Quick stuff

Vague news

Dear national news programme: Don’t just say something happened “in eastern Melbourne”. Use a couple more words and tell me what suburb. Do the same for other cities too.

Dream

I had a dream that I’d gone back to my old primary school, and was being shown around by a lady who said she’d taught me. But I couldn’t remember her name — maybe she had been one of the early year teachers that I don’t really remember very well.

Rather than embarrass myself, I looked for clues, and then I noticed a name tag which said she was Bronwyn Pike — who is in fact the Education Minister.

Doorstop

Is doorstop in the media sense only an Australian term? It’s not in Wiktionary or Wikipedia or other online references, and only seems to return Australian hits in Google.

In Australian English it means, strictly, an interview with the media held as the subject is entering or exitting a building, but it’s also come to mean generally a press conference held outside, often spontaneously.

Lexus

Lexus is introducing talking cars.

Gawd no. I can hear it now.

“You look like you’re driving somewhere, would you like some help?“