Sideswipe: Something for the weekend

The Southern Men Working Hard - Naked Fundraiser 2012. Photo / Supplied

The little Southland town Tuatapere (pop 600ish) needs the roof fixed on the community swimming pool. So naturally the local blokes have stripped off for a fundraising calendar. The Southern Men Working Hard - Naked Fundraiser 2012, which is more comedy than titillation, sounds like great stocking filler: "Feast your eyes on a different Hardy Southern Legend every month," ethuses the Trade Me auction. "Let's face it, we know you gals have watched that Rugby Game and wondered what those boys look like, stripped bare, mud splattered ... that Woodsman wielding the massive, powerful, chainsaw ...the farmer, outstanding in his field..." Buy it (and peruse it) here.

Election fun #1: Don Brash calls TV3 reporter Patrick Gower a "deceitful bastard", one lone voice of reason in the Kiwiblog comments says: "Media Training 101. All journalists are deceitful and will sh** on you if you give them half a chance. If doorstopped, be polite and tell journo to make an appointment. Keep mouth shut at all times when camera's are present. Buy drinks for special journo's ie Soper."

Election fun #2: Now this is a marvelous idea for fans of politics...a live blog by the Listener's Toby Manhire who rounds up all the political carry-on for the day (as reported in the media) in a personable and informative way. In his latest, he points to this classic clip, the 1984 Leaders Debate between Muldoon and Lange , which boffins will know ends with Muldoon saying: "I love you, Mr Lange."

Election fun #3: Check out The National Party's 1975 'dancing Cossacks' ad - a bit of good old fashioned scaremongering that Labour were really a bunch-o-communists. According to NZ History.net Labour also stirred the pot with a controversial ad featuring an image of a piglet - Robert Muldoon, who is often called 'Piggy' by his enemies.

Election fun #4: An alternative pop outfit from Wellington have released a track bluntly called "John Key is a dick" for download. Sure to get the spin doctors shifting uncomfortably in their seats, the lyrics don't pull any punches:

Verse 1:
Twenty per cent of children live in poverty
The country stands to lose $39 million on the rugby
His Cabinet Ministers don't know how to behave
And all John Key does is smile and wave

Chorus:
John Key is a dick
Being popular makes him tick
John Key thinks he's cool
But you can't trust a currency trader fool...

The band have diligently recorded the songs in seven different musicals styles.

Global warming: These silicone ice cube "molds with a message" by Japan's Atsuhiro Hayashi are a tremendous, yet a slightly gimmicky way of literally reminding us of the plight of polar bears and penguins with the big melt.

News: "But when the scrotal ultrasound of a 45-year-old patient with severe testicular pain and a possible mass revealed the surprising image of a man in distress..."

3 second time waster: Type "do a barrel roll" into Google and watch what happens:

Fame: Fan or not, you have to appreciate Madonna for her staying power. Here's a collection of magazine covers featuring the Queen of Pop; one each year for the last 28 years.

Badass Bollywood: Inspector Bajirao M. Singham is fighting crime and he's got the laws of physics on his side...

Video: A chance encounter with one of natures most fleeting phenomena - a murmuration.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

(Shot in Ireland on the River Shannon)