Cirrus@Austlit

'‘They’re different, that’s for sure. And I wouldn’t put anything past ’em.’

'It’s 2006, and terror scaremongering in the media has rattled the residents of sleepy, suburban Dunlop Crescent. When a Maori family moves into number 14, the local cranks assume they are Middle Eastern terrorists hell-bent on destroying the Australian way of life. Rumour has it that they plan to turn their house to face Mecca.

'This sets off an extraordinary chain of events that embroils the entire neighbourhood as well as cynical media figures, bumbling anti-terrorist police, and a gang of white supremacists with a radical plan to wake up the country and ‘preserve Australian values’. At the centre of it all is Gordon, a retired widower, who just wants a bit of peace and quiet.

'Deadly Kerfuffle is a smart, riveting and incredibly funny novel inspired by actual letters to the editor in a local newspaper. Through biting satire and a cast of unforgettable characters, it’s an insight into the kind of paranoia that could only ever blossom in the quietest and safest of places.'  (Publication summary)

Middle-class Bess Denyar discovers she's adopted. She's shocked to find her birth parents head up a drag racing team in the outer suburbs. Angry at her adoptive mother Margaret for lying to her all these years, Beth decides to concentrate on getting to know her birth parents but becoming one big family could take longer than hoped.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/upper-middle-bogan/ (Sighted 06/12/2013)

A monologue involving a series of odd incidents at an Auckland boarding house thirty years ago, drawn from Martin's book Lolly Scramble.

'Following on from the dubious, but resounding, success of Lolly Scramble, comedian Tony Martin returns with another collection of tales from his life outside show business. Outrageous coincidences, disgraceful errors of judgement, ancient family disputes and misguided attempts to impress women are just part of the story.

'You'll be both amused and appalled as Martin establishes his own junior detective agency, discovers that his parents are censoring bare breasts from the National Geographic, has his braces repossessed by the government, ruins several plays in an attempt to find a girlfriend, gets caught two-timing his local video shop, mars an awards night with a burst of foul language, attends a racist dinner at an Indian restaurant, allows cameras to enter his every bodily orifice, and returns to his hometown to discover that his grandfather is not the man he thought he was.

'A Nest of Occasionals is a series of supersize set pieces from a life lived in miniature. But what does the title mean? There's only one way to find out.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Frances O'Brien, devout Catholic and panic disorder sufferer, runs a very tight ship as Head Librarian at the Middleton Interactive Learning Centre.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive website, www.australiantelevision.net (Sighted: 24/10/2007)

'BAD EGGS is a comedy thriller about two undercover detectives with way too much publicity.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 2/7/2013)