Categories
Clothes Consumerism

The number became a brand

Back when I worked at Hattams (mid 80s to early 90s), we stocked Levi’s jeans, primarily the 555 “red tabs”, but also the 517 “boot cut”. The numbers were Levi’s product codes. The first digit 5 signified they were for adult men’s — my recollection is that the “student” (kids/young men up to a size  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Yes, your bum does look big in that

Yes actually, your bum does look big in that.

Categories
Going green

Rubbish goes user-pays

I didn’t spot this myself, but apparently Glen Eira is revising its bin charges: 120 litre bin charges are dropping from $138.40 to $120, and 240 litre bins are going up from $151.20 to $240. I switched to a small bin a couple of years ago when I realised my big bin rarely had more  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Myki: Good news and bad news

The good news is it appears they’ve sped up the response time on the Myki scanners. Looks to be about half-a-second, heaps better than the speed in Bendigo last month. If all the scans are that quick, it should allay fears of long delays due to scanning. (Though getting off trams will still be a  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne

Lest We Forget

Remembrance Day. 11am, 11/11/2009. The big picture

Categories
Culture Net

Toxic Custard?

When you throw two random words together, the likelihood of someone coming up with the same combination is, I think, fairly low. A great way to think up a dot com name, I reckon. Which is why I did a double-take when I saw this: (Originally here, but now only visible in the Google cache.)  ... [More]

Categories
PTUA

Secret identity

It seems my secret identity has been revealed…

Categories
Film

Bullet time

You may think you’ve seen some cool stuff today, but I’ll wager you haven’t seen yourself in Matrix-style “bullet time“. It’s part of the new “Screen Worlds” exhibit at ACMI at Federation Square. Pretty damn cool huh?

Categories
transport

Getting ready for Myki

The Myki Mates (or Myki Mutes, as on seasoned observer called them, given their reluctance to talk to anybody just yet; perhaps they’ve been ordered to not speak unless spoken to) are out and about at CBD stations. All the machines have been turned on, which means those of us who were mischieviously holding up  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Everybody scramble!

Oxford Circus in London has just opened its new scramble crossing. The Brits seem suitably amazed by the whole concept. [Mayor of London, Boris] Johnson said the crossing, controlled by traffic lights, was “a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old fashioned common sense”. — BBC News Online While it beats me how  ... [More]

Categories
PTUA transport

The Metcard mess, and what Metlink does

I was going to write a blog post about yesterday’s Metcard kerfuffle, in particular pointing out that despite my initial speculation, the Transport Act only requires passengers to make a reasonable attempt to buy and validate your ticket. It doesn’t require you to buy another ticket if yours doesn’t work, carry spare change, plead with  ... [More]

Categories
Health

Bowen Belly

I haven’t been well for the last couple of days. It kicked-off on Monday night, when a slight stomach pain, which I tried to quell with my usual remedy, a glass of lemonade. Because burping helps. Really. It didn’t help — instead it set off a flurry of up-chucking, joined later in the night from  ... [More]