Sideswipe: Mixed messages

Mairangi Bay KFC. Photo / Supplied

Not sure whether you're coming or going? Kisha Hira spotted this at KFC in Mairangi Bay.

No rest from Vodafone's hard sell

Karen from Mt Eden writes: "I am not a religious person but was still horrified when I answered a knock on our door at 5pm on Good Friday to be greeted by a representative from Vodafone doing the hard sell. I was speechless. Is nothing sacred any more?"

Hidden cost of some donations

In response to the reader who complained that charities did not want her old TV, Con Linton, a volunteer driver for Hospice South Auckland, writes: "Let's look at the logistics. A van and driver is sent to collect the TV. It is taken to a warehouse where it must be examined by a qualified electrician. It is then taken to a retail shop to join 30 others that have been sitting around for several months or it remains in the warehouse and is eventually dumped because there were no buyers and space is scarce. Non-profit organisations can ill afford these extra costs."

Getting up to bunny business

In Germany, a club has set up showjumping ... for rabbits. The bunny obstacle courses have prompted opposition from some animal rights groups, but the sport of rabbit jumping, born in Scandinavia, has spread through much of Europe and has even jumped into the US and Japan.

(nbcsports.com)

Morris men skip into 19th century

Britain's Labour Equality Act has forced men-only morris dancing clubs to open their doors to women. After the threat of a legal challenge, the Morris Ring, the country's oldest morris dancing organisation, has changed its constitution. But equality stretches only so far: women will be allowed as musicians and in other "organisational" roles but will not be permitted to dance. The stance on women has divided the morris world for decades and its partial lifting of the ban has not gone far enough for many, with critics accusing them of being "anti-women". Peter Halfpenney, squire - the equivalent of president - of the Ring, said: "I would liken it to Manchester United not having any females in their first team. Their prime performers are men because they are physically stronger. The physical difference is not going to change, but of course, we recognise that ladies have as much ability to organise or play music."

Baths in winter bad for heart

Taking a hot bath on a cold day may spell trouble for the heart, says a Japanese research team at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, with the rate of cardiac arrests during bathing rising ten-fold from summer to winter. The team based the study on data from nearly 11,000 cardiac arrests in the western prefecture of Osaka between 2005 and 2007. Before the cardiac arrest, 22 per cent of people had been sleeping, 9 per cent had been bathing, 3 per cent had been working, and 0.5 per cent had been exercising.

(telegraph.co.uk)