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Fear not, Mary Carde (C8). Not only is there a plethora of “& Daughters” businesses about (“too many to choose the best” says Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook, following a quick search on the ABN Lookup function), but in the UK, The Guardian has reported a 75 per cent growth in the use of the “& Daughter(s)” suffix. For this, we thank John McCartney of Mt Coolum (Qld).
Closer to home, Greg Oehm of Western Creek (Tas) is “happy to advise Mary that Moss Vale-based haulage firm Graham Brown and Daughter proudly display their ‘& Daughter’ status on the side of their well-turned-out purple Kenworth prime movers.”
Robert Leach of Mont Albert North (Vic) recalls “the pre-eminent estate agent in Toorak, Melbourne, was Bill Dane, the principal of the estate agency, Campbell, Hogg and Daughter.”
And Josephine Piper of Miranda takes it even further: “My late brother-in-law, Brian Forrester of Nowra had a truck with the sign ‘Forrester & Son, Wife & Daughters’.”
Not only has Melania (C8) been nominated for the Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the FIFA Oscars (cheers, Bernie Carberry of Connells Point), but it makes for a wonderfully intimate evening for Rhoda Silber of Manly: “Peter and I are looking forward to seeing Melania on Wednesday night and having the cinema to ourselves!”
Natasha Lee of Alexandria wonders, “In reply to Christo Curtis, while Abraham Lincoln was watching Melania was he heard to quip ‘just shoot me’?”
After Ian Nicholls (C8) requested ChatGPT describe Column 8 for him, Jack Dikian of Mosman asked the same of Claude, the AI system by Anthropic. “It sadly wasn’t as upbeat as ChatGPT, declaring ‘Column 8 is like Sydney’s group chat: half gossip, half eyebrow-raise, and somehow always knows who did something mildly unhinged before breakfast.’ It knows me so well.”
“Enough navel-gazing. Let’s get back to the important issues, like what’s happened to all the big cockroaches this summer?” writes Meri Will of Baulkham Hills. “The only specimens I’ve seen lately have been belly up on my floor. Much as I prefer the dead variety, I wonder where the live ones are, and why they’re only coming inside to die.”
“I noted a story in the paper about redeveloping Parramatta Road. Again,” muses Bruce Moxon of Toongabbie. “If stories about high-speed rail are harbingers of an election, what are stories about Parramatta Road heralding? (Sorry).”
Column8@smh.com.au
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