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Canberra Today 12°/16° | Saturday, March 30, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Seven Days / Comfy bedfellows, lost apostrophes and spuds

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s dressing down of our PM provoked a couple of Canberra wireless talkers into questioning his business ethics. 

Mike Welsh.

FM104.7’s breakfast duo Ryan and Tanya wanted to know if Trump’s immigration ban on refugees from certain Muslim countries carried over to his extensive business interests.
Ryan, posing as Osama, an Iranian student visiting Washington, rang the local Trump Hotel to book a room for he and his Iranian mates. “Not a problem, sir” said the accommodating man at the D.C. end. Clearly, business and politics can be comfy bedfellows.

THE Enlightened city is set for a heightened level of enlightenment this year according to CM Andrew Barr.
In launching next month’s annual Enlighten Festival,  Barr predicted it would “easily surpass” our most famous festival, Floriade.
Barr’s bold claim was backed by Singapore Airlines coming on board as a sponsor. The airline’s representative and former Canberra boy Karl Schubert says Asian visitors were keen to take advantage of the Capital Express flights to see Canberra’s buildings “in a different light”.

Cartoon by Paul Dorin.


A WORRYING trend (for pedants, at least) is IUOTA (inappropriate use of the apostrophe); this past week I spotted a very green example at the Kippax Raiders’ club promoting the special meal deal “Coastal Combo’s” and there’s the take-away food shops often advertising “fish ‘n’ chip’s”.

STILL on fish ‘n’ chips, a near catastrophe has befallen the local fryers. Unseasonal weather, battering potato crops in southern states, has created a potato famine (of sorts) causing hardship for those partial to the thin slice of pomme de terre cooked in batter and called a potato scallop (in Tassie, it’s a potato cake).
The thousands of Canberra connoisseurs of the potato scallop are reportedly “getting by” on the frozen but vastly inferior variety.

Might be unhelpful though to suggest they eat (potato) cake instead.

NICE to see that abstract still makes the art grow fonder with the return from a rare trip overseas of Jackson Pollock’s “Blue Poles”, one of Canberra’s most valuable assets.

One of the world’s most recognisable pieces, the painting is safely back on the wall at the National Gallery after a trip to London.
Apparently the controversial painting, purchased by the Whitlam Government in 1973 for a “tad” over $1 million, was “missed”.
According to the NGA’s Lucina Ward: “Visitors expect to see it in Canberra… it is one of the National Gallery’s most famous paintings.”

TWO men sitting in deck chairs on a traffic island during Monday’s peak hour watching traffic flow through a large roundabout was a rare sight. And one that runs the risk of compounding the belief in that ignorant national myth that there is nothing more exciting to do in Canberra than watch traffic.
Apparently the pair of locals held grave safety fears after the installation of lights on the dangerous Barton Highway/William Slim Drive/Gundaroo Drive roundabout, but at last report, after a relatively smooth transition, had given it the thumbs up.
Sadly though for the reputation of the capital, the story went national.

MARAUDING MAMILS (middle-aged men in Lycra) and their attitude is an issue brewing to a head more powerful than an inexpertly tapped keg of the Braddon brew.
The fair dinkum practitioners of the pedal in all their yellow/pink flexible splendour were targetted yet again in an article asking the question: “Why are Canberrans so unkind to cyclists?”
Responses on social media, ranging from: “Canberrans are a loving, kindly people who delight in the social benefits of bike riding” to “I’m glad I have a bullbar on my car” might suggest we have a long ride ahead.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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