Saturday, 20 April 2002

Hannah - This is Hannah Elizabeth, our georgeous third child and second daughter. Hannah is smart, insightful and has her father's sense of humour. She's just as cute as a button, don't you think? 4:27:33 PM    Comments ()

Cultural Markers - Hugh McKay makes some great points about the cultural importance of Easter and Christmas - even to the agnostic Australian society. Every society needs its cultural markers to remind us of some of the truths about the human condition and help put our day-to-day gripes and grievances into a larger perspective. Festivals can also be an occasion for planting our feet firmly on the ground and recognising that we're not quite as smart as we think we are. No-one except a masochist seeks pain and trauma. No sane person lives in constant expectation of trouble. No-one is going to greet the death of a spouse, or the diagnosis of a serious illness, or even the loss of a job with pleasure; few of us will even manage equanimity. But the truth that will come to us, after the initial shock, is that sadness is as authentic a part of life as happiness ... and every breath is a new possibility. 4:23:22 PM    Comments ()

Grey hair - I was having breakfast with a bunch of guys, some of whom are younger, and some of who are older than I. Somehow the topic of grey hair came up and I was actually asked if I dyed my hair. I was shocked - yet strangely proud. I don't dye my hair of course. "It's just that I am so young," I scoffed. If jealousy has an odor, it was smellable then! Hugh McKay speaks about gray hair today: Greyness, like baldness, is inevitably associated with aging, even though there are some remarkably handsome young men and women about who manage to make both conditions look chic. (Perhaps the current penchant for baldness among the young will soon give way to the silver or even the white look. You read it here first.) Older people often complain that their grey hair makes them invisible to younger people - especially younger shop assistants - and that if they do manage to attract enough attention to be served, they are likely to be shouted at as if they are deaf, spoken to very slowly as if they are feeble-minded, or treated as if they are on their last legs: "Do you really need such a durable fabric? Are you sure you'll get the wear out of it?" 4:20:06 PM    Comments ()

Jonathon: don't eat the salad - Eight people have been hospitalised and 13 taken ill after a salmonella outbreak at an Adelaide restaurant. Early test results indicated chicken caesar salad was the cause of the outbreak, South Australian Department of Human Services Dr Robert Hall said. The Cooperage Bar and Grill, at Glenelg, one of Adelaide's premier seaside suburbs, was closed yesterday while the department conducted tests. Eight people were hospitalised, and 13 others were taken ill, with symptoms including diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever. But the department expects more victims to contact them early next week. [SMH] And I thought you were training in Sydney... 4:15:44 PM    Comments ()

Ta daa - A sandwich walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve food here." 4:11:51 PM    Comments ()

Brain transplant - In the hospital, the relatives gathered in the waiting room where their family member lay gravely ill.   Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber. "I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed the worried faces.   "The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant.   It's an experimental procedure, semi-risky, and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves."   The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news.   After a great length of time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain cost?"   The doctor quickly responded, "$5,000 for a male brain, and $200 for a female brain." The moment turned awkward.  Men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked.   A man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask: "Why is the male brain so much more?"   The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and so to the entire group said, "It's just standard pricing procedure.   We have to mark down the price of the female brains, because... they've actually been used!" 4:06:28 PM    Comments ()