Sideswipe: A daily dietary requirement

New World seems to think candy floss is either fruit or vegetables, says David MacGregor.

Pedal cab driver Kate Altermatt still can't believe the driver of a Mercedes didn't see her pedalling down the street in Portland, Oregon.

Altermatt, who is 1.82m tall, was wearing a bright orange bunny suit, and the pedal cab was lit up with reflectors and a blinking red light. The crash sent her flying and wrecked the cab.

She lay stunned on the pavement for a minute, then walked over to the driver's side window. She said she smelled alcohol on his breath. "He was like '$100! $100 and I leave'," she recalled. "And I was like, 'no'. I started screaming. I said, 'You're drunk!' ..."

In court, the driver testified that he didn't see the cab because he was fumbling for a dropped cellphone. (Source: www.oregonlive.com)

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What have been the most popular toys over the past 50 years? Here's a selection ...

1961 Etch A Sketch

1965 Operation Game

1971 Weebles ( ... wobble but they don't fall down)

1972 Uno (card game)

1976 Connect Four

1981 Lego

1983 My Little Pony

1985 Cabbage Patch Dolls

1989 Ninja Turtle action figures

1992 Barney (Purple dinosaur for pre-schoolers)

1998 Furbies

2000 Scooter

2002 Bratz dolls

2007 PlayStation

(Source: Permuto.com)

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Norman would like to know if anyone else has experienced the following act of mindless vandalism: "My car was parked in the street, alongside the sidewalk, at the bottom of our drive on Friday. During the time it was there, from 6pm to 7.30pm, some reprobate walked lengthwise over the bonnet on to the roof and off the back. There were six gravel-covered footprints and dents, particularly on the roof, on a car that is only two years old and was spotless until then. Has New Zealand reached new levels of mindless amusement for some miscreants at the expense of others?"

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A student at an unnamed North Shore high school overheard a conversation between two teachers ... One of the teachers was complaining to the other that the internet to her classroom was not working. She was genuinely perturbed and exclaiming: "How am I going to survive a whole day without access to Facebook! How will I update my profile?"

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A commuter writes: "Here is the txt I received yesterday on the motorway at 8.27am. A friendly reminder you now can't use your mobile while driving without a hands-free kit. See www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/handsfree for info and great value hf kits."

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View today's Herald cartoon

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