Sideswipe: July 18: Kids can now drink safely

Child-friendly wine glasses. Photo / Supplied

Finally my kid can drink wine without me worrying about her breaking the glass.

Ripping yarns

A town about 100km south-east of London has fallen prey to a new kind of Ripper. According to the Guardian, a criminal known as the "Book Ripper" has torn pages in about 100 books in a charity bookstore in Herne Bay before placing them back on shelves. The perpetrator rips the page in half horizontally and sometimes removes half the page. Though it's not the most efficient way to ruin a reading experience, since the pages themselves are still legible as long as they're left in the book, it's still devastating to a shop that relies on the generosity of others to serve the underprivileged. The Book Ripper targets bookshelves that can't be seen from the register, and has a favourite genre to vandalise: true crime.

Modern day commerce

The reality of modern-day commerce, declares Russell, supplying this photo of his can opener delivery. "Weight of can opener? 83 grammes. Weight of packaging? 496 grammes.

Memories of a Beetle

"It was a hardy car for its size, compared with the monsters of today," writes Steve Jones of New Plymouth. "I owned one as a teenager in the early 70s. While driving with my girlfriend on an unsealed, extremely winding, hilly section of the Napier-Taupo road, she dropped her cigarette and bent to retrieve it. We rolled four times down a 70-metre bank, into a stream. No seatbelts. Rescued, we were returned to Napier — her with a small cut in her back, me unhurt — till the next day, when every bone/muscle in our bodies ached. The car was a write-off. And I recall the 'emergency tank'. You pushed a lever when out of petrol and in came a gallon or two."

Close to home

A reader wonders why Donald Trump denounces successful Americans who were born elsewhere. Trump's grandfather was born in Germany and emigrated to America. His son (Donald Trump's father) was born in America ... and given the name Frederick Christ Trump. So far, even the brashness of the current President of the US has not extended to referring to himself as — "The son of Christ".

Keep warm when heading out

These slippers look like they'd be a crack-up on a night out.