Categories
Consumerism

Random retail observations

Christmas shopping… uhh, about 50% done. A way to go. Hmm, as a last resort, I suppose I could join in the 24 hour shopping brawl at Chadstone next Thursday night. I could walk from here… quicker than driving and looking for a park, I suspect. The Information Victoria shop on Collins Street has a  ... [More]

Categories
Health

Out-sourced

Was catching up with an old friend recently, it had been a few years since I’d seen him. He’s been slowly losing his hair since his mid-20s, whereas mine is simply going grey — genetics can be a cruel thing. When we met up, something looked different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on  ... [More]

Categories
Ranting

Proper nouns

A name is a proper noun. Under the rules of the English language, proper nouns are to be written with capital letters. Obviously this kind of rule can be ignored for stylistic reasons, such as for corporate logos. But in normal writing, such as you might find in a newspaper article, that’s a rule which  ... [More]

Categories
Home life

The bathtub of mystery

Here’s a poser for you: mysterious specks of something are appearing in the bathroom. They fall from somewhere above the bath, into the bath, around the side of the bath, and onto the window ledge up above the bath. I don’t know what they are. I don’t know where they come from. There is no  ... [More]

Categories
Here is my Photos

Here is my Christmas tree

Here is our Christmas tree, made of the finest, sturdiest green plastic. It’s not a huge Christmas tree (relatively miniscule, in fact), but it does the job. It’s more-or-less adequate for the number of gifts that will find their way under it in the next couple of weeks. Post your Christmas tree… link in the  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

How to get interviewed

Obviously this relates primarily to Australian media, and from my point of view as spokesman for a community lobby organisation in my copious spare time. This isn’t a Media Watch-style exposé, but hopefully it’s of interest to somebody out there. In general The quote Newspapers TV Radio In conclusion

Categories
Film Home life

HP and cards

Jeremy is so taken by the Knight Bus scene in Harry Potter 3 that he’s recreated it on the computer. He’s found a little applet thingy on the HP web site that plays various Lenny Henry Shrunken Head quotes periodically, and has that running while he plays Midtown Madness 2, in London, driving around a  ... [More]

Categories
Photos transport

Mural

Mural, Canterbury Street, Yarraville. (Hands up who remembers the red rattler trains?)

Categories
Melbourne

Amusing

Amusing things from the last few days… The other week, listening to the radio, hearing the host condemning Critical Mass for daring to protest, then almost in the same breath talking about the anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, and the wonderful spirit of rebellion it invoked. Bloke in suit at Caulfield Station who jumped off  ... [More]

Categories
TV

Coupling

Coupling, one of the better Gen-X sitcoms (funnier than Friends, more “adult” than Seinfeld) is back on TV on Monday nights. I like this show, though not, as one bright spark suggested, because it’s about trains. ‘Cos it isn’t. I like it so much I whinged to the Green Guide about it when almost two  ... [More]

Categories
Film TV

Spider-Man 2

Bought that USB drive on Friday. Ate Mexican on Friday night with good friends. Saw Brett from Kath & Kim (Peter Rowsthorn) in the street on Saturday. Almost bought a house on Sunday. Also saw Spider-Man 2 on DVD. Probably lost a lot in its transition to the small screen. Merciless in its references to  ... [More]

Categories
Here is my Photos

Here is my fruitbowl

In a little-used corner of the kitchen table lies the fruitbowl. Okay, so it’s dominated by bananas most of the time. Post a picture of your fruitbowl… Link in the Trackbacks or comments. As usual, move your mouse over the picture for descriptions of various bits (note Firefox may abbreviate. Apparently you can fix it  ... [More]