Sideswipe: July 30: Chicken sale

Taken in Muscat, Oman. Photo / Supplied

Bad behaviour in the slaughterhouse. Taken in Muscat, Oman. (Source: Telegraph.co.uk Sign Language)

Weird news round-up

1. Stolen, not read: A man was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, for allegedly stealing a textbook called Resolving Ethical Issues and trying to sell it at a bookstore.

2. Top athletes can burn as many as 20 calories a minute, according to an article in the New York Times. Which means a typical, five-hour daily workout chews through 6000 calories - all of which need to be replaced for the next day's training.

3. One of the strangest Olympic sports was pigeon shooting. According to CNN, the 1900 Olympics in Paris included athletes who aimed to cull as many pigeons as possible. Nearly 300 birds were slain in all, and the winner shot down 21 pigeons.

Boys just keep coming

Patrick Sloan, from Doncaster in the UK, has a brand new son. And a new grandson. And a new great-grandson - all within three months. First, Patrick, 60, became a dad for the fourth time - 28 years after the birth of his last child. His second wife, Joanne, 39, had little Ethan on March 14. Then, in June, Patrick's grand-daughter, Fern, 18, presented him with his first great-grandchild, Mason. And 12 days after Fern gave birth, it was the turn of her mum, Odette, to head for the delivery room. She too produced a healthy baby boy, Leonard. (Source: The Daily Record.co.uk)

Gay stick figures suppressed

"Yes, those family stick figure car decals!" exclaims Simon. "Our friend had two dads on her set of family. She parked outside Knox Church in Parnell one Sunday. Came back a few hours later. One of the dads had been peeled off and a mum drawn in place with a permanent marker!"

Rethink that driver's test gloating

James says he feels compelled to comment about all the proud admissions of lax driving tests appearing in Sideswipe. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect the dots and understand why so many middle-aged or older drivers can't follow basic road rules to save themselves. Maybe instead of gloating about it (especially given the mention of accidents occurring on their test) they should really self-assess their own driving habits. I'd bet that most would struggle to pass even the learner-licence theory test."