It’s not just about people who stand on the right hand side of escalators. There seem to be lots of pedestrians who, in high-traffic areas, manage to block things up and slow people down. Some — and it’s not just oldsters and tourists — will walk slowly in the middle of a path that fits two. Some groups of people will walk slowly in parallel, contracting when others pass in the opposite direction, but filling the space instantly afterwards, so nobody else can pass.

I know, I know, I should allow more time to get where I’m going. But inevitably sometimes I’m in a hurry — as seen by Jen last night. While no footpaths have formal slow and fast lanes, I for one would appreciate if those walking slowly kept to one side to let the speedsters through.

Wow — a piece in the Good Weekend last week that wasn’t about Barry Humphries.

It was about houses being built modelled on Martha Stewart’s homes, apparently being bought by people who have no original ideas for themselves, but trust Martha to design something good.

“We’re delighted because we have no vision ourselves and Martha has thought of everything for us.” — Patty Coicione, quoted in Marthaville USA, by Helena de Bertodano, The Age Good Weekend, 25/1/2007.

Leaving aside the question of whether the interiors would be modelled on Martha’s prison cell, I find it amazing that so many people would go for this idea — buying a mass-produced home, leaving all the decorating decisions to the interior decoration Godess of Martha. They even have to follow guidelines set down by the company for what they can and can’t do with the exterior. It’s like a heritage overlay with no heritage.

But then, a lot of homes are mass-produced. Even my house, which dates from about 1930 (in these amazing 1945 aerial photos of Melbourne, only about half the street is settled). At first glance it appears to be unique, but in fact follows a set formula.

Looking closely around Melbourne suburbs that were settled at about that time, I’ve found dozens of houses that are the same, with the only difference being the choice of colour, weatherboard or brick, dining/livingrooms on the left or on the right, and the style of front verandah. Indeed, last week I found a house for sale in a nearby street with virtually the same floorplan as my house.

I wonder how Martha Stewart’s houses will look in 75 years.

PS. To clarify (and answer Michael’s question), the pictures shown here are of ≈75-year-old houses similar to my own. The bottom one is mine; the top one is the nearby one for sale with the identical floorplan, picture flipped horizontally to match. You can see Martha’s efforts here.

One of my favourite authors is Bill Bryson. I haven’t yet read The Thunderbolt Kid yet (I have a dislike of hardbacks, though I’m currently reading Michael Palin’s diaries in hardback — and loving it). Bryson is touring at the moment, and Jon Faine’s conversation with him last Friday on ABC 774 is available to be downloaded — MP3 download (Bill is on from about the 11 minute mark). Likewise an appearance on Radio National’s Book Show.

It’s interesting to hear Bill and the others in the programmes pondering the benefits from migration and multiculturalism, and the nostalgia we all feel for our childhood. Bill despairing about now finding Starbucks all over the world (we already had perfectly good coffee shops) and that the whole of the (western) world is starting to look identical reminds me a little of Paul Kelly’s Every F’in City.

• 2/3/2006: Here is my childhood home

Was away for the weekend in parts of the world you can only get to by road. 275km covered, which is a lot for me, who rarely drives more than 10 minutes in any direction. Thankfully there were four of us in the car, and the conversation made the driving go so much faster and easier.

Yesterday at Fed Square, the white stationwagons were a dead giveaway that the TV guys were around.

Sure enough, across the road on Princes Bridge, Ted was fronting the cameras.

I got my go a few minutes later. (It was one of those days, if you didn’t know.) In the pack I can see Alan (10), Steve (Age), Kate (ABC) and a few other familiar faces. Ted’s the tall one.

A Channel 10 cameraman told the kids on Tuesday (when they came to talk to me at home, as I’d taken the day off) that the cameras are worth $70,000. The tripods $18,000. And the microphones about $5,000.

It’s a far cry from the digital camera I use to shoot video, which originally cost about $600, but the comparable model is now about $250. The little tripod we have cost about $35.

The cameraman assured the kids you could get good shots from a cheapie camera. Maybe rather than picture/sound fidelity, he was alluding to the power of citizen media to be anywhere, anytime. Yeah. That must be it.

Update Friday night: Ooh, this I like: The World Today: Connex woes could prompt mass fare evasion (transcript/MP3 download) My bit was recorded while walking down Swanston Street…

Vale Harry Melbourne, inventor of the Freddo Frog. Maybe I’ll eat one today in his memory.

Quote of the day yesterday, first school day of the year: “I can’t believe I’m in Grade 6″ — Isaac. (Neither can I, as it happens.)