Will on the way

STIRRED by the sense of excitement that drove, ooh, a dozen supporters to welcome Wills to Auckland, Strewth hit the streets of Redfern.

STIRRED by the same sense of excitement that drove, ooh, a dozen supporters to welcome Prince William at Auckland airport, Strewth visited the Block in inner Sydney's Redfern yesterday to gauge the feeling on the street ahead of the Prince's visit there tomorrow. The Aboriginal neighbourhood was even quieter than the arrivals hall at Auckland international but, happily, we encountered a range of reactions. Rachel Mundine declared William's planned tour of the Block a good thing: "I'll be out there to say hello. William's following in Diana's footsteps. He's got a kind heart, just like his mum. I've got nothing against his dad, I'm just glad he's like his mum." At the other end of the spectrum, a Block resident who guffawingly declined to give her name seemed surprised a royal visit was in the offing: "Didn't know he was coming."

Baby blue

WE imagine there'll be plenty more people out and about in the Block when the Prince arrives, which, if nothing else, will at least spare any Nine Network hacks from having to create some of the action themselves, unlike the Today Show reporter who made an "I love William" sign for the tiny "crowd" at Auckland airport yesterday. In the meantime, Strewth was momentarily transfixed by the minor debate between Nine and Seven over whose reporter was responsible for rescuing that baby from the rubble in Haiti (see more in the news pages). It reminded us of a battle in 1987 between British tabloids The Sun and The Daily Star over which rescued a Spanish donkey called Blackie. Blackie was scheduled to be eased off the mortal coil in one of those village traditions at the dodgy end of the quaint spectrum. Spain's then ambassador to Britain insisted it was all cobblers, but the race was on. A reporter from The Sun was the first on the scene to hand over a pile of dough and declare the donkey rescued. Not to be outdone, The Daily Star had Blackie kidnapped and eventually taken to a donkey sanctuary in Devon. At least in Haiti, neither Seven's Mike Amor nor Nine's Robert Penfold has felt moved to kidnap the baby. Not yet.

Blow to Twitter

COULD it possibly, just possibly, be a sign of the beginning of the end for Twitter? The Office creator and all round comic genius Ricky Gervais has thrown in the towel after a mere six tweets. "I just don't get it, I'm afraid," he wrote on his blog, a place free of the tyranny of Twitter's 140-character limit. "I'm sure it's fun as a networking device for teenagers but there's something a bit undignified about adults using it. Particularly celebrities who seem to be showing off by talking to each other in public. If I want to tell a friend, famous or otherwise, what I had to eat this morning, I'll text them. And since I don't need to make new virtual friends, it seemed a bit pointless, to be honest." Strewth felt the same way once Malcolm Turnbull's Twitter output started drying up.

InDFATigable

MANY news releases arrive in journos' inboxes with strict embargoes attached to them, with the threat of some very stern words if you publish ahead of time. And so it was yesterday with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the release of its latest publication, Australia's Trade by State and Territory. News of this probable page-turner (available in PDF and hard copy) was accompanied by this message from DFAT: "Embargoed until 12.01am Monday, 18 January, 2010". So guess who broke the embargo and published yesterday? Step forward, DFAT. Perhaps they just decided that anyone trawling through the statistical publications section of their website on a Sunday was clearly in need of some sort of reward and/or help.

Party giveaway

SPEAKING of trade matters, Strewth was delighted to learn that Australia is likely to export "party pest" Corey Worthington to one of our free trade partners, the US. As happy developments go, it's not quite up there with the eradication of smallpox, but still, it gives 2010 a glow of promise.

Alien rap

FORGET the Big Day Out (if you can), the Raelian Happiness Academy believes the most important music event on the Gold Coast this month is UFORIA, or, in other words, "the dance party to celebrate the most significant milestone in human history: the official welcoming of extraterrestrials." The academy's local Raelian Bishop Guide, Jarel, issued a statement at the weekend encouraging people to attend the January 23 event. "We are aware that it is becoming more and more fashionable to be Raelian and this is fantastic! The Elohim, our creators, have announced their arrival for a very near future. They are watching us from the sky, and are excited to see us dance and party with them in mind."

Freedom of choice

ONE of Strewth's colleagues is torn between the forces of patriotism and his wallet. He's after Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's much ballyhooed tome about the 2008 US presidential campaign. Amazon has it on offer for $US15.39 ($16.66), while Penguin in Australia has rebadged it as Race of a Lifetime (with an altogether nicer cover) for $32.95. Even with postage taken into account, the US edition is about a tenner cheaper. What should he do, readers?