Categories
Melbourne

Sign of the times

Spot the difference between these two signs warning of window washers at work above the footpaths in the city… Exhibit A, Manchester Lane: Exhibit B, Collins Street: The second crew actually did have a woman in their number. I wonder if eventually all companies will phase out the former version in favour of the latter.

Categories
Melbourne

I know you, but I don’t know from where

It seems to happen in degrees. Case one: At lunchtime yesterday I passed one guy in the street who I knew I knew, but couldn’t quite place. He knew me too; we exchanged grins. Thinking about it later, I’m pretty sure I’ve worked out where he’s from. Case two: Then on the way back I  ... [More]

Categories
books Melbourne

Flat Stanley’s visit

I’d completely forgotten about this until M reminded me of it last week. For some reason I didn’t blog about it at the time. Better late than never. A couple of years ago (actually, 2006, when the kids looked much younger than they do now) Flat Stanