Sideswipe: January 20: Stamp fancier's dream delivery

"Thought this was a delightful package to receive today from Book Express," writes Barry Gibbon." Twenty-three stamps - value $10.40. Wonder if the NZ Post employees actually checked that postage value was correct or just had a good giggle? But it was the selection of old stamps attached - 1988/1996/1997/2003 Xmas, 2010 ANZAC, 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medallists (Danyon Loader & Blyth Tait), Queen Mother 100th birthday, HRH Elizabeth & Phillip's 50th wedding, 1985 Charles & Diana, Good old NZ Kiwiana fish & chips / Kaikōura crayfish / Hāwera cow ... How did they get all these unused old and interesting stamps?"

Overgrown sense of judicial power, much?

A Michigan judge came under fire after lecturing a 72-year-old man with cancer over the state of his yard. Burhan Chowdhury attended the virtual hearing after violating a city rule related to lawn maintenance. "The neighbours should not have to look at that," Judge Alexis Krot told Chowdhury, who is in poor health and struggled to breathe at times while speaking. "You should be ashamed of yourself." Krot added that if she could give him jail time over the violation, she would. The man's son explained to the judge that his father is undergoing chemotherapy and is too weak to deal with the yard, and that while he normally handles the property maintenance for his father, he was out of the country at the time. The son admitted it was a "mistake" to have not taken care of the yard, and says the yard has already been cleaned up and the family has no issue paying the $100 fine — but even so, the judge was "very rude" to tell someone with cancer they should be jailed over the issue. Nearly 200,000 people have since signed an online petition calling for Krot to be removed as a judge.

A Freudian slip?

"Surely "Brain" is not apt for a man doing 14 days on remand in Mt Eden," quips Doug Dallimore.

Striped paint

"My father was an engineer at Tasman Pulp and Paper, Kawerau, many years ago," writes Alana Dow. "Around the mill would be a lot of safety-related striped painted surfaces, and apprentices would often be sent to the supply office for striped paint. The staff, clearly in on the joke, would dribble a bit of colour into a pot, show the apprentice the open can with the 'stripe' showing, then secure the lid and make sure they knew that all paint tins needed to be shaken well before use. Obviously, the poor sucker would arrive back at the job having carefully shaken the tin all the way back, only to find it was now a uniform shade."