Sideswipe: October 27: Halloween 2021 be like

Invented ahead of its time

A casket designed for upright burial. This From Alfred Schmitz's 1975 patent: "This invention relates to a casket, and more particularly to a casket having support means therein for supporting the body against shifting longitudinally of the casket. In the past, caskets and vaults have been buried in a substantially horizontal position. Burial space, especially in urban areas, is becoming more scarce. A solution to such a problem may be found in burying caskets in a substantially vertical position. With such burial techniques, the amount of space required for each burial is substantially reduced. While previously known caskets could be buried vertically, rather than horizontally, it should be realized that their use might be found distasteful by those who have been close to the party to be buried. An objection to the use of prior caskets may be found in the fact that in prior caskets generally there is nothing to support the body against shifting toward the foot end of the casket when buried in an upright position. Thus, if a conventional casket is tipped upright the body would slump to the foot end of the casket."

Outdated phrases we should bring back

"We're out of here like a robber's dog."

"Hell's bells - became hell's teeth as a general exclamation."

"Brassed off and cheesed off, meant the same thing."

"Growing up in the 80s you were subjected to sexist slurs – like spinner, space cadet or huckery mole."

If we were too slow our mum would say "You're like a louse on a tarred stick".

"When I was a child my brothers and I used to visit a much-loved uncle and aunt. As we were leaving my father always insisted that we say "Thank you for having us". To which my uncle would reply "You've been nicely had".

Humour in Kihikihi

Did you know?

The oldest-known spider on the planet – a trapdoor spider known as Number 16 – made it to the venerable age of 43. That whole time she had just one home, a burrow in North Bungulla Reserve near Tammin, southwestern Australia. At the time of the arachnid's death in 2018, Leanda Mason – an ecologist who had spent years studying her – told the Washington Post how she had been tragically "cut down in her prime", killed by a sting from a parasitic wasp.

The lab assistant

Colin writes: "That story about the lab explosion blasting out the school windows is correct. My late brother was at Mt Albert Grammar when that happened. The reason why the laboratory boy was not expelled was because his mother wrote a cheque for the total replacement cost to repair the windows. I cannot recall what she was reported to say to the headmaster when she handed over the cheque - something like, well boys will be boys."