THERE's no denying Tony Abbott's contribution to Newcastle. He leaves a bit of himself each time, and yesterday we received 485 of the Opposition Leader's calories.
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We know this because Mr Abbott, before appearing at City Hall to announce plans to compensate terrorist victims if elected, went for a run and posted it on Twitter.
"Just completed a 6.15km run," Mr Abbott told the world, though an app called RunKeeper.
"Morning run in Newcastle."
The run, Topics can report, was launched at 5.14am outside the Crowne Plaza and looped along the Foreshore and Nobbys breakwater before terminating, 34 minutes and 52 seconds later, whence it began.
What's more, the average pace of the run was five minutes 40 per kilometre. For a leader who's cagey with detail, Mr Abbott can provide it in spades.
Felines on film
YOUR cat is a star: you know it, so does it. Now the world can bask in the reflected glory of your moggy's screen debut.
The kitty cameo is being offered by Newcastle director Stuart McBratney in his movie Pop-Up.
McBratney will finance his film (as reported in Monday's Newcastle Herald) through crowdfunding, and has offered several rewards to lure prospective backers.
For $30, he says, "Send us a picture of your cat and we'll use it in a scene". There is, however, a cat caveat.
"There will be lots of cat pictures, so we can't promise it will be recognisable," says the director.
He has made a "minor adjustment to the screenplay" to accommodate catty cast members, but it won't affect the plot. You can find out more at pozible.com/project/32215.
If the cap fits
PHILLIP Lloyd, of Georgetown, reckons our facts need to be more, well, factual.
Yesterday's Topics Factoon stated that "rhinos are related to horses, and may be responsible for the myth of the unicorn". It's the "may be" that bugged Phillip.
"Substantiated facts," he says, "should take precedence over hearsay and conjecture. The mono-horned mythical creature's correct origins stem not from a horse but from that lesser-esteemed mammal, the goat."
Apparently the goat was the totem animal of the Balkans-based Phrygians, who wore cone-shaped hats and, as you do, put the hats on their goats.
"This heralding of the mascot distilled in the minds of surrounding clans a creature of a mono-horn," says Phillip.
"The Phrygians were therefore considered the clan of the one-horn creature."
The moral of the tale is that the unicorn myth comes from goats wearing hats. Rhinos? Not so much.
Sign from great man
JUST a handful of amateurs get to be in Phantom of the Opera, and just a handful of those get to open a note from Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Newcastle's Metropolitan Players can tick both boxes.
The company will stage the NSW amateur Phantom premiere tonight at the Civic Theatre - they had to apply for the rights - with the bonus of a signed "break a leg" from the great man.
"With best wishes for a wonderful opening night and an enjoyable and successful run," wrote the doyen of composers. Topics was excited just to see the letterhead.
"Yours sincerely, Andrew Lloyd Webber."
The Players have framed the letter and hung it in the foyer.
