Rest stops named after Victoria Cross recipients on the Hume can invite a bit of poetry. Richard Stewart of Pearl Beach remembers "on our way to Mittagong to visit family a text message 'where are you' was replied with 'having a pee at Partridge VC'. "  

The recent death of the Duke of Westminster has reminded Newcastle's Roland Millbank that the man reputed to be one of the City of London's biggest landholders (with substantial Australian holdings too) was guest of honour at a recent local Reserve Forces Day March.

Norfolk Island will perplex no longer.

There seems to have been an outbreak of alchemy at the games of the XXXI Olympiad with competitors happy to bite gold medals for the cameras. Balmain's Ogden Browne thinks the Rio de Janeiro competitors might be assaying their gold medals to see if they really are more than all that glitters. If so, he has some rather sad news for them: "Can someone inform them that they are 92.5 per cent silver and all this medal-munching is therefore pointless?"

Gone to the dogs

A mysterious object spotted in the harbour

More bondage and discipline

Sow and Pigs Reef renamed Brussel Sprout and Peas

Column 8 assists with planetary alignment

Column 8's contribution to Census accuracy

Now, where did you put the baby?

Taking stock

A word of warning if you transit in Hong Kong

Today we are mostly angry

Sexy and sultry voices in TV show previews may be a turn-off.

Is a Jumbo Toblerone an offensive weapon?

A proposed use for redundant ticket machines

Peter in his 80s asked if he was Gen X or a Baby Boomer.

A banking senior executive stirs things up

Wind chill and how to avoid freezing to death

Doing the hoki cokey

A handy formula to calculate wind chill.

Animal crackers

Need an airbed or Veggetti Pro mincer? Try the Australia Post catalogue

• 18 July, 2016

Do whales frolic at night?

"Loved reading about the goat (C8)," says Jane Craig, of Holt. "But were the ping pong balls impaled on its horns, or dangling like Christmas tree baubles? My darling and I can't rest until we know."

Deplorable epitaphs explained

Encounters with animals

• 18 July, 2016

The reality of young people's obsession with devices ...

In case you are planning to BBQ sausages this weekend ...