The screen on my Dell laptop computer suddenly froze a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t even turn the damn thing off. Panic! Thankfully we have an extended service warranty, so my partner rang up and was patiently taken through the complicated steps to fix it. There
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PERILS OF THE CHARLESTON When the ‘flappers’ of the1920s took up the exuberant Charleston, a London medico declared the new dance craze a risk to life and limb. Writing in the Daily Graphic in 1926 he said; Women are the chief victims of the Charleston, for the
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Hello, Editor Des here. We have been doing a lot landscaping around our new house, digging trenches for pipes and stuff like that. I was helping the men the other day when I spotted something VERY interesting. It looked a bit like the moon, or a miniature
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The original Parliament House in Canberra was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on May 9, 1927. The luncheon menu appeared in the papers. Turtle soup would be frowned on nowadays, but I thought Canberra pudding was a creative touch. CANBERRA PUDDING The following recipe
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During my 1960s childhood saveloys were a winter treat. We lived on a dairy farm in Tasmania, but my siblings and I did not really appreciate the fresh produce my father produced. We adored anything ready-made… and shop bought. Our saveloys were made by Lionel Johnson, a
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The rivalry between Australia’s biggest cities reached a peak with Federation. Melbourne was the temporary base for Parliament, and hence the centre of festivities when the Duke and Duchess of York arrived for the formal opening of proceedings in 1901. I love this report from a seething
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When Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten announced their engagement in July 1947, Australians were as excited as the British by the prospect of a royal wedding. With a November 20 date set, time was short, but every State came up with what they considered an appropriate gift.
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Always a progressive, two world trips convinced Tasmanian Labor Premier Mr A.G. Ogilvie that Australia was a land of ‘wowsers’. He expressed his views in Sydney in 1937, after attending the coronation of George VI in London. He had called in at the harbour city on his
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I was charmed when I came across this little street library outside the old Presbyterian Church Hall in Wentworth Street, Blackheath. The first time I saw it there were even prayer books inside. I was touched, because the church itself (next door) is struggling with a dwindling
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