Dandruff
For many years I’ve used Herbal Essences shampoo. While I hated the ads, I liked the shampoo.
But recently I’ve noticed tell-tale white residue on my clothes.
Oh no. Dandruff. Not nice.
So I’ve switched to anti-dandruff shampoo for a while. It doesn’t smell as nice, but it appears to be working.
Tags: advertising, dandruff, hair, shampoo
5 comments
Bike helmets
Radio National’s Background Briefing had a feature story on the bike helmet debate yesterday morning. You can download it and listen to it here.
It talks about Melbourne’s bike share scheme; the experience in Europe (where cyclist numbers are higher, but injuries are lower) vs Australia (which it sounds like is the only country with compulsory bike helmet laws, since 1990, and is now cited in Europe has how not to do things); what really makes cyclists safe (investment in separate bike paths and lanes); the changing attitudes to road investment in European cities (concentrating on cars in the 50s, but switching back to cyclists and pedestrians in the 70s and ever since); and the ego and antagonism from both cyclists and motorists.
My conclusion:
On an individual level, your risk of injury is undoubtedly lessened by wearing a helmet. (One of the medical experts said you’re four times less likely to incur head injuries.)
But on a communal level, it’s quite possible that society might well be better off by not having compulsory helmet laws — because they discourage people, and in cycling, safety comes in numbers — and instead concentrating on more bike lanes and bike paths, as they have in the most successful cycling cities in Europe.
(Certainly for me the concern about sharing space with cars and trucks is my biggest worry about cycling.)
In turn, cities with less people cycling means less overall health benefit from active transport, so a less healthy society overall.
One contributor to the programme suggested that a study needs to be conducted, which could involve one state repealing (at least temporarily) its helmet laws, to see what happens.
Tags: bicycles, cycling, helmets, transport
18 comments
Dude, you have no Koran
If you didn’t see this on The Daily Show, it’s a classic.
“I snuck up behind him and took his Koran. He said something about burning the Koran, and I said ‘Dude, you have no Koran’, and ran off”
“You couldn’t have a full-blooded aborigine or Chinese teaching”
Yesterday it was a month since my Dad passed away.
And yesterday, the Brisbane Courier Mail published an obituary by his friend, Peter Edwards, Emeritus Professor of English at University of Queensland.
You can read the full text here.
It talks about a 1949 article, of which I have obtained a copy via my Uncle Frank.
They misspelt his name, but it’s the story itself which is amazing. What can one say about this… well, it’s all summed-up by the comments from a union official at the very end.
I suspect and hope that times have changed.
Tags: Dad
4 comments
The middle of nowhere
This is where one of Melbourne’s busiest buses terminates. The 630, in the middle of Elsternwick Park, between the skate park* and the golf course, and blocking the westbound bike lane.
(Source: Nearmap)
The closest shops are a few hundred metres away. It’s 800 metres (as the crow flies) to the nearest railway station, and the bustling centre of St Kilda is about 2km away. Those would all be useful places for a bus to terminate, bus no, this one runs via quiet suburban streets and finishes in the middle of a park.
It’s about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get in the inner suburbs.
Why does it finish there? It has done for years, more-or-less. Once upon a time it went to the beach nearby, but got switched to the park a few years ago.
Consequently the Elwood end of the bus route is very quiet (not a good use of taxpayer-funded resources) — while the other end is so busy it’s become infamous among Monash Uni Clayton students for its overcrowding.
If only they had a process to fix things like this.
They do. The Metropolitan Bus Service Reviews were initiated to identify problems like this, to get community input, study the possible fixes, and recommend solutions.
The Bus Service Review recommended that this bus route be extended 2km to St Kilda, so it would provide a useful link from St Kilda to Monash Clayton, as well as better provide for local trips in Elwood, be more useful for passengers, pick up more patronage, and be more cost-effective. Other nearby routes would also be optimised (including the way confusing 600/922/923 route).
