Sideswipe: December 3: Op shop art finds

A formula for making friends takes time

Science has figured out the number of hours of quality time it takes to progress through each stage of friendship. Want to level up an acquaintance to a casual friend? It's going to take around 50 hours of small talk and banter. Double that for a real friendship, the "catch up and do an activity you both enjoy" kind. And around 200 hours for a close friendship - where deep and meaningfuls on all things are done with ease. Unfortunately, you've gotta act fast. Most friendships develop within three to nine weeks of meeting. When it comes to developing friendships, small talk (e.g. talking about the weather or the news) was far less effective than what they call "striving behaviours." Those aren't necessarily the big emotional bonding moments where you bare your soul; It can be as simple as talking about your respective days, what's happened since you last saw each other, and even just joking around. What's important is that it feeds your need for belonging, which is really all a friendship is. Hours spent working together just don't count as much as time spent outside the office. Maintaining close relationships is the most important work we do in our lives — most people on their deathbeds agree.

Now that's a walk to get the blood pumping

One of the longest known 'walks' you can find on Google Maps is the route you see above which takes you from Cape Town, South Africa to Magadan, Russia. This from Neatorama: "The total distance is approximately 22,366 km and Google estimates it would take you about 4470 hours to complete (at a pace of 5 km/h). So if you were to walk just over 12 hours each day at a pace of 5 km/h, it would take you an entire year to complete the walk. In that time you will have passed through 16 countries and ascended and descended the equivalent of 13 trips up and down Mount Everest."

Did you know?

1. The shower water on Alcatraz was intentionally kept very hot. This is so prisoners wouldn't get used to cold water and be able to swim to shore if they escaped.
2. The German expression 'die Schere im Kopf haben', literally 'to have scissors in one's head' means 'to engage in self-censorship'.
3. The winter of 1962-63 was so cold in the UK that Norwich City Football Club tried to defrost their pitch with flamethrowers.

Answers to 30 bands picture quiz

Smashing Pumpkins, Sound Garden, Alice In Chains, Garbage, Guns N' Roses, Pet Shop Boys, T Rex, Eagles, Arctic Monkeys, Zombies, Radiohead, Cranberries, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis, Police, Thompson Twins, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Shed Seven, Salt n Pepa, The Beatles, The Vines, The White Stripes, One Direction, Pink, Pavement, Four tops, Atomic kitten, Big Star, b*witched. (Go here for the picture)