KEY POINTS:
Our colleague Don wasn't feeling in a Christmas mood, so we kindly decorated his desk yesterday when he had the day off, says Matthew from H2R Consulting.
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The owners of a trout farm were amazed that a photographer caught on camera their fish making an extraordinary escape. He pictured the trout making giant leaps out of their pond into a metal feed pipe 1m above the water level. They then fought against the current for 10m to the end of the 20cm-wide pipe, which emerges underwater in a tributary of the River Itchen near Alresford, Hampshire. Wildlife photographer Dennis Bright, 59, captured the aerobatic fish. He said: "It was an incredible sight. Swimming against the current is instinctive for trout as they head upstream to spawn but they are doing a remarkable job getting through that pipe. They are jumping for freedom in large volumes but sadly I think their fate will be less than happy - there are otter, herons and many other predators feeding from the stream." (Source: Ananova)
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Convinced by friends to travel to the depths of Richmond Rd to try a new cafe, a couple from Mission Bay observed private enterprise parking at its most extreme. "Witches' hats had been placed on the roadside outside the cafe alongside a large tree which apparently was to be trimmed. This man of enterprise started to remove these and when a car attempted to use the space he put them back and the car drove off. He then used his cellphone to summon his lady friend who arrived as he was finishing clearing the space. When they were inside the cafe the tree-trimming truck arrived but left as there was nowhere to park. Finished in the cafe, the man escorted his friend back to the car and returned the cones as she drove off. They certainly do things differently in Ponsonby."
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Alan Gray writes: "This Auckland City Grinch was busy hassling entrants in the Blockhouse Bay Santa Parade and ticketing at least one entrant waiting to get in line (sports car for fairies) for being 500mm over a driveway entrance, while he was more than guilty of the same crime, covering half a driveway. Also, in an exercise that would have done justice to the storming of Iraq, officials, security guards, police and wardens just about outnumbered the entrants to ensure every bureaucratic 'i' was dotted."
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Trying to conceive a girl? Or maybe you want a boy? The secret to pre-conception gender selection could be all down to what you have eaten before the deed. Have a burger and chips before and you're more likely to have a boy - whereas a girl is more likely if you eat chocolate or icecream, according to the latest cutting-edge science as reported in New Scientist magazine. Researchers at the University of Pretoria in South Africa found that mice with reduced blood-sugar levels produced more female than male pups.
