A Christmas poem

After a long silence from that troubled apartment complex Dardanelle Towers, this poem arrived in time for Christmas. For those unfamiliar with the Towers (see flat-chat.com.au), Lady Luckby is a nonagenarian who thinks she still owns the building and the other owners are her tenants, Elena is a pet-deprived, lovelorn Lebanese lady and Mr Wilson is a classic "jobsworth" building manager:

Pay Tv

Eureka Sci Fi, 8.30pm Heston Blumenthal's Perfect Christmas Lifestyle Food, 7.35pm Gone Country CMC, 7pm

Q&a

Q I am interested in having a white Christmas in Europe this year, preferably staying at one place for about four nights which is easy to get to and has interesting areas to visit close by. There are likely to be four adults (no partners) in the party. We are not skiers. Any suggestions? K Thomas.

Hokkaido's Summer Magic

When the snow's gone so have the tourists and nature turns on its "green" season, writes Louise Southerden.

White Powder

With metres of dry snow, good accommodation and cheap tickets, it's skier heaven, writes Rachael Oakes-Ash.

Solid As A Rock

A gracious pocket of Australiana lies at the foot of Mount Macedon, writes Karin Derkley.

Ask The Chef

Q At the supermarket they have different varieties of potatoes for different things. What is the best potato for mashing?

Not So Humble

It's the Year of the Spud and Richard Cornish says this varied, versatile and life-saving vegetable should be celebrated.

Christ's Celebrations

The World Youth Day Cross and Icon are about to visit Wollongong on their way to Sydney, writes JODIE DUFFY. Where would Christ take the Cross if he was alive today and visiting the Wollongong Catholic diocese?

Rocky Mountain High And Fast

With a rush of adrenaline, Jacquelin Magnay zips 20 storeys above the snow on a single strand of wire.

A List Of Life As We Know It

An online book of all species will help research, writes Carl Zimmer.

Rocket Lobster

A fourth of July party gives Dorian Mode the excuse to gorge on island seafood.

Big, Brash And Plenty Of Paint

THERE was more shimmer than a Kiss make-up box and more hair than a Poison music video. While the London BAFTAs for the most part oozed class and celebrity, the 50th Grammy Awards, held just hours later in Los Angeles, celebrated all that is big and brash in the music industry.

Simple Pleasures

Two simple chords have taken over Matthew Cooper's life, writes Dan Rule.

Scrooge Alive And Well In New York

IT'S difficult not to get carried away by Christmas in New York. On prominent street corners, Christmas trees are massed for sale, sending the bracing fragrances of pine, fir and spruce into the air. Farmers' markets are ablaze with red and green juniper, bittersweet, holly, pomegranates, poinsetti

$20m Drug Pile Seized

Three men faced court yesterday after one of the largest seizures of amphetamines in Victoria's history, with an estimated street value of $20million. Detectives are believed to have discovered the drug stockpile at a Broadmeadows house after they went to the Fir Close address to execute a warran

History Behind A Hedge Awaits Bulldozer

Just as fictional Lucy stumbled through the fir trees at the back of the professor's wardrobe into Narnia, Kevin Murray stumbled through a thick hedge in Camberwell in 1993 and found his great-grandfather's home. Until then, no one, not even the Boroondara Council, knew the house existed. Built

Goalkeeper's Late Cup Bungle Rescues Rangers

Glasgow, Sunday A terrible error by Motherwell goalkeeper Stevie Woods cost his team a memorable Scottish Cup fourth-round victory over Glasgow giant Rangers at Fir Park yesterday. Motherwell, without a manager after Alex McLeish's departure to Hibernian, was heading for the quarter-finals aft

Doctors Fight Losing Battle For Life In Russia

PITKYARANTA.- There are few places in the world that offer a sharper contrast than the border between Finland and Russia. True, the natural landscape is mostly the same: a sea of fir and birch set in an archipelago of lakes, blue-green in summer, ice white in winter. It is a place of great natur

Dying For Christmas

Every Christmas it's the same: millions of trees are chopped down all over the world! Never mind that department stores are well stocked with attractive replicas of the real thing - as long as there's one fir left standing on the skyline, mindless men with axes will charge up the slopes and cut it