Sideswipe

Stylish hand-knit sweaters for GI Joe and his 1:6 scale friends. (Source: monkeyfilter.com)

A lost hunter who started a forest fire in northern California while trying to keep warm was ordered to pay $18.2 million in restitution.

The fire in the Mendocino National Forest burned 2450ha and cost $33 million to suppress, authorities said. The restitution covers the US Forest Services' cost of fighting the fire and restoring the burned area, prosecutors said. (Source: Associated Press)

* * *

A reader from Bombay writes: "Here's an unsolicited text message that I received this morning on my cellphone:"Hope ur happy. coz of al ur flirting and hugging of my bfriend who 4got i existed wen u showd up, we r guna nw break up afta a year, u f-----g b--ch. Thnx 4 nuthn u hore". Concerned as I was at the young lady's understandable distress and keen to reassure her of my innocence, I responded: "I'm an old lady, couldnt cope with ur bfriend. Hope u sort it out". It must be tough being a young person in the contemporary world, but it seems that the cellphone provides an outlet for relieving the frustration of one's requited love".

* * *

When Robyn and Adel Yousef of Raw Energy landed their first shipment of antiques from Egypt recently, they were intrigued by the contents of a mahogany cabinet which included several old photos, pen nibs, letters and a invitation to a wedding in Cairo in 1981. By chance they showed it to Egyptian-born ISO Inspector Ramy Iskander when he worked at their Otahuhu company and were amazed to discover that the bride of 24 years ago used to be his neighbour in Cairo. And not only that - Ramy showed the Yousefs an email he'd received from his sister saying she had recently been with the bride of the 1981 wedding, helping her prepare for her own daughter's nuptials. Considering Egypt has a population of about 75 million and New Zealand has about 500 Egyptian families now living here, it's a pretty amazing coincidence.

* * *

Which election-year stunt is more likely to get Act up and over the 5 per cent power threshold? a: Muriel Newman's campaign to end political correctness ("Gay used to mean happy, but is now homosexual," she shrieks on her taxpayer-funded website - see link below.) b: Signing up porn peddler Steve Crow. c: Neither.