Sideswipe: Snug as a bug

Photo / Supplied

Birds do it, bees do it, even ladybirds in threes do it... Photographed on a swan plant in our garden, writes Janine Jones.

There's no excusing the excuse

A reader writes: "Along the lines of Newmarket's poor taste promotion - Experience Solidarity. Experience Newmarket, the reasons given to cancel April's Grassroots Festival also fit the bill. The organisers explained the gig's demise in a press release: "Since the devastating earthquakes in Christchurch, and the consequential standstill with which the entire country has come to, the very difficult decision has been made to cancel the event. We do not feel right seeking real media coverage for the festival while the country is so affected by this terrible disaster. In its first year, promoters felt it vital to preserve the brand for future opportunities and do not wish to see the high calibre of acts playing to a crowd any smaller than they deserve, due to unfortunate timing and circumstance." I'm sure it has nothing to do with poor (pre-Christchurch) ticket sales ..."

For the extremist woman about town

Jihad Cosmo? Al-Qaeda has launched a women's magazine that mixes beauty and fashion tips with advice on suicide bombings. The glossy magazine's front cover features the barrel of a sub-machinegun next to a picture of a woman in a veil. There are exclusive interviews with martyrs' wives, who praise their husbands' decisions to die in suicide attacks. The slick, 31-page Al-Shamikha magazine - meaning The Majestic Woman - has advice for singletons on marrying a mujahideen. Readers are told it is their duty to raise children to be mujahideen ready for jihad. And the 'beauty column' instructs women to stay indoors with their faces covered to keep a 'clear complexion'. (Source: The Daily Mail)

Praise for heroes and hugs

Noeline Goldie of Henderson has a bouquet: "Last Saturday around 4.30pm, my friend, a woman in her 60s, was travelling south through Spaghetti Junction, when her car suddenly died. Squashed up against a barrier wall, with smoke pouring out from beneath the bonnet and thousands of cars streaming past at high speed and very close, my friend went into a state of shock. She would like to thank from her heart, the Polynesian couple who stopped to give her hugs and make sure she was okay, and the policeman named Andy who soon arrived on his motorbike and quickly and very caringly sorted out her safety.

Police not so Laa-Laa

On the theme of police retrieving a toy dolphin from the motorway, Demaris writes: "I had a friend whose little girl lost a yellow Telly Tubby on the Southern Motorway. Mother called the police who happily collected the yellow icon [of it's day]. Police felt having such a high-demand toy, in full view of passing traffic, required quick action to avoid an accident."