Dunedin has some Post-it noters at the corner of Rattray St and Arthur St who are communicating with passersby using Post-it Note messages. Previous days include "Again?" and "Another National leader?" (Via Janelle @Anorakj)
History repeats
The masks were called muzzles, germ shields and dirt traps. They gave people a "pig-like snout". Some people snipped holes in their masks to smoke cigars. Others fastened them to dogs in mockery ... More than a century ago, as the 1918 influenza pandemic raged in the United States, masks of gauze and cheesecloth became the facial frontlines in the battle against the virus. But, as they have now, the masks also stoked political division. Then, as now, medical authorities urged the wearing of masks to help slow the spread of disease. And then, as now, some people resisted. In 1918 and 1919, as bars, saloons, restaurants, theatres and schools were closed, masks became a scapegoat, a symbol of government overreach, inspiring protests, petitions and defiant bare-face gatherings. All the while, thousands of Americans were dying in a deadly pandemic. Read more here.
Who's your TV girlfriend?
Caring calls
After they closed in March, staff from Melbourne's Yarra Plenty libraries pulled from their database the phone numbers of every library member over the age of 70 – 16,000 records — and started calling those members to say hi and see if they needed anything. "We called them to say hi, see how they were doing and then see if there was anything they needed help with, such as access to services, counselling support, tech help, that kind of thing," said library manager Lisa Dempster. "Some calls go for five minutes and some go for half an hour or more."
Misunderstanding the meaning
1. Ron Fyfe says his favourite quote is from a weather forecast in a Kuwaiti newspaper. It read: "During the day the clouds will gather and by the evening they will relieve themselves."
2. Dorothy Gibbs says: "I had taken a small group of 5-year-olds to a local beach to help with language (not swimming) development and when I picked up a feather and asked what it was, a little girl said, 'A bird leaf.' I liked that."
3. David from Pukekohe writes: "Being the avid dad, I couldn't resist teaching my toddler daughter how to catch a tennis ball. Trying to encourage her after she'd repeatedly missed it, I said, 'Keep your eye on the ball!' She stopped, looked at me quizzically, then picked up the tennis ball and held it to her eye! Smart girl, daft father!"