Lust

Oooh.

An Edward Gorey auction.
17. GOREY, Edward (1925 - 2000) Skull Necklace A skull neclace on a string, possible onyx, turquoise, or Abyssinian. Provenance: Edward Gorey to the Edward Gorey Charity Trust, Accompanied by a letter signed by Andreas Brown, Co-Trustee, confirming the ownership. A FINE EXAMPLE OF THE ECCENTRIC JEWELERY WORN BY EDWARD GOREY.

est. $500 – $800

Tempting, but no...

NSW Right Footshooting trophy

Arbib points out that there's no law against discussing Labor party politics with embassy officials. Well, yes; but compare and contrast -

Document H

The Petrov Document labelled ’H’ was written by Press Secretary to Dr Evatt, Fergan O’Sullivan. It is a series of pen-sketches of the 1952 Press Gallery. Fergan O’Sullivan claimed to have written Document H to help the Soviet Union target journalists who might publish pro-Soviet articles. In fact Moscow used the information in an effort to identify potential agents. No one named in Document H was found to be a Russian spy.

That one justified an entire volume of a Royal Commission.

Burn, Pigs

Reading this -
"After nearly 40 years of service, six F-111 fighter bombers have taken their final flight from Queensland's Amberley Air Force base.
The F-111 is known for its ability to get down low and fast for bombing runs, earning it the nickname 'the pig'.
Four F-111s will end up on display at military museums and the 17 others will be scrapped."
I'm not sure which is the oddest thing, historically speaking - that a combat fighter has been a credible threat for nearly 40 years - by which standard Blériot's channelcrosser would have ended up being used in Korea - or that Australia has had nearly forty years of peace, defined as 'not having to use your fighters".

Another Amis

To A Baby Born Without Limbs

This is just to show you who's boss around here.
It’ll keep you on your toes, so to speak,
Make you put your best foot forward, so to speak,
And give you something to turn your hand to, so to speak.
You can face up to it like a man,
Or snivel and blubber like a baby.
That’s up to you. Nothing to do with Me.
If you take it in the right spirit,
You can have a bloody marvelous life,
With the great rewards courage brings,
And the beauty of accepting your LOT.
And think how much good it’ll do your Mum and Dad,
And your Grans and Gramps and the rest of the shower,
To be stopped being complacent.
Make sure they baptise you, though,
In case some murdering bastard
Decides to put you away quick,
Which would send you straight to LIMB-O, ha ha ha.
But just a word in your ear, if you’ve got one.
Mind you DO take this in the right spirit,
And keep a civil tongue in your head about Me.
Because if you don't,
I’ve got plenty of other stuff up My sleeve,
Such as leukemia and polio,
(Which incidentally you're welcome to any time,
Whatever spirit you take this in.)
I’ve given you one love-pat, right?
You don’t want another.
So watch it, Jack.

Kingsley Amis