KEY POINTS:
The cheapest chair in the world gets a makeover: The manufacturers of this leather and plastic chair claim it "turns the most ordinary piece of outdoor furniture into a comfortable and sophisticated armchair" but we're not so sure, especially when considering the price tag of US$489 ($648).
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Stuart Buckle says he's been "flag-mugged": "There are a number of vehicles driving around flying All Blacks flags which clip on to the window glass, says Stuart.
"I thought I'd be a bit different and changed the flag to a pirate flag, a Jolly Roger, with a skull wearing a bandana and eye patch and two crossbones. It raised a few smiles. On Thursday morning, I stopped at the Pitt St traffic lights near the ambulance station at around 5.30am and a couple of guys nearby approached the car. While one of them distracted me by tapping on the passenger window and asking about hotels in a heavy Eastern European accent, the other one nipped around to my right rear door and swiped the flag. My car, a Subaru WRX, has those frameless door-windows so it came straight off. Meanwhile the lights had changed to green and I cleared off. I didn't notice the missing flag until I got to work. So flag-bearing drivers beware of traffic light flag muggers!"
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A woman yelled "eat my pork, feel my fork" as she stabbed her partner for eating her pork chop dinner. Tracey Wenn, 45, screamed the slogan from a TV ad then plunged a steak knife into partner Anthony Donkin's leg. Donkin suffered a wound and had to go to hospital. She said yesterday: "I'm sorry but you don't just eat my pork chops. I made them with peas and carrots with onion gravy." (Source: The Sun)
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Clarification from the New York Times sports section: "An earlier version of this article misstated the location of a 2005 sexual encounter between Stephon Marbury of the Knicks and a team intern. Mr Marbury testified that it took place in his truck, not in the trunk of his car."
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Helen Dean writes: "Has anyone noticed that the recent 'Buy New Zealand Made' adverts feature the ubiquitous Oliver Driver who also provides the voice for the Warehouse adverts haranguing us to spend on all those cheap imports? Presumably the irony of this contradiction is lost on the government department responsible for commissioning the campaign."
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A reader writes: "If Mr Patel would like to find a reliable trades person we recommend www.nocowboys.co.nz . Here you can choose trades people based on other people's experiences. They have over 16,000 businesses listed and almost 6000 customer ratings. The best are listed on the site because happy customers put them here."
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The Lingerie4men site featured this week in Sideswipe is an ad campaign for a nut-laden chocolate bar, Snickers. The idea was to challenge Kiwi blokes to "get some nuts" by creating a fake company "that would take some seriously huge nuts to front" says the PR company. Silk encased testicles equals delicious chocolate peanut bar. The website has had over 15,696 unique visitors in one week and they received emails asking when the lingerie products would be available for sale. With campaigns like this, you can't help wondering for all the hoopla and cost to create the website and the ads if it actually translates to increased sales of Snickers. Hopefully, the bloke who appears in the ads would have charged top dollar to appear.
Today's Video Webpick: Dove's Onslaught ad is a follow-up to their Evolution ad showing a sped-up process of getting a model ready for publication. It's well worth watching and pretty much sums up why I'd be terrified of bringing up a daughter&. Watch it here. Scroll down. These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
