KEY POINTS:
The British Daily Mail newspaper speculates on how the officially merged TomKat appear to be of equal height in their publicly released wedding picture. "Maybe she was bending her knees or wearing flat pumps. Perhaps he was wearing lifts in his shoes. Because somehow, in their official wedding shots, the 5ft 7in (1.67m) actor became a touch taller than his 27-year-old wife." Or there is this explanation ...
* * *
A reader writes: "There are lots of youths in Ponsonby who do the windscreen soap/water/cleaning trick for drivers waiting for lights to turn green. While I was waiting for the lights at the Ponsonby Rd-K Rd intersection on Sunday there was an incident. The driver next to me and I clearly indicated that no, we didn't want our windscreens cleaned. But these young men went ahead and did it anyway, then had the audacity to ask if we had any spare gold coins. I wanted to say no, but felt intimidated and gave them $1. Unimpressed at the amount, they humped off. To avoid a scuffle or car damage it's easier to give them money."
* * *
A reader bemoans the efficiency of the Christmas post: "Our usually fraught postal service must have received a turbo-charge boost this year. We observed the notice sent out by NZ Post that the closing date for Christmas packages via economy mail was November 11. So we got ours away to daughter in Idaho, USA, before this fast-approaching deadline. We were amazed to hear from them that it arrived within a week. Even Santa's sleigh couldn't beat this one for service. The earliest Christmas gift they have ever received from Kiwiland. Even before Thanksgiving, which is this coming Thursday [tomorrow]."
* * *
A British car insurer has calculated the price it would expect to collect in premiums in order to ensure a quick replacement of 007's Aston Martin DBS. Kwik-Fit/Virgin Car Insurance came up with £7108.50(more than $20,000).
* * *
Darren Clark says he was so glad he wasn't the driver of the brand spanking new Lamborghini Murceilago parked on Manukau Rd in Royal Oak late on Monday afternoon. "Were you a bit excited with your new purchase that you forgot to put your handbrake on? What entertainment for the queue of traffic, seeing your empty Lamborghini roll down the road into the back of a parked car! Hope your insurance company is understanding."
* * *
Health officials in Macerata, Italy, rescued a 57-year-old woman after her brother reported he wouldn't be able to keep delivering food to her. It turns out that the woman had become fearful of catching influenza 26 years ago, had sealed the windows of her apartment and had not ventured out the entire time except to collect the food her brother left at her door. She weighed about 29kg and had hair 2m long. (Source: Reuters)