Sideswipe

Kids grow up so fast these days: Chris Melville's 3-year-old spotted these in the toy section of the Glenfield Westfield $2 shop last weekend.

Petrus van der Schaaf wonders if Sky City has any defence for using playing cards in which the red suits are markedly maroonish/brownish, rather than the standard bright red, or are they simply exploiting the fact that around 12 per cent of men have colour-blindness that makes such a dull red much harder to distinguish from the black, which - in moments of quick decision-making - would be a minor, but significant, disadvantage to the player?

* * *

Unusual Coffee Table Books:

1. Still Lovers by Elena Dorfman is a collection of art photos showing the complex relationship between sex dolls and their owners.

2. Dictators' Homes by Peter York is a breezy guide to the taste of dictators, documenting their crimes of interior decorating. (Source: www.worldofwonder.net)

* * *

Sarah Zapolsky was checking in for a flight to Italy when she found that her 9-month-old son's name was on the United States' "no fly" list of suspected terrorists. "We pointed down to the stroller, and he sat there and gurgled," Zapolsky said, recalling the incident at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D. C. "The desk agent started laughing ... She couldn't print us out a boarding pass because he's on the no-fly list." Zapolsky, who did not want her son's name made public, said she was initially amused by the mix-up. "But when I found out you can't actually get off the list, I started to get a bit annoyed." She isn't alone. According to the Transportation Security Administration, more than 28,000 people have applied to get on the "cleared list" - which takes note of individuals whose names are similar to those on the watch list - but even making the "cleared list" does not guarantee an end to hassles. (Source: Reuters)