TIMBER!… Dunrossil Drive, the sublime and shady driveway to Government House, is being largely lost to this generation (and a few more still to come).

Giant stands of mature pine trees, planted as early as 1926, are being “harvested” in a two-prong NCA program to replace what it describes as dead or dying trees. Not that the felled logs CC looked at appeared particularly worse for wear.

The lumberjacks are close to finishing the first stage with a second assault on the drive planned for 2015/16. Tree replanting won’t occur for up to 18 months after the felling is completed.

Reassuringly, there’s a lovely photo on the notice board showing how the lushly replanted driveway will look – long after we’re all gone.

Jeremy, meet Jeremy

GOOGLE “ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson” and up pops a helpful little fact box that, among other things, confirms he’s an Australian politician. Instead of a picture of the clean-shaven, 46-year-old former Army officer, there’s a photo of a young, bearded man who, with a click on the pic, we discover is from California and quite good at American football. So good, in fact, he was offered a college football scholarship, turning it down for the academically superior Redlands University.

“He’s kind of an overachiever,” says American Jeremy’s high school football coach, Joe Silvey. “Very scrappy and tough as a competitor.” Must be something about the name Hanson.

Eye of the beholder

LIBERAL MLA Giulia Jones has been banging on in the Assembly about the community eyesores that derelict former petrol stations across Canberra have become and what’s the Government going to do about it?

Sod’s Law then that Giulia herself is a party to an urban eyesore with a lingering big election sign from October pasted to the window of the derelict Laska House at Cooleman Court. “Pot calling the kettle black,” sniffs our Weston Deep Throat.

No sign of the times

THE Scarlet Pimpernel of food reviewers, Wendy Johnson, legged it out to Erindale to take a critical bite at the newly opened Soul Food Kitchen (flavours of New Orleans). Its website promises lunch, noon-3pm, Thursday to Saturday, but it’s shut. She calls. Sorry, they explain, “we’re not doing enough lunches to justify opening. We’re hoping that will change in the warmer weather.” How hard is it to update a nine-week-old website or put a sign on the door?

Yes, but is it art?

REPORTER Kathryn Vukovljak snapped this “strange art installation” of green plastic chairs randomly placed into, presumably, deep holes at the building site at St Philip’s Anglican Church in O’Connor. Turns out it’s the builder’s idea to add safety beyond the fence.

Benchmarking

THINGS our pollies have to do No. 27: Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr (second left) stress tests one of two park benches twinned Rotary Clubs Canberra and Nara (in Japan) have presented to Nara Park. Also putting the seat under pressure are club presidents Keisuke Sawai (left) and Natalie Vandepeer-Bradley with Japanese ambassador Yoshitaka Akimotoo.

Hmmms

• HOWLER from the “The Bungendore Mirror”: “Each year Scouts from all over the region participate in a weekend of fun, adventure and activities competing for the highly sorted after Pigskin Trophy.”
• VODAFONE’s very first Canberra customer has finally lost the faith and is heading to Telstra saying she is sick of billing cock-ups and unhelpful service.
• WHAT’S in a name? Heard at a local park, mother screams: “Serenity, stop hurting everyone!”
• ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson gets the CC Kiss-on-the-Nose Award for the political restraint of only one picture of himself in his latest electorate newsletter.
• ZUCCHERO Pastry & Cafe, for years on The Lawns at Manuka, has closed. Allhomes.com.au had the cafe up for sale in August last year.