Miles Harvey of Newtown and his wife watch SBS World News at 6.30 every night. “On Monday at 6.29pm while watching ABC TV, a message came on the screen telling us to ‘Switch to SBS World News, the program you usually watch at this time’. Just who is watching us while we are watching TV?” George Donikian?
“Scaring birds may be legal, Barry Brown (C8), but it can make them sick, and then they would need tweetment,” advises Judy Archer of Nelson Bay.
“My Dad was one of the original Rats of Tobruk (C8),” writes Caz Willis of Bowral. “He was with the 2/6th Cavalry Commandos, they left here on the first ship as Light Horse/Lancers, became mechanised overseas onto Sunbeam motorcycles, and then served in every theatre of war except the fall of Singapore. John Curtin stood up to England and said we needed those men at home to defend Australia. They came back to Australia, did a few weeks of jungle training, and then hit Kokoda and Papua New Guinea. Theirs is a generation that will never be repeated. If not for John Curtin’s strength of decision, a lot of us wouldn’t be here.” Caz also points out that her father was a firm advocate of “wigwams for goose’s bridles”.
“According to my copy of More Curious Questions by Max Cryer, A ‘wigwam for a goose’s bridle’ never existed!” claims Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook. “Max says the phrase means nothing and has no defined origin. He adds it’s a cover-up for anything else. ‘It’s just an amusing invented nonsense’. Sounds like some of the punishment inflicted in this column of late.”
There’s another parental retort doing the rounds of Column 8 this week. “‘Where’s the (whatever)?’ was usually answered by my mother with ‘Up in Annie’s room, behind the clock’,” recalls Michael Britt of MacMasters Beach. “Origins sought, please.” Other valued contributors spruiking for Annie include Adrian Bell of Davistown, Coral Button of North Epping (who replaces the clock with a looking glass), Marli Davies of Wentworth Falls, John McIntyre of Port Macquarie and a glutton for punishment from Cherrybrook.
“Father John Cootes, ‘the footballing priest’ knows he’s an immortal,” says Les Shearman of Darlington. “Ron Coote, from memory, flogged furniture.” Sorry Les, the furniture caper was a post-priesthood venture for John, whereas Ron was busy serving Granny at Newtown Maccas. They were World Cup teammates in 1970, however.
Column8@smh.com.au
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