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Okay okay, it hasn’t really been that bad. But I had to laugh when seeing about five of these signs in a row going up St Kilda Road the other week. One really did say “Avoid inner suburbs.”

See also: Blame the Games.

Amidst the awfulness of the impact of Topical Tropical Cyclone Larry, one of the side effects will be the impact on bananas. Apparently about 80% of the crop has been wiped out, perhaps causing prices to double, and a dire shortage expected for the next 9-12 months.

In my family we chomp our way through an enormous number of bananas every week. On a typical weekday, the three of us take one each to work/school, and they often get distributed liberally in the breakfast cereal, on icecream for dessert, and in the evening serve of fruit (generally accompanied by apple and sultanas).

Any that go mushy before being eaten end up being made into banana shakes. By my calculations the typical banana consumption could well be 20 or more per week. It might be time to diversify.

Given the seriousness of the storm, we should be grateful, of course, that the only impact is a rise in the price of fruit.

Goodnight and Good Luck — A dramatised version of the campaign against Joe McCarthy by 50’s CBS programme See It Now, but with so many modern parallels in today’s climate of terrorism, fundamentalism, secrecy and censorship. Beautifully shot, and compelling. My eyes didn’t waver from the screen for the full 90 minutes.

On a couple of related notes:

George Clooney says he didn’t actually write the blog entry in the Huffington Post “I am a Liberal. There, I said it!”, but that he does stand by the statements in it, which were compiled from two separate interviews. He takes a potshot at the (US) Democrats: Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, “We were misled.” It makes me want to shout, “Fuck you, you weren’t misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic.”

Ever wondered what the media won’t talk about? Sure, some of it’s media barons directing from on-high, but there’s also D-Notices. The D-Notice system lists the topics they shouldn’t report on. Theoretically it’s a voluntary system.

Australia’s Kerryn McCann says she was prepared to be beaten in the women’s marathon, until she heard the roar of the MCG crowd. — The Age

Such a thrilling thing I haven’t seen in a long time. She didn’t know it, but 76,500 of us in the MCG were watching her progress against Hellen Cherono Koskei of Kenya from about Princes Bridge onwards. They kept exchanging the lead, and as they came through the tunnel back into the ground, the crowd stood and erupted into a roar. Kerryn crossed the line just two seconds ahead, to deafening cheers around the stadium. What a fantastic moment.

All of the runners, both men and women, got big cheers as they came in, applause at their strength and ability, having run the 42.195Km course all around Melbourne.

Errol Duncan of St Helena got a special cheer — during the two initial laps of the stadium, he managed to get half a lap behind the others, and almost kept doing laps before directed out onto the course. He finished last, almost an hour behind the winners, but by golly he finished, to plenty of applause.

Other notable moments on the day:

During one of the EAD (Elite Athletes with a Disability) 100 metre heats, a visually impaired runner kept going after the finish line, doing almost a complete lap before being stopped.

The crowd’s awe of watching South African Sunette Vil Joen’s winning javelin throw of 60.72 metres.

Amusement at the remote control car used to ferry the javelins back to the athletes. Imagine, there’s a guy out there somewhere whose job at the Games is to work the remote control car.

Medal ceremonies for the women’s and men’s marathons, and the women’s javelin. We stood and sang for Advance Australia Fair. We stood for the others (Isaac remarking of the Tanzanian national anthem: “I don’t know this one.”)

Watching the fastest man on the planet, 100 metres world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica zoom off down the track, before slowing down to what seemed like a jog whe he realised he didn’t need to stress to win his heat.

Right at the end some woman ran onto the ground and was tackled by two police officers.

But mostly: Though perhaps not as much as for the Aussies, there was plenty of enthusiastic applause for all comers, for all who did well, no matter what country they were from.

(And before you ask, transport to and from the venue was relatively smooth. Plenty of extra trains on my line, crowded but not uncomfortable. Not so on the Burnley lines after the event, with trains few and far between, causing platforms 9+10 to fill and the station entrance to be periodically closed, in turn causing delays for the crowd on Brunton Avenue. Blame the Games.)

