Column 8
McDONALD'S cheeseburgers appear to be a popular subject of scientific study. Adam Cragg, of Kentlyn, says that in late 1990 a Leumeah High teacher bought one and accidentally left it, wrapped, on a desk. There it lay until 1991, was found and examined -- no signs of decay. It was kept in a cupboard until this year, where the Year 12 students tested scrapings -- no bacteria. A teacher now uses it as a paperweight.
LEE Bemrose of Wollstonecraft noticed an intriguing safety tip in the instruction manual for a Remington hair drier she bought recently. Along with sensible advice such as "keep away from water" and "do not use while bathing" is "never use while sleeping".
WE'D like to show a picture of it, but it doesn't reproduce well. Doug Walker, of Baulkham Hills, has sent a cancelled postage stamp from an envelope. Depicted on the stamp, in the Threatened Species series, is a long-tailed dunnart. The cancellation stamp scarcely shows the breakfast food it advertises, but readily readable across the tiny creature is "Low fat, delicious".
A KOREAN pastor who's been preaching that the world will end this month has been charged with fraud. The Seoul prosecutor's office says Lee Jang-Rim 46, used his followers' money to buy bonds maturing in -- oh dear -- next May.
A Question Of Colour
A READER of The Guardian in England wrote an angry letter to the editor last week because the newspaper had "found it necessary to mention that an assailant was 'black'.
"The mention of colour in connection with crime is something I have come to expect from tabloids, not 'quality' newspapers," wrote the irate reader.
The editor's response was that the "black cab driver" referred to the colour of the cab he was driving.
Body Language
AFTER reviewing the past 12 months in the annals
of medicine, the US magazine Health has bestowed the
following awards:
The I'm Not Talking to You, Either Award went to 78-year-old Florida man who did not notice for two months that his room-mate was dead.
The Talk About Paying Through the Nose Award went to British debt-collection agencies that realised a 14 per cent increase in payments after soaking their invoices in a sex attractant chemical.
The What Did You Do With the Grant Money Award went to Stanford University for a study that found that when happy people choose desserts, they are usually happy with their choices, and that when unhappy people choose desserts, they are usually unhappy with their choices.
Home Truths
CHILD actor Macaulay Calkin, who set himself up for life with the film Home Alone, must have decided not to mess around with scriptwriters to promote his new film, which, wonder of wonders, is called Home Alone 2.
Knight-Ridder reports this incisive exchange between the 12-year-old and The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Is dealing with the media harder this time around? "Kinda."
What do you do when you're not making movies? "I do this."
You look tired. "Kinda."
You live near here? "Kinda."
Is Home Alone 2 the same film as Home Alone ? "Kinda".
The last response said it all.
Outed
A US Democrat senator in Georgia, Sam Nunn, has confessed that he is a space alien. Nunn confided to reporters that he is from Krypton, Superman's fictional birthplace, according to the American Press Association.
Nunn's confession was confirmed a report last week in the pinnacle of investigative journalism, Weekly World News. The report claimed Nunn and four other senators are aliens. "It's amazing I've been able to keep it a secret for 54 years," Nunn said.