SIDELINES...

TRYING IT ON

A study by the tax office has shown that items companies have claimed on expenses include live lobsters, an adult-size pink tutu, lederhosen, sex toys, a cremation and a tantric workshop session. The Accountancy Partnership said, “expenses that occur due to business circumstances are allowable… no matter how dubious they may seem.” Sun, 15 July 2021.

CLOSE SHAVE

While relaxing on the patio at Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina, a 57-year-old golfer felt a stinging sensation on the side of his head but shrugged it off as an insect bite. It was only when fellow golfers pointed out that he was bleeding, and picked up a bullet nearby, that he realised this is what had grazed him. No one at the scene remembers hearing a gunshot and Sheriff’s spokesperson Lori Poag said: “It appears the shooting was accidental, possibly from a bullet fired into the air some distance away.” D.Mail, 12 June 2021.

STONED EELS

Scientists have urged Glastonbury festivalgoers to use on-site toilets rather than urinating in the fields after research found “dangerous” levels of MDMA and cocaine in the Whitelake River that flows through the festival site. Measurements both upstream and downstream of the site were taken before, during and after the festival in 2019 and revealed the concentration of drugs in the river quadrupled in the week after the festival. The river is home to rare European eels and scientists fear that the effects of the drugs on the fish could derail conservation efforts. BBC News, 28 Sept 2021.