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Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Canberra Confidential: House of wood

CC has seen all sorts of dreadful things done to our iconic Parliament House, but wood panelling would have to be the worst. This ghastly digital makeover is the sniggering work of Planet Ark to encourage Australians to live in more sustainable homes by building with responsibly sourced wood. They proffer research that says nearly everyone loves the look of wood in their homes, buildings, furniture and flooring. Until now.

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Hello, sort-of sailor

SURPRISE departure… after shaking up CBD Limited and pioneering the Garema Place ice skating and the Christmas in the City funfair, popular CEO Stephen Gregory has resigned.

An uncharacteristically coy Mr Gregory confirmed he was joining the Department of Defence in a role assigned to the Navy. What role? He’d rather not say. His replacement is Jane Easthorpe.

All the fun of the… rain

“WET weather doesn’t dampen the fun,” trumpets the Royal Canberra Show in an incredulous press release that asserts, despite the weekend’s rain and a constrained entertainment program, the people (with pre-paid tickets?) who braved the rain had “broad smiles as they left the grounds”. Whatever science is employed to measure the broadness of smiles is not explained nor whether this was possibly an indication of relief at heading home. Certainly, “broad smiles” were hard to detect from the small group of people under umbrellas shuffling along the damp, near-empty sideshow alley in the supplied photo.

AND while we’re at the Show, Diana Littlejohns, public relations flack in faraway Sydney, doesn’t know her geography – nor the Friday capacity of the Canberra Show: “13-year-old home-schooled Mae Walker from Nimmitabel, Canberra, will stand on stage in front of 120,000 people at the Royal Canberra Show and shave off her long locks to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave.”

Nimmitabel is 153kms to our south, Di. But well done, Mae.

View of the underworld

EVER wondered what the bottom of a bus shelter looks like? Nor us. But here it is anyway. This gently upturned Action outpost was shot on Constitution Avenue while roadworks go on around its usual resting place.IMAG0263 (1)

Look, hear…

BETTER Hearing Australia (Canberra) member Joan brought a recent lip-reading exercise to a halt with her confronting tale of escaping the bushfires on a recent visit to Tasmania. Holidaying with her adult children in a small community near Dunally, the family was ordered to evacuate and shelter in the water, and leave their valuables on the beach. In the sea for five hours, Joan watched the scene from an inflatable raft. Teased about wearing a sunhat to save her complexion, her reply was: “Blow that – I am protecting my hearing aids!”

Fuchsia

LEGS Dance student Fuchsia Bullot, who started dancing as a three-year-old in Murrumbateman, is off to Paris in April for a year’s contract with the famous nightclub, the Moulin Rouge. She first auditioned in 2006 and 2007 as a teenager and, although being shortlisted, was too young to be accepted. After celebrating her 21st birthday at the Moulin Rouge in 2011, she was determined to try again and last year successfully passed an audition in Sydney.

Smile, pleash…

AWARD-winning Canberra freelancer Martin Ollman will lead an Enlighten Festival outing of the local chapter of the international Drink and Click group from the steps of the National Library, 6pm-10pm on Saturday, March 2.

Drink and Clicksters meet for a drink, talk about photography and social media then move to another location, taking pictures in between. Then repeat. Google Drink and Click Canberra for details.

ALSO out for some Enlighten action, commercial photographer Hilary Wardhaugh is rounding up the passive snappers of the town for another of her relaxed Photowalks. Open to anyone of any age with any kind of camera, it starts at Regatta Point, 6pm-8pm, Sunday, March 3, with the aim of shooting sunsets and night images of the Enlighten Festival. No bookings, no cost, just be there, preferably with a tripod.

Hmmms

THE Canberra Centre has at last announced international fashion label Zara will open its doors on Thursday, March 14.

CELEBRITY spotting… Sydney shock jock Alan Jones was seen shepherding a small child around the seafood buffet at the Canberra Hyatt on Saturday night. He was dining with a family group.

LOYAL customer returns to Belconnen dealership when driver’s seatbelt on her year-old car won’t lock and is told to come back the following week or go somewhere else. Drives guiltily to competing dealer, who immediately identifies it as a priority safety issue, impounds her car and has the problem fixed by the following day. Guess where she’s getting her next service?

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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