Sideswipe: May 25: The ironists are coming

Skydivers find time for some ironing.

High-flying ironists

Extreme ironing is an outdoor activity that combines the danger and excitement of an "extreme" sport with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt. The sport reportedly started in Phil Shaw's backyard in Leicester, England, but his promotional tour quickly attracted followers from around the world, and the world championship in 2002 drew 80 teams from 10 countries. "Ironists" have performed atop Mt Kilimanjaro, 100m underwater off the Egyptian coast, during the London marathon, and in a David Blaine-style box 20m above Christmas shoppers in Leicester. And like any noble calling, this one has inspired others, including downhill vacuuming, inner-city clothes drying, and "apocalypse dishwashing". Helen Keller wrote, "Life is either a great adventure or nothing."

Cradle of the nation

Interesting aside to the election of Todd Muller as leader of the National Party, offers Rob. "It now means that the leaders of the two major parties both descend from small town Te Aroha grandparents. Jacinda Ardern's paternal grandparents were Harry and Gladys Ardern — long time Te Aroha residents. Todd Muller's maternal grandfather (Henry Skidmore) was the local dairy/icecream parlour owner and mayor during the 60s and 70s. It must be the water — and it is, as Te Aroha has the only hot soda water geyser in the world."

One way to get more greens into your kiddies.

Cold measure of pandemic distancing

In the UK the latest Covid-19 advice on how far apart the Government wants its citizens from each other has been a bit unclear, so they moved to clarify exactly what they mean ... but muddied things further. Their message was this: "Keep 2 metres apart when you go outside. That's: 1 bed, 2 benches, 3 fridges, 4 chairs #StayAlert." ... or as Michael Spicer said: "5 buckets, 6 boxsets of The Wire, 7 copies of Wolf Hall, 8 deep salad bowls, 9 balls of Edam cheese, 10 young owls, 11 massive avocados, 12 angry men #StayAlert." "People are saying Boris is dumb for measuring distance like this but frankly you shouldn't judge a man until you've walked 2414 fridges in his shoes," tweets Jack Bernhardt.

Did you know ...

Goosebumps are frequently associated with adrenaline being released in the body, like when we're feeling a particularly strong emotion, for example. They used to be important when people had way more hair on their bodies because goosebumps would elevate that hair and make a person look bigger when they were in danger. But now, they're a pretty useless feature. (Via Mental Floss)