Sideswipe: Surely not

Photo / Supplied

Alistair Bailey of Whitianga enjoyed some well-prepared bread from Mr Burns at Glastonbury in the UK.

'Archaic and sexist' Te Papa rule

Te Papa offers behind-the-scenes tours of the museum for representatives of small museums, art galleries and heritage organisations. A friend's mother was delighted to receive the invitation but less than impressed with what she thought was an archaic and sexist precondition. No photographs, food or drink - fair enough - but surely the rule banning menstruating or pregnant women needs to go. It is, after all, the 21st century. The invitation says: "Wahine who are either hapu [pregnant] or mate wahine [menstruating] are welcome to visit at another time ..."

Revenge of parking dispossessed

Last week's story of the woman trying to save a carpark for her friend reminded Matt of when his wife accidentally nabbed another woman's parking space at Sylvia Park. "Returning to our car, we found long car-key scratches on the side of our car. When my wife talked to the mall's security team, she was shown the video surveillance of the woman doing the damage as she and her small child walked past. The video did not capture her registration plate ..."

First-class justice served

A German court has paid $14,500 to fly a student first class from Australia to Berlin to testify for 30 seconds in a court case about his stolen mobile phone. A judge said student Patrick Becker's presence at the hearing of a woman who allegedly stole his mobile was vital. "I could only get first-class tickets because of the short notice," Becker said. The teenage thief was sentenced to a weekend's detention. (Source: telegraph.co.uk)

Niko's toilet gripe answered

Rochelle responds to Niko's "whingeing about not being allowed to use the toilet at the Mission Bay cafe". She says she used to work there. "The eat-in/restaurant side charge significantly higher prices and the bathroom for them is right down the back of the dining room. The last thing they want, while they are eating dinner, is to have hundreds of people waiting for takeaways (often loud and drunk after drinking on the beach) tromping through to use the single toilet." She adds: "It isn't McDonald's, Niko. Use the public loos next to the beach with the rest of the world."