Sideswipe: July 6: A Marge Simpson moment

"Visiting the parents in Wellington a couple of weeks ago, I walked down to the local inner-city supermarket only to find this. I'm a bit of a Simpsons' nut and the first thing that came to mind was Marge Simpson's line when she was a cop, "[thinking] Everywhere I look, someone is breaking the law. Dog, no leash. Man, littering. Horse not wearing diaper. Car parked across THREE handicap spaces ... "

Trees to look at, not to take
A reader writes: "The previous Waitakere City Council has done a great job of planting trees around the creeks in West Auckland - when they grow it will look fantastic. But some people do not have the same appreciation. I would like to remind the two older women in a white station wagon (I have passed your number plate on to Auckland City Council) who were taking a cabbage tree from the corner of Seymour and Rangeview Rds in Sunnyvale on Sunday morning, that they were actually stealing from ratepayers. Next time, they might want to go to the local garden centre and pay."

Name game #1
Ross of Rotorua writes: "The NZ badminton team have been unofficially known as the Black Cocks for some time. This all came about in the old days of the pirates on Radio Hauraki when they named all the NZ teams going overseas. Here are a few:"

* Archery - The Silver Arrows

* Curling - The Silver Sweeps

* Boxing - The Black Eyes

* Athletics - The Black Tracks

* Bowls - The Black Jacks

* Rifle team - The Bore Blacks

* Rowing - The Black Strokes

* Swimming - The Black Togs

* Cycling - The Black Spokes

* Volleyball - The Black Spikes

* Equestrian - The Hi-Ho Silvers

Name game #2
Readers' suggestions included: "How about 'Splash Blacks' for the synchronized swimmers? And beach volleyball team should definitely be called 'Black Slappers'. And the 'Black and Blues' for the boxers? But the 'Black Oars' for the rowers wouldn't sound good on the commentary, I guess."

Bank ad confusion
An ad that needs to be explained isn't doing its job ... Andy writes: "I had exactly the same discussion with my more financially and technologically astute wife. She informs me the man without his wallet uses his phone to transfer money to his friend who will then pay for him. His friend takes his phone out first as a hint to transfer him the money. How confusing ... I guess this is why my wife looks after the finances."