Sideswipe: September 17: Spoon in the pine

Following on from the pine cone embedded in the tree yesterday, a reader offers this:

A pine tree, which blew over, had a spoon embedded in it. "We liked it so much, we put it on a plinth," he says.

Mugabe mix-up

Age has been catching up with Zimbabwe's President for a while but 91-year-old Robert Mugabe had one of his more doddery mishaps yesterday, reading the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of Parliament. The veteran leader read the 25-minute speech through to the end, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month. "The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered," said presidential spokesman George Charamba. Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, this year fell down the steps leading from a podium. He was unhurt, but video of the fall went viral on social media.

It looks as if the main hazard victim here is the English language.

Hollywood gender shock

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney rewrote their new movie Our Brand is Crisis to put a woman instead of a man in the lead role (see page 38). Here are 10 more well-known movies that could benefit from a gender flip:

1. Ghostbusters (Okay, so this one's already happening.)
2. Die Hard
3. The next Bond film
4. Star Wars
5. Alien vs Predator
6. Ocean's 11 (or Ocean's 14?)
7. The Fast and the Furious
8. Brokeback Mountain
9. Mr Bean - The Movie
10. Twelve Angry Men

(Source Daily Telegraph)

Stuff: If you are a ten-year-old boy at heart, these rubber sword hilt pencil holders are the whiz....

News-ish: The earliest use of the f-word...

Picture this: If customers could write in-shop reviews...

Quiz: What is your social media age...http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/13/what-is-your-social-media-age-take-our-test

Video:Kayaking with whales...

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