An announcement came over the PA that the train would not be stopping at Wolli Creek and one had to catch an airport train at Central.  Panic set in so I got off the train at Hurstville with the intention of catching a taxi.

Taxis at Hurstville were rare and those that arrived were booked anyway. I asked a few people if they were going to the airport with the intention of sharing.  Finally  I asked a lady, who had a taxi due to arrive in ten minutes, if she minded taking me to the airport before she went on to the city.

I said I would pay the fare to the airport. She agreed.  The taxi arrived after about half an hour so I was battling to make the 10am flight.  Once in the taxi I explained that I was going to my brother's funeral in Adelaide at 2pm. The traffic was heavy but once he saw the opportunity the driver lead footed it so that we eventually got to the airport ten minutes before the flight was due.

The lady was from Mount St Thomas and she said "go quickly don't worry about the fare". I thanked her but had no time to take down any details. Not even her name.

If she reads this and gets in touch with the paper I would like to give her a book, that I had published a few years ago, that I only give to special friends.   I would also like to say a special thank you to that very special lady from Mount St Thomas. 

Sev Amadio, South Caringbah

At the peak of its popularity, the Video rental industry was represented by over well over 8000 outlets throughout Australia. The real boom began when Beta and VHS tapes were replaced by the DVD.

Film archives around the world were plundered by manufacturers for as many previously overlooked titles which could be issued to try and satisfy the voracious appetite of the home film viewer.  The good, the not-so-good and the downright ugly titles found their way onto video shop shelves to be snapped up by the overnight renter.

We have all rented absolute crap at one time or another. Quite often the DVD brought with it the added bonus of “the making of” and “deleted” or “behind the scenes”. Popular these days are the extended “director’s cut”. But DVD's are coming to an end, every week we read that a local,and once popular outlet has closed its doors forever. Fixtures become phantoms.

There is no doubt that the download movie industry is in itself, now putting the kibosh on titles in its own film archives.  The commercial policy is to delete films that are seldom, if ever, viewed, and are only taking up bandwidth on an overloaded network.

For collectors of DVD's, as long as you own the original legal version of a  DVD in its original studio release packaging, you can transfer your film to your computer’s hard drive for your personal use only, in compliance with the original studio conditions.

Remember that there were never any conditions of sale which mentioned anything about how long you could keep the DVD or its contents. Get copying.

Dave Cox, Corrimal

North Korea’s threat to the world and their own people has gone on long enough. The UN along with all civilized countries cannot continue giving benefit of doubt to tragedies the like of Syria where it was just as plain to see the country was run by a dictator and thousands would lose their lives.

When trapped citizens of any country are about to have their lives taken from them by a maniac and the very real possibility of other countries being nuclear targets, the time for waiting is over. The civilized running of any country can’t be structured on religion, money, culture, trade or greed.

Destroying countries is about destroying lives and we must move to save them now, not tomorrow.

Brian Johnson, Gymea