MURALTO: "Sure, cocaine was his first love," noted PLInkletter, "but he coloured up around flowers, he always had his greens, he respected alkaloids."

Be all that as it may, meanwhile:

'In other news…'

03^rd August 2010

Tuesday: Another summer's day – in midwinter! – with not a lot of prospect yet for heavy rain to make up for the seriously below average year we're having. I was at Mundaring Weir with the Babies Ink&Peggletter on Sunday, who were giving me a day out at various activities for my recent birthday, and the water level is dismally low.

I took The Dear Leader to the local major shopping centre late today, and we each scurried our various ways till closing time.

I managed to have a couple of chats by phone with Missus Inkletter, still on holiday at Balingup, and she noted it will shortly be back to the grind that is her lot here in the Big Smoke, poor thaing.

I had a big Aunty night, starting with Kerry O'Brien trying hard and fruitlessly to find the real Julia Gillard inside the Prime Minister on The 7.30 Report.

I was spellbound later watching the five bookends on First Tuesday Book Club, being Jennifer Byrne, Marieke Hardy, Jason Steger, Richard Flanagan, and Jane Gleeson-White discussing Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina: rarely have I witnessed the entire cast so unanimously gripped by what they've read.

Poor Leigh Sales! She had to interview yet another consummate politician, and by 'consummate' I don't mean anything other than being expert at the ducking and weaving of politics, this one a male, he being her LATELINE guest, none other than Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan. The (Leigh) Sales Graph: Ms Sales looked remarkably good in the simplest of attire, her sapphire blue long sleeved shirt being the centrepoint, with only the tiniest of earrings as jewellery, lovely convex flaring strawberry blond hair, and subtle effect make-up, except let me make one caveat: Ms Sales' eyeliner and mascara were just inside the high end of a shade of darkness that still enhances rather than detracts.

Few can look so good with the simplest of presentation, and have the wherewithal to present quality television journalism live

Let me give but a few words of explanation: women with light skin have to be careful with dark eyeliners and mascara, and all the more so if they also have light coloured hair. All too often such women overdo the darkening of their eye make-up effects. Of course, brown and darker skins don't have the same degree of such constraints, nor the darker hair shades. The risk the lighter haired and skinned women run is to make their eyes look almost disconnected to their faces by overdoing the darkness of their outlines. Erring on the side of less is the better policy for such femmes.

Wayne Swan looked as immaculate as he always does, choosing a conservative dark suit and white shirt combo, but jazzing the rags up a bit with a zingy white striped blue tie.

If only all of Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan's spiel tonight was as believable as his attire was spiffy…

Now it was pure 'Yes Minister' when Ms Sales tried to get an honest answer from Mr Swan regarding Prime Minister Julia Gillard's change of mind on a second and third debate with Tony Abbott this election campaign. Mr Swan rewrote history, non-sequitured, obfuscated, and even touched his nose at a most interesting moment, all during his obvious discomfort at saying one thing while believing and understanding another. The hypocrisy of our political leaders is breathtaking. I would have preferred Mr Swan to say "Yes, we want the extra debates now because we're in trouble." He would be telling the truth, and would that be the end of the world for him? Some politicians have risen high in the citizenry's estimation by calling it as it is. And imagine if he then said "And we made a mistake when we knocked back Abbott's offer to have the extra debates when he proposed them." Whoa! A low flying pig almost hit me!

+paytontedwithlove+