It probably sounds very condescending, but that’s never stopped me before, so I’ll say it: Old people make me sad.
Not all the time, because that would just be a bit too much to deal with. But on certain occasions, like Anzac Day. If there is anything more throat-lump worthy than some tough old bugger with his medals on, wiping a tear from his eye on a chilly April morning, let me know.
Even though she’s previously admitted Dave’s her secret boyfriend, it didn’t stop me from considering applying for the position as the male half of Sarah’s cute old couple.
Given that I find myself getting more cantankerous the older I get, I’m thinking the chances of being single at sixty are increasing daily. And when you’re sixty they don’t call it single. They call it alone.
I saw an elderly man at the supermarket the other day. He was immaculately turned out in a brown three-piece suit and hat, his shirt neatly pressed and his tie in a full windsor. In his trolley was a stack of seven heat-n-eat cottage pie dinners, and a box of popsicles. I guessed the popsicles were for the days his grandkids came to visit, although I like to think he snuck the odd one for himself.
When his back was turned, I swapped one of his Cottage Pie dinners for the same brand’s Smoked Chicken Lasagne. If variety is all its cracked up to be, then this old man’s life just got spicier, thanks to yours truly.
Sarah, please consider this my on-line application. I don’t want to end up with some young whippersnapper taking liberties with my frozen goods. And I certainly don’t want to end up contributing to what I think has to be the most depressing scheme in the world – Chrisco’s Frozen TV Dinner Christmas Hamper.
In Media News: I’ve been getting grumpy recently with the fact that most newspapers seem to think they can pull any old name out of their arses as a “tipped to be the next blah” or “widely rumoured to be moving to blah”. I’ve one friend whose name is often dropped in such stories. He’s never been approached by the competition supposedly poaching him, or had his supposedly imminent promotion discussed by those in a position to offer it.
I did some digging to discover where one of these reporters was getting his stories. Sure enough, more often than not it comes down to two reporters gossiping about who they thought would be good in the new role, or on the new channel. And with tightlipped TV bosses refusing to confirm or deny anything these days, they can simply run with whatever story they see fit to print.
Of course, they’re right some of the time.
In unrelated techy news, local lads Ambient Design have just won an international software design contest put together by Microsoft. They beat off 260 submissions to take the grand prize with their art programme ArtRage.
Best thing, their styley application is FREE to play with, and a whole lot of fun to play with, even for an artistic illiterate like myself. I dare say the kids will love it too.