Sideswipe: February 4: No beer? Pinot will do

"Couldn't find any old beer in the back of the cupboard," writes Denis. "But did find some wine - Nobilo's Pinot Chardonnay from 1978."

Beer cans circa 1985

Former employee Roger Clarke says the DB cans pictured in Sideswipe were from about 1985. "They included the very new DB motif that includes a barley ear between the D and B, but the release of the can was before the brief tenure of an Aussie CEO who decided to change DB's name from Dominion Breweries to DB Breweries — the tautology didn't seem at all incongruous to this Aussie. An interesting fact about this new 'aluminium' can was that, although the barrel of the can was aluminium, the ends were still pressed steel. Some advice: Unlike wine, which generally improves with age, beer is at its best when it is young. As it ages, it takes on a wet-cardboard flavour which becomes more noticeable after six months or so until it becomes quite unpleasant. It would not be wise to drink this 30-plus-year-old beer — apart from being unpalatable, it has probably been seriously contaminated by the old-style packaging."

Crushing reality

"I noticed your DB beer cans," writes Darryl from Waiatarua. "Men of a certain age saw beer cans being crushed with ease in US movies like Animal House and in prehistoric times NZ beer cans were steel. But still we used to crush them in our hands. Best we could go was pinch them together in the middle. The crushability of alloy cans was a revelation."

Named after an Allblack captain

Following Boaty McBoatface, New Zealand responds with "Reachie McClaw".

Calling past trainee nurses

Janet, a registered nurse for 50 years, is looking for the other nurses she trained with. "We started our training 50 years ago in April and want to have a reunion dinner," she writes. "The problem is we can't find many of the women we trained with because we don't know their married names." Would nurses who trained at Auckland Public Hospital (as it was known then) starting in April 1969 please contact Janet on janet.larkman@aut.co.nz .

Video pick

Human Paste by surreal animator Oliver Latta is the weirdest thing you will see today…

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz