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Today's fact The corkscrew was invented in 1860.

A Concise History: The Corkscrew

THESE days, when easy access to liquor is regarded as a fundamental human right, it is hard to believe that carousers were once reduced to gouging the cork out with a sharp object, or breaking the neck of the bottle over a nearby rock or bystander.

Not The Ducks' Nuts

THE male Argentine lake duck has a phallus that is longer than 30 centimetres as long as itself that is shaped like a corkscrew.

Huntervalley

Food in the kitchen, a king-size bed and more wine than you can poke a corkscrew at. John Saxby visits the Hunter Valley.

New Stroke Treatment May Lie In Turn Of A Cork Screw

A revolutionary treatment for stroke that uses a corkscrew-like device to extract blood clots from the brain will be tested in a Sydney hospital.

From The Shelf

Wine drinkers are among the easiest people of all to please at Christmas. Unlike non-wine-loving friends and relations, the gift needs of these souls don't demand hours of agonising thought. Instead they are quite happy to receive a good bottle or two, and if their interest in wine elevates them to "buff" status, there are any number of gadgets, books and glassware items available to you. Before you choose, it's worth checking whether they have the essentials - good glasses, corkscrew and wine gui

Pack A Pocket-rocket

If you plan to go down to the woods today and a Swiss Army knife isn't high-tech enough, maybe you need the I-Quip (short for Intelligent Equipment for the Outdoors) survival tool. As well as packing a range of stainless-steel blades, regular and Phillips head screwdriver, corkscrew, scissors, cap

Q&a With John Bell

Full name: John Anthony Bell. Date of birth: November 1, 1940. Earliest memory: My father building sandcastles on Newcastle Beach. Childhood pin-up: Danny Kaye. Is image all about hair: No, image is all about sex. Favourite indulgence: A post-show glass of red. Worst habit: Forgetting peop-le's names. Three things you would take to a desert island: My wife, my dog and my discman. Favourite kitchen appliance: Corkscrew. Who do you most admire: Xanana Gusmao. If a movie was made of your life, who would play y

A Passion For Fruit Of The Vine

If you want to plant with passion this summer, why not try your hand at growing passionfruit? Passionfruit vines are an Australian backyard favourite and, with their attractive flowers, corkscrew tendrils, ease of growth and luscious fruit, it's not hard to see why. Black passionfruit are the

All About Picnics

There's more to dining al fresco than soggy sandwiches and boiled eggs. Don't forget your... ? Corkscrew ? paper napkins ? plates and cutlery ? plastic glasses and cups ? a cooler bag or esky with ice bricks (pack drinks and food close to the ice bricks to ensure they remain chil

A Rabbit Down A Hole

There have been many attempts to improve on it, but the standard corkscrew design - a metal worm that hooks the cork, attached to a handle to tug on - hasn't changed all that much in 300 years. The latest assault on its supremacy comes from the humble rabbit. The Rabbit clamps onto the neck of a wi

Solution 160: Corkskrew

cock cocker core corer cork corkscrew corker cos cosec cow cower coke crew crock crow escrow rock rocker score scorer scow screw soccer sock wreck

Putting New Twist On Compost

IT looks like an oversized corkscrew, it makes composting easier and faster, and it proved itself a winner last night. `It' is the Compostworm, a simple but effective garden tool that is the invention of retired Hamilton project engineer Dion Kentwell. The Compostworm, under the name djf proje

Mac The Mouth Is Back In Town

THERE is a lot of snow on the roof, the tantrums are now staged to amuse the crowd rather than to intimidate the officials, the corkscrew serve doesn't quite have the same pop and the ring in his left ear looks very 1983. But at 40 John McEnroe still draws a crowd, which is why his appearance wit

Mcenroe Back On Court Mixing Up Fun And Games With Steffi

THERE is a lot of snow on the roof, the tantrums are now staged to amuse the crowd rather than to intimidate the officials, the corkscrew serve doesn't quite have the same pop and the ring in his left ear looks very 1983. But at 40, John McEnroe can still draw a crowd - to watch him play or just

A New Direction

WE'RE DRIVING along the South Gippsland Highway, approaching the corkscrew runoff on to the freeway to Melbourne, when a woman's voice interrupts the music on the stereo system: "Left turn ahead." It is dark and raining heavily and the cars ahead are a mess of dazzling head and tail-l

Xavier Gym Junkies Pumped For Nsw Titles

AEROBICS FOR most people, the terms grapevine, corkscrew and round the world would more than likely be heard around a dinner table. But for eight St Francis Xavier students, the same words, which describe aerobics manoeuvres, have meant hours of energy-sapping footwork on the gym floor. Two

Winemakers Pop Their Corks For A Colourful Plastic Look-alike

They said it would never happen, but it has. Plastic is replacing natural cork in wine bottles. Insert your corkscrew into a bottle of Pepper Tree, Tamburlaine, Saddlers Creek or Hardy's Hunter Ridge and give a pull, and you're likely to find a cylinder of plastic, shaped and looking like a norma

Kwik Kork All Set To Get Tipplers' Seal Of Approval

HUON HOOKE reports on a revolutionary way to open wine bottles without a corkscrew. CORK has been used to plug wine bottles for centuries, and there have been few changes to the way it looks to the drinker. Screw caps, swing tops and crown seals have all been tried as marketers try to differenti

(sportsweek)

Thumbs up. Mark Philippoussis. Scud's vapor trail in the past year or so has looked more like a corkscrew than the soaring white line Australian tennis fans had desired. Decisions to miss Wimbledon last year and to make himself unavailable for Davis Cup selection in February exposed signs of