Sideswipe

Superfroth: During his regular (five-yearly) fridge-cleaning exercise at work, Dave from Hamilton was lucky enough to find some milk that he didn't know he had. "Needless to say, we were all excited. The coffee buffs in the office tell me that old milk is better for frothing, and so we were wondering if we should put it on TradeMe, as this has to be the best frothing milk ever!"


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Developmentally appropriate fun from the Auckland District Health Board: The in-house Great School Holiday Poster Competition asks children 5 to 16 years old to base their entry on the board's new core values ...

1. Integrity - "We are open, fair honest & transparent in everything we do."

2 Respect - "We care about & will be responsive to the needs of our diverse people and communities."

3. Innovation - "We will provide an environment where people can challenge current processes & generate new ways of learning and working."

4. Effectiveness - "We will apply our learning & resources to achieve better outcomes."

(Thank goodness the McDonald's has gone from Starship or it would be fun-overload these hols.)

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Sideswipe reported yesterday that one local turned out for the visit by Prince Andrew (right) to Newport last week. L. Gates, of Whangarei, whose brother lives in Wales and works near Newport, writes of how the brush with royalty impacted on him: "We had Prince Andrew come to our work. It wasn't exciting at all. I was forced to give up my chair for an afternoon and consequently I did sweet stuff all. I got sniffed by a bomb dog. That was about as entertaining as it got."

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Taking the service out of service stations:

"On Monday when I took my gas bottle to be filled at the local Shell station ... The young man was on his mobile and after a considerable wait, he came out, filled the bottle, told me the price and walked away. I called him back and asked him if he would please lift the bottle into my car for me (being female and finding the bottle too heavy) and he said, 'We don't do that any more'. He then walked away saying that he had a sore back, too!"

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The Wiggles' quest for global domination continues: Australia's top entertainment earners last year (A$45 million) are spreading their skivvied concept round the world. Since they sold their soul to Disney in 2002, the Wiggles franchise has taken off and other countries now want their own Wiggles. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that musicians and singers in Taiwan, Japan and Korea are being selected to take on the four Wiggles roles, complete with the colour-coded skivvies made famous by the originators. (The Wiggles are in Auckland, performing live, on Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12.)