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Home / New Zealand

<i>Sideswipe:</i> Xmas gets earlier every year

Ana Samways
By Ana Samways
Sideswipe - ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz·NZ Herald·
15 Oct, 2009 03:00 PM3 mins to read

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Ana Samways
Opinion by Ana SamwaysLearn more

It seems Christmas gets earlier every year, bemoans Alex Burgess after he noticed Farmers in Papakura has already put up its Christmas decorations.

* * *

A hilarious clip from Police Ten 7 has been pulled from YouTube by local production company Screentime Television just as it started to become
popular. What gives? The clip showed a policeman talking to a teenager who was on his way to get a pie from a BP station. The deadpan officer says: "It's 3am. That pie's probably been in the warming draw for 12 hours. It'll be thermonuclear. You must always blow on the pie - safer communities together, eh?" Has Screentime lost its sense of humour or bowed to the long arm of the law, which prefers to be taken seriously?

* * *

Post-coital tweets? A study suggests 36 per cent of men and women under 35 resort to social media after sex. Men are twice as likely as women to exhibit this behaviour, and if you're an iPhone user, you're three times more likely than a Blackberry owner to tweet or update your status on Facebook. The study, by online electronics retailer Retrovo, also found that most people check Facebook and Twitter a couple of times a day, but 27 per cent of under 35-year-olds check more than 10 times a day.

* * *

Marketing failure: It worked for the iSnack2.0 vegemite, but will it work for the flakes? Reports claim cornflake maker Kellogg's have announced they are to individually laser each of their cornflakes with the company logo. Really? The food manufacturer's UK press office announced the move on Twitter. "Now you'll always be able to tell your cornflakes from your cornfakes!" it said, with a link to an apparently doctored image of individual flakes branded with the company's logo. Kellogg's claimed it wasn't a stunt or a hoax. (Source: News.com.au)

* * *

David Campbell writes: "Can we interest you in a washing machine in a nice rimu? Or take a look at this latest model kauri oven. I don't think the marketing folks who came up with the new sign for this 100 per cent Appliances franchise, operated by Graeme Wood in Paeroa, considered this outcome."

* * *

A reader suspects a personality cult: "The loyal subordinates at the Auckland Regional Council who prepare their publication Region Wide, which they boast goes to 560,000 homes, have served their leader well. Chairman Mike, the great helmsman, makes a pictorial appearance five times in the first four pages with a sixth on the last page, page 8. Kim il Sung would have been proud."

* * *

Travis Peterson knew he was too drunk to drive home after a concert by the Dave Matthews Band, so he decided to sleep it off in his car. But a Wisconsin state trooper woke him up and ordered him to leave the car park. Peterson said he was too drunk to drive, but the officer ordered him to leave. As soon as he drove out of the parking lot, Peterson was arrested for drunk-driving. A court found him guilty, but an appeal court reversed the conviction, saying he should have been allowed to argue he was entrapped. (Source: Reason.com)

* * *

See today's Herald cartoon

***

Today's Webpick: This 70s government tourism campaign promoted the groovy nightlife and scenic bus tours. Fantastic clips! Go here and scroll down.

Follow Ana Samways on Twitter here.

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