Reports from the Real World

When the nation faces a federal election, the papers turn poorly. All the text is tit-for-tat one-up-manship, feuds and fallouts. All the photographs seem mere caricatures. Nothing's real: it's all hot air. And it's worse than the soaps.

On the other hand, when the political state is at least consistent, the press indulges us with all kinds of interesting developments -- Reports, if you will, from the Real World:


To summarise, key points of interest in today's news include:

• A plane engine exploded while the plane was in the sky. And: people lived!
  
• The oldest stone axe in the world has been found in Arnhem Land at a rock art site which, incidentally, was only discovered three years ago.
  
• A man was killed by a pride of lions in Zimbabwe (sidebar: another man died after a hyena attack in the same country).
• The oldest woman in the world died; she was born in 1896 and lived, by the way, in Curacao. Yes, like the drink.
  

That, friend, is news. These are news items. These are the kinds of tepid-off-the-presses non-scoops I live for: things that let us reflect upon the world as we know it.

Thoughts precipitated by such stories include, but are not limited to the following. Curacao is made with orange skins. She was 114. The oldest sharp edge in the world. The deeply happy Jawoyn people. Hyena attack. And: it's not often you see the phrase "a pride of lions" in print.

Good times, people. Good times.