Sideswipe: July 14: Give us a toot men

The necklace is far from charming.

Outside ITM Hardware in Tawa, Wellington. (Hat tip: Mike Boon)

Denim sorted before sewn

Ripped jeans are now legit. The Kamine Zoo in Hitachi, Japan, took part in a fundraiser selling jeans that have been gnawed on by their lions, tigers and bears. Large sheets of denim were wrapped around tyres, logs and rubber balls for the animals to chew on. The deliberately torn material was then sewn into "Zoo Jeans" and are to be auctioned to raise money for the animals.

No, it's not a great way to go

Great unanswered questions: What would happen if I jumped in a pool full of alcohol? Engineer Ryan Carlyle replies. "You would find it much harder than usual to swim and may drown in an unusually horrible way, for two reasons. 1) Distilled liquors have quite a bit lower density (and thus less buoyancy) than a swimming pool because alcohol is lighter than water. You cannot float in 80 proof alcohol + even with lungs fully inflated, your body is denser than the liquor and you will sink if you stop swimming. 2) The fumes will probably cause you to choke and cough. It will be extremely difficult to get a good breath of air, and what you do inhale may cause you to get drunk to the point of passing out. Then you will pass out, inhale liquid, and die. What I don't know is whether the asphyxiation or alcohol poisoning will kill you first." (Source: Quora.com)

Necklace lacks a certain charm

Topshop has come under fire for selling a charm necklace. Writer Venus Wong points out that the so-called "vintage" charms resemble anti-Chinese propaganda cartoons that were popular in the 19th century. The faces are also reminiscent of Fu Manchu, a fictional Chinese villain. Topshop has removed the necklace from sale. (Source: Refinery29.com)

The necklace is far from charming.

Nominee not taken seriously

Catherine Yass has been nominated for a Turner Prize. Her plan to drop a piano off the top of a 27-storey building in London, as a way to allow the community to "explore how sound travels", has been vetoed by the local housing association. One commenter writes: "Since Yass was denied permission to throw a piano out the window, depriving residents the opportunity to explore how sound travels, her next project will be tossing a clock from a window, thereby allowing residents to explore how time flies. If throwing a clock is disallowed Yass will approach the housing association with an aesthetic placement of half a browning apple so passersby can experience how the worm turns." (Source: News of the Weird)

Picture this: 1) "Google Streetview blurs the face of K Road's famous Vegas Girl, thus preserving her privacy."
2) "Tony Abbott and Visitor from Hawkes Bay air their crotches after a hard days work in the mines..."
3) "oh my god hello, how are you, welcome to my aquarium, would you like any refreshments, a soda?"

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz