| 1 Jan 2002 | - Some
argue
that
newspapers
have
become
less
serious,
too
inclined
to
dump
the
grave
issues
of
the
day
for
things
such
as
fashion
and
food.
This
cannot
be
said
of
This
Paper.
The
release
of
cabinet
documents
from
30
years
ago
set
in
train
examination
of
press
cuttings
of
the
era.
The
caption
for
a
front-page
picture
on
June
28,
1971,
when
Gough
Whitlam,
as
Opposition
Leader,
went
on
his
historic
trip
to
China,
said:
Mr
Whitlam,
prepared
for
the
summer
temperature
of
China
in
a
lightweight
modern
blue
and
white
pine-striped
seersucker
suit
and
conservative
tie,
at
the
airport
before
the
mission's
departure.
The
angle
of
the
photograph
gives
the
false
impression
that
the
trousers
are
flared.
|
| 9 Jan 2002 | - Gideon
Goosen,
of
Lapstone,
is
back
from
Ireland.
"On
a
trip
to
peaceful
County
Wicklow,
I
stopped
at
Rathdrum,
a
small
town.
I
had
been
told
the
people
there
were
pretty
relaxed.
I
went
to
a
corner
store
and
asked
the
lady
if
she
had
the
newspaper.
'Yesterday's
or
today's?'
she
asked.
'Today's,'
I
replied.
'Oh
well,'
she
said,
'could
you
come
back
toorrow?'
"
- Georgina
Christakos,
of
Thirroul,
and
a
friend
were
standing
in
Hunter
Street
discussing
the
bushfires
when
a
tourist,
standing
behind
them,
joined
in.
"He
regaled
us
with
stories
about
his
painfully
sore
throat,
his
flared
sinuses
and
other
ailments
caused
by
the
smoke
from
the
bushfires.
Then
he
lit
up
a
cigarette!"
|
| 10 Jan 2002 | - Alex
Smith,
of
Bondi,
took
his
family
tenpin
bowling
at
Randwick
AMF.
"It's
up
two
flights
of
stairs.
At
street
level
there
is
a
lift
with
a
sign
on
it:
This
lift
is
for
disabled
use
only.
Please
enquire
upstairs
for
operation.
Hmmmm.
- The
astronauts
and
cosmonauts
might
have
seen
in
the
New
Year
15
times
(Column
8,
Jan
2),
but
three
times
at
nearly
the
same
spot
on
land
is
reasonably
good.
Vic
Kozianski,
of
Casula,
is
just
back
from
a
trip
through
the
far,
far
outback,
to
Cameron
Corner,
where
the
borders
of
NSW,
Queensland
and
South
Australia
meet.
There
[assorted
people]
celebrated
-
first
in
NSW,
then
with
a
stroll
of
several
metres
into
South
Australia,
30
minutes
behind
us,
then
a
few
more
metres
into
Queensland,
an
hour
behind.
- Expat
Mark
Philpott,
now
in
Malaysia:
"On
Star
News,
produced
in
Hong
Kong,
the
newsreader
told
us
about
the
smoke,
ash
and
beautiful
sunsets
caused
by
the
bushfires
in
New
Zealand,
south
of
Australia.
Have
I
been
holding
my
map
the
wrong
way?"
- Department
of
the
Bleeding
Obvious.
Formerly
of
Artarmon,
now
of
London,
Stuart
Shinfield
wanted
us
to
know
about
the
London
Daily
Telegraph's
website.
In
an
article
about
a
lioness
in
Kenya
that
had
adopted
an
oryx
calf,
it
quoted
Helen
Briggs,
an
RSPCA
spokesman:
"Cross-nurturing
occurs
in
all
sorts
of
animals.
It
is
only
uncommon
because
it
does
not
arise
that
often."
Footnote:
What
happened
to
the
calf?
When
the
lioness
was
asleep,
a
lion
ate
it.
Well,
that's
life
|
| 28 Jan 2002 | - We
think
they're
having
a
little
joke,
but
it
gets
the
message
across.
On
the
noticeboard
of
a
church
in
Old
Northern
Road,
Dural:
"Don't
let
worry
kill
you.
Let
the
church
help."
- The
Fagans,
of
Chipping
Norton,
are
just
back
from
a
holiday
at
Heron
Island
on
the
Great
Barrier
Reef,
where
it's
turtle
nesting
season.
"We
were
able
to
see
turtle
hatchlings
racing
across
the
sand
for
the
safety
of
the
sea,"
says
David.
"Many
are
eaten
by
seagulls.
This
was
a
great
shock
to
our
nine-year-old
daughter,
who
asked,
'Why
don't
they
just
eat
fish
and
chips
like
all
the
other
seagulls?'
"
|
| 25 May 2002 | - Emus
abroad.
"On
exchange
in
France,"
says
Catherine
Berry,
of
Newcastle,
"I
spent
three
months
in
the
Ardennes.
I
made
friends
with
a
guy
from
the
tiny
town
of
Autruche,
meaning
ostrich.
Appropriately,
the
mayor
had
acquired
a
collection
of
ostriches
and
emus.
It
was
strange
to
see
emus
wandering
through
the
snow,
but
apparently
they
did
just
fine.
From
all
reports
the
eggs
made
particularly
good
quiche."
- Another
intelligent
bird.
Nigel
and
Nerissa
Grebert,
of
Castle
Hill,
bushwalking
at
Neates
Glen,
near
Blackheath,
came
across
a
lyrebird,
putting
on
"an
amazing
display"
mimicking
numerous
bird
calls.
