Sideswipe: Separated at birth

Photo / Supplied

Lookalikes Mr Humphries from Are you Being Served? and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Pig's ear error

Excerpt from The Citizen newspaper: "A Nov. 9 Southam News story about Nova Scotia's black minority was accompanied by an inaccurate photograph caption. The photo, said to depict rundown homes outside Dartmouth, was actually of a pig farm. The Citizen apologises for the error."

Houston, you have a problem ...

Businessman Farid Seif didn't intend to take a loaded gun on a flight out of Houston but he can't understand how security staff didn't catch it. Nearing the height of the Christmas travel season, screeners at Bush Intercontinental Airport somehow missed a loaded Glock pistol tucked away inside a carry-on computer bag. "I mean, this is not a small gun," Seif says. He carries the Glock for protection but forgot to remove it from his bag. He reported the incident as soon as he landed, shocked at the security lapse.

Beats me why it works

Pavlova season is in full swing and Sally Wheater has made Simon Holst's recipe many times - all the ingredients are put in the bowl at the same time and whizzed up together - and it always works perfectly, she declares. "Why then does every other pavlova recipe under the sun insist one must add the sugar slowly or disaster will strike?"

From the smalls claims court...

A Japanese woman is suing Google after pictures of her underwear appeared on Street View. The woman is suing for $9600 claiming she suffered psychological distress from her washing line being displayed on Google Maps. According to Japan's Mainichi newspaper, she told the court: "I was overwhelmed with anxiety that I might be the target of a sex crime. It caused me to lose my job and I had to change my residence." The lawsuit claims that the woman's obsessive-compulsive disorder became worse because of the ordeal, as she suspected everything she did was being filmed.

Nurturing young talent

"On Sunday afternoon we were enjoying an excellent brunch at Voila Cafe in Sandringham," writes Ken, "when a very young girl with a guitar walked into the cafe and asked the staff if she could play some songs. The woman serving quickly made a space and let the girl sing. Although she must have been only 11 or 12, she was really wonderful. Good on Voila for embracing a young and fantastic talent who just seemed to boldly walk in off the street. It really made my day."

Bad mouthing from Barbie

"Had the same problem with Barbie's naughty word dictionary," says Cate. "When joining my daughter up to the Barbie.com website, I entered our address and was told that Auckland is a naughty word..."

Today's Webpick: A compilation of scary Santa moments... Go here and scroll down).

Follow Ana Samways on Twitter.