Categories
Melbourne Photos transport

Impressive

It may be costing $700 million, and it may be causing untold confusion and inconvenience while it’s being built, and the new name might be silly… but damn, that rolly roof is impressive. Click here to see it bigger (and unencumbered by the blog navigation) (Yeah, there’s a slight glitch in the picture where a  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Hazelwood lives!

So, Hazelwood, the state’s dirtiest power station, and the nation’s heaviest polluter, is likely to keep churning along for another 26 years, happily burning filthy brown coal for electricity. Surely it must be time to not just research, but actively build alternative, sustainable electricity generators. The irony is some people are vehemently opposed to wind  ... [More]

Categories
Film

Incredible dynamite

The Incredibles. Not very deep, but it’s a kids’ movie I suppose. Enjoyable though. Amazing luck on Saturday, the crap Kensington video shop actually had a non-mainstream title that I wanted to see. (Wow, even their web site is crap, blasting you with a stupid corporate jingle, and no mute button.) Napolean Dynamite. I was  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne Photos

Icon recon

Way up on high, the clock on the silo says… not a lot at the moment.

Categories
Melbourne Photos

What the?

Seen adorning the front garden of a house in Droop Street, Footscray. Any ideas, anybody? (Thanks for use of the camera, Justine)

Categories
News and events

Headlines

From the scrolling news sign above Young & Jackson’s… Seven eh? Oh dear. Oh well that’s not as bad as 60. Wow. Do they know which seven? Only seven? Maybe they should stay home. Actually it’s five. I think I might have mentioned this before, but I always thought it looked funny when I had  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Speeding fines

I treat speeding fines as a purely optional tax. I know some people seem to see them us unavoidable (notably one guy I knew who worked in car insurance), but really, nobody has to speed. Nothing’s compelling you to press down harder on that accelerator. Those people zooming past me or tailgating might remember that  ... [More]

Categories
Food'n'drink Health

The headache

I had a headache the other day. Paracetomol didn’t help. Lying down for a rest didn’t help. A cup of tea… that made it go away. Ahhh… tea.

Categories
Consumerism Ranting

Annoying bankers

I didn’t buy a house on Saturday. Despite assistance, I was outmanoevred. It does strike me that the auction process is not dissimilar to professional poker. Anyway in preparation for the auction, I needed to be ready to pay a 10% deposit of (argh) tens of thousands of dollars by cheque. So last week I  ... [More]

Categories
Net

Old media vs new media

Old media: It’s available when it’s convenient for us. The 7pm news. Sport at 7:20. Weather at 7:25. Morning newspaper at 6:30am. New media: I want it now. Click. It’s there. Old media: Huge audiences, available with low, well established, reliable technology: paper, radio, TV. New media: Minority but growing. Mainstream outlets driven by the  ... [More]

Categories
music

A musical hypothesis

I could tell you about how I got halfway to work yesterday and decided I didn’t feel well and I was going home to spend a lazy day resting. But I won’t. Instead I will present you with a hypothesis: That listening to the iPod makes doing the dishes go faster. I also spent a  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism PTUA transport

More tram stops for the chop

On Tuesday night Melbourne City Council approved a plan (by the narrowest of margins) to build four new tram superstops along Collins Street. Fine, very good, wheelchair accessible, more pleasant to wait in and use than safety zones. But they also plan to close three stops: at Queen, King and Russell Streets. We’ve had a  ... [More]