Sideswipe: July 11: Don't miss out on this course

Don't miss out on this course. (Via Criggo.com)

Flippin' heck, it's a world record

In the build-up to the Olympics, Guinness World Records have released an e-book Totally Bonkers Sporting Champions which includes New Zealand's Veronica Torr, who in 2009 recorded the "fastest 100m hurdles wearing flippers" (18.52 seconds) and 29-year-old Kenichi from Japan who in 2008 recorded the "fastest 100m on all fours" in an astonishing 18.58 seconds.

Escalating fight against fat

A reader writes: "How long does it take to fix an escalator? The escalator leading up to the food hall at Westfield Downtown has been kaput for some time. Maybe it's a corporate responsibility plan to get us doing a mini step session just before we chow down on a Big Mac combo?"

Helluva hard to find

A reader writes: "Regarding the 'god particle' that the church in Nelson claims to have 'found' long ago, I'll bet they don't know that it was originally named "that goddamn particle" by scientists who were having a hard time finding it. It was later shortened to "god particle" by a publisher, in possibly a stroke of marketing genius."

Eggcellent theory

Ian Thomas (aka The Egg Guy) writes: "The egg inside the egg happens fairly frequently (I hear of three or four a year). These are known as double eggs. The most likely theory is that the smaller egg is formed but remains in the hen due to some malfunction. Then the next egg forms around the first. The heaviest double egg I've heard of weighed 183g, three times that of a standard egg."