His glittering hairdo drew both compliments and requests for selfies. Mark was happy to smile and play along.
His daughter, Lauren, was the mastermind and creator. Placing the dots in the appropriate places took about two hours. Mark quipped that a few drinks also helped the process along.
Congratulations to Mark for making his mark.
May we echo his positivity about 2025 — a year with some bright spots perchance.
*****
Most of us know about the language differences between the two sides of the Ditch — esky and chilly bin, jandals and thongs.
Civis has recently added another to the list.
A former New Zealander, now well ensconced in Sydney, was a bit bemused about a heat pump query the other day.
They weren’t heat pumps.
They were ACs — understandable when the temperature had been close to 40°C.
*****
Civis’s battle on behalf of "biscuits" rather than "cookies" has taken another roasting through Christmas and its aftermath.
Civis must admit "Christmas cookies" have a more familiar ring to modern Antipodean ears than "Christmas biscuits". We can’t just blame "biscuits" going stale on Christchurch-based company Cookie Time or Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster.
But there’s still a little hope. While the BBC has a bob each way in the text, at least one of its food sections is still headed "Christmas biscuits".
The entry then says: "Christmas biscuit and cookie recipes from BBC Food to share with everyone, whatever their favourite. From gingerbread to classic shortbread, from fancy iced biscuits to simple cookies — we have all you need to whip up a bumper batch."
Readers might remember the outrage when King Charles III and Queen Camilla were visiting Canberra last October.
The menu at the parliamentary reception listed one of the desserts as an Anzac cookie. The error was called insulting and criminal.
There are specific rules for using the word "Anzac", notably for food.
The Department of Veterans Affairs spells out that Anzac biscuits must explicitly be called "biscuits" and not called "cookies", although Anzac slice is acceptable.
The department also says "Anzac" biscuits must not "substantially deviate from the generally accepted recipe and shape".
Breach these regulations and you could face a fine or up to 12 months in jail.
At least the saying "to take the biscuit" is a well-baked idiom that cookie cannot conquer.
