New colourful craze is the pits
In a "manifesto" to celebrate "personal choice and expression" in the standard of beauty - "in a society that already places too many harmful standards on women," according to a July New York Times report, some now are dyeing their armpit hair. In the FreeYourPits website, and events like "pit-ins" in Seattle and Pensacola, Florida, envelope-pushing women offer justifications ranging from political resistance to, according to one, "want[ing] to freak out [her] in-laws". Preferred colours are turquoise, hot pink, purple, and neon yellow. (Source: New of the Weird)
Lion rampant indeed
Frank writes: "About 45 years ago, I was involved with a team of tradesmen installing 16 large tanks in a new cellar, at Lion Breweries in Khyber Pass Rd. On the side of the tallest building on site was the big red lion, proudly standing with its two raised paws. One of the lads carved a giant penis and testicles out of polystyrene and glued it on to the lion. You could clearly see it all over Newmarket and it stayed there for several days before someone, probably from Lion Breweries, finally removed it."
Road signs of the times
"Years ago, roadworks stretched forever along Peak Rd, Kaukapakapa. They were there for an eternity and little progress was being made," writes a reader. "Some 44 gallon drums lined the dusty road with flashing amber lights. The sign read 'Roadworks next 7km'. Eventually some wag changed the sign to read 'next 7 yrs'. In the same area there was a serious slip and a good deal of the road fell away. The council's answer was to put in a new white centreline curved away from the slip. This was very sobering at night to newcomers as someone failed to paint out the old white line."