Things are hotting up in the pool

While Andy Salmons of North Ryde thinks that “climate change must be even worse than reported if the Aussie U/19 underwater hockey team (C8) is, as reported by Matt Petersen, ‘on fire’,” Helen Lewin of Tumbi Umbi asks: “Am I the only one over their head about this activity? Perhaps other Col8-ers in the know would care to pool their ideas about the rules of the game to enlighten this daffy duck.” Granny can add one thing, Peter Miniutti wasn’t far off the mark.

The Brits really do call it Octopush. “I’ve had sleepless nights wondering if Barnaby Joyce actually owns a dog, following his recent ABC interview,” says Toby Waters of Emerald Beach. “At the risk of infecting my fellow readers with insomnia, can I carefully ask: If Barnaby does not own a dog, should he get one?

If Barnaby has an imaginary dog, will that be more or less difficult to train than an average dog? If Barnaby has other imaginary pets, did he tie them up before his interview?” “I’m a dog whisperer,” explains Barbara Stacey of Scarborough (WA).

“So during COVID, I interviewed a dog every day and posted pictures and a paragraph on my Facebook page. I’d kill to interview Stella.” “Of all the packaging in the world, why are Band-Aids the hardest to open?”

asks Gary Hay of Bella Vista. “It’s often a bloody operation with only one hand.” Overseas travel is a study of subtext for Peter Berman of Balgowlah: “My wife and I are both lawyers.

When we travel overseas, we invariably visit a court and watch a trial. We once watched a trial in Oslo where we did not understand a word, but saw how important non-verbal communication was in advocacy.” “Jane Page (C8) mentioning porcupine meatballs evoked memories of my ninth birthday dinner after my mother fruitlessly scoured Sydney for a chicken,” writes Katrina Avery of Fullerton Cove.

“Turning to her pressure cooker recipe book, it seemed porcupine meatballs would hit the spot as a suitable replacement. In the intervening 70-odd years, I had not thought of, or tasted them.” The last word on the FIFA World Cup goes to Tim Parker of Balmain: “The Australian defeat of Turkey in the World Cup may not have reversed the result of the Gallipoli campaign (C8) but at least this time it was the Turks who couldn’t get past the (Patrick) Beach.”

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