Local councils in the US are short of cash and don't seem to be getting around to fixing pot holes in the road. Enter KFC, purveyor of fried chicken. The fast-food giant is filling in potholes in five cities, with an actor dressed as Colonel Sanders helping a professional roading crew. Each fixed pothole is spray-painted with a stencil saying "Re-Freshed by KFC". (Source: Adfreak.com)
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Arthur Simmons, 73, from New Mexico, decided to pay his home phone bill online for the first time. He was supposed to pay US$124.14, but he forgot to enter the decimal point. He didn't notice that his phone company website added the decimal point and two zeroes for him, so his payment went through for $12,416 - more than his annual income for a year, leaving him and his wife with nothing to live on. When he called his phone company to explain the error he was told a refund would take six weeks. But after the local TV news called the company's head office, the money turned up within days. (Source:KOB.com)
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Ladies, are you feeling the need to write "I love your body" across your old man's hairy chest? Apparently the "Chocolate and Strawberry Lovers Body Pen Set" is "sexy and delicious" and not a bit tacky. Most women would be more inclined to write: "Have you put the rubbish out?"
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Overheard outside Auckland Zoo entrance at 9.30am:
Person A: Have you noticed how it's always cold when you get into the zoo?
Person B: Yeah - maybe they keep the temperature lower for the animals ... Duh! Seems a shame the zoo has spent so much money on a biosphere when the elephant exhibit is in peril.
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Daft, Death, Smellie, not to mention Gotobed, Shufflebottom and Jelly are all surnames which have declined in popularity over the years. A new analysis of British surnames says names with rude overtones have seen the sharpest decline over the past 120 years. The fastest-growing surname in Britain is Zhang, which has grown from 123 in 1996 to 5804 in 2008. It is followed by four other Chinese names - Wang, Yang, Huang and Lin. Interestingly, in 1881 the most popular surnames were, in order, Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown, Taylor, Davies, Wilson, Evans and Thomas; those top nine names are still in the same order of popularity today. (Source: Times Online)
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John O'Connor on phone book distribution: "Here in Munich the phone company does a rather better job with phone book distribution. When I visit my local supermarket, there is a large pile of 2009 phone books by the door. If you want a set, you just pick them up and carry them home. They are also available in post offices, the main station and other places around the city. Now where is the problem with that?"
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See today's Herald cartoon
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Today's Video Webpick: Paul Henry insults Greenpeace guest on Breakfast. Click here. And how to argue with people who think houses are now affordable in New Zealand. Click here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
