Jack Dikian of Mosman notes that ABBA had four 2023 Grammy Award nominations and wonders, “Did they send their circa ’70s virtual avatars to the awards ceremony?”
“In the late 1980s, some friends and I owned a racehorse which was bred from a mare called Sweet Words,” recalls Alan Marel of North Curl Curl. “Of course, we named it Vogon Sonnet. It was about as successful as Vogon poetry (C8) was popular.”
Now that Helen Lewin’s frog issues (C8) are sorted, our attention turns to the woes of Susan Rowe and her amplified PVC dweller. While Bob Phillips of Cabarita suggests “sending in the frogmen”, Paul Keys of Clouds Creek reckons, “Susan could eliminate her frog and help the ecosystem by placing a red-bellied black snake in the pipe.” Now that’s a “frog in the throat”.
Roger Harvey of Balgowlah says: “Decades ago, my sister’s home featured a tiered garden with small pond at the top. One loud frog was driving her nuts until, in desperation, she offered anyone in the house $50 to get rid of it. The 10-year-old daughter went quietly up there, bucketed the pond dry and pocketed the cash.”
“The ABC’s website reports that vision of the Chinese balloon shot down by the US ‘appeared to show what looked like a burst balloon descending downwards’. That’s in case you were wondering if gravity still works,” reports Adrian Connelly of Springwood.
“Apparently, as long ago as 1908, a Mrs Glasse wrote, in a recipe (C8) for carp, ‘First, catch your fish’,” says Tom Meakin of Port Macquarie.
Peter Miniutti of Ashbury got his first cookbook from his grandmother: “It was the popular Commonsense Cookery Book. I had two problems with it: there were no pictures and as a young man I had no common sense.” Leone Toker of Port Macquarie thinks “requesting a clean plate was setting rather a low standard” and says, “The Commonsense Cookery Book exhorted cake and sandwich makers to ‘serve on a doily on a plate’. Under 70s, get Googling!”
“Unnamed person [Let’s just call her Wendy Crew of Lane Cove North – Granny] enters kitchen. Sees cockroach on the floor. Grabs the Mortein and sprays profusely, then around the kitchen for good measure. Waits ’til it’s well and truly dead, which it seems to be. Tissue in hand, picks it up. An olive! Specsavers, where are you?”
Column8@smh.com.au
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