Sideswipe

On a holiday trip to Cape Reinga a reader stopped to get a cob of corn, but decided to buy two because of the special deal.

A reader was amused to see a courier with the licence plate SPRNTR overtaken by a car with the plate SOSLOW on the Northwestern Motorway last week.

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From the Peru Tribune: "A caller ... told the [sheriff's office] a man was in the middle of the road. The man told officers he was looking for his tooth, which he lost yesterday while eating peanuts. He thinks he may have tossed it out the car window while he was tossing out peanut shells." (Source: News of the Weird) 

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Petty, petty promo-wars: 1. Wondering whether TVNZ had to pay someone to say Wendy was "hot" on its "it's not about me" (Yeah, right) ad? The short answer is yes. Turns out the Indian taxi-driver who proclaims Wendy is "hot" is actually a restaurateur from Christchurch. TVNZ said while most on the ad were "real people", two were part-time actors, including the driver who "owns a restaurant and has no previous acting experience. This was his first role". And while no money changed hands for the apparent endorsement of the famous faces in the ad - including Sir Ed Hillary and Ahmed Zaoui - donations were made. The "real people" were given small gifts.

2. Meanwhile over at TV3, their own newsreaders are having huge amounts of fun at their rivals' expense. After Hilary Barry wished sports-reader Clint Brown happy birthday, he said: "Remember Hilary, it's not all about us."

3. And back at TVNZ, backs are up over a new 3 News promo encouraging viewers to send in their own footage, "3 News. Make it your news" sounding like TV One's "One News, your news". 

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Russell lives! Sightings of Russell the Rooster by the Southeastern Arterial confirm he either "has a twin or is the chicken messiah", says a reader who saw him "merrily pecking the ground on the side of the southern on-ramp" after Sideswipe's obituary this week. Another reader expressed an outpouring of grief round their office over the apparent demise of Russell (or Jack). "Having seen the rooster for years on the motorway, we are going to have a wake for him. Debra here at work says he is known as Jack to everyone. Could you confirm if this is correct? Is he dead?" It appears not. Another reader is pleased to report that he is "alive and clucking and causing his usual traffic disturbance in the process. And if you ask me, it looks like the Christmas break did him some good - he plumped up considerably." Finally, another reader suggests "the creature hit by the NZ Post van was in fact a possum".