An intriguing email arrived this week from reader Barb drawing PS-sssst!’s attention to a could-have-been-better-worded headline she stumbled across when surfing the ABC news website.
“Painful sex treatment sometimes hard to find as more women seek help” caught the watchful Barb’s eye, prompting her to comment that it was “worrying when women are ‘seeking painful sex’.”
And then, to show what a fine judge of journalism Barb is, she offered: “The ABC news online and ABC TV news would improve dramatically if the PS News mob took up the editorial role for them.”
How flattering. Thanks Barb. I’m sure they’ve got our number!
Over at the Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Megan W found the headline covering a story in the Warrnambool Standard newspaper lamenting revised daily quotas for recreation fishers chasing southern bluefin tuna to be “a personal favourite from this week’s media monitoring.”
The headline that caught Megan’s eye? – Hook, line & Stinker!
Thanks to you too Megan. Book prizes all round.
Doggone!
To our constant, constructive and contratemporaneous quest for the creative and classy in the corridors of cleverness now where the protectors of Australia’s borders have gone a long way to proving they are more than just a pretty Force!’
Heralding the message that they’re in the market for dog-loving volunteers to adopt a puppy and help raise the next generation of Detector Dogs, the Australian Border Force took the art of the hearty headline to the very edge with this gem of genius: ABF pups are looking for new homes – fur real!
A great way to get noticed. Well done to all concerned!
Triple play
To Rama Gaind’s extra-special book giveaway this week now, which readers of last week’s PS News will recall is a world-first in Rama’s distinguished and extensive career.
Three separate books with three separate winners were on offer, each entrant challenged to judge one or more of the books by its cover to answer Rama’s colourful quiz question.
To win a copy of ‘Happiness is a Red Teapot’ edited by Anouska Jones, readers had to identify the colour of the teapot. To win a copy of Super Green – Simple and Lean by Sally Obermeder & Maha Koraiem, one needed to know the colour of super; and to own Legs 11 by Rhonda Burchmore, the colour of Rhonda’s golden outfit was the key.
The three lucky readers hue managed to raise their shades without dyeing in the attempt were Suzanna A of the Department of Home Affairs (Red); Yusuf K of the National Measurement Institute (Green); and Jenny T of the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy (Gold).
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who took part. The books will be despatched to their new owners very shortly.
For another chance to join Rama’s winning circle, simply follow this link to her latest giveaway and give it a go.
Good luck to all!
Thought knocks
Food for serious thought now from Denis F of Canberra who laments an outcome or two from the Federal Budget revealed to the world last week.
To Denis, proposed funding cuts to some of Australia’s most precious cultural institutions in his home city will make life less rewarding for the many people who bring them to life as dedicated workers, who share their wonders as visitors and enrich society by using them as educators or researchers.
Accepting that the Aussie practice of having a go at all things great in our national capital is a long-standing pastime for many curmudgeonly critical Australians, Denis wonders if the practice may be spreading.
“Isn’t Canberra bashing and Cultural Institution bashing one and the same?” he asks.
Good question!
Wordly wise
And finally to another fun competition with lots of fun book prizes on offer just for exercising some grey matter in a just-for-fun word-based puzzle.
The challenge is to create ‘lost singulars’ from collective nouns that may have had a singular in the past or have never had one in their lives.
Example: Is it possible that a single member of an audience is an ‘audient’? Or that and an individual at a conference is a ‘conferen’? And so on.
Fabulous book prizes to the most entertaining suggestions. Send to [email protected]
Till next week.
