KEY POINTS:
If you thought putting up your windscreen wipers was to stop them freezing in the snow, think again, writes Andrew Blackler. "Below the Boomerang Ski Lodge at Whakapapa, this car was saved from the carpark cleaning machines only by the wipers."
* * *
Is this a new
interpretation of the roundabout rules? Walter writes: "My son was stopped by a police officer after he went around a roundabout in Beach Haven. When he asked the officer why he was stopped the explanation was: 'You indicated on the roundabout. People in this neighbourhood never do that, so that makes you suspicious."'
* * *
America's largest and arguably most conservative greeting card company has taken the plunge into the same-sex wedding cards market. Hallmark is releasing four same-sex wedding card designs - one features two tuxedos with overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with "Two hearts. One promise" written inside. Now that California has joined Massachusetts as the only US states with legal gay marriage, it is estimated that nearly 120,000 more couples will marry in California in the next three years. Hallmark also started offering "coming out" cards last year, and ones for difficulty getting pregnant or going through rehab.
* * *
A reader got home from shopping at Foodtown New Lynn to find a $69.95 purchase for Huggies on their bill. "After being cut off twice, then arguing on the phone for almost an hour, it turns out that the wrong barcode was set up for a bottle of Eco Store dishwashing liquid that we bought. We have been assured that we were the only ones wrongly charged for this product, but my advice is check your dockets!"
* * *
Bringing cowbells to the rugby might seem fun to some but 80 minutes of sitting next to them at high decibels leaves a risk of hearing loss, writes Paul from Devonport. "So to those Waikato supporters who delighted in alienating home supporters in the central main stand at the North Harbour fixture on Sunday, please bring your brains and voices next time and leave those bells in the cowshed where they belong." *
* * *
Gross-out TV zenith: Ratings have not been good for US cable channel show Hurl! where contestants are forced to gorge themselves, then are rapidly twirled and shaken on carnival-type rides, with the last player to retain his stomach contents declared the winner. Wrote a Washington Post reviewer, it's "for people who found Fear Factor much too nuanced". (Source: News of the Weird)
Today's Webpick: A very close encounter with oncoming train. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.