Column 8
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday August 12, 2008
Important seasonal fashion query follows: "During these cold winter nights," writes Chris Reeves, of Cooma, "I have re-discovered the warmth and comfort of pyjamas, but I am perplexed about the need for a jacket pocket. What on earth is it for: storing midnight snacks, keeping some nocturnal reading material, making sure the pills are safe? I think I'm missing out as I can't find a use for mine. Can you help?" Moving out of Cooma might help, Chris. Gets a tad chilly down there in August.
Now, to another climate entirely. "I live in Katherine, Northern Territory," writes a reader who identifies him/herself only as Kim (but what the hell, they celebrate informality in those parts). "I was intrigued to see this classified ad last week in our local paper, the Katherine Times: 'For sale: Stuffed deer head with antlers. Genuine reason for selling.' What reason? Its eyes kept following me round the room? It talked too much? It needs a bigger backyard?" Only one way to find out: ring up and ask 'em, Kim. We need a gun reporter in Katherine, and this is the perfect story to start with.More on women inventing things: Sonia Gidley-King, of Woolloomooloo, reckons the hammerhead crane at Garden Island (the huge thing that was used to move massive guns in and out of battleships during World War II, and which still stands) was designed by one Florence Taylor. We need a naval historian to verify this.But most girls would be happy to hear that Florence was not involved in the design of our next invention, mentioned by Monica Oppen, of Stanmore. "From going to RPAH for mammo- grams," Monica writes, "I knew that a woman was involved with the invention of that breast squashing machine. This is what I could find. 'Inventor: Susanne Wikander (US Patent 6985554). Mammography compression plate and X-ray diagnostic apparatus employing the same.' This is from www.patentstorm.us. I couldn't find anything else about Susanne Wikander herself, well, nothing in English. But this has to be better than the dishwasher inventor!" Women have invented all sorts of things, from Kevlar to fire escapes. We might bring this to a halt, because feminine ingenuity is a bottomless subject, and space is tight.Many days ago, the question was asked: what is the origin of the phrase "As queer as Dick's hatband"? We may finally have an answer, courtesy of Ken Jackson, of Banff, Scotland. "The 'Dick' in question is generally assumed to be Oliver Cromwell's son, Richard, who succeeded him as Lord Protector of England (and, unfortunately, Scotland and Ireland)," Ken posits. "His reign lasted about seven months before he abdicated. During this time, he proved to be extremely adept at being unable to make decisions, leading to much mocking - such as references to his hatband (crown) being too tight." Sounds good on the face of it. True? Or was Ken's family home "one of the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit"?Column8@smh.com.au(no attachments please).Phone 9282 2207 fax 9282 2772. (include name, suburb, daytime phone)
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
