Sideswipe: November 24: Catch of the day

The Carrot.

A record-breaking goldfish has been caught in Champagne, France, where an angler dragged a 30kg specimen from BlueWater Lakes. The carp fishery released the behemoth, known as The Carrot, 20 years ago and it has since grown to be one of the largest in the world. Carrot is a carp-koi hybrid, which meant that, given 20 years to roam, she has grown to weigh more than 30kg. It took Andy Hackett from Worcestershire, UK, 25 minutes to reel her in before snapping a few photos and letting her go. Goldfish dumped into wild waterways represent an invasive species and can even muscle-out native species.

Scottish education system pranked

If you went to school in Scotland during the past 10 years, you probably learnt all about the brilliant Scotsman Alan MacMasters who invented the bread toaster in the late 1800s. Wikipedia said so, and the article had plenty of citations. MacMasters was lauded by the government of Scotland, and his invention was credited in quite a few printed books. That was the state of that, until this past summer when a teenager raised the question of the authenticity of MacMasters’ photograph that accompanied the Wikipedia article. That is when the dominos started to fall. The entire thing was a hoax launched in 2012. There really is an Alan MacMasters, and that picture of him is real, but he is a 30-year-old aerospace engineer in London.

Business up front, party in the back

The mullet fade.

Yes, the mullet is back but it seems to be a hybrid of the mullet and the mohawk, known as the mullet fade. While the hair length differentiation may be more subtle it is still a mullet and wearers should know a few nicknames for their fashion statement. In Canada, the cut is often called hockey hair. Australia called it the lion’s mane before the Beastie Boys popularised the name mullet. Nicknames include the North Carolina neck warmer, the SNL Crisis, the Tennessee top hat, the Kentucky waterfall, the Missouri Compromise, the back job, the lobster, the Achy Breaky big mistakey, the mud flap, the ape drape, the Camaro crash helmet and the schlong (a portmanteau of short and long).

Only in the UK

Heinz has confirmed its Christmas Dinner Soup is returning to supermarket shelves following its sell-out success last year. Not only that but you’ll be able to get your hands on a vegan version too, packing the flavours of a traditional festive roast into a liquid. Priced at £2.50, it’s far cheaper than cooking up a Christmas dinner from scratch.