Novel concepts in cyberstalking

“I finished reading a book on my Kindle last night,” says Merona Martin of Meroo Meadow. “This morning I received an email from an online bookseller saying I had finished the book and asking if I would like to write a review or buy another book by the same author or on a similar subject . Someone is watching me and I find that deeply creepy.”

Stomach Discomfort: “On a recent visit to Japan, we ordered chicken yakitori from an open-air market,” writes Mosman’s Michael Ward. “The waitress pointed out in Japanese that they had run out of chicken and explained the options – after her explanation she rubbed her stomach, which we all interpreted as ‘it’s delicious’. Then we were served different parts of the stomach – tasty for some but not what we expected.”

“Albo’s ‘nuclear non-proliferation’ (C8) is on par with Kevin the Rudderless’ ‘programmatic specificity,'” says John Hinde of Millers Point. “The coalition must do better!”

Old Bar Beach’s Sue Cremer asks: “Is it too late to bring Mr. Albanese’s attention to a somewhat prescient novel I read recently, the premise of which is the alliance and outcome between two world powers? The title: rule Britannia. The author: Daphne du Maurier. The year of publication: 1972. The alliance acronym: USUK.”

Bordergategate continues, with Cabarita’s Bob Phillips applauding his entry into urban mythology: “It’s entirely possible that Brian Collins heard the ‘Mick the Tick’ story in the 1960s because we were involved in the incident in the late ’50s. Sadly those buddies on the car ride are all dead now, but I’m glad to hear the story had its own momentum.”

Mascot’s Geoff Nilon is not convinced: “My maternal grandfather, Hercules (Pat) Jarvis, worked as a ‘tick exterminator’ on the north coast in the 1920s. As a young child, he told his mother a story in which he heard a “Dick the Tick” tale from another tick dodger, complete with a boot slamming and a head injury. Supposedly this happened at the tick gates on the Grafton to Casino road in the 1920s or early 1930s.”

“Rosemary Seam (C8), this isn’t funny anymore. ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) is an option on Indian ballot papers and a button on the electronic voting machines used there,” reports Manbir Singh Kohli of Pemulwuy. “In some elections, NOTA won more votes than many of the political parties that ran!”

Column8@smh.com.au

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