Shaggy Dog Comments...

Tomorrow, December 3, marks the 150th anniversary of the Eureka stockade, which many Australians regard as the birthplace of democracy, when around 150 miners rebelled against the oppressive laws and taxes of the Victorian colonial government. It was also regarded as a great expression of our multicultural national identity, with miners from all races uniting to fight for their rights, standing under the Eureka flag and pledging an oath of allegiance that was non-discriminatory and regarded everyone, including women and children, as equals. Alas it was a short-lived uprising, lasting about 20 minutes, before hundreds of troopers overwhelmed the protestors, shooting dead around 30 miners. But two years later, Victoria became the first place in the world to hold a secret ballot. To mark the occasion, the sons and daughters of the Eureka stockade will gather at Mary Gilhooley's Irish Pub in Lismore on Friday for a bit of a shindig from 10am to 4pm. You're welcome to go along and see the photos and memorabilia. Musicians and poets will entertain, and there's a competition for the best nationalist song or poem. Organiser Bob Cummins is a direct descendent of the rebels and is looking at holding a monthly forum on the future of democracy in Australia.

The NSW Police is seeking new recruits, but they'll need to meet strict selection criteria - like a keen sense of smell, thick body hair, an attractive tail and four legs. The dog unit is looking for male german shepherds and labrador retrievers aged between one and two years. Training co-ordinator, Sergeant Steve Pearse, said if your dog is full of energy and has so much enthusiasm that he is pulling washing off the line and destroying the garden hose, then "he could have what it takes to join the NSW Police". They promise to give him a good home. If you've got the canine for the task, call Sgt Pearse on 9541 9744.

Speaking of dogs, people who want to lose weight might want to swap their fad diet for a pooch, provided they're both prepared to exercise. It seems more than 60 per cent of Australians and Americans are overweight, along with 25 per cent of pets, so a Chicago vet and doctor teamed up for a year-long study of fat people and dogs for a diet and exercise program that found they both lost weight and kept it off. The people went to weekly counselling sessions on diet and exercise, and were encouraged to walk at least 20 minutes and limit calories to 1400 a day. The dog owners did slightly better than the dieters who walked and dieted alone. The dog-walkers said it was more fun and less of a burden. The people lost around five per cent of their body weight, while the dogs lost 15 per cent.

A record rice

Dozens of volunteers help cook 7.5 tonnes of risotto in a world record in Sydney last Friday.

Shaggy's master, editor Simon Thomsen, has finally achieved immortality as a world record holder, cooking 7.51 tonnes of risotto in a new Guinness World Record set in Sydney's Circular Quay last Friday.

While it was a bit of fun to celebrate the United Nations International Year of Rice, there was also a serious side, raising funds for the international aid organisation CARE Australia. It's a sobering thought that 25,000 people, including 16,000 children, die every day from malnutrition, hunger and thirst. A staggering 840 million people - that's 18 Australias - are malnourished.

The specially-built pan was 10 metres long and 3.6m wide, with 800 gas jets underneath. The saffron and pea risotto recipe came from an Irishman, chef Darren Simpson from Prime's Sunrise program, and included 80 litres of olive oil, 320kg of butter, 240kg of onion, 160kg of celery, 20kg of garlic, 5000lt of vegetable stock, 1800kg of Australian arborio rice, 800kg of peas and 320kg of parmesan. We also threw in 700,000 threads of saffron - the world's most expensive spice.

The previous world record risotto was just 440kg, set in Italy earlier this year. And our risotto also became the world's biggest rice dish, beating a 6.3 tonne paella cooked by the Spaniards.

The risotto took almost three hours to cook and was fed to a lunchtime crowd of around 5000, who made a gold coin donation to CARE. The leftovers went to Sydney's homeless. The look on the face of the crowd when they saw the pan was priceless. If you want to donate to CARE Australia, who are currently doing great work in the Darfur region of Sudan, where almost a quarter of the children aged under five are malnourished, phone 1800 020 046 or log on to www.careaustralia.org.au.