Sideswipe: August 10: Horseplay in mayor's office

"A mayor in England is fighting for his office. He's also a pony," declares a headline in the Washington Post. "Patrick has only been mayor of Cockington, a small English village, for less than two weeks. But he's already had his office taken away. That is, his small pen filled with hay. Because Patrick is a pony. Patrick, a 4-year-old Shetland pony, had been meeting with constituents at an "interaction pen" in the garden of a pub, which he regularly frequents for a few slurps of Guinness. But that has been dismantled, after a single complaint lodged to local authorities. The dispute is ostensibly about building permissions — but supporters are convinced that it was designed to take him down. Possibly by a human who wants to be mayor."

Who vets these guys?

A reader writes: "Add Sam 'bully boy' Uffindell to the list of the National hall-of-famers, cause there are a few... Andrew Falloon, Hamish Walker (with the assistance of Michelle Boag), Nick Smith, Jake Bezzant, Todd Barclay, Murray McCully, Mike Sabin, Richard Worth, Aaron Gilmore."

Management says...

Petty confessions

1. "Some years ago we bought a new fridge. I told my wife the reason I picked that particular fridge was that magnets do not stick to it. I was sick of the fridge being covered with magnets and notes stuck to magnets. Magnets do stick to it. She has never tried."

2. "I have only ever used the Announce feature on Alexa to let my cat know that he's a good boy, and that I love him and will be home soon."

3. "I'm a single lady of a certain age, so was thrilled to hear a wolf whistle from a young, attractive neighbour whilst walking past his house. I gave him a little wave with a smile, thinking 'still got it'. Then I realised he was just calling his dog back inside."