Sideswipe: July 2: Missing those long-haul flights?

This should be classified as an act of terrorism.

Did you know?

1. The East German Stasi often targeted dissidents by breaking into their homes and subtly changing things - moving furniture, changing the brand of tea, rearranging photos - so the victim thought they were going crazy. Next level gaslighting.
2. The world's most fertile woman, who is raising 44 children alone, has been medically stopped from having more. Mariam Nabatanzi, from Uganda, gave birth to her first set of twins when she was just 13. She now has three sets of quadruplets, four sets of triplets and six sets of twins.
3. If you hate coriander, it may be because you're in the 10 per cent of people with a genetic variation which makes it taste like soap.

Simpler times

According to The American Hatter, London haberdasher John Hetherington nearly caused a riot when he wore the first tophat into the Strand in January 1797: An excited throng gathered about the owner and the crowd soon increased to such a dangerous extent that the authorities had to interfere. The next morning the daring haberdasher was brought before the Lord Mayor charged with "walking down a public highway wearing upon his head a tall structure having a shining lustre calculated to alarm the people." Witnesses testified that "women had fainted, that children had gone into hysterics and that one lad sustained a broken arm through the violence of the mob." Hetherington asserted his right to dress as he chose, but the mayor fined him $5,000.

First Tinder chat

Living under a rock.

A word in your ear

1. No 1 grandson, called Matthew, now 32. Young brother (2 ½  years younger) when they were little, couldn't quite manage big bro's name, calling him Mattmoo. Big bro cries "He's calling me a cow!". Still gets it from his grandparents from time to time & is sometimes used with variations as a password on said grandfather's computer for access to some sites.
2. One of my students (from a country where they use pictograms) wrote "bedfriend" for "girlfriend" in an assignment. I've been unable to unsee that ever since.
3. My very young daughter Laura asked me; "Daddy can I go and see Lord of the Rings, or Harry The Potter please.?
My late mum enjoyed an occasional meal of "conjournal fried chucky". KFC.

The Athlete in the rain...

Daphne Ansell of Mt. Maunganui writes: "My late husband's uncle apparently wrote a letter to the Herald in 1936 expressing disgust at what happened during a recent heavy rain storm when a stream of water flowed from the statue's centre nether region. I've never observed "the Athlete" during rainfall but I suppose it still happens."