Name-dropping PM

KEVIN Rudd's powers of persuasion are such that if he decides your name is something other than what your mum and dad popped on your birth certificate, so be it.

KEVIN Rudd's powers of persuasion are such that if he decides your name is something other than what your mum and dad popped on your birth certificate, so be it.

At least that's the approach being taken by Adelaide broadcaster Leon Byner, who is going with the flow following an interview with Rudd on Thursday that saw the PM repeatedly address him as Ian. Byner's program on 5AA yesterday began with its usual musical fanfare and a voiceover announcing "Ian Byner". Byner explained to his audience: "I didn't correct him at the time. I didn't want to get into the 'Well, Kim Beazley did it, too' kind of scenario, so I kind of let the whole thing go through to the keeper."

Hock the Herald

IT wasn't the world's most expensive typo, but we still felt a pang for whoever it was at The Sydney Morning Herald who let the Thursday edition go out into the world with the incomplete price tag of "$1.", rather than the more regular "$1.40 (inc. GST)". Still, it's not easy getting something for a buck these days, so we thank the SMH for this little retro thrill.

Rogerson framed

ACTUALLY, it has been a pretty solid week for retro thrills, not least Roger Rogerson's book launch earlier this week. The detective turned jailbird turned author was in fine form as he regaled his audience with tales of his exploits. Now X Marks the Spot, the painting by Rogerson and Adam Cullen depicting Rogerson's 1981 killing of drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi, is to be auctioned off for a good cause. The painting - which also features a real bullet, a bleeding skull, Rogerson's signature and the message "He had a real bad day" - is named after an X carved into the footpath where Lanfranchi fell. Nice. Matters of taste aside, the painting will be auctioned to raise money for the Alphabet Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to help provide an education to displaced, underprivileged children in Southeast Asia.

Rieu guard action

STILL in the retro department, there's a small movement among Strewth readers hoping this column will start a campaign to have schmaltz king Andre Rieu deported. While we appreciate the sentiment (we fully accept people's right to go bananas for Rieu, even if his style does generally make us want to invite vultures to rip out our eardrums), we don't want to come across as a snob. Also, our mother would kill us.

Boris's silver lining

WHILE poor old Prince Frederik gets variously soaked and belted for his sailing troubles during the World Masters Games, The Australian's editor Paul Whittaker and his tennis partner have been doing rather better, pulling a silver medal in the 40+ men's tennis recreational doubles. (At this stage we are contractually obliged to mention that he doesn't look a day over 30.) Whittaker - who also answers to the far more tennisy name of Boris - and Mike Pinter, Whittaker's old school team tennis partner from 23 years ago, blitzed all before them at the Olympic tennis centre in Sydney's Homebush. Sadly, they fell in the final at the hands of Patrick Conway and Lance Mann from Geelong. Still,with the silver in hand, Boris may now also answer to Boom Boom Whittaker.

Having a lend of us

COULD this be a case of leading by example? West Australian government mortgage lender, Keystart, yesterday increased its lending rate for new loans by not one, not two, not three but four times the increase in the recent official lending rate jump. This is all the more amusing - if you happen to have a bleak, eastern European sense of humour - when you consider that Keystart's main mission is to help low-income families buy houses.

Paws getting poorer

NO such concerns, though, in Sydney's harbour suburb of Mosman, where writer Malcolm Colless has alerted us to an encouraging sign that the economy is picking up: "One senior advertising executive was complaining after his early morning swim at Balmoral Beach today that he couldn't get a booking at his local pet grooming centre for his schnauzer's annual short-back-and-sides until mid-December." That's a two-month dog backlog. And no, we won't stoop to suggesting that this has given us paws for thought.