KEY POINTS:
Out of the fire into the frying pan. It may be safer just to wait for the fire brigade.
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Greg Neves can't believe he got a $200 parking fine for parking his motorcycle in Mt Eden without displaying a current licence label. "I sent the council a letter (with photos) explaining that my bike did indeed have a current licence label displayed (at the back under the rego plate). I have just received a letter from them stating that 'under the Transport Act 1986' my vehicle is 'not legally able to be on a road'. Why? According to the letter I have just received, because a 'licence label must be affixed to the inner side of the windscreen on the passenger's side of the vehicle and be clearly visible when viewed from the outside of the vehicle'. Thus, I have 'committed' an 'offence'. You can imagine my dismay, since my motorcycle doesn't have a windscreen, or even a passenger's side. I've always thought everything on a motorcycle must be viewed 'from the outside'. At least they changed the notice from a fine to a 'warning'!"
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Staff at Cancun's five-star Hotel Coral Beach thought a Nobel peace-prizewinning human rights activist was a street vendor or beggar and kicked her off the premises. Rigoberta Menchu was dressed in Mayan dress, the traditional attire of indigenous people in Central America. The attempted eviction, an example of discrimination against indigenous people common in central and South America, backfired when other guests recognised Ms Menchu. She was in the Mexican coastal resort at the request of President Felipe Calderon to participate in a conference on drinking water and sanitation and was due to give interviews at the hotel. (Source: The Guardian)
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Claire thinks Sue from Waiheke has got it right and that the contestant on TV One's Rich List must get a heads-up on the lists. "There is no way the average two Kiwis, strangers to each other, could have the depth of specific knowledge on each list that the Rich List displays. I think it is more of a memory test than a knowledge test as my theory is that all the contestants are given a lot of lists to read, not knowing which ones they are likely to strike on the show. Some of the dialogue and 'acting' by the contestants tends to back this up. Does anyone know for sure?"
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Says a (failed) Rich List contestant: "The contestants are not given any lists to memorise by the producers. I tried to memorise lists that I thought would be likely candidates. However, the series has been running in Australia for a while now and all their lists are available on the web. The NZ show has reused a number of those lists. So a bit of useful info is available for people to do preparation. It's pure luck if the lists you strike are ones you know a lot about or were lucky enough to memorise. (In my case it didn't work out that way ... )"
Today's Video Webpick: Tokyo Wave Pool makes the one at Mt Albert Aquatic Centre seem a little underutilised. Watch it here. (Scroll down) These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
