Sideswipe: January 5: Wishing ewe a happy NY

How a farmer at Turua on the Hauraki Plains extended his New Year greetings to everyone. Spotted by Stewart Douglas.

Opportunist thievery

"How I wish I'd had my camera on Friday," writes Linda Lang. "I came across two young men parked outside the Sallies' op-shop in Trading Place, Henderson. They were blatantly filling up their car with a huge pile of donated clothes and goods including a large TV. Off went their dirty clothes and they sorted through some cleaner ones which they put on immediately. I didn't get the photo but I sure got the number plate ... "

Racing club waters down the welcome

"The officiousness of the Auckland Racing Club knows no bounds," declares Terry. "On New Year's Day, patrons attempting to enter through the Leger Gates were made to empty their water bottles onto the ground before being permitted admission. I knew the ARC had a licence to prohibit alcohol, but I was unaware it extended to water. One would think the ARC would want to encourage people to attend their race meetings by making the experience more enjoyable, not less."

Auckland's missing million

A reader writes with news of an error which has apparently remained unfixed for years ... "I travelled back to Auckland from Papeete, Tahiti, on Air New Zealand flight NZ41.

They were showing a screenshot on Auckland including the population, which to my surprise was under 435,000. I know Auckland's population is about 1.42 million. Air New Zealand, where are the remaining million?"

Mississippi musing

Australian comedian Hamish Blake (one half of duo Hamish and Andy) waited on a New York street corner hoping to be photographed by the Humans of New York guy. It never happened, so he did his own picture and blurb. He writes: "I grew up on a ketchup farm in Mississippi. We would go out all day and dig up bottles of ketchup then sell them by the side of the road for 10 dimes, which most people just call a dollar now. It wasn't till I was 18 that my pappy told me there's no such thing as a ketchup farm, he was buying those bottles in town and burying them in the middle of the night just to give us something to do the next day. They cost him two dollars a bottle, so we were losing a solid dollar every bottle, plus the time spent digging them up and him sneaking out every night to bury them. After I found out, I moved to New York to become a jazz dancer. I became a hit and danced privately for many well-known celebrities and world leaders. I would sometimes dance quietly for Einstein in his study; he said it helped him think. I was dancing softly in the corner when he came up with the E-equals-MC-squared stuff."

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz