Markets 
“The recent report of asylum seekers landing in Weipa reminds me of an earlier attempt across on the other side of the gulf at Gove,” says Seppo Ranki of Glenhaven. “Evidently, some years back a group of ship jumpers emerged on the road between the mine and port, asking where they could get a taxi to take them to Sydney – only 4500 to 5000 km away. A good fare, if you could collect.”
David de Montfort of Balgowlah wonders if Jim Rogers attended Balgowlah Boys High (C8) or, as he describes it, “the best school in the best part of Sydney”, and adds: “If a student, he may recall that in 1967 the old shacks were torn apart by the students. This was while the first new teaching block was built: a solid brick and concrete fortress to rival the Palazzo Vecchio for strength and endurance. We students occupied it in 1968. It’s still there today, I am happy to say; a monument to all of us.”
“There is nothing to brag about when the acronym of my alma mater, St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove, is raised,” says Olga Pasfield of North Willoughby. “In spite of this, it was (and still is) a great school.” This brings to mind the thoughts of Mark Roufeil of Wollongong, who wonders, “Could it be possible that the affectionate name of the institution of my secondary education was a homage to your column? Granville South High School was referred to in formal circles as GSHS but called ‘Granny Souff’ by most of my alumni.”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that Angus Taylor’s first words as a baby were ‘toxic tax’,” surmises Peter Sweeney of Balmain. “That must be why he repeats these words 500 times a day, even in lifts and at funerals. I always wonder who told him to behave like that. Somebody did.”
“Tuns of Curry in Tuncurry (C8) reminded me of a pub in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh with the name ‘The Last Drop’,” says John Loveridge of Tewantin (Qld). “It’s in view of the old public gallows.”
Regarding Tom Pinkey’s observation (C8) of the market stall ‘Next to Nothing’ appearing next to one called ‘Nothing’, John Dawson of North Parramatta reports that “AI has just confirmed a deep memory that in the Boulevard, Strathfield, there was once a cleaning products shop next to a religious bookshop”. Think about it.
Column8@smh.com.au
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