I found the video below on the Walkscore.com blog. Amusing, and quite thought-provoking (if a little preachy). On this topic, I’m not quite sure why, but I had noticed there’s an enormous variety of places of worship in my suburb. Seems whatever your faith, there’s probably a local place for you. Seriously, within about fifteen ... [More]
Category: Melbourne
Melbourne stuff
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The half-house
Around the inner and middle suburbs, there are plenty of semi-detached houses, many in pairs, I’m guessing built around the 1920s and 30s. They look like a single big house if you don’t look too closely, but have two front doors and so on, and a thick dividing wall down the middle. I actually tried ... [More]
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Contextual advertising
Online it’s all about contextual advertising — figuring out what the viewer is interested in, then showing them ads they’ll hopefully like. It frequently doesn’t work of course; Facebook knows everything about virtually everybody, but still manages to show me adverts for things I have no interest in. In the offline world, contextual advertising is ... [More]
This is how it was told to me. Can’t say I’ve seen anything like this myself. The tram was departing Footscray from the terminus, close to the market. A passenger got on board, with two live chickens from the market. “Mate”, said the tram driver, “you can’t bring live animals on the tram!” “Oh. Okay”, ... [More]
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Overheard/spotted/annoying
Overheard: Young buck on train, reading travel catalogue to his mates, spotted a “bargain”, but maybe doesn’t pay attention to the news much. “I really want to go to Fiji.” Spotted: Distinguished gentleman sitting at al fresco cafe table. Remarkably large foreheard, like one of those Tintin professors from The Shooting Star who needs the ... [More]
It’s not enough that we have to deal with them in the city; now charity muggers have started showing up in my local shopping centre on Centre Road. I encountered them yesterday on my day off — two of them were promoting the Fred Hollows Foundation. Now, I think that the FHF is as worthy ... [More]
Here’s something for those that read the article Rudd’s nephew clashes with Connex in the Sunday Age this morning online, without the benefit of the photos in the paper edition. Unlike Jen I’m a frequent user of the Degraves St Subway/Campbell Arcade, the quick non-traffic-lighted way out of Flinders Street Station. The Platform group displays ... [More]
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Did the earth move for you?
It was just before 9pm last night. I thought at first it was a ruddy big truck moving down my street. Or a really strong gust of wind. But the whole house was shaking. It passed after a few seconds. Nothing had cracked or fallen. I looked outside. Silence. No thunder, no wind. Twitter and ... [More]
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The fires
I know the cynics will continue to argue there’s no conclusive proof of climate change. But given much of Europe is freezing while we in Melbourne recorded the hottest day ever on record — 46.4 C according to the Bureau of Meteorology (that’s 115.5 F) — which follows on from the longest hot spell in ... [More]
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Friday quickies
Becoming a redneck: I was standing in the midday sun for a bit too long on Tuesday at the rally. Foolishly I didn’t have a hat, and didn’t put sun screen on. The next morning, for the first time in years, I could feel I’d got sunburnt. Not really badly, but enough to cause some ... [More]
The forecast for Melbourne: Tuesday: Sunny day. Max 38 Wednesday: Sunny. Min 25 Max 41 Thursday: Sunny. Min 26 Max 40 Friday: Sunny. Min 24 Max 40 Saturday: Sunny. Min 24 Max 40 Thankfully it looks like a cool change will come through on Sunday, but it’s times like these I wish I could hibernate ... [More]
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The statue
Happy Australia Day. One of the most damn impressive things I’ve seen recently is the giant statue of Mazu beside the railway line between South Kensington and Footscray. It towers over everything else nearby. It’s part of a Buddhist temple being built on the site. More pictures here
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Enterprize
Whatever the reason, sometimes it’s great to try something new. The idea for this one came from noting the kids getting hooked on Star Trek. Yesterday we headed out for an hour-long sail around the bay on the Enterprize, the replica of the 1829 schooner that brought some of Melbourne’s first settlers from Tasmania. If ... [More]
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Harbourtown
Went with the kids last week to look around Harbourtown, the new bit of Docklands which has the big wheel in it. Much of Harbourtown is looking a bit basic at the moment. The shopping centre is open, but half the shops aren’t, and some are obviously still getting stock in… the EB Games had ... [More]
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Barassigate: Day 5
Now don’t get me wrong — street violence is a terrible thing. And legendary footy coach Ron Barassi has to be commended for putting himself at risk on New Year’s Eve to come to the aid of someone being attacked. The whole thing is symptomatic of some of the worst ills of society. But really, ... [More]
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Swanston Street
One day in 1992, I had a joyous moment when I walked most of the length of Swanston Street — in the former traffic lanes — for the first time. It was a wondrous thing, and while Swanston Street still sees delivery vehicles, taxis and the odd errant car, with the wider footpaths and cyclists ... [More]