Sideswipe: Take a ride

Socks-and-Jandals fashion abomination spotted in Auckland's Newton Gully.

Unzip a banana - twice

Despite coming in their own snazzy yellow packaging, single bananas will be sold in bags at places like service stations and gyms as part of a new strategy by the Del Monte company. In America, they will sell for US$1 ($1.36) each. In Britain a typical loose banana costs around 15p ($0.33). Del Monte says the bag will extend the shelf life of the bananas by up to six days. Environmental groups say firms should be cutting back on packaging, not creating more.

(Not) putting you through, caller...

Steve says staff of the new Auckland Council help line don't realise they have replaced the old Auckland Regional Council. "I called the help line to report an invasive weed infestation and they told me ARC deal with vegetation. I pointed out that ARC no longer exists but they insisted on transferring my call to the ARC. Unsurprisingly, the call didn't go through!"

Bad ideas in advertising

An ad agency has apologised for a pamphlet and website offering to buy body parts that were actually to be used to promote a South African horror movie. The pamphlet, produced by a subsidiary of Ogilvy, Johannesburg, showed pictures of a semi-naked woman about to go into surgery and read: "Dr Uba pays the best prices for all your body parts and organs ... We pay keen cash for eyes (up to R5000 [$1000], breast (up to R1800), tongue (up to R2500)..." The movie Night Drive is about the sale of animal parts and human body parts. (Source: IOLNes)

Publishing myths in Takapuna

Roger was in Paper Plus Takapuna yesterday. "Large sign in window NZ BOOK MONTH with quite a few books in the window," he says. But none was a NZ title. He was told only one NZ title was published last month. "What? This is just not true ..."

Too many choices mean no dates

In the dating world, having too many options may leave you in the lonely hearts club. British researchers analysed speed dating to see if singles offered a wide variety of potential dates had a higher chance of meeting a partner. They didn't. Researchers found the more choices people had in potential dates, the more likely they were to end up on their own, according to the study published in the British journal Biology Letters. Experts analysed the romantic decisions made by nearly 4000 men and women at 84 speed dating events in the UK, where single people had three minutes to talk to dozens of potential suitors. Alison Lenton of the University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said too much choice might be overwhelming or confusing for people and ultimately lead to no dates at all.