Sideswipe: July 20: Not a parody

"I was certain this UK magazine must be a parody, but it's not," writes Liam. Photo / Supplied

Don't light this at home

At the beginning of the 19th century, candles were either made from tallow (which burned with a sooty flame) or beeswax (which was expensive). But a new process which gained popularity in the 1830s gave another choice. A French scientist hit on a way of separating tallow and adding a secret ingredient which made for cheap, high-quality candles. However, one night, a professor of chemistry was working late by the light of his new candle and smelled a garlic odour coming from the melted wax and became suspicious. He knew arsenic compounds had a garlic-like smell and correctly identified the secret ingredient as arsenic. He ran tests, confirmed his suspicion, and made his deadly findings public describing these new products as "corpse candles" because of their deadly vapour. (Via listverse.com)

Advice for tourists. Photo / Supplied

Job interviews gone wrong

1. "Had an interviewee for a job as an architect show up 10 minutes late to an interview, tell us our clock was wrong and proceed to take it off the wall and adjust it. After he left of course we adjusted it back to the actual time."

2. "A colleague of mine called this guy in for an interview. About two hours after he was due, he called and said he'd been hit by a car. Colleague decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and they arranged another day ... he didn't turn up again, calling to say he'd broken his tooth on an almond ... My incredibly trusting colleague decided to try one more time ... The guy turned up drunk."

3. "I was interviewing a woman for a customer service position. Before sitting down across from me in my office, to conduct the interview, she sticks her leg out in my direction and points to a scab on her leg. It is CLEARLY infected and has been picked at. She then proceeds to ask me of my opinion about if it is indeed infected and if she should see a doctor."

The best correction, goes to...

Listen up

Writer Gay Talese reads from his story 'Frank Sinatra Has A Cold' from his 1966 Esquire article, in which he followed around Sinatra at the height of his power. The story was one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published combining journalistic fact and bought to life with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction.

Video pick

Awaken is a feature-length documentary exploring humanity's relationship with technology and the natural world. CHeck out the beautiful footage in the trailer below...

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz