Sideswipe: Radio host gets crafty

The guy in the petrol station proudly told Will they give away more than 20 pies a month.

Radio New Zealand's Morning Report co-host Sean Plunket has a blog called Sean Makes Crafts in response to his employers decreeing he could not write a column in Metro magazine.

He writes: "I'm not one to let the bastards keep me down. Hence this blog. Now that I have so much time in the day - after all, I do finish work at 9am ... I've found that there's nothing better to fill the day with than using my hands to create something."

While the posts include how to make mini candles and Christmas decorations, there are also opportunities for humour: "Probably for the best, though, the last time we had a staff bonding session we went to one of those decorate-your-own-plate/mug places. [Spectrum presenter] Jack Perkins got quite snippy when I pointed out that he needed to wait for one colour to dry before he tried to put on another ... (For more go to Seanmakescrafts.tumblr.com)

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Jon over at aucklandtrains.co.nz notes that Auckland's public transport integrated ticketing card is all go, and he's soliciting suggestions for a name for the card: "Some cities have opted for fishing-themes such as Oyster - a theme adopted by Infratil with their Wellington-based Snapper card," he writes. "Other names include Melbourne's Myki card (as in My key), South Korea's T-money and London's regional sQuidcard." Reader suggestions so far include calling it Waka card, SAIL card - as in city of sails - Green Card (er, I think that's taken), Whale Rider card and The Jafa Pass (which I like). 'Name it after Colin Meads or some AB hero,' says one sports fan. 'Call it Tui. Then you can get them to sponsor it,' says another. Then someone offers this: 'How about the Hone card. With a picture of his cheeky grin. Then when the bus or train is inevitably late, we can go, 'That mother****** bus'." (Source: www.aucklandtrains.co.nz)

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Regarding running the gauntlet of the mall hand cream hawkers: "We had been given permission to sell biscuits on behalf of Girl Guides in a Westfield Mall. At the time, they were promoting a new mini choc version and were offering a sample before they bought. We were told very strongly that we were not allowed to approach anybody and ask would they like to try or buy. When I said, 'But we were approached constantly by hand cream sellers', we were told by management, 'They most certainly were not allowed to do that and they would be asked to leave the mall if they did'."

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View today's Herald cartoon

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Today's Webpick: What do you think of the new MySky ad, which follows the premise of the song "Que Sera Sera" and goes for the black humour. Doesn't quite gel for me. Go here and make a comment.

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