Sideswipe: A Kiwi-bred welcome

There's no need to cycle the length of the country, with a new book offering a pictorial journey of traditional Kiwi welcome signs, you can enjoy provincial New Zealand from the couch.

Welcome to New Zealand includes 350 pictures of entrances to cities and towns such as Manaia, which should be a great place for a sandwich. South Otago small towns show off a sense of humour ("Welcome to Clinton, our three-horse town" declares one sign and further up the track, "Welcome to Milton, the town of opportunities") and others have elaborate sculptures like Taihape's giant gumboot. But our art deco capital, Napier, doesn't have a welcome sign at all.

* * *

Rosaleen McCarroll of Hamilton writes: "While waiting for an x-ray at Waikato Hospital I read a magazine that I thought was 29 years old. As I walked home wondering if I should invest in a state-of-the-art Asahi Pentax camera advertised in the magazine, I remembered that that issue of Life was dated October 1970, which makes it 39 years old."

* * *

India's rugby sevens side must fatten up if they hope to make an impact at next year's Commonwealth Games, the country's South African coach Norman Laker said. "I have told them they must eat at least 15 eggs a day" he said. "The players have three meals a day and that's not enough. In South Africa, elite rugby players have seven meals a day." India is rated 83rd out of the 95 teams and players weigh 72-77kg on average, whereas other international players weigh between 88 and 100kg.
(Source: Reuters)

* * *

On monitored toilet breaks, one reader claims all call centres do it: "IAG (State Insurance, NZI) have a code called 'natural break' and if you go over 10 minutes a day - they will talk to you."

* * *

A reader writes: "I just saw a TV ad for a new brand of water, "Water for Everyone" with Richie McCaw and Ali Williams telling us 5 cents from every bottle sold goes to local charities. Wouldn't it make more sense to donate the whole $2-odd the bottle of water would have cost to a worthy cause before paying a visit to the nearest tap?"

* * *

The video of Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz and their attendants dancing down the aisle at their wedding has had more than 13 million views on YouTube. Neither Chris Brown, whose song Forever served as the processional music, nor Sony Music demanded it be taken off the site as many music corporates do. Instead, they requested links to Amazon and iTunes from YouTube, and sales skyrocketed. (Source: BoingBoing.net)

* * *

View today's Herald cartoon

* * *