Issue 56

.. of the aluminium dinghy, vacuuming the Axminster or bathing the pigs. The watch’s movement is composed of either 686 or 694 parts (depending on whom you believe) that come together to form twelve of the most allegedly consequential horological complications**; the tourbillon, perpetual calendar, moon age, leap year cycle, day of the week, month,…

..differentiates Melbourne from the rest of the world. Or maybe just Australia. It gives locals the joy of being the best in the world at a game that no one else plays or wants to play; in this it is like gridiron football writ very small. Rugby is at least played by more countries though…

Mike’s Pith & Wind cont. Fortunately, the musty halls of every single-sex (male) secondary educational institution that ever was, haunted as they inevitably are by variously amusing and resentful, but universally misogynist masters, taught us impressionable acne-faced boys that we could exact a subtle, but satisfying revenge on womankind, employing the very weapon our mothers…

..$223 million. In this instance the private sector will be responsible for finance, design, construction, and maintenance of the new schools over a 25 year period longer than the standard mortgage. The State will retain school ownership and responsibility for delivering educational services. Curious, you would think, given that the government has been building schools…

I’ve mentioned the ABC TV show Big Ideas before. I tend to record the various episodes on IQ and review them at my leisure. There’s no particular theme to Big Ideas and I can easily be put off viewing a particular episode just by scanning the synopsis, but sometimes the description is so inscrutable that…

…death. Over half a century later it is still a very vivid memory. Perhaps as a consequence I have little sympathy for the live animal trade. Over the years, we have seen sheep by the thousands die in ships on the way to the Middle East in hot and inadequately ventilated ships and now the…