KEY POINTS:
Strange entrepreneur: Julie Jackson makes wigs for cats, and cat lovers are paying US$50 ($62) a pop to play dress-up with their feline friends. Varieties include Pink Passion, Bashful Blonde and Electric Blue and each Kitty Wig comes with its own wig case and is covered in a hair net to help "keep its shape and lustre". Jackson warns that wigs should be worn under strict human supervision and should be introduced slowly, to avoid "cat shock". (Source: Kittywigs.com)
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While standing on the corner of Albert and Customs Sts, Dylan from Parnell saw a scooter go through the red light. "It then took a short cut across the road to where I was standing and joined the pedestrians as we crossed the road. Then the driver continued a hundred metres or so down the footpath before turning right on to Queen St (the road, not the footpath at least). The scooter was black, and had 'Charlie's' written on both sides. The rider was Marc Ellis. Always the innovator."
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Broadcast Blue: French Polynesia's Tahiti Nui public television station is on strike after a technician broadcast a seven-minute pornographic film. The union says it wants a harsher punishment than a warning for the technician, who says it wasn't intentional; the film was intended for his private viewing. It was broadcast after a live interview with the head of the Protestant Church and just before the midday news. (Source: RNZI)
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Lindsay asks: "What's happened to Milo? We have a round 220g Milo container in our kitchen which is the default holder for transferring our much loved hot chocolate into from the standard 600g bag. The use-by date on the small container is January 2006 and the mixing instructions suggest using 'three or more heaped teaspoons' into a mug. The mixing instructions on the 600g bag with a use-by date of May 2009 suggest using 'four or more heaped teaspoons' into a mug. Is this just a devious marketing ploy, a weaker Milo, or do Nestle just feel we are now bigger mugs?"
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For your edification:
These gems from Wikipedia's list of Common Misconceptions.
1. Napoleon Bonaparte was not especially short. After his death in 1821, the exiled French Emperor's height was recorded as being 5 feet 2 inches. But this was measured in French feet. Converting that measurement into metres gives a height of 1.686 metres, making him slightly taller than the average Frenchman of the 19th century.
2. Hair and fingernails do not continue to grow after a person dies. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, thus giving the appearance of growth.
3. There is little evidence that CCTV security cameras deter crime; the most measurable effect of CCTV is not on crime prevention, but on detection and prosecution.
Today's Webpick: US Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came under fire this week for fibs she told when describing her arrival in Bosnia in 1996. Clinton recalled that she'd arrived amidst a hail of sniper fire and had to duck for cover, but her account was contradicted by another in the visiting party and the footage of the arrival. However, this new footage suggests Clinton may have been telling the truth after all. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
