Sideswipe: September 24: Grandpa goes all out

"My friend had a medieval themed wedding and her grandpa showed up like this." (Via reddit.com)

Creepy-crawly makes driver jumpy

An Indiana woman apparently leaped from her moving car when she spotted a spider crawling on her shoulder. The Associated Press says Angela Kipp was backing out of her driveway when she saw the spider and jumped out the driver's door. Her 9-year old son in the back seat reportedly jumped into the front seat and tried to stop the car, but he accidentally hit the accelerator and crashed into a school bus.??Money does not buy class

One good turn deserves ... something

"I attended a fancy private high school where some of my schoolmates were the offspring of Hollywood bigwigs. One of them, a girl I considered a friend, saw me getting ready to walk home one afternoon and offered me a ride home when her mother picked her up. So off we went in mom's over-upholstered, perfume-reeking luxury car, with mom nattering on about a star-studded party she was planning. (I remember it involved snow machines.) It was shameless, tacky bragging, intended to enforce the idea that I was not of her socioeconomic milieu. Then, as we got close to my home, this dreadful woman made a turn into the driveway of a department store about two and a half blocks from my house, and announced: "You can walk home from here." So I climbed out of the car like some household servant being dropped at the bus stop. My friend said nothing. That girl is now a big name in films, and every time I see her name I remember that day."

Bahahaha. (Via Bad Menu)

Worrying times

1. When Edison invented the phonograph the New York Times said the invention would "destroy all confidence between man and man". It argued that the constant fear of being recorded would render people afraid to say anything but the most tedious and innocuous things, even in the comfort of their own homes, and warned that the recordings would include children swearing, young men making licentious remarks to ladies, and women saying how ugly their friends' furniture was.

2. Around 2007, a rumour spread online that drug dealers were using colouring and flavouring to disguise methamphetamine as strawberry Quik powder used to flavour milk so they could sell it to young children. Although drug dealers sometimes colour their meth to brand their product, there's no evidence it was to target kids.

3. Chess was considered boring and antisocial 150 years ago. Scientific American warned against this "cheerless" game, mentioning that it should never be played by those in sedentary occupations who engage in mental pursuits because it "misdirects and exhausts their intellectual energies". As chess did not "add a single new fact to the mind" and demanded a lot of practice, young men were warned to avoid this amusement if they wanted to be "useful in the world".

Oh no they didn't...

Video: This guy made this sandwich completely from scratch -- he grew his own vegetables, made his own butter and cheese, made sea salt from salt water, and harvested wheat for bread flour. It took six months and cost $1500. It would've taken much longer if he reared the cow and chicken himself too. Intense.

Picture this: Everybody's looking...

Video: Wearing your active wear a little too much?

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