source : the age
“Musing on the publicity generated by the upcoming National Gun Buyback Scheme, I recall how many years ago when, as a family, we used to go camping and my husband, a born-and-bred city boy, decided we needed protection against potential intruders,” writes Coral Button of North Epping. “So he purchased an assemble-it-yourself rifle from Kmart. Yes, such items were available then. My mother, raised on a farm and herself a good shot, was vastly amused. ‘You might be able to hit something at 10 feet Phil’ was her comment, ‘Other than that you could always whack him over the head with it!’ It was never fired in anger, and we duly handed it in to John Howard’s gun buyback.”
Kerrie Wehbe of Blacktown has definitely heard about the verb: “We Google things all the time, and turn other nouns into verbs, too, so it had to happen: I overheard someone saying, ‘I AI’d it’. It was inevitable, I suppose, right?”
“I’d like to thank Bob Edgar (C8) for his touring suggestions,” replies Janice Creenaune of Austinmer. “We once unwittingly drove a ‘murder capital’ route of SA, with Snowtown, and Truro by way of Worlds End, when we could just as easily have traversed the beautiful Clare Valley, just over the hill. So all suggestions are definitely on the table, Bob, even those with the suffix ‘bone’.”
“Cycling in Cairns in my shorts and thongs some years ago, and passing the casino, I was keen for a stickybeak,” says Barry Lamb of Eastwood. “I asked the concierge what the dress code (C8) was, and was told: ‘Clothes!’”
Sean Lenehan of Kogarah recalls that “some years ago, myself and a group of work colleagues went out for a drink after work. It was around 11pm as we were part of the hospitality sector. I was denied entry to the pub as I was wearing shorts. I moved a few metres from the entrance, whipped my shorts off and put on my chequered chef pants that were in my backpack. I soon joined my colleagues for that after work drink.” Even better if the pub in question was hosting a ska band.
During a motorcycle trip, Andrew McCarthy of Toormina spotted the following sign on the door of Torchy’s Bar (now called Torchy’s Country Plaza) in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, USA: Torchy Says Proper Dress Required. Shirts with Collars. Smell Good. Cowboy Hats & Boots Welcome.
Column8@smh.com.au
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