KEY POINTS:
Spotted by Paul Graham at Air NZ domestic terminal in Auckland last week.
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Everyone makes mistakes. Like Pete Montgomery not being able to tell who won a close rowing race in the heat of the moment. Like Radio NZ's Nine to Noon TV reviewer Simon Wilson saying on his Thursday slot it was Keith Quinn who called the race wrong. Hey, it was almost two weeks ago, so the memory can go. Though Wilson's recall of the Jack Lovelock race at Berlin and commentary, which he used as a point of comparison, was remarkable. But poor Quinnie. Gets bagged for not being able to think of anything interesting to say at the opening ceremony cos there's no actual sports on, and now a fortnight later he gets it for Montgomery's whoopsie.
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A list of British University student exam blunders have been published by the Telegraph and includes this explanation from one of the importance of the railway in 19th century Britain. "The railways were invented to take the weight off the motorways." On global warming, one student wrote: "Tackling climate change will require an unpresidented response." And another, on the threat of diseases, wrote: "Control of infectious diseases is very important in case an academic breaks out."
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Federation of Rail Organisations president Paul Dillicar says the old diesel loco that was until recently on display at Pacific Steel in Otahuhu is a DF 1501, and the only remaining example of 10 of its type is being moved to Christchurch to be rebuilt by the Diesel Traction Group at their Ferrymead Park HQ. "The task will take the volunteers probably a decade but they are confident they can return it to mainline operating standards to run excursions for the public."
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The William Wallace statue at Stirling Castle in Scotland is caged for practicality, not irony. A reader writes: "There was a competition to create a statue of the legendary 6ft 7in [2m] warrior William Wallace. The sculpture was constructed a year or so after the film Braveheart was released. The artist selected to do the sculpture was a few sandwiches short of a picnic. The so-called life-size statue of the 6ft 7in warrior was carved to an almost identical image of the 5ft 7in [1.7m] Mel Gibson. It was publicly unveiled to the horror of local Scottish people and a few days later the statue was decapitated by local lads. Since then they have had to cage the statue for fear that outraged locals will take out their frustrations on the Mel Gibson replica."
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Bruce Thompson from Kiwibank explains how the counter on the Downtown Shopping Centre billboard in Auckland works: "The counter starts at zero and then progressively increases until it reaches 600,000 - then returns to zero to start again. We sign up about 2000 people a week."