"We
recognised
some
-
rosella,
kookaburra,
currawong,
whip
bird,
galah,
mynah,
cockatoo,"
Nigel
says.
"But
one
of
the
calls
was
unmistakably
a
computer
game
-
with
machine-guns
and
explosions,
and
intermittent
crescendo
blip-
blip-blip
sounds,
presumably
when
bonus
points
were
scored!
Either
that,
or
somewhere
in
the
Blue
Mountains
is
a
Sega-bird
we
didn't
know
about."
- Ageism?
A
Lane
Cove
reader
found
two
copies
of
Connections
-
the
magazine
for
AMP
customers
in
his
letterbox.
The
contents
were
the
same,
but
the
cover
of
the
one
addressed
to
him
showed
a
couple
in
late
middle-age;
the
other,
for
his
much
younger
son-in-law,
showed
a
much
younger
couple.
|
| 31 May 2002 | - Peter
Pavlovic,
an
expat
living
in
New
York,
says
he
often
wonders
about
the
differences
between
Australia
and
other
countries.
"Some
are
really
obvious,
others
are
minor,"
he
says.
"Last
week,
in
Boston,
I
bought
some
boxer
shorts.
The
packaging
for
the
shorts,
brand
name
Joe
Boxer,
and
made
in
Thailand,
came
with
wearing
instructions.
I
quote:
Place
underwear
at
feet.
Pull
up
over
ankles,
knees
and
the
rest
of
lower
half.
Put
hands
on
hips
and
feel
clean,
fresh
and
ready
to
go.
The
waistband
tag
has
Change
Daily
embroidered
on
it.
A
colleague
was
surprised
they
hadn't
added
Front
and
Back."
- Still
more
awful
ice-cream.
Ben
Jenkins,
ex-Burwood:
"In
my
travels,
I
was
on
the
Isle
of
Man.
One
of
their
major
tourist
attractions
and
exports
is
the
humble
kipper
and
yes,
they
make
ice-cream
from
it!
I
did
try
it,
but
I
won't
be
rushing
back
for
a
second
helping."
- Mark
Herron,
of
the
Gold
Coast,
says
jalapeno
ice-cream
(Column
8,
yesterday)
brought
back
memories
of
jalapeno
beer.
"On
a
warm
San
Francisco
evening,
I
and
some
equally
crazed
friends
opened
some
nice,
chilled
jalapeno
beer.
As
long
as
we
kept
drinking,
the
effect
was
cooling,
but
the
moment
we
stopped,
the
burning
sensation
got
immediately
worse,
to
the
point
of
being
almost
unbearable.
In
each
stubby
was
a
small,
but
effective,
whole
jalapeno
chilli."
|
| 1 Jun 2002 | - Parents
do
strange
things
(Column
8,
Thursday).
"While
in
Mahalapye,
Botswana,
in
1980,"
says
Brian
Harris,
of
Wahroonga,
"I
met
a
fellow
named
(I
forget
the
order)
Sergeant
Policeman
Constable.
He
was
following
in
his
father's
footsteps
and
was
a
police
constable.
To
address
him
properly,
he
was
Police
Constable
Sergeant
Policeman
Constable."
- Trevor
Peak,
of
the
ACT,
reports
he
recently
stayed
in
a
hotel
just
outside
Berlin.
In
the
bathroom
was
this
sign
-
trying
to
understand
it
filled
in
the
time
normally
taken
with
reading
newspapers:
Finery
devil
with
1.200
revolutions
and
already
wash
course
looks
for
a
meaningful
extent
of
utilization.
|
| 4 Jun 2002 | - In
a
public
lavatory
at
Port
Fairy,
Victoria,
Russell
Day
noted
a
syringe
disposal
box
labelled
Sweeney
Todd
Medical
Waste
Disposal.
A
little
stomach-churning.
As
you'll
remember,
Sweeney
Todd,
the
Demon
Barber
of
Fleet
Street,
made
wonderful
pies
containing
chopped-up
customers.
|
| 5 Jun 2002 | - Marketing.
Tim
Henderson,
of
Camperdown,
recently
won
a
bottle
of
the
WA
red
wine
with
two
gold
labels
(Column
8,
Saturday).
"My
'awards'
were
Best
wine
with
a
slab
of
topside
from
The
Butchers
Union
Awards
2001
and
The
'Tastes
Bloody
Good'
Medallion."
Ben
Haylock,
of
Waitara,
nominates
Dr
Jurd's
Jungle
Juice,
which
has
been
Awarded
conditional
[*]
first
prize,
Wollombi
Wine
Festival
1972
([*]
awaiting
other
entries).
- Lloyd
Capps,
of
St
Ives,
has
an
answer
to
Moira
Lynch's
problem
of
disposing
of
chokoes
(Column
8,
yesterday).
"In
the
markets
in
New
Orleans
a
few
years
ago
I
discovered
a
lady
marketing
a
vegetable
called
a
mirliton
with
the
slogan
'the
vegetable
with
a
New
Orleans
attitude'.
The
mirliton
was
our
much
unloved
choko.
She
said
the
local
name,
chayote
squash,
was
changed
because
it
was
so
unattractive.
[...]
Bob
O'Brien,
an
expat
now
in
Fort
Collins,
Colorado,
remembers:
"My
parents
were
battlers,
but
mum
always
managed
to
make
great
apple
pies.
To
make
the
filling
go
around,
she'd
chop
up
a
choko
or
two
and
mix
them
in.
Mum
also
mixed
them
in
with
mashed
potatoes
and
mashed
pumpkin.
And
they
made
great
'hand
grenades'."
|
| 28 Jun 2002 | |
