin in the fifties there was a hairdresser called Mr Furkin who had a sign saying 'come inside and get a Furkin haircut', but the police made him pull it down. Also in Dunedin, in the 1930s, there was a law firm called Hitchcock, Scratchett and Pullet."

Poop deck confusion

A reader writes: "I went down to get a coffee at Mojo in the Telecom 'Gen-i' building and a couple of youngish-yet-stuffy businessmen types were there. One was reading Sideswipe and groaning over the poo-splatter-on-the-boat story. From the snippets I picked up he was initially confused as to why it was 'funny', then as he tried to explain the piece to his mate they moved on to being outraged that boats actually dump human excrement in the sea. 'It's ok to drop one in the sea but ...' he said as I walked out of earshot!". (To clarify - the item was from a time when you could dump it all in the sea, today the rules say all effluent from a boat that size must go into a holding tank for disposal).

Video: How they do the special effects in the hit soap opera, Eastenders?

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Video: This driver in Russia is so lucky to walk away from this...Keep watching...

Update: Russian law says drivers have to compensate pedestrian victims for any accidents, no matter whose fault it is. So Russian motorists are installing dashboard cameras to avoid being conned by insurance scammers.

Check out this compilation of pedestrians risking their lives jumping out in front of cars to scam a bit of money out of the driver. Crazy.

Watch here and read the translated blow by blow.