What's Hot & What's Not

What's Hot:

• Being a slow learner in most things grammatical (put it down to sloppy trends in institutionalised education when I were a nipper), I've surprised myself of late to find I actually enjoy refining my skills in this area.  That's partly why Strunk and White's excellent The Elements of Style made such an impact on me not so long ago (see post).  However, I've just come across this fine post ....... from .... Patrick O'Duffy (hater of the sloppy ellipsis) ........ called .... Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?  
• Also, came across the website of Australian novelist and short story writer Kirstyn McDermott, whose thriller Madigan Mine was released by Picador last year.  Check it out here.
  

What's Not:

• Tony Abbott, Bleater of the Opposition, claiming he's Australia's official critic-in-chief.  Too easy!  But then, when politicians say nothing loud enough and often enough they really seem to believe they must be saying something.  Our current cast of parliamentarians are, I suspect, puppets who've escaped from the 1980's British satirical comedy Spitting Image, preparing to act out a Ronald Reagan sketch or two - particularly The President's Brain is Missing.  Can't find that episode, but this'll do instead.