Random thoughts and observations
I’ve just finished reading the four Otto Prohaska novels by John Biggins. Otto Prohaska is a submarine captain serving the almost-landlocked Austro-Hungarian Empire on the eve of the First World War. He faces a host of unlikely circumstances, from petrol poisoning to exploding lavatories, cannibals and trigger-happy Turks. Despite his misgivings, Prohaska remains a loyal servant of the Dual Monarchy. Even his encounters with royalty fail to budge his sense of duty.
The interesting thing for me about Prince William’s speech to Christchurch earthquake survivors was that he is English. That may seem an obvious thing to say, but the Queen speaks an older-style universal English, which Prince Charles follows to a certain extent. I’m not researching this online or linking to experts, but my own observations tell me that the Queen’s English is similar to Oxford English, which used to be spoken by ABC radio announcers and professionals in Australia.
It’s good that Prince William chose to visit Australia, despite not receiving an invitation from any of the Labor governments or WA.
I’ve written a story for The Border Watch on the failed 1999 republic referendum for Friday’s paper, looking back at how the issue was reported in Mount Gambier a decade ago. The electorate of Barker recorded a “No” vote of 67.57 percent, which was one of the highest results in Australia and the second highest [...]
I’ve started reading Sir David Smith’s book “Head of State”. I never knew he was the son of Polish Jewish immigrants.
