He gobbled up turkey catch

Bird in the hand worth two for a book

TWO Toowoomba friends travelled to Brisbane this week for a meet and greet with their favourite author Matthew Reilly.

The popular author was doing a book signing and talk at Bullimba State School.

“Early in the piece, a small bush turkey flew into the hall and a few people tried to catch it,” our informant told Whispers.

“It evaded capture and hid for a while before reappearing and immediately taking flight straight as an arrow down the length of the hall.

“A bloke about two rows in front of us shot his arms up and snatched it right out of the air.

“The guy had softer/better hands than half the Australian cricket team – he then tucked it under his arm and walked out to release it onto the school oval free of harm.”

For his efforts, the turkey whisperer was given a free book and first spot in the auto- graph line, leaving him the envy of the hall full of fans.

“The two of us were already geeking out about meeting Matthew and that just made the night great,” our operative said.

MRI MISHAPS

THE age of a Toowoomba TV news crew’s equipment was laid bare earlier this week after their camera stopped working near an MRI machine.

The crew were attending the unveiling of a new piece of technology at the Toowoomba Hospital medical imaging unit when it was discovered their camera did not like the electromagnetic field created by the machine.

While the crew were able to capture the press conference, every time they walked across the line into the MRI room the camera shut down.

It began to work normally again once the cameraman and equipment left that room. The crew were left having to ask competitors to share footage with them.

HAPPILY SCOOPED

YOUNG Toowoomba journo was very annoyed with the sound of a helicopter hovering about his house on Thursday evening.

To find out what was going on he called Police Media and was told a stolen car had crashed and police were searching for suspects.

Ever eager, the journo wanted to go and grab some photos of the scene and so loaded with adrenalin and a camera he rushed out the door.

It was only when he was about to get into the car and drive to the scene that he realised he had just finished his second glass of wine for the night and that it probably wasn’t best idea to drive to a scene where there would be a lot of police.

He turned around and went back inside.

In the end, missing the scoop would be far easier to explain to the boss the next day than a drink-driving charge and an appearance in court.

HEATED LEGAL DEBATE

USUALLY, our courts have a stringent pecking order when it comes to cases being placed before the bench. Seniority is everything in court and barristers and solicitors politely bow to the seniority of another when it comes to who is next on the list.

However, it was probably more to do with the summer temperature outside earlier this week than the politeness among the local legal fraternity when a court depositions clerk asked who would be first up to the bar table when the magistrate entered the room.

Unusually, solicitors sat back (enjoying the cool airconditioned court room) and waved younger, less experienced lawyers on.

It became all too obvious when a very senior member of Toowoomba legal fraternity declined his rightful position at the head of the list and waved a younger colleague on.

“I don’t want to go back to the office,” he said honestly.