Sideswipe: September 11: I want a coffee, not a pash

Kiss a cup?

Korean designer Jan WooSeok explains his takeaway coffee cup lid concept: "There is only a mouth on the lid to start with [for the] prototype. However I felt like there was something missing...I realised that touching the noses is essential point in order to feel realistic while being kissed."

When nature calls: A message that can't wait ...

A reader new to Auckland took his teenage son out for a night on the town. They went to Carl's Jr "where they serve burgers as big as your head and buckets of Coke", and then off to the movie. "After the movie the first thing we did was find the men's loos. Everyone else had the same idea, so it was pretty packed. On the wall there were three urinals. Now I don't know if there are rules about how far apart they have to be, but these ones were definitely snug when occupied. So shoulder to shoulder three of us - strangers - were looking skyward, doing what needed to be done, when I noticed the guy next to me, with his one spare hand, had his phone out and his thumb going hell for leather. Sheesh. Couldn't that vital communication have waited?"

Frank disclosures

Mike writes: "In 1980 I joined Jim Biddulph, a very seasoned BBC correspondent, on a Royal Tour in NZ. We met for lunch in our hotel in Wellington and were approached by a young waitress with the menus. We ordered drinks, Jim chose orange juice, and then we considered entrees. "I'll have oysters please," was Jim's request. "Ooh yuk," said the waitress, "What's up?" Jim replied in shock! "I hate oysters," was the reply. Three minutes later she returned with my drink "What about my orange juice," piped up Jim! "Didn't you hear the crash?" she asked. "I dropped it as I came through the kitchen door."

Mark reckons he won't get too angry opening this box which arrived from China

Race against time in assembly-line dining

A reader writes: "My partner and I went to dinner at a well-established local restaurant and we were still eating our entrees when the manager arrived with our mains. Without a word, she used our mains plates to shove aside our entree plates, plonked down the mains and left ...With an eyeroll and a shake of the head, we tucked into our mains. After a minute or two, I laughed and said to my partner, "Let's just hope they let us finish our mains before the dessert arrives," and I kid you not, right then the waitress was there with our desserts! To her credit, she was apologetic, but when we were finally ready for our desserts, the same dessert plates were returned to us, melted ice-cream and all!"

Not a "festival" film

After seeing local film The Last Saint at a one-off screening last night, Nick was astounded to learn that NZ Film Festival rejected it because they felt it 'wasn't a festival film'. "It is being screened at festivals in Hawaii, Sydney, and Toronto but not in NZ?" he told his Facebook disciples. Herald reviewer Fran Rudkin gave it four out of five stars and said after the credits rolled: "The audience took a moment to get their breath back, and quite possibly share a collective realisation they'd witnessed something special." Writer/director Rene Naufahu replied: "My real problem is with Bill Gosden who runs the NZIFF. The Last Saint is arguably one of the quintessential Auckland films of the last decade and I can't believe how he treated the film and his reasons. If The Last Saint had come from Korea or Mexico or Italy the film would have been in the festival without a doubt. But it portrayed Polynesians in a way the Festival wasn't prepared to support. I'll never forgive him for that." Readers can make up their own minds when the DVD comes out at the end of the year. Until then, here's the trailer.

Video: French professional surfer Maud Le Car can surf in high heels (I can't even walk in them)...

Media: Europe's largest newspaper, the Bild of Germany, has published an print edition without any pictures. It is a response to reader backlash after the paper published photos of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. "We want to show how important photos are in journalism," the paper writes, "and that it is worth fighting every day to use the best photos."

Video: What would make you next dinner party even more elegant? Why this delightful kitty-cat gravy boat...

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz