Haven’t blogged for a bit, so here’s a brief catch-up.

I helped Tony and Rae and family move last week. The inevitable comment that pops up when geeks move house: packing the moving van is like Tetris. Of course, when you get a full row of boxes, they don’t disappear and make more space…

The kids and I watched the early (9:15pm) NYE fireworks a short distance away from the action — Richmond Station platform 4, which unlike the city centre, was not crowded at all, apart from half-a-dozen Connex security guys also watching. They said their shift was from 5pm to 3am. The view was certainly better than from the park near home, where we watched last year, though of course not as good as being in the thick of it.

My Wii fitness level has been up and down, all over the place. The best: 28, the worst: 56. Marita, it turns out, is very good at Wii boxing, knocking-out virtual people with some enthusiasm.

I’ve been playing Scrabble via Facebook with a few friends, mostly local. I was challenged to a game by a friend in Canada, but stupidly, the North American Scrabble is only available in the US and Canada, while the one we have in Australia is only available outside North America… so much for the global village.

Rose would have been 30 on Friday, and the family gathered to pay their respects. It was doubly sobering to see that in the Nagambie cemetery, she now has a neighbour, apparently a local woman in her 40s who also died in a car accident.

On a happier note, the Doctor Who Christmas special will air in Australia on January 25th. You can watch the first couple of minutes here.

A Doctor Who spoiler follows…
Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve wanted a hammock for ages — ever since I moved in and found hammock hooks fitted to the back veranda. And finally this Christmas I got one, thanks to Marita.

Alas it didn’t quite fit the hooks, so I trotted off to Hammock HQ today at the Victoria Market to get the requisite extension bits to make it fit. Got it all home and set it up.

I concluded that the easiest way to get into it is to put one leg on either side then do a kind of Haka-like manoeuvre and plant your bum in the middle, before putting your legs in, fidgeting around and trying to relax.

There’s just nothing dignified about it.

(Click here if the Flash animation doesn’t display in your RSS reader.)

But once you’re in, it is very relaxing. The sun was a bit bright today and I had to get a hat, but once I did, I swung gently in the breeze while reading a book, and then put the book down and dozed off for a while.

The only catch was my legs felt a bit stiff when getting up again, but apart from that it’s very nice. I’ll be spending more time in the hammock, weather permitting.

(A previous animation)

Attributed to a government spokeswoman:

as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, 38 new trains would be put into the system in 2009, increasing the train fleet by 40 per cent.

– The Age: One in 10 trains either cancelled or delayed

WRONG.

We already have: 95 Comengs, 7 Hitachis, 36 Siemens, 29 X’Trapolis = 167 x 6 car sets. (Source: Vicsig)

We’re getting 38 new 6-car X’Trapolis trains. So it’s an increase of 22.75%

Let’s be charitable and assume they’re not actively lying. They’re probably counting the 32 extra “new generation” trains flagged in the Transport Plan that will follow. But they will be replacing the Hitachis and (some of) the Comengs, not expanding the fleet.

Plainly 38 new trains is not a 40% increase.

PS. 1:30pm. They’re also implying the 38 trains will all arrive in 2009. This is at odds with what most in the know say, which is that they will start arriving in late-2009.

Happy Boxing Day.

Well, we had a pretty good Christmas. The haul’s headliner was a Nintendo Wii — actually bought for the kids (to their surprise and delight), but which has already proven itself to be a helluva lot of fun for me too. A bunch of smaller presents too, and not a dud among them.

We spent most of the day at my sister’s place. The weather was perfect for sitting eating lunch outside, and in the afternoon some of us took a dip in the pool (which is to be removed eventually, so it’s good to enjoy it while it’s there). Actually it wasn’t quite warm enough for the pool but it was nice anyway… especially when served a cup of tea!

When I moved, I figured that for once I intended to stay put for a long time, so I might as well do the neighbourly thing and get to know my neighbours.

Not that I’d been unfriendly to previous neighbours. Well okay, maybe if they deserved it. But neither had I gone out of my way to get to know them.

So as I met the new neighbours, I wrote some notes, not in a creepy stalky kind of a way, but just so I could try and remember their names, so I could greet them by name when running into them on the street, and so I could send them Christmas cards once a year.

This year the people who live behind my house, Jeff and Sonia, got in first with a card, so I got busy last week and sent them to all of my neighbours — six houses in all.

Because I know the people by sight but not terribly well otherwise, I dug out the notes, hoping they were all correct. There were some gaps, but if you know one name, you can get away with “Dear X and family”.

After a couple of days, replies have all come back.

