Showing posts with label The last straw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The last straw. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

The Last Straw

I’m Not Talking Through My Hat

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON


A few days ago, I was walking across the pedestrian footbridge from Southbank to Flinders Street Station, when I noticed a strange sight. I’m accustomed to seeing black swans on the Yarra, as well as a variety of other birds.

But there was something in the water that I could not identify. It was a long way away. Was it an albino duck?

It was 100 degrees and the sun was beating down mercilessly. But I simply had to solve the mystery.

Then I realised it wasn’t a bird. Was the tide bringing it closer to me or away from me? It was hard to tell. Then, with the object about 100 metres away, the penny dropped.

It was a woman’s broad-brimmed straw hat, a familiar – and popular - piece of headgear on scorching summer days like this. But Melbourne’s breeze is capricious and very strong. Sometimes you really need to hold on to your hat in more ways than one.


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Monday, January 28, 2008

The Last Straw

An Englishman’s Home Is His Ruination

This ain’t a case of Tudor manor born. An English couple hid their mock-Tudor mansion behind a 12 metre (about 36 feet) stack of straw for four years in an extraordinary attempt to bypass planning laws. Linda Fidler and husband Robert didn't seek planning permission for their "dream home", complete with ramparts, and the first anyone knew was when the bales were removed. Council planners have now ruled that the construction is illegal and should be knocked down.

FOOTNOTE: Bale money.