The problem? Only a fraction of the changes recommended have actually happened. This is one of many recommendations right across Melbourne which have been ignored by the government.
So for now, the 630 continues to terminate in the middle of nowhere.
You can read more about this in today’s Age
*The same skate park where a few years ago, some idiots destroyed a VCR.
Tags: buses, government, public transport, The Age
8 comments
Tramspotting
Earlier this year I wrote a post showing what each type of Melbourne train looks like.
Here’s the tram version, in order of appearance. This is a longer post, as there’s more types.
This is the W-class tram. They’re something of a Melbourne icon, having been around (in various forms) since the 1930s 1920s, though those on the road now are mostly from the 50s. Purists don’t like that the pole has been swapped for a pantograph, but while it’s not historically accurate, I personally don’t mind how it looks. After many years of successful operation, unfortunately they are now all speed-limited to 30km/h, ostensibly a safety-measure, but ultimately to enable cost-cutting on brake maintenance.
There were 748 W-class trams built, but only 38 are in service — 12 in the City Circle fleet in burgundy paint jobs (which, again, annoys the purists). The government says all except the City Circle trams are to be phased-out. As you can see, the City Circle is amazingly popular.
Z-class trams date back to the late-1970s to early-1980s. This is a Z1. At least I think it’s a Z1. It could be a Z2 — they are almost identical. You can tell Z-class trams apart because of their pointy nose. Inside they have a big empty space where conductors used to be seated at a booth.
This is a Z3. The notable difference from a Z1 is the presence of a small door at the rear of the tram, but they also have better acceleration, braking, and to me the ride feels smoother.
These A-class trams are from the mid-80s. They feel cramped inside to me, though they’re about the same size as a Z. Perhaps the seating layout just isn’t very efficient.
The B-class trams are from the late-80s to early-90s. There are two Bananas-in-Pyjamas-like variants, the B1 and the B2. There were only two B1s made, and they’re notable for their venetian blinds, and making the odd funny pneumatic noise. They were the first articulated trams in Melbourne, and also the first to have air-conditioning.
This is a C-class tram, aka a Citadis, introduced in the early-2000s as part of the privatisation deal. They’re made by Alstom, and run in numerous cities around the world. They were the first Melbourne tram to have a low-floor, thus when combined with a platform tram stop, it’s wheelchair accessible. I suspect someone decided as a cost-cutting measure not to opt for a rear door, which is a shame; it’d make the back of the tram easier to access.
D-class (Siemens Combino) trams were also from the early-2000s as part of privatisation, and also run in a number of cities around the world. D1 is the 3-section version. They’re known for not having very many seats, in part because the wheel arches intrude into the cabin.
D2 is the 5-section version, a similar length to a B-class tram. Unlike Siemens trains, Siemens trams don’t suffer from brake problems, but they have suffered from structural issues requiring strengthening, which included the removal of seats, further reducing their numbers.
There’s one more: the C2, aka Bumblebee trams. They are 5-section Citadis trams, originally built for Mulhouse in France, but leased until December 2011, after which they will have to go back home… which is a little while before the next batch of Melbourne trams will arrive, so there could be a shortfall for a while.
We don’t know what the next model of tram will be, but they are likely to be a similar length to the Bumblebees.
Funny angle
Everything in the entire world except this bus stop sign is at a funny angle.
Tags: buses, Photos
5 comments
Canola
I’ve seen pictures before, but canola crops are startlingly yellow when you see them up close. These photos are from near Nagambie yesterday, where there seems to be a lot of it at the moment.
Apparently the name once used here, and still used in the UK, is “rape”, or “rapeseed”. I think I can see why the marketing bods here these days prefer “canola” — which is derived from “Canadian oil, low acid”.
I don’t know if this lot is going into food, biofuels (whose demand for crops is said to be driving up world food prices) or something else.
Update Wednesday: ABC report: ABARE forecasts record canola harvest
Tags: canola, farming
14 comments
