KEY POINTS:
Ella wonders if this new cut of meat, spotted outside the Pakuranga Westfield Mall in Manukau City, is local or imported? Or maybe a Hallowe'en special?
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Carroll spent Labour weekend mountain biking the W2K track from Taupo to Kinloch, when he spotted Labour MP Trevor Mallard, also riding his bike, but without a helmet. "As the track was quite technical, there were a lot of blind corners and very steep drop-offs. A helmet is absolutely essential," he says. "And as he's the ex-Minister of Sport and Recreation, I thought what a dick, he of all people. I gave him a bit for not wearing a helmet, and he mumbled and grumbled and carried on."
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When a famous person suffers a tragedy there will always be a PR foisting an angle on their unsuspecting client. A company that makes bedside shotgun racks sent out a press release headed, "Could a Bedside Shotgun Rack Have Saved Jennifer Hudson's Family from Tragic Death?" The release goes on to say, "Whether it is someone known or a stranger entering the home, too many people in this country are paying with their lives during these home invasions. The Hudson family is just one of far too many Americans gunned down in their own home." A. John Peters, president of Home Back-Up Protection, said he didn't issue the press release to capitalise on the Chicago family's pain. "I really feel sorry for these people," said Peters, 60. "I just don't want this to happen to someone else. Sometimes I think people need to be hit between the eyes." (Source: Chicago Tribune)
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Steve Streater from Tauranga watched a United Travel ad for specials to London and wondered if they were targeting the geographically ignorant. "If you book a flight to London you get a free Eurostar train ticket to Paris. Also advertised is a special coach trip around France. OK, but why do the images in the ad show Milan's Duomo Cathedral and Michelangelo's David in Florence, Italy? The next United Travel ad I saw highlighted a hotel deal in Honolulu, a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands, and a special for Vancouver. It shows images of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Would you book a holiday with a travel agent who doesn't know that Florence isn't in France? Or doesn't know that San Francisco is not in Hawaii or Canada?"
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Today's Webpick: Don't vote, the sequel. Another bunch of Hollywood celebrities encourage the mortals of the United States to vote. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
