HOW lovely. Visitors to the National Library gift shop can buy a celebratory fridge magnet depicting the unloved Starlight Drive-in sign, unaware that the heritage-listed, 1957 real thing is lying face down in the elements, rusting away at a Government yard.

It was dramatically rescued and despatched to Fyshwick by the Chief Minister Katy Gallagher after mysteriously falling off its plinth in Watson and into a field next door just before the Territory election last year.

While Ms Gallagher is to be warmly commended for her decisive action, CC despairs that eight months on and no-one – its strata block owners, the ACT Government, the National Film and Sound Archive – is applying any curatorial concern nor doing anything to refurbish this last relic of Canberra’s long-gone drive-in culture.

Time for George

NO Labor poll nail-biting for the ACT’s immovable Senator Kate Lundy who, in her capacity as Federal Sport Minister, was able to chisel time from her electorate and busy portfolio to trek out to the AIS to join Brumbies legend George Gregan for “a picture opportunity” to mark the heady news that his company has become involved in the operation of the AIS Café.

Home cooking

WITH the prospect of a rising local unemployment rate, here’s an idea ACT Tourism chief Ian Hill might consider when his $900,000 promotional splash for winter tourists runs out.

“Many people in Spain are affected by the economical crisis,” says a random media release. “Tours Valencia has come up with a new tour to help the local economy. With the tour ‘Little Spanish Kitchen’, unemployed locals are hired to cook typical Spanish dishes with tourists.” Pie and chips anyone? More at toursvalencia.com/

Balancing act

PEDESTRIANS beware: CC can only imagine what torpor the self-insuring ACT Government must be feeling when balancing its public liability against this innovative approach to cycle parking by one of its tenants at the Currong Apartments in Braddon ever going wrong.

Raising the bar

MANUKA’s bar scene is a-changing: The Alchemy is injecting chemistry into the space that has been home to Minque and La Grange, and Public has decided to go more for a total pub feel, which means streamlining the food offering to just one menu, dropping the surcharges and moving down slightly to “pub prices”.

Work is underway (beside Public and up the stairs where the Vinyl Room was) on the new Polit Bar, which promises to fill a niche in the market for a discreet, warm cocktail lounge.

Waisted money!

STEVEN Bailey, the local Senate aspirant for Katter’s Australia Party put the kangaroo cull protesters into the spotlight and took to them with both barrels: “Every year we waist [sic] money and time taking these misguided wimps and wowsers seriously.

“Threatening to put themselves between the professional shooters and the kangaroos is blatantly immoral.”

Like his idiosyncratic leader, there’s no doubting where candidate Bailey stands.

Now, listen hair…

CC received the results of a survey that shows one in five Aussie men are willing to risk their partner, girlfriend or marriage (21 per cent) and even their job (18 per cent) for the sake of their facial hair.

A skin cream company’s report that found men are refusing to shave: to try pick up a girl (46 per cent), if asked by their boss (41 per cent), for a promotion (40 per cent), for their own wedding (34 per cent) or if asked by their partner (32 per cent).

The bad news is that beards don’t receive the same level of loving from the ladies. Over two thirds of Australian women find the clean-shaven look more sexy (68 per cent) and a further 74 per cent would prefer to lock lips with a clean-shaven man.

Hmmms

• DESPITE labelling it: “Jeremy Hansons‘ Budget Reply Speech” (and, yes, the apostrophe is wrong), the message said: “Please see attached Mr Hanon’s Budget Reply Speech”. Another day, another clanger from Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson’s media advisor Stephanie Hawkins, whose uncertainty with grammar now appears to have extended to the name of her boss.

• ZED Seselja bowed out from the Assembly in a gracious, teetering-on-weepy, valedictory speech. What he modestly didn’t note is that he holds the record as the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in the ACT – 5 years and 60 days.

• SKI freak in Gungahlin seriously unhappy at again getting two letterboxed Aldi brochures at once – one with the current week’s specials, the other featuring a taunting ski-gear sale that had expired the week before! CC wonders how the distributor gets away with frustrating the retailer’s customers.

• AN aspiring young man in local radio station signs off emails as “relief producer”.