Strictly Grammarian – The UK’s New Punctuation Craze

This winter’s blockbuster book in the UK? A book on punctuation – Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. “Demand for the book has been so great it burned through six printings in the first three weeks of publication. The initial print run of 5,000 ballooned to 510,000; in the second week of December alone, 67,000 copies were sold, beating sales of John Grisham’s new book by more than 40 per cent. Seems correct punctuation isn’t just for your pedantic parents any more.”

Melbourne’s Building Boom – Slums In Waiting?

Melbourne has been on a building boom, luring thousands of new residents downtown with a wave of new apartment construction. This is slowing growth of the suburbs. But there’s a downside. “We are building what will become ghettos of poor quality, cheap, badly built, high-maintenance houses in the sky. These towers will form an urban and social blight within 10 years that will scar the tissue of the city. They are badly built and unsuited for renovation. They will most likely be demolished when their investment use-by date is up.”