“Near the southern end of the walkway across the Sydney Harbour Bridge there is an elevator to the street below,” reveals Peter Riley of Penrith. “At ground level, there’s a large brass plaque proclaiming ‘This plaque commemorates the opening of the Sydney Harbour Access Lift by Melinda Pavey MP on the 17th of October 2018’. Why? Just how small must a project have to be before a politician can resist sticking their name on it? A bus stop, a public dunny, or perhaps a no parking sign? There must be some real doozies around Sydney.”
Julian Neylan of Dulwich Hill reckons “today’s date belongs to Bobbie Gentry and her mysterious Ode to Billie Joe (‘Was the third of June...‘). Which brings to mind other chansons du jour, by virtue of obscure dates in their lyrics,” he says. “The Bee Gees’ wistful First of May comes to mind and James Taylor’s lullaby Sweet Baby James (‘Now the first of December was...’). There must be others.” How about a tune from June Carter Cash?
“Change the name of Hottentot Crescent because it’s a racial slur? What about the numerous locations labelled ‘Chinaman’s Creek’ all around Australia?” asks Usuff Omar of Normanhurst.
Looks like talk of signet rings (C8) and secret handshakes has given Column 8 a rather unwanted exclusionary vibe. Peter Bridgwood of Leichhardt even suggests that Granny sounds “complicit with Kerry Kyriacou”. Maureen Smith of Avoca Beach quite reasonably adds that “it’s not belonging to the club. I’m just wanting to find out the answers to some burning questions. It’s the knowledge that counts, not the glory.” And with that, we apologise unreservedly. It’s just that Granny liked the idea of leaving her mark (in indelible ink).
“For those of us versed in church hymnody, Meri Will’s (C8) initial post opens a particularly rich vein,” thinks Dominic Hearne of Maroubra. “John Henry Newman’s great hymn Firmly I Believe and Truly (Living Parish Hymnbook No. 7), set to music by Edward Elgar, can be sung to The Seekers’ The Carnival is Over. I heard this sung in a London Parish. Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, by St Thomas Aquinas, can be sung to the tune of Mack the Knife.”
“When I lived in Bondi a couple of decades before Anne Cook’s 2004 Tsunami (C8), it was the ‘blind mullets’ you had to survive,” recalls Suzanne Saunders of Wadeville.
Column8@smh.com.au
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