Sideswipe: Rearranging odd sods

Joe saw this car on the motorway in Auckland and thought, "I must remember this for next time I decide my lawn is not quite in the right place!"

Parking spot hog

Last Monday Kay Schulda was backing into a parking spot in Ponsonby Rd when "someone tapped on my passenger window - a well-dressed woman in her 30s explained she was 'saving the park for her friend'. I didn't think you could save parks, but when I told her that she said: 'Get stuffed, I'm doing it anyway'. I was so taken aback, I drove off!"

Paris Hilton for mayor

A new mayoral candidate in the Far North has come on board at the last minute, according to the Northern Advocate. Mike, Arthur and Greg of Kerikeri put up a sign on Kerikeri Rd to promote a candidate they say they would definitely vote for - socialite Paris Hilton. The men say so far the election race has been dull, dull, dull and they wanted to add some glamour to local politics. They made a billboard on a sheet, with a picture of Hilton on it, and swung it over an existing billboard in time for peak traffic. Asked what Paris Hilton would bring the Far North they responded "glamour or drugs" but then corrected themselves "no, we can't say that, she brings the simple life".

If it sounds too good to be true ...

Some folk deserve to be ripped off: A couple forked out £650 ($1370) cash to a stranger who approached them and took them to a car park behind Dominos pizza in Huntingdon where they viewed a laptop in a rucksack and agreed to buy it, along with an iPhone. They withdrew the cash and gave it to the fraudster, who handed over the rucksack ... only this time instead of the laptop and iPhone, it was full of spuds and cardboard. (Source: Cambridgenews.co.uk)

Same ad, different faces

Cate responds to the comment about the Rexona advert: "As an international brand they often have the same ad for different countries and just CGI local celebrities in. The New Zealand division probably didn't have much of a choice," she says.

Dialling 111's snow joke

Ross reckons the 1111 phone number for fire at the Turoa Ski field, featured in yesterday's Sideswipe, is correct. "If you have a large phone system (pabx) you have to dial 1 to connect to an outside line before you dial the number you require."