"Unless you're a Lion King superfan, it's a pretty good bet that you can't remember the name of Simba's mum. All the male lions have central and memorable roles in the film: Simba, the main character destined to become king. Mufasa, his father, who dies when Simba'suncle, the black-maned Scar, plots to take his throne. But Simba's mother? What was her name* again?" According to National Geographic, in the real world Simba's mum would be in charge. "Females are the core. The heart and soul of the pride. The males come and go," says Craig Packer, the director of the Lion Research Centre at the University of Minnesota. "Females define their territory. They've grown up there and have been listening to neighbours roaring their whole lives," says Packer. And if their pride gets too big, the females will even carve out a new territory next door for their daughters to take over and start their own pride, he says. (*Simba's mother was Sarabi.)
Oh, 'poo
"Nothing is more annoying than picking up a bottle of conditioner and tipping it on your head when you want shampoo," writes Jo. "The writing is so small, especially when you have water in your eyes. Why don't the manufactures make the bottles easier to differentiate?"
A Volkswagen Beetle makes it to the top of a hill in a neighborhood of Mexico City. Photo / AP
"The news that the very last Volkswagen Beetle (of the redesigned 1998 version) has rolled off the production line reminded me of the funniest reaction to a TV news item I have ever seen from a New Zealand newsreader," writes Rod Pascoe of Mt Albert. "It was in 2003, when the last Nazi-era 'classic' Beetle was produced. The reporter concluded the item with the titbit that in the US, there's even a club for people born in a Beetle. His last words: 'Which makes you wonder how many people have been conceived in a Beetle'. In the studio, the reaction of the astonished Kiwi anchorman was priceless: 'Conceived? In a VW Beetle?!?!' "
