Sideswipe: I thought it felt warmer today ...

Has New Zealand has moved to the tropics? Photo / Supplied

Daniel Wilson spotted this rather odd map of the World (pictured) on international commercial real estate company GVA Worldwide.com ... "There is something to be hopeful about while in the middle of winter," he declares. "Due to unforeseen earth crust movements, New Zealand has moved to the tropics."

Muddying the line for acceptability

Is it okay to have 16-year-olds topless on television? In Friday's episode of New Zealand's Next Top Model (TV3, at 7.30pm) the photo shoot in Rotorua mud pools required little clothing and plenty of mud.

Three young women went topless - the rest chose to be covered with bandeau tops or accessories. The fact that one of the naked women was just 16 years old and was in a spicy pose made me really uncomfortable.

Dominic Sheehan from the BSA says they have considered naked breasts in this timeslot before with Gok Wan's How to Look Good Naked, but no complaint was upheld. Sheehan does say how the material is presented, which includes the time slot, is relevant.

"Nudity presented in a salacious fashion is far more likely to be an issue than nudity presented in a matter-of-fact way," he says.

A discussion on Facebook included this comment by Tiffany Apaitia-Vague: "In the first episode Dakota had said that if she didn't do this, she was thinking of stripping. They [the judges] spent so long telling her that she didn't have to demean herself like that. Then ... um ... two weeks later ... she is taking her clothes off so that people can look at her. The only difference I can see is that if she was stripping at least she would be the one profiting from her nakedness!"

TV3 has helpfully posted all the pictures on its website.

A surcharge? How inconvenient

"Did you know that [one Auckland] gas station charges a 'convenience' fee for filling up there?" asks a reader. "My friend filled up and got charged this fee which ranges from a minimum 40c to $3, depending on how much petrol you buy from them. There are no signs anywhere and you are hit with the fee when you go and pay at the counter - automatically. What is this fee for?"

Rather creepy level of apathy

Barry from Mission Bay writes: "A creeper climbing up a power pole outside my home is intertwining into the high voltage lines. I called Vector and was told it was nothing to do with them - call Auckland City, they said.

Called Auckland City to be told it was nothing to do with them - call Vector, they said. Gave up. If the neighbourhood kids get electrocuted in the next rainstorm, I will have done my best."

Today's Webpick: The music video for this European house music hit single, "I Am Drunk" by Riva Starr, is darn catchy and features an unforgettable baby in a moustache.

Go here.



The new Sideswipe book True Life Laughs ($19.99) is out now. Buy it at all good bookstores or right here, right now at Fishpond.co.nz.



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