Tony’s posted some terrific pictures of buildings with old signs recently. Here’s one I really like, in Collins Street, near where I work. Look above the rather tackily-named House Of Cashmere, and you’ll see Newspaper House, and a terrific mosaic. The saying is from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was popular in the days when ... [More]
Before there was this blog on danielbowen.com, it was on toxiccustard.com. And before it was a blog at all, it was an email list. And actually the email list still exists, sending out the weekly extract of this blog, as well as the Guide to Australia (when I get around to updating it) and News ... [More]
Watched some of that Planet Earth doco last night. Really wanted to see the water-wading monkeys featured in the promo. So much so that at one point I shouted at the TV in my best Jerry Macguire voice* “Show me the monkey!” But I had to do some other stuff away from the TV, so ... [More]
A grizzled old man in the supermarket queue tonight was bitching about petrol prices. “It’s criminal!” he was saying. I didn’t feel like trying to explain the concept of Peak Oil to him. Nor did I think telling him it was only going to get worse would placate him. A more informed response to the ... [More]
“Stupid people surround themselves with smart people. Smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them.” — Aaron Sorkin (creator of the West Wing) I don’t know if the people who leave comments here necessarily disagree with me, but they do seem to be pretty smart. Over the past week I’ve learnt of ... [More]
The Rugby State of Origin game was last night. You can tell the tourists are in town, from the number of cars with interstate numberplates rolling unwittingly down Swanston Street Walk, and the confused questions on the tram about using the ticket machines, and getting to St Kilda Beach. Oh yeah, I just got a ... [More]
Stephen J Dubner writes on the Freakonomics blog: He [Warren Buffett] was explaining why he wanted to give so much money [US$31 billion] to a foundation that mainly tries to alleviate poverty. Ă¢ââÂŹĂ âA market system has not worked in terms of poor people,Ă¢ââÂŹĂ Buffett said. Coming from Buffett, this statement isnĂ¢ââââ¢t much of a shock. ... [More]
A new era has dawned in the City of Glen Eira. New recycle bins, with bright yellow lids, have been distributed (originally with crime-scene-style “Do not use until July” tape on them), and yesterday the new recycle truck did its first fortnightly run down our street. There are three bits of good news associated with ... [More]
Today is Independence From MainStream Media day. I appreciate the sentiments, but I’m not joining in. I do read my fair share of blogs and other non-MSM, but fundamentally I want to know what’s going on in politics and world events, and that’s something I can’t get reliably from anywhere but the MSM. (Besides, I ... [More]
An article in Saturday’s Age mentioned a UN International Energy Agency study that said if every old light globe was replaced by an energy-efficient one, it would save 16,000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the next 25 years — the equivalent to taking every car in the world off the road for six ... [More]
It’s just about dinner time. I’ve been attempting (for the first time) to cook a beef stew, a meal designed and built around the half-a-bottle of red wine I had left over from Friday. It’s been slowly cooking for about six hours or so, and I’m getting very hungry. Here’s what my (ancient) stove looks ... [More]
VicRoads web site: Footscray road (Docklands Hwy) west bound lanes at Appleton Dock road/West Melbourne VicRoads advises there is currently a Police Road Closure on the Footscray road (Docklands Hwy) west bound lanes at Appleton Dock road, West Melbourne. Traffic is being diverted at Appleton Dock road to Coode road back onto Footscray road. The ... [More]