POSTCODE 3000

TONY Abbott wasn't exactly showered with garlands with dollar notes pinned to them after a Liberal Party email asked for donations to fight Julia Gillard's $1.8 billion flood levy, so let's see how the state ALP fares. It's Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews who smiles from Labor's website but the "Donate" section should be accompanied by Barbra Streisand's The Way We Were. There's a smiling snap of John Brumby with the gut-wrenching reminder of the 2010 election slogan "For the times ahead". When Parliament resumes today, all that's ahead is four long years on the uncomfortable opposition benches. Any true believers feeling generous can still snap up election merchandise, such as "Better Red than Ted" T-shirts for $23. Though, it makes sense for Ted Baillieu to introduce ones saying "Better Ted than Red". Understandably Labor HQ is not as well resourced as it was before the poll and the despondent troops singing The Way We Were haven't got around to updating the site for 2011.

It's going swimmingly

THE Thorpedo, Ian Thorpe, joins John Farnham on the Dame Nellie Melba comeback trail, making waves of the non-aquatic type when announcing he'll alight from a Virgin Blue aircraft and make Abu Dhabi his training base. Which doesn't necessarily mean Aussies won't get to see Ian Thorpedo-ise himself for the London Olympics. Regulars at the RACV Club's gym in Bourke Street saw Thorpedo in a training session on Friday, the sweat dripping off his face and body. "He was working very hard," a gym member said. Which must mean a gold medal is closer than we think.

Sale of the century

CHANNEL Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener became the news when Friday's downpour flooded parts of the Richmond TV studios, but he's off to a modern building at the end of the month when the move to Docklands is complete. Memorabilia from Bendigo Street is being auctioned by Grays Online on Thursday and up for grabs is Graham Kennedy's dresser and mirror, two Yamaha grand pianos, photos of TV stars, and audience seats from Studio 9. There's even a boardroom table but not the one Jeff Kennett may be interested in to stack his bulging file of media clippings. The original table from the Wertheim piano factory, founded by Kennett's great-grandfather, Hugo, is not included in this lot of memorabilia. Grays will hold other auctions for TV fans wanting to jazz up their pool rooms.

Geography lesson

A "MAP of Tassie" means one thing to women with Brazilian waxing and another thing to US TV network CNN. Reporting on Australia's "monster storm", a map pointed to Tassie and called it Queensland. That is a collector's item and so is the convention & incentive marketing magazine published in Sydney and distributed throughout Asia. The cover says: "Tropical North Queensland: familiar, yet so different." And "Townsville: making a name for itself".