There was certainly plenty going on with the kids my age that I had no idea about.

Just a kid who did as he was told, when he was told...not exactly an angel, but fairly naive.

There is a point to this confession...

I received details about ‘Australia’s smoothest pick up lines’ this week and couldn’t resist the opportunity to quote some of them.

What it did though, was convince me why I was always playing sport, and never around the female gender growing up.

I used to hear some of the lines being used by young blokes and think, how corny, no way would any girl fall for that!

But they always had girlfriends and I was playing hockey or cricket!

The results of Australia’s very first Search for Australia’s Smoothest Pick Up Line featured some very intersting attempts - all after the $5,000 prize.

Some of the best witty one liners included these slick conversation openers:

* Do you know what my jumper is made out of? Boyfriend material.

* Do you believe in love at first sight, or do I have to walk past you again?

* Excuse me, I've lost my phone number, can I have yours?!

* Do you know how much a polar bear weighs? I've heard it's enough to break the ice. 

However, there was one savvy pick up line that stood out among the rest - and it came from a woman.

“Is your name Wally? ‘Cause someone like you is hard to find.”

I’m not convinced any of them would be successful but I have no doubt they would certainly break the ice and provide a chuckle.

- - - -

We’ve covered several times the Ben Hall movie which is being made in the Forbes - Eugowra area and how money was raised for it through the Kickstarter program.

They raised $75,000 to finish the project.

I know several local residents who invested in it.

Well, the producer, Matthew Holmes contacted us this week to announce the official teaser trailer for the movie is now out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQWHext6eQ).       It looks fantastic.

But now they are looking for more funding to turn it into a full-length film.

“We are launching a new crowd-funding campaign to raise more money to make The Legend of Ben Hall a full-length feature film,” Matt told me.

It’s all on:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-legend-of-ben-hall-feature-film/x/9083313#home

“We have 20 days to raise another $75,000 so we can expand the movie to 100 minutes.”

- - - -

There is another new sign on the eastern side of town promoting the Elvis Festival.

There’s may be others as well.

I loved the previous one, featuring three Elvii peering out and greeting visitors.

The new sign is a little different - probably more modernistic.  I’m not quite sure what to think of it but as long as it is there acknowledging that all roads lead to Parkes in January for Elvis’ 80th birthday bash, that’s good enough for me.

- - - - 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

“After all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done.”

- - - - -

I mentioned last week the unsung heroes of our local tourism industry, the local car clubs.

Because of the amazing collection and dedication, enthusiasm and pride in Parkes, they arrange for many rallies to be held here each year.

The number of car rallies and displays we have had this year is mind blowing.  And they all bring in big bucks, because most of the visitors stay for a few days.

For example, the Dodge rally which was here a few weeks ago and featured a display of about 100 cars at the Henry Parkes Centre.

The organisers said the vehicles were worth several millions dollars, and some were as much as $300,000 (not sure if this is the case though, as they said the figure with a large grin on their face!)

For example are these two pictures.