Sideswipe

After all the trouble the heart of residential Epsom has had with wide-boy property developer Mark Lyon, now the neighbourhood is getting noise grief from the connecting property known as Government House, Auckland home to Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright. It's enough to make you want to sell your ho-hum villa for $1 million and move to Dunedin.

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What you've always wondered but never thought worthy of asking out loud, from New Scientist magazine. Q: If my cat were suddenly to grow to the size of a tiger, or if I were to shrink to the size of a mouse, would he still consider me his "friend" or would he see me as potential food?

A: If the cat is female, she may adopt you as one of her kittens. This may be an enjoyable experience, apart from being carried in her mouth and the obligatory baths with a file-like tongue. If the cat is male, you will almost certainly be in big trouble if he remembers what you may have done to him.

Being battered about by huge razor sharp claws will not be fun. It would be almost impossible to escape because the cat is fast, tracks you by scent, can hear you breathing and has excellent night vision. Standing facing him and leaping suddenly to your right as he bounds up to you may help - male cats are right-pawed - but his reactions are quick and his forelegs are long. You will have to come out from under the sofa at some point, because he can wait for a very long time.

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Seen at Kohi Yacht Club during the Sail Auckland Regatta, a boat called "I hate sailing but my Dad makes me". The boat is owned by Tom Urry, son of former Soling Class Olympian Chris Urry. Good on you, son.

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Joseph Penner found this quote from a book Lords of the Game, a book about the business of baseball by John Helyar, published in 1994. "The President's son, also named George Bush, led a group that bought the Texas Rangers. Lost for years in the shadow of his father, the First Son's ownership of a baseball team suddenly made him a personage.

Actually, he was only one of two general partners, the other one being the brains of the operation. That was Rusty Rose, a Dallas sharpie who'd made a fortune short-selling stock. But Bush was the out-front guy, a role in which he exulted.

"Does he know that he doesn't really run this team?" a writer once asked a Rangers official. "No, no," said the official, "and don't you dare tell him."

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