Pardon Santa, your slip is showing ...
Pam writes: "My daughter took her twin daughters (just turned 7) to see Santa at Smith & Caugheys this week, because she figured this might be the last year of magic. They paid their $15 each and joined the queue. Finally it was their turn. Santa asked how old they were and when they told him they were 7, Santa said "Aah twins, I am a twin, I have a twin sister called Jenny. And what school do you go to?" They told Santa they went to Titirangi school and Santa told them he sold his art at the Titirangi market sometimes. A little dazed and confused and several hours of questions later, they decided he must be a helper because the real Santa didn't have twin sister called Jenny but they had seen a drawing of a polar bear at the Titirangi market so maybe that was his painting. The conclusion was that the $30 tickets (each) were for the real Santa and because they had the $15 tickets they got one of the helpers. The magic was nearly over!"
Strange but true
1. When Britain changed pain reliever Tylenol to blister packs instead of bottles, suicide deaths from overdoses on the drug declined by 43 per cent. Anyone who wanted 50 pills would have to push out the pills one by one but pills in bottles can be easily dumped out and swallowed. (Via The Telegraph)
2. There have been three reported cases of eyeball dislocation following nose blowing, one reported by Dr John Tyler of Kansas City in 1888 who claimed his patient "felt the need of a good, hard blow, and said he really was making an extra effort, when to his horror and amazement he felt his left eye pop right out." His wife popped the eye back in, and the man suffered no apparent damage from the incident. But Mythbusters noted "although a sneeze can erupt from your nose at an explosive 200mph [320 km/h], it can't transfer this pressure into your eye sockets to dethrone your eyeballs. Plus, there's no muscle directly behind the eye to violently contract and push the orbs outward." (Via News of the Weird)
Stalled by plate's prophesy
"Thought I'd share something that happened to me yesterday," writes a reader. "While driving my husband's car with the embarrassing number plate D4MM1T (in reference to the title of his favourite Blink 182 song when he got the plate many years ago) the engine cut out with no warning in the middle of five lanes of busy Auckland motorway traffic. Once I'd called 111, been shunted to the side of the road by a friendly police officer and recovered from the shock, I did start to see the funny side."
Sideswipe Christmas gift suggestion
These beautiful Kia Ora Klimt prints by Tracey-Lea Morgan are for sale here.
Good read: Friends of Prince, share their stories..."The thing that was funny was you never saw Prince [first], you smelled him. He always smelled like lavender. And you knew when he was there because you'd turn around and go, "Holy shit, I smell Prince." And then, ten seconds later, you'd see him," Prince uber fan Corey Tollefson tells GQ. Read more here.
Video: "Dull, but not boring," is the motto of the Dull Men's Club, a place in cyberspace for those who appreciate the simple and commonplace things in life. By slowing down to celebrate the ordinary, these men provide a refreshing alternative to a world dominated by the fast pace of modern living.
Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz