While out dog-walking on a lovely winter's morning, I heard the distress call. Mother duck had tried to walk her ducklings over a motorway run-off sump, and the whole lot fell through the grate. I could do nothing, thegrate was not only too heavy for me, it appeared to be welded shut. I walked away, sadly. A little later, I spoke to a big, bearded guy from Cassidy Construction, working in Keith Hay Park. Like me in my younger days, he is a keen hunter, but a hunter with a heart. After hearing about the ducklings he loaded tools into his ute and took off to try to rescue this duck family. I have no idea of the outcome, but I hope he was successful. A display above and beyond for a neat guy who knows the true value of wildlife in New Zealand."
Overheard in the teen's room
"My son and a mate were hanging out in his room and I stopped at the door to listen to what they were talking about," writes Keith. "The mate was asking my son whether he would choose to have a leg or an arm amputated - which would it be? Now most people would see the benefit in their two-legged mobility, rather than two-handedness, but my son, quick as a flash, said he'd rather lose a leg and explained to his mate that heZ couldn't play Counter Strike Global Offensive without both hands and that his parents would bring him whatever he needed, so, sweet."
Ron writes: "Public toilets are always crowded after a rugby match. Saturday night on level 6 of the main stand was no exception. But I wonder if the large, fair-headed man urinating into the hand-washing facility is as proud of himself today as he seemed to be on Saturday night. And people were washing their hands downstream, so to speak, during this oaf's performance."
"Having been house hunting for a while, I've seen all sorts of hyperbole but this listing seemed to be pushing things a bit far," writes Jay.
Orcs invited to lay waste to replica town
A crowdfunding campaign to build a £1.85 billion ($4.47b) replica of Minas Tirith in England has spurred a movement to tear the planned city down. The tongue-in-cheek operation, named Destroy Minas Tirith, aims to raise £1 million in order to recreate the Orc siege of the city as shown in JRR Tolkien's The Return of the King, and made famous by Sir Peter Jackson's film. Orcish organiser Stom Tacey said: "Join me in gnashing your teeth and stamping your feet. Your gold will buy many pointy things."
Video: Before getting married local Sydney politician made a cringe-inducing, gauche video to tell the world his love story. Salim Mehajer hired a team of filmmakers and trotted out a whole bunch of movie cliches - drives an orange sports car to climactic music, and finally, proposes in front of the Sydney Opera House - without any irony at all...
