Sideswipe

A visual tribute to Auckland City councillors Penny Sefuiva and Vern Walsh, who took a month-long, business class global jaunt costing $85,000 in April, then voted to raise household rates by 13.4 per cent.

Luke Howard happened upon another interesting pool policy, following the "do-not-change-children's-togs-by-the-pool" nonsense a few months back. "Being Father's Day I took my 5-year-old son to the local Glenfield Pool for some great father-and-son time. While playing in the "fun" pool with son on shoulders I was told that shoulder rides are no longer allowed. The reason given was other people might see me doing it and hurt their necks copying."

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Carlos the Jackal, perhaps the world's most notorious terrorist, is serving a life sentence in a prison in France. This year he filed a lawsuit against the head of French intelligence for illegally capturing him while he was sedated in a liposuction clinic in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1994. (Source: News of the Weird)

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Just Juice has launched a product called Just Juice Splash, which is half original Just Juice and half "spring water". The family-sized three-litre bottle of the blend has been introduced because parents are watering down their juices for the sake of their kids' teeth. But don't imagine the makers of Just Juice are being all altruistic; half the juice doesn't mean half the price. The cost of the three litre original Just Juice is $5.59 and the Splash half-water brand $4.49. Much better value to buy full-strength Just Juice and add some tap water.

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China plans a Bruce Lee martial arts-themed park, complete with a rollercoaster that will make his signature screams and grunts. The Sunday Times of London reports the park will be patrolled by Bruce Lee 'Mannequin robots', radio-controlled from inside a giant statue of the late film star. Lee was born in San Francisco and his action movies, such as Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury, were banned in China, but now the authorities are seeking to cash in on his pop culture legacy.

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Mannies - male child minders - are in increasingly high demand in Britain, apparently because 76 per cent of mothers believe sexy female nannies are a threat to their marriages. A hunky manny is the latest must-have accessory for Hollywood mothers, among them Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow - keen to avoid the heartache suffered by Sienna Miller, who was betrayed by actor Jude Law with Daisy Wright, one-time nanny to his three children.