AH, isn’t human curiosity a marvellous thing?
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Bendigo Sandhurst Rotary Club past president (the aptly named in these circumstances) “Dame” Patti Cotton was informing a few Bendigo folk the other day of the progress of a magnificent community effort knitting jackets, beanies etc for infants born in the Maubisse region of East Timor.
So far, Patti’s knitters – spread across south-eastern Australia – have crafted more than 100,000 items of clothing, and they’ve been distributed to young mums who bring their babies in for health and welfare checks.
Fellow Rotarian Rob (let’s not use any surnames, even if it was Rosaia) was well impressed and asked: “Patti, where on earth does all the wool come from?”
After a very pregnant pause, “….Oh, yeah. Heh. Sheep,” he said … sheepishly.
Answer from above
Actually, that reminded some of Rob’s mates (well, one actually) who recalled the story when one of the club’s Japanese exchange students was giving a picture presentation of his native region.
After one image of a very impressively snowed-in mountain, one member asked: “Wow. Where does the snow come from?”
Same pause: “Ahhh, same as here in Oz-uh-turayria. The sky.”
A raging thirst
The annual “lock up your dogs” Bendigo Show fireworks have been and gone for another year, and some very agitated pooches are settling down again.
In one household near the showgrounds, a short, tubby Corgi went a bit troppo and had to be calmed.
“Is the little dog okay?” herself was asked.
“Yep, just doing very fast laps of the pool.”
“Eh? What? Really?”
“No, you idiot. Laps around the pool.”
Think I'll pass on that
Words often carry odd images.
One of DTM’s favourite CBD restaurants offers “beef with honey and black paper sauce”.
And while it’s the Greeks who love tossing crockery around, our favourite has “Shredded Ducking Soup”.
At least it’s better than one we came across in Melbourne’s Chinatown recently which offered: “Pan fried pork dumping.”
Rivalry entertains
Many regional folk are already salivating about next March’s NAB Cup match on Bendigo’s QEO between Carlton and Collingwood.
The historical rivalry between the two clubs is un-matched by any other traditional animosity and usually shows itself in an explosion of Collingwood and Carlton jokes.
It wasn’t always this way. In fact, Collingwood’s first match in the competition in 1892 took place only because Carlton agreed to change its fixtures to play the new club.
Some believe the rivalry began in the 1910 grand final when an almighty brawl broke out and involved most of the players and officials of both clubs.
The Argus newspaper reported “the most disgraceful scene ever witnessed on a Melbourne football field.
“A stand-up fight was in progress in the centre of the field, all the players were running to the scene, then attendants left the grass at the railings and joined in the chase, policemen bolted from the sides, and 20 or 30 men from the rival camps jumped over the fences and set out to take part in the settlement. A mad melee was imminent. The vast crowd thrilled with excitement, and the roaring was terrific. “
Two players were given 18-month suspensions and another two got 12 months.
Carlton pledged to never forgive and never forget.
Who needs cage fighting?