Sideswipe: August 27: Meanwhile in Belgium…

The problem of the grumpy neighbour who refuses to return a wayward ball over a fence will be a thing of the past in Belgium. A new law will allow anyone who accidentally kicks or throws their ball into a neighbour's garden the legal right to retrieve it. The law currently says the neighbour has to return the ball. [But] they can deny you access to their garden to do that. What has changed is you now have the right to go and get your ball or pet, provided it ended up there by accident. Just kicking the ball over the hedge to look around is not allowed. Concerns have been raised that it will lead to an outbreak of unneighbourly behaviour. (Via The Guardian)

Un-realness in the movies

Lead actor sits down at bar: "Get me a beer." Movie Bartender: *silently gets beer*
Real-life Bartender: "What? What kind of beer? We've got 20 beers on tap and an extensive bottle list. Do you want a menu or something? And when the mother of the house has spent four hours making a breakfast spread for the whole family and the dad or son or whatever walks by, grabs an apple and says they don't have time to eat because they're late for work. I reality they wouldn't get away with that..Movies with trials are the not like they are in real life. There's always a dramatic moment where one of the attorneys presents a witness or piece of evidence that completely changes the course of the trial. Something that neither the judge or opposing attorney knew about. Like sorry dude, but the discovery deadline was a month ago.

Forlorn Bear - how we all feel about lockdown

Supplied by Stewart Germann.

Confessions of flawed humans

1. "Whenever I see someone post something racist on Facebook, I check their profile for an employer. Surprisingly common they put it public. I love messaging them from a burner account of the email sent to HR with screenshots, links and evidence, then blocking them."

2. "I've always loved my wife dearly but I recently encouraged her to go away while I look after our 3 young kids, it's made me realise if anything ever happened to her I would be utterly stuffed; she must be protected like a rare bird. Just don't tell her I'd never hear the end of it."

3. "My 40th happened deep in lockdown, so we couldn't celebrate it. Many people forgot. I feel robbed of a milestone, and I will continue to seethe about it until someone makes a fuss of me."

4. "I deliberately join Zoom meetings a few minutes late. Not only does it make me appear busy but it also lets me skip most of the cringeworthy banter."

5. "Each lottery draw leaves me feeling a genuine and deep sadness as I spend so much time fantasising about what to do once I win."