Click here to download and view the June 2107 Newsletter

Click here to download and view the May 2107 Newsletter

Click here to download and view the March 2107 Newsletter

Many thanks to everyone i nvolved in the organisation of our Christmas lunch at Oaks Elan last December – it was a great success, as usual, and the new venue proved a popular choice. Gayle Carroll’s traditional quiz sorely tested our knowledge; her questions seem to get more fiendish every year. Congratulations to the lucky winners in the raffle: Veronica Beaton, Fiona Douglas, Audrey Grace, Fritz Risler and Merv Williams. The Door Prize went to Inger Anderss on, and Pat Goyen won the gift donated by Country Classics.

At the end of last year, Australia Post announced that certain charges were being ‘adjusted’. For most users, the most significant change was the increase in the price of sending a letter overseas – the second price hike in two years. It now costs $2.95 to send a standard letter to most overseas destinations. By way of comparison, while it costs us AU$2.95 to send a letter to the US, the price of sending a letter from the US to Australia is US$1.15 – that’s the equivalent of AU$1.53.

Research undertaken by Dr Manolis Kallistratos at the Asklepieion Voula Hospital in Athens on middle - aged patients with hypertension has confirmed what most of us had long suspected: a regular midday snooze helps to lower blood pressure and ward off heart attacks and strokes.

After adjustments were made for other health factors that might have influenced the results, the study found that, in comparison with people who did not nap, afternoon nappers had a four per cent lower b lood pressure reading when they were awake and a six percent lower reading when they slept at night, reductions which could significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular events.

A ‘leap second’ was added to the last minute of 2016 to take account of the fact that the Earth is spinning slightly slower with each passing year, and in order to keep our clocks as accurate as possible, an extra second needs to be added occasionally to ensure that. Prior to the December 2016 adjust ment the latest leap seconds were added in June 2012 and June 2015.

The ever popular National Trust Sunday Teas at Burnett resume on 5 February.

An exhibition entitled Our Feathered Friends – The Art of Birds celebrating the diversity of birdlife in the Top End and Central Australia through the eyes of both indigenous and non - indigenous artists.

As well as reflecting the Territory’s abundant and diverse birdlife, the exhibition illustrates the relationship between people and birds in our region At CDU Art Gallery, Building Orange 12, Casuarina Campus; open Wednesday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and on Saturday from 10am to 2pm.

This year sees the 75th anniversary of the first bombing raids on Darwin, and many events are planned to mark the occasion; here are just a few:

• The screening of The Awkward Truth , a documentary on the circumstances surrounding the bombing on 19 Febr uary 1942. At 6pm on 17 February at the BCC Cinemas, Mitchell Street; free entrance.
• The USS Peary Memorial Service on The Esplanade at 8.15am on 19 February.
• The Bombing of Darwin Commemoration Service at 9.30am on 19 February at The Cenotaph.
• Two exhibitions on the rais ing of the wrecks in Darwin Harbour, one at Darwin Memorial Uniting Church, the other at the NT Library, both are on show throughout the month. In connection with these exhibitions, David Steinberg will be speaking about the sa lvage operations at our meeting on 7 February.

For more information and details of other events, go to darwin.nt.gov.au/node/9167.

The other day I visited a well - known shopping emporium in search of socks. It's been a long time since I needed a new pair so I was comp letely unprepared for the super sock selection on offer. I wanted two pairs of white cotton short socks to wear in my trainers. Shouldn't be too difficult you say!

The selection before me reminded me of that ad on TV a while back, where a young fellow went to his local corner store to buy a bottle of milk, and the shop lady reeled off an amazing variety of ways to get your milk ration. Well, I can assure you , socks are similar!

There are long socks, short socks, no - show socks, knee hig h or ankle socks, tenn is, golf and football socks, bed socks and house socks. (My house must be considered deprived as I've never bought it a pair of socks). I needed two pairs, but they only come in bundles of three pairs, or you can have five pairs or a jumbo collection of ten pairs. (No four pairs, so none for octopuses). I settled for three pairs of anonymous socks.

On the way to the sock bar I passed a rack of packaged items, sold under the heading “For Hollywood Starlets ”.

I felt that Darwin is a bit far removed from Hollywood and I haven't noticed a plethora of starlets around, so I paused to examine the merchandise. What a revelation! Why wasn't it there when I needed it? Modern technology has produced a device to assist modern misses to maintain an assured pertness of their bosoms when time and gravity take their toll.

It involves the application of a rather complicated kind of Band - Aid to achieve the desired angle. It would appear that one size fits all so for the better e ndowed this might be a problem and I do wonder wha t reaction there may be when a fellow tries his luck and tries to get a little hands - on experience and he encounters the Band Aid technique in use.

Another device is available for giving a girl a real boost; I guess it beats a pair of socks under the boobs as we did in my day, and if you place them strategically differently you can have the cleavage to die for. As an avid people watcher as they walk past my market stall I shall be taking a renewed interest in things other than tattoos!

With more than fifty years of teaching experience behind him, Tom Dinning, our speaker on 1 September, is currently teaching photography at Casuarina College adult night classes. He’ll be telling us something of the history of photography, the way it has been used in the past, the impact it has had on our lives and the way we use it today.

Our Fun Quiz Day is back on 20 September. There are no big prizes for winners – just permission to be smug about being the smartest.

Come along and enjoy this social morning.

Gayle Carroll
Vice-President