Sideswipe: May 30: Leather-look records

Quiz road to ruin

A reformed quiz-doer writes to the BBC's Magazine Monitor section to complain. "I used to do your quiz, regularly. I never got 7/7. My wife left me for a local chess champion as she declared I'm stupid. Then, because of my self-pity, I binged out on Mowbray pork pies [the ones with the egg in the middle] up to 14 a day, and put on almost 25kg in a month. It was then I stopped doing your quiz and the kilos dropped off ... really! I was slim again and got a new girlfriend who works as a crane operator and hates quizzes so we are both happy. Please let overweight people know you can lose weight by not doing quizzes." Steve Macbeth, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Frypan not behaving like frypans should

"I have just gone flatting and I have bought a dumb frying pan that won't sear my meat," writes a reader. "Every time I try to sear, I stew it. The pans buckle on the ceramic stove top and then struggle to get any decent heat going even if the element is fanging it. Can anyone give me frypan buying advice?"

Blue bin goes off on an OE

Following on from the Auckland wheelie bins "international cultural exchange programme", expat Mike absconded overseas with his own parochial memento. "I had been at the wedding of my friends and was at the end of my hectic three weeks. Having packed the usual gifts [stuffed kiwi, hei matau/bone carved fish hook and Pineapple Lumps] I was looking for a unique souvenir. In the garage of my friends in Kingsland was the newly redundant powder blue recycling bin - the city was replacing them with wheelie bins. I had to take it back to the UK. My mates didn't believe I'd get it on the plane. I had cooked up an elaborate tale to spin at check-in but in typical NZ style the clerk didn't bat an eyelid. My mates cheered as the recycling bin jostled with the rucksacks and Louis Vuittons as it was carried away on the conveyor belt."

Driver prefers to wake residents loudly

Matt writes: "The driver of a car or truck who collected/delivered something in Ellerslie at 4.20am this morning please note that tooting your horn once every 30 seconds for 5 minutes wakes up the neighbourhood. Stop being lazy and use your phone or get out of your vehicle and knock on the door.

Classic clip: Punk? I don't think so.

Picture this #1: Tea kettle or Hitler?

Picture this #2: Horror Icons Starring In Light Hearted Movies inserts characters from classic horrors into famous scenes from rom-com's and the like...

Video: Prancercise is a fitness workout involving some prancing, which is " a springy, rhythmic way of moving forward, similar to a horse's gait and is ideally induced by elation.