Sideswipe: April 20: Risky way to dry your smalls

Sighted out of Waihi Beach by Jeff.

Did you know?

in 1950 a gas leak in a church in Beatrice, Nebraska caused an explosion five minutes after choir practise started. No one was hurt because every single member of the choir was late for completely separate reasons, so the church was empty.

the "Boring Billion". From roughly 1.8 billion BC to 0.8 billion BC, relatively nothing happened on Earth. There was tectonic stability, a static climate, and hardly any biological evolution. It has been termed "The Dullest Time in Earth's History".

A 4-year-old was arrested for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Little Dorothy Good spent 10 months chained in a prison cell after confessing to a local judge that she had a pet snake that could talk.

F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen nearly bankrupted his Lotus team. They put a €50,000 bonus per point in his contract thinking they wouldn't score many; Kimi scored 390 in two years including 15 podiums and two race wins.

It's time to get things started...

Lego has introduced The Muppets mini-figures to their lineup ... So far there's Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Rowlf, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Animal, Janice, The Swedish Chef, and Statler & Waldorf.

Man invents bathroom accessory

Paul Elliott from Wiltshire shares a rather odd toilet-related gadget: "Of course a gentleman should always put the seat down. But actually it's not very pleasant to handle a toilet seat just before one has to handle one's self (as it were) in the act of urination. I have overcome this in my household by devising a tool (somewhat like a large wooden fork – kept hanging by the loo) that I can use to lift the toilet seat before weeing. It's not a problem when putting the seat down, because one of course washes one's hands afterwards."

Underwhelming presents

Vanya Lowry of Glenfield writes: "A family friend wrapped my small birthday present in lots of layers of paper. When I unwrapped it and found a half-crown piece (about 25cents?) I said, 'Money - what a rotten present!' The following year she wrapped a lot of paper around a large carrot but by that time I had realised that money could buy you gobstoppers and Captain Marvel comics."