Reprint Friday

In the 1978 edition of the Australian Government Style Manual, it’s recommended that, when addressing correspondence to a married priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, the envelope should be addressed to “The Reverend [insert name].”

On the other hand, correspondence to an unmarried priest should be addressed to “The Very Reverend [insert name].”

How very odd that someone’s propensity for heterosexual activity should have a negative bearing on his reverence-worthiness!

Meanwhile, the Right Fucking Reverend Rupert Murdoch has been spruiking his evangel:

“The philistine phase of the digital age is almost over. The aggregators and plagiarists will soon have to pay a price for the co-opting of our content.”

A couple of millennia in purgatory ought to fix those sinners.

The following juicy historical titbits originally appeared in a publication with which readers may not be familiar, so may be worth reproducing here:

What you didn’t know about Ballarat Railway Station…

• Ballarat takes its name from the indigenous word for “resting place”, derived from Balla (‘elbow’ or ‘resting on elbow’) and Arat (‘place’). The indigenous derivation also helps explain where the alternative spelling “Ballaarat” comes from. This spelling is still employed by a number of local organisations, including the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute and Ballaarat Astronomical Society.
• Ballarat was formerly known as “Yuille’s Swamp” because it encompassed Lake Wendouree which was part of William Yuille’s pastoral station.
• Ballarat station is one of only three in Victoria to have a 19th century train shed (Geelong and St Kilda being the other two). The building and surrounds were constructed in 1862 at a cost of almost 22,000 pounds. An engine shed, goods shed, footbridge, waiting rooms, clock tower and portico were later added. The building is classified by Heritage Victoria and the National Trust of Victoria.
• At the time of its opening, Ballarat Station serviced a booming gold-rush population of over 100,000 people.

Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Victorian Government Department of Transport, Spring 2009.

Finally, I think there could be a message in the following words that we can call our own and take home with us:

Then you listen to the music and you like to sing along,
You want to get the meaning out of each and ev’ry song
Then you find yourself a message and some words to call your own
And take them home.

‘Guitar Man’ by David Gates, performed by Bread.

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