Joe Payne of Coogee has been zinging in the strain of waiting for the postman to ring, with strings attached. "It has taken seven days for my small package of guitar strings to travel about 50 kilometres from Rosemeadow to Coogee at a cost of $7.60. That's a dollar a day on the road and no zing for the strings."
Back to fashion and being down on brown (C8). Jenny Mooney of Karuah declares brown shoes with dark blue or grey suits are the height of fashion. Not so in the '80s in Melbourne when her first husband asked an upmarket gentlemen's outfitters for a grey suit and a brown one. "We can certainly help you with a grey suit sir, but for a brown one you may need to go to, er, Queensland." Robert Sharpe of Bronte considered himself very trendy in the '60s wearing a blue suit and brown desert boots. "However, I did work in advertising then!"
With Australia Day and citizenship ceremonies fast approaching, it is time that the oath of allegiance was to "Australia and her people", not "its people", writes Andrew Macintosh of Cromer. "Nations and ships should always be feminine." Well, she'll be right mate.
Shiver your shiraz (C8)? Certainly, says Michael Reilly of Bateau Bay. "During the Australian summer, always refrigerate your red wine until 20 minutes before serving." Martin Field of Noosa even goes as far as popping in an ice cube.
Rod Leonarder of Roseville was taught to keep to the left when walking up or down steps. "The mayhem of suburban Sydney transport hubs has convinced me that this etiquette is not widely practised or accepted." Clearly, it's not right.
Summing up on The Simpsons (C8), Mark Morgan of Narrabeen recommends The Simpsons And Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh, a book about the show's writers' scholarly mathematical backgrounds and love of mathematical jokes and references. Martin of Corrimal observed one episode referring to Euler's identity, including the term e^(pi x i) (e raised to the power of pi times i). You've got to laugh.
Why do we pronounce Bondi as Bond-eye, but Kirribilli as Kirrybilly, and why do we say Kurri Kurri but we say Wollombi as Wollomb-eye? wonders Bill Alexiou-Hucker of St Ives. Perhaps the root why's in the 'i' of the beholder.