KEY POINTS:
Stephen drove through Kawakawa yesterday morning and spied this sign advertising a property for sale. "The area was flooded, and maybe [the vendor] should be offering a property with good liquidity and great river views."
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Tony Baker of Hamilton recalls that during World War II,
New Zealand military personnel were stationed in New Caledonia. "A family friend who was a veteran of WWI was among the New Zealanders sent to the French colony. His wife, back in New Zealand, was partial to caraway-seed cake, but during the war caraway seed was not available here. So she thought the item might be available where her husband was stationed and she wrote asking if he could obtain some. He went shopping but his French was poor, as was the shop assistant's English. No amount of talk was effective, so the French-speaking shop woman produced a pencil and paper and our man drew a picture of some caraway seed. The shop assistant immediately understood and produced a box of mouse traps."
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Georgia, from Takanini, writes: "While attending the Anzac Day service at the cenotaph in Papakura on Friday, we listened to several speeches by various members of the community. Aside from one of them twice referring to the Returned Services Association (RSA) as the RSI, then quickly correcting himself, the biggest blunder of the day was from one of the students from a local high school. Their speech explained the day is for remembering the Anzacs and all those who lost their lives in WWI, and then, several times referred to them as "Gallipoli veterinarians".
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Organisers of the Californian Coachella music festival have offered a US$10,000 reward for the return of the Pink Floyd blow-up pig, mistakenly released during frontman Roger Waters' headlining set. As tall as a two-story house and as wide as two school buses, the pig was led from lines held on the ground as Waters played Pink Floyd's Pigs from the 1977 album, Animals. Without warning it floated away. Waters told the crowd "that's my pig" as it drifted off into the night. (Source: The Age)
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A university lecturer is in trouble after a clip of her doing a cheeky dance appeared on YouTube. Professor Angela Repanovici was shot by mobile-phone video at a party in the library at the University of Transylvania dancing with colleagues and flashing her red underwear. She was sacked as head of libraries - but can carry on teaching mechanical engineering. (Source: Ananova.com)
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Rendell McIntosh responds to Conservator Occidentalis' blog about the Labour Party's fundraising high tea at Auckland's Alberton mansion. "The Kerr Taylor family, who donated it to the Historic Places Trust, may have been classed as gentry by some yet they were a most hospitable family. Numerous people were invited to garden parties and dances on their property. Alberton has welcomed many 'lefties' and 'righties' over the years, a practice we continue today. It is a fitting historic venue for such fund-raising ventures ... "
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Today's Webpick: Someone very gutsy is taking this video while hiking one of the most dangerous trails in the world. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
