Issue 137

..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…

..countries, which makes it more anodyne and less interesting. Low scores and fans with attention deficit disorder don’t help the cause either American Gridiron has the maniacal belief in logistics and tactical overkill that characterises American diplomacy or warfare. Multiple specialist teams composed of specially bred enormous and largely expendable grunts clad in full body…

..shaped. Firstly came the issue of who should be invited. The number of elders has not changed; in fact it has sadly decreased by one since last year, but the number of children and grandchildren has grown, if not exponentially, at least arithmetically. We are unique amongst the group in only having the one daughter…

h o m e www PayPal credit card facility available now! Issue #64 ww

Dick’s Toolbox cont. I normally don’t look after roses, relying on their sturdy ancestry to see them through the seasons. My theory has always been that if a rose has been around for a few centuries it must have a reasonably rugged disposition but, in truth, some have survived because they are so dammed beautiful…