Sideswipe: September 28: Is nothing sacred?

Is nothing sacred? Aarti spotted this at Sydney Airport. Photo / Supplied

Full picture here.

Family quirks

Every family has their own idiosyncratic ways — my grandma used to wash Gladwrap and stick it to the wall to dry — here's a peek into other people's family quirks ...

1. "At Christmas we sniff the presents before opening them. I don't know why and most of the time they just smell like wrapping paper. It's been going on for over 20 years now."
2. "Whenever we drop someone off at their house at night, we have them flicker on and off the front porch light to signal they are okay (in case of an intruder). I realise this isn't necessary effective ... (Dropped off person walks in ... Robber: throws person against light switch ... People in car: They're all right.)"
3. "You have to say good night to everyone in the house before you go to bed. If they're already asleep, you have to say it outside of their door just in case they may still be awake to hear it."
4. "Every time I get the hiccups, she buys them from me ... She'll give me whatever spare change she can find in increasing amounts until I stop hiccuping. Usually I'll make about 50c, but one time I got $6."
5. "My family flipped 'I hate your guts' into 'I love your guts' ... we regularly adopt stupid/funny autocorrects/typos into our lexicon."
6. "Drawn-out goodbyes. Leaving to go home? That will be several love yous, call us when you get homes, at least two quick stories, and a random gift ... tell all the absent family members hi, one (or three) things I forgot to tell you, and a couple of see you soons." (Via AskReddit)

No Toni's Boys

A male version of Charlie's Angels that never made it past a 1980 pilot episode. Photo / Supplied

A male version of Charlie's Angels never made it past a 1980 pilot episode. According to Wikipedia: "ABC attempted to create a spin-off of Charlie's Angels in 1980 called Toni's Boys ... The concept was essentially a gender reversal of Charlie's Angels, and starred Barbara Stanwyck as Antonia "Toni" Blake, a wealthy widow and friend of Charlie's who ran a detective agency. The agency was staffed by three good-looking male detectives — Cotton Harper (Stephen Shortridge), Matt Parrish (Bruce Bauer), and Bob Sorensen (Bob Seagren) — who took direction from Toni, and solved crimes in a manner similar to the Angels. The show was not picked up."

Well fancy pap!

Pap meaning "trivial or unsophisticated reading matter" refers to "something easily acquired or understood but lacking in value or substance". That's if it is used figuratively. Used literally pap means "semi-liquid food, such as that considered suitable for babies, imitating the sound made by an infant opening and shutting lips". (Via Oxford Blogs)

Video Pick

Free range bread…

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