Paul Taylor of Winston Hills has standards: “I must confess to being a little unsettled upon seeing George Z (C8) lower his personal bar and submit an admittedly clever bartender pun to C8, thus proving he can mix it with the best of them (i.e. George M). Whilst not wishing to white ant George’s latest contribution, it would appear to be the antithesis of his educative Ripleyesque investigations of the arcane, the obscure and the statistically remarkable [Don’t forget funny racehorse names – Granny]. You’ve had your fun, mate, flirting with the dark side. Now get back to your fine work of alerting us to all that stuff we didn’t know we needed to know.”
“Such a delightful snippet from Merilyn McClung’s teenage granddaughter (C8),” says Allan Roberts of Dulwich Hill. “Witty, topical and, like most good comedy, built on factual foundations. The future of C8 is looking rosy.”
“Calling it now,” declares Richard Murnane of Hornsby. “Word of the year for 2025 will be ‘Kakistocracy’. To offer my neologism, ‘kak’, meaning any participant in a kakistocracy; it also works as an adjective to describe anyone who clearly attained their position for reasons unrelated to ability or competence.”
If we’re talking stupid questions (C8), Paul Keir of Strathfield can identify multiple hits: “It was November 2018 and The Donald was not answering CNN’s Abby Phillip by saying, ‘That’s a stupid question. What a stupid question, I’ve been watching you. You ask a lot of stupid questions.’ He then strode off manfully, with his chin held high.”
“It took years for op shops to put their books in alphabetical (author) order, but during our Christmas peregrinations last year, we noticed one group of op shops started arranging their books by size,” says Donald Hawes of Peel. “This year the books are arranged by colour. One author’s books might be spread everywhere. My wife is fuming because now the clothing is also arranged by colour. Some managers say alphabetical book order is ‘too hard’. Apparently, fashion sizing must also be taxing the mental capacity of workers.” There’s method. This way, the punter will search through the lot.
“Well done Andrew Cohen (C8),” commends Jo Rainbow of Orange. “I will be working in Emergency pro bono on Christmas Day – I think gifts of whisky are unlikely. Please consider the nurses, teachers and allied health workers who deserve acknowledgment but never get adequate reimbursement.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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