COLUMN 8 ARCHIVE
Saturday October 11, 2008
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More on those bizarre discounts on offer (or not) to NSW seniors in ancient Roman cities. "We toured Italy in June, visited Herculaneum, near Pompeii, and being over 65 tried for a discount to enter the site," reports Geoff Anderson, of Bateau Bay. "A discount was refused because discounts were only available to residents of Broome and Bunbury, Western Australia. I tried to explain they were towns in Australia, showed our passports, but when the clerk saw that they were issued in Darwin, he again refused a discount. I gained access to the ticket office and saw that Broome and Bunbury were handwritten on the wall of his booth. They must have been a couple of sharp operatives. Anyway, they got a discount; we did not."
Friday October 10, 2008
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French logic: "In Paris last week, sipping a glass of chablis in a sidewalk cafe, my husband Bill and I decided to have a cigar," writes an unapologetic Patsy Rowe, of Sanctuary Cove, Queensland. "Not seeing any ashtrays on the tables, I asked the waiter if I could have one. 'It is not possible, Madame. It is against the new law to smoke.' I pointed out that the ground was littered with cigarette butts - how could this be? 'Of course, Madame, everyone smokes. I do not ask you not to smoke. But if I give you the ashtray, I am assisting you to break the law so please to ash on the ground with everyone else.' Noticing the smiles of the other smokers puffing happily around us, we put it down to Gallic logic, lit up and ordered another chablis."
Thursday October 9, 2008
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"Your anonymous Monday caller was mistaken regarding the 'Party of the First Part' routine between Groucho and Chico Marx," writes John Pollock, of Mount Pritchard. It was not in A Day At The Races, but in the even funnier A Night At The Opera. A Day At The Races featured the 'tutsi frutsi ice-cream' sketch, with Chico as a racecourse tout with an ice-cream cart as his front and Groucho as his hapless victim." We stand corrected (or at least our anonymous contributor does), and feel compelled to declare our favourite Marx Brothers effort to be Duck Soup. Why do you never see these triumphs on TV any more? Or even in schools? They are critical to a well-rounded education.
Wednesday October 8, 2008
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This is remarkable, if true, and who are we to doubt the word of a Column 8 reader? Anyway, it's simply too weird to have been invented. Read on … "After touring Sicily last month and gaining free entry to all tourist attractions by showing our driver's licences (entry is free to anyone over 65 from the EU - Australians rank with EU members there for some reason), we tried the same thing at the Pompeii ruins near Naples," writes Tony Debnam, of Roseville. "We were refused. When we objected, we were advised by the supervisor that free entry is available to seniors from South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria only, and definitely not from NSW. Can any of your readers tell us: why the discrimination in Pompeii?"
Tuesday October 7, 2008
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"Doing a spot of spring cleaning this week I came across a 1998 edition of the Sydney Public Transport Directory," writes Jennifer Summers, of Coogee. "It's encouraging to learn that, 'by 2002, one ticket will be able to be used on buses, trains and ferries across Sydney.' What vision!" This brings up the whole subject of spring cleaning. Do we still do it, and if so, how intense does it get?
Monday October 6, 2008
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We may be found guilty of abject stupidity here, but it would not be the first time. We, too, were perplexed by the suggestion of Kerry Thomas of Goulburn, following up on our recent item about GPS navigation systems: "I've also recently used a GPS and it made me wonder, how does the signal know which car to bounce back into, presumably after getting directions from the nearest satellite? Every second car seems to have one."
Saturday October 4, 2008
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We have decided that we have been running too many long items lately - probably something to do with our recent discussions of tax law, astronomy and the blue-tongue lizard invasion. Today, bite-sized morsels …
Friday October 3, 2008
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Many weeks later, an update on gorillas in Australian movies (Column 8, months ago). "I may be too late with this," writes a needlessly apologetic Mrs J. Vran, of Mount Druitt, "but many years ago I saw an old Australian movie (vintage 1940s, at least) on TV. It was called Gone To The Dogs and starred George Wallace (oldies like me will remember him), who sang the title song. It was a comedy, involving greyhound racing, and there was a scene at Taronga Zoo, where George ran foul of a gorilla. I remember it being quite funny and can even sing a few bars of the title song."
Thursday October 2, 2008
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A colleague has received an invitation from an auctioneer in Waterloo to inspect art works on offer, under the heading: "Fine art auction - Australian and Aboriginal paintings".
Wednesday October 1, 2008
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"On the back of my calendar there are two lists of the gifts to be given for various wedding anniversaries," writes Carol Cruikshank, of Warilla. "The 'traditional' diamond anniversary was the 60th; under 'modern' you only have to wait
Tuesday September 30, 2008
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ON SUNDAY Column 8 finally got around to visiting the National Maritime Museum for the first time in ages, despite it being just around the corner from our office. We can recommend, as a school holiday distraction, the marvellous exhibition Bateaux Jouets - Toy Boats From Paris 1850-1950. Now extended to October 12, it satisfies that most challenging criterion: an outing just as much fun for parents as it is for the youngsters. Oh, and that other criterion: it's free.
Monday September 29, 2008
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"Talk of the 1946 newspaper from under the lino reminded me of this bit of strangeness," writes a sightly spooked John Blackhawk. "I ripped up the lino in two rooms in a house in Marrickville, to find the usual historical newspapers. Except they were all the same edition of The Sydney Morning Herald. Hundreds of identical ones. Weird. They were all dated with my birthday. Weirder. They were all carrying front page news of the 1964 Alaskan tsunami that battered the north-west coast of the Americas and killed 119 people. The date I did the ripping up was December 27, 2005 - the day after the Asian tsunami. The Herald that day led with that news. Weirdest."
Saturday September 27, 2008
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Sam Clough, of Cessnock, refers to our Wednesday item about Nancy-Bird Walton and asks: "Is 'aviatrix' politically correct?" Who knows? It's a great word either way, and was certainly in general use when Nancy-Bird Wilson was one. Oh, and please note the placement of the hyphen. We have been informed by several readers (and indeed by Qantas) that the hyphen has been so placed at the request of the lady herself. "Nancy-Bird asked Qantas to show her name this way, as her preference is to adopt the hyphenation that her late husband used (between her first name and the first word of her last name)," writes Felicity Coombs, of Waterloo. "Qantas has honoured that wish, and the aircraft shows her name in the form 'Nancy-Bird Walton', despite her strictly correct name being with the hyphenated last name." Mystery explained, and we stand corrected.
Friday September 26, 2008
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"ANOTHER noun has been verbed," laments Sheila Fox, of Kiama. "I have been randomly selected to be one of the 250,000 NSW inhabitants to take part in the 45-and-Up study. Since the information comes through Medicare, I presume the study can be said to be under the auspice (yes, that's correct usage of the word, although the plural form is more common and also correct) of the Australian Government. What concerns me is the claim that the study,
Thursday September 25, 2008
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"Hear, hear!" cheers Lady Agatha Maberley, of Bowral. "Well said, all those anti-overbearing-informalitists!" (The rampant spread of casual forms of address, Column 8, for days). "I am appalled when, on a regular basis, I am forced to contact my telephone company for yet another billing bungle they ask for all the details, then say 'I have to transfer you to another section, Agatha'. Or worse, when these underlings have the audacity to refer to me as 'Ags'! How dare they! And, on more than one occasion I have been forced to reprimand some subordinate oik on their informality. Indeed, when these people have the gall to address me in terms of such unwelcome familiarity, I insist on taking their full name, then address them by their last. 'Have someone telephone me back, Smith. Immediately!' one simply says." We could not agree more, Lady Agatha. The world has gone to hell in a handbasket, has it not?