Tagged by Rae: Seven songs I am listening to right now and a lyric or two that sounds good

New Mistake, by Jellyfish — I have no idea what this song is about, but I like it. Got hooked on this band after seeing the music video for it (which is just as confusing) on Rage, years ago. As a marketing tool, sometimes music videos work.

So Father Mason, clutching his crucifix
Baptised the baby in whisky and liquorice
What a lovely way
Drowning sins and tooth decay

The Circle, Ocean Colour Scene — about a circle of friends. I got hooked on this band after one of their songs was used on a TV show. That works as a marketing tool too.

Saturday afternoon
The sunshine falls like wine
Through your window

Good Day Ray, Powderfinger — after all these years, the whole Internationalist album is still a favourite. Now the kids have got hooked on this particular song, as have I. It’s been played something like 25 times on the iPod that Jeremy’s had only four weeks.

You, you’ve fallen down the stairs again
You might have to take it easy

Love Letter, Professor Ratbaggy — the most accessible of PR songs (it’s Paul Kelly in disguise) and probably the only one to get a guernsey at a PK gig. I snuck it onto a CD of music for my sister’s wedding, years ago. (I also tried to get on The Proclaimers’ Let’s Get Married, but with all the classical music they’d ask for, it wouldn’t fit.)

You’re every rich man’s prayer
You’re every poor boy’s dream
I wanna make a deep connection
Between you and me

Second Class Citizen, Area 7 — your standard call of justice for youth. Maybe I’m a bit old for it, but it’s something I try to recall when seeing the yoof out and about. And when I see yet another profile of Barry Humphries in the paper.

Well I don’t know what they think we do with our time
Try to tell them that being young’s not a crime
We try to tell them but they just don’t care,
This f—ed-up system’s so unfair

Song 2, Blur — it’s pure enjoyable unadulterated noise.

Woo hoo!

Boy with the Arab strap, Belle and Sebastian — theme from Teachers, but highly enjoyable in its own right.

Everyone suffers in silence a burden
The man who drives minicabs down in Old Compton
The Asian man
With his love hate affair
With his racist clientele

I’m not going to specifically tag anybody, but if you want to have a go, leave a comment or trackback.

So the other week I opened up the Good Weekend A2 (Saturday newspaper colour magazine). I ask you, does the world really need another profile of Barry Humphries?

I’m not asking for him to go and die or anything, and I find Dame Edna as amusing as the next person, but this continuing fascination for the baby-boomers is somewhat frustrating when so many other younger talented people aren’t getting a look-in.

Ahhh… the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony… the flying tram… landing on a giant Melway. You know what, if I had designed the opening moments, that’s probably how I would have done it. Didn’t understand the juxtaposition of ballet dancers and trail bikes though.

…

I noticed in a city drycleaners the other day a sign indicating there could be problems getting clothes back on time… due to traffic restrictions and other delays imposed by the Games. And I’ve seen similar signs elsewhere.

It’s brilliant. You can blame any problem on the Games.

“Sorry I’m late… The Games…”

“I think I’ll work from home tomorrow… you know… The Games…”

“Sorry boss, didn’t get that report done. The Games…”

“I know I didn’t get you a birthday present… it’s The Games…”

“Yes I’m sorry I forgot our anniversary, and the car has a flat battery, the kids didn’t get fed, and the cat died, your mum’s got gastro and the house is a tip… you know, it’s The Games.”

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — OMG, it’s Johnny Depp playing Michael Jackson playing Willy Wonka. Deep Roy (who 30 years ago played Mr Sin in Doctor Who — The Talons of Weng-Chiang) must have worked hard on this, playing all the Oompa Loompahs. All in all, enjoyable, and thankfully the spectre of the old version of the movie didn’t hang too much of a shadow over it.

Tropfest 2006 finalists (DVD free with The Age a few weeks ago) — a lot of great short films. One or two I didn’t quite understand fully, but most very good. My faves included Last Stop, Carmichael and Shane (a father talks about the benefits of favouritism of one twin over the other — this one won), terrific animation in Carnivore Reflux. Geek prize goes to Glitch.