Sideswipe

Relationship in a rut? This shop in Las Vegas has a range of solutions. (Source: Flickr.com)

Lynette McManemin admires the poster that declares: "Cyclists - Auckland needs you. Respect cyclists. They're one less car". Which is why she was incredulous when attacked while riding home from Newmarket to Meadowbank on Friday by a grapefruit ... She writes: "An American ruby red variety, hurled from the other side of the road, was a novel missile, but one which hit my shoulder with great force and exploded all over my clothes and left me with a very bruised shoulder. It could've been more lethal had I fallen into the traffic. As I have previously been hit by cans, bottles, verbal abuse (I'm 55 and a very conservative rider) ... advice from any local candidates on how to protect cyclists from these jerks would be gratefully received."

* * *

Aggressive election campaigning: A reader who attended the Green Party's campaign launch on Sunday was less than impressed to find his car had been defaced with a "Vote Greens" bumper sticker. But the reader is thankful his car wasn't towed and replaced with a Raleigh 20.

* * *

Here's a twist on the collection envelopes you receive in your letterbox - an unsolicited personalised letter from Plunket that gives the hard sell. It says: "Enclosed with this letter is a contribution form bearing your name. If you agree that NZ families are precious - and each newborn child is our future - then please return the form today with a generous contribution."

* * *

Dr Graeme Woodfield of Kumeu responds to Speights' sponsorship of Waihi Rugby Football Union & Scout Club. He writes: "It's not really an unusual sponsorship. Nearly all the corner flags at the games the grandkids attend are sponsored by the alcohol industry. Even more obviously, the All Blacks are all alcohol-labelled. Got to get them conditioned to associate alcohol with sport while they're young. Such sponsorship doesn't influence our kids ... Yeah, right."

* * *

A reader writes: "David Lange, one of the world's most prominent anti-nuclear campaigners, died just as TV One was broadcasting a truly stunning 'dramatised documentary' on the build-up to the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath."