Science fiction and fantasy conventions used to be a homespun affair, run by the local clubs, featuring broadcasts of rare episodes and out-takes (before it all got released on DVD) and fan films. If there were guest artists, often they would appear only if they happened to be in the country at the time, and ... [More]
Month: June 2015
I finally took a ride on the Regional Rail Link last night. In summary: Trains from the city to Geelong depart regularly, but from numerous platforms — when I was there in peak, it was 5A, then 7A, 15A, 1, 3A… and when I’d been there at lunchtime, 2B had also been in the mix. ... [More]
It’s tax time, and if you’re anything like me, every charity you’ve ever thrown money at has been writing to you to see if you’ll give them some more. In the spirit of this, I’d like to put in a quick plug for donating to the Public Transport Not Traffic campaign — this is the ... [More]
I love using Google’s services, but I think everybody knows they (and Facebook and Twitter and many other big internet companies) make most of their money via advertising, and that’s based on what they know about YOU. Like they say, the service is not the product — you are. How much do they know about ... [More]
I’ve been watching The Killing Season, the story of Labor and the switches in power between Rudd and Gillard. It’s really good, and episode one goes into some detail about the Global Financial Crisis, and the Rudd/Swan stimulus packages (two of them, totalling almost $60 billion) to fight it off. The stimulus package was intended ... [More]
Another in my series of photos from ten years ago… This month almost everything (bar some family snaps) was transport-related. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The south end of Elizabeth Street. Hasn’t changed much apart from, as with the rest of the city, being busier with pedestrians, and that particular tram stop has ... [More]
Yesterday’s collision between a police vehicle and a tram stop barrier has raised the issues of whether those barriers are a good design. Source: ABC News Thankfully the two policemen will recover. The barriers are intended to stop pedestrians crossing the tracks at tram platform stops. It’s hardly surprising that people do this, given many ... [More]
At a conceptual level, I navigate this city by rail more than by road. For instance, if I’m trying to focus on rain around home, the proximity to railways is far more useful to me than the proximity to major roads. So to make the Bureau of Meteorology’s rain radar map more useful to me, ... [More]
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Farewell MX
Freebie afternoon commuter newspaper MX finishes its run today after 14 years of publishing in Melbourne (and shorter runs in Brisbane and Sydney). Melbourne Express was its awkward morning competitor for a short time in 2001 — it was never going to last because morning distribution is so difficult. That brand name lives on in ... [More]
I noticed there’s a 2015 version of PTV’s network revenue protection plan on their web site. It’s a lot less detailed than the one The Age FOI’d in 2010… perhaps because it was intended to be made public. Some points of interest, with my notes in italics: Pages 5-6 talk about the background — total ... [More]
Despite news last year that Franco Cozzo’s Footscray building is up for sale, it appears the store is sticking around for now. Recently I noticed work being done on a mural on the eastern side of the building… Now completed, it looks rather splendid. (See this larger) Note the roller door, which when closed, shows ... [More]
Do you want to do this thing, they asked? For a weekly feature in the local paper. “Sure!” I said… all I had to do was nominated places (mostly restaurants) in my neighbourhood that I like. Easy, and it might help push the cause. I got my photo taken in one of the local parks. ... [More]