Nicki plays Dylan

“We went yesterday for the one year anniversary of my Ukrainian orphans arriving in Poland (C8),” writes Chris Keane, who is now back in Seattle, USA. “The children who learned English with Duolingo have their heads packed with an eclectic range of English names and phrases. If Press the alarm button by Nicki Minaj came onto the car’s playlist, I nearly hit a pole (wooden, not human) as the kids happily belted out the chorus. Instead of singing “Sound the alarm!” they sang “Bob Dylan!”. That’s the new text now, I think. I’m sorry, Nicki.”

“I’ve just encountered the ultimate ‘phone on speaker’ (C8) craze,” explains Meroo Meadow’s Merona Martin. “The couple next to me at a local coffee shop put their phone on speaker and almost held it in my face so their two loud, hopping dogs could greet a friend who happened to be calling.”

Graham Bird of St Ives confesses: “[I] I resisted owning a cell phone for as long as possible and told people in the 1990s I wasn’t important enough to have one. Since the beginning of the new century I changed my attitude and told people I was too important to have one.”

“Contrary to what Eric Scott (C8) says, Bell did not invent the telephone, he stole it from Italian immigrant inventor Antonio Meucci, who took Bell’s advice on its usefulness,” claims Finley’s Shane Nunan. “Bell told him it was of no use, but immediately filed the patents behind Meucci’s back and got credit for his invention. However, the US House of Representatives belatedly recognized Meucci in 2002. Others have also claimed credit for this invention.”

Stewart Copper’s Shark Tale (C8) contained a small directional error when he expressed concern that they were swimming “west across the Pacific”. The resulting feeding frenzy was just beginning with the likes of Redfern’s Julie Campbell noting that “they’d have to circumnavigate South America via the Strait of Magellan or sneak through the Panama Canal” when Stewart decided to pounce on his harpoon and offer a correction.

“Perhaps your granddaughter’s class could move to Monet, de Gas and Van Gogh instead of da Vinci, Toni Mulholland (C8). Then you could tell her that after meeting Costa Living you hope you have some Monet to pay for de Gas to make de Van Gogh,” says Hornsby’s Judy Archer.

Column8@smh.com.au

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