Sideswipe: November 21: Number problem

The difference between 8 and 6? Well, eight is all curly, six is not.

It's like you never left

A US cremation service is making 3D-printed urns that are the spitting image of a loved one's head. Cremation Solutions in Arlington, Vermont, says: "With personal urns, you can have a lifelike bust of your loved one that doubles as an urn for the ashes."

The company uses facial recognition software to turn 2D photos of people into 3D sculptures. "You will never again have to worry that you might forget what your loved one looked like when you invest in one of these custom-made very lifelike cremation urns," it says. They have made a demo of President Obama to illustrate how, er, lifelike the urns are. (Source:

Daily Mail

)

Tinny kid kept a lid on it
Len Gale went to Mt Albert Primary in 1935."Our teacher in Standard 1 was very strict on the matter of trips to the toilet - you didn't. Made worse because [two ladies] served hot cocoa from a big urn during lunchtime. The barefoot kids sat in the shelter shed, legs up and the mug between their feet for warmth. Our desks had a lift-up lid and a shelf underneath. That's where I kept a baked bean tin for emergencies, and there were several. At 3pm we marched out, row by row, with my tin held close."

Harry Potter and the Search for Publishing Funds
An erotic novel called A Sensual Triangle hasn't got any cash through crowd-funding. Patrick H needed $4k to write "a tale of a love triangle between a young, chiselled man with a beard that will tickle any part of the body and two college-educated women trying to find themselves". Other book ideas with no funds include an untitled work of young adult fiction with a familiar ring: "When an ox bursts through Mr Bradley's wall one day with an invitation for Darren to attend a special school for cowboys, their lives change forever." (Via US and Them)

Lost in translation ...
Tweet goodness: "Comedy moment at chemist earlier. Foreign assistant thought I was asking for a prescription in the name of Verruca Cream." (Via Haley Storey @portsmouthinfo)

Misleading smoke signals over alarms
A reader writes: "As a landlord, I discussed smoke alarms with MBIE Tenancy Dept and was told if I put a smoke alarm in my property I am legally obliged to maintain it. Imagine a scenario when the battery goes flat before my annual maintenance check, during which time a fire occurs and the tenant's property, or worse the tenant himself, is burned and I am responsible. No thanks. I now politely advise my tenants to buy their own smoke alarm and take it with them. Please do not assume we are lazy or bludgers. There are often legal implications to what we do or don't do."

Living up to the stereotype: This was posted on the Otago Flatting Goods Facebook Page... "$50 and a box of piss to any willing sole out there who can fix this. We'll supply all the material needed, just need your kiwi ingenuity and building expertise."

Art: Susan Te Kahurangi King's was born in 1951 in Te Aroha and stopped speaking around the age of four for no apparent reason. From then on, she communicated solely through her art. Now she is having a solo art show in New York...

Video:

Riverdance in a caravan...

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