Bob and Val always wave from across the street, and their reply came in first.

Joan’s card had a stamp, which I thought was unusual. It turns out she’s in hospital for Christmas, after having a fall. Shame.

Glenn, Rosie, Grace and William sent a picture drawn by one of the kids, and noted in their card: PS. Hope Santa brings more trains, buses and bicycle tracks, which I liked.

I misspelt Ann’s name with an errant E, but seemed to have got Gary’s name right.

And the last card back? Well I had two of the kids’ names right. I knew they had another older boy, but they also appear to have a fourth child I’ve never seen. Or maybe they have twin boys and I’ve never seen them both together? Dunno.

And I thought the mum was Gail. Or possibly Gayle. In their card back it’s clear that she’s called Fiona. My notes (and presumably my memory when I wrote my notes) have led me astray. How embarrassing. But they don’t seem to mind.

I suppose it’s the thought that counts.

Hope everybody reading, and your friends, family and neighbours have a good Christmas. No matter what your name is.

Letter of note in yesterday’s Age:

IT IS interesting to note the objections and opposition to the Government’s climate plan, particularly from more affluent groups and individuals. They see it as up to industry, particularly the power industry, to lower consumption of energy and reduce emissions.

What effort are these people prepared to make to reduce their use of energy and to lower carbon emissions? In fact, what sacrifices are they prepared to make, other than changing light bulbs or installing a more efficient shower head?

It is highly improbable that many would consider markedly reducing their reliance on climate control devices (such as air-conditioning), or even buying a smaller or more efficient car. Have you noticed how many four-wheel-drives there are on the road? Would they be prepared to walk to shops, rather than drive? Of course not! Any and all fault lies solely with others. Certainly not with the mass over-consumption lifestyle and expectations that have become, to a large degree, the entitlements of suburban culture.

Unless and until people are prepared to alter this unsustainable culture, it would appear we are headed towards a dangerous climate, with continual depletion of resources.

Philip Brown, Ormond

Firstly, it’s not just about what I do as an individual. It’s about lots of individuals — as many as possible — the vast majority of the population — doing the right thing, and making sure that the government enables those people to do the right thing. And, significantly, it’s about making sure that profit-driven companies do the right thing too.

I walk and use PT a lot and drive less half the distance than the, um, average Australian. But I’m lucky enough to have easy access to PT for some of my trips. What about all the people who have nothing but an hourly bus service? What about those in suburbs where there are no shops within walking distance? Are these people expected to resign from the human race?

I buy green power and have solar hot water. So do lots of other people. But some people can’t afford it. I can’t figure out why the subsidies which will go to our filthy brown coal power stations don’t just go to buy everybody green power and solar panels.

Secondly, until the government forces the power generators to switch, they’ll keep churning out the emissions, as long as it’s profitable to do so. As The Australia Institute pointed out:

The problem for households keen to ‘do their bit’ to reduce climate change is that if they have shorter showers or put solar panels on their roofs, all they will do is reduce their personal demand for electricity. If less coal is burned to provide households with electricity, the coal-fired power stations won’t need as many permits and they can then sell their ’spare’ permits to the aluminium or steel industries so that these polluters can INCREASE their emissions.

And that really gets at the problem with Mr Brown’s argument.

Sure, he makes a good point about over-consumption (something to remember, especially around this time of year). But you can’t expect everyone (people and companies) to change their behaviour if the right carrots and sticks aren’t applied.

That’s why Rudd’s 5% reduction target is so disappointing. It appears the compensation scheme will be so generous that it won’t actually encourage a move to low-carbon alternatives.

I’m not the first one to draw the analogy between GHG emissions and smoking, but I reckon if a 20-a-day smoker said they would cut down to 19, it would be rightly viewed as having little effect. In that context, cutting back by 5% would make no difference to that person’s health, nor in influencing others to quit.

I suppose I was hoping for more from Kevin ‘07. Shame.

Tramcar of the Beast…

The next station is Connex… I don’t think I’ve ever been there.

Unlike the last one, I can’t claim a role in this: a hilarious video parodying the Victorian Transport Plan TV commercials.

Meanwhile, over at the Sunday Herald Sun, they’re running an online survey on peoples views of PT. Click through and have your say.

Finally, answer me this: if Sir Rod Eddington was very specific in having his road tunnel concept bypassing the city (centre), and the first section of it that the government proposes to build is said to be targetted at trucks accessing the port, then why does the illustration in the full colour advert slipped-into yesterday’s paper clearly show a road tunnel that is being used only by cars, and that includes entrance going to the “City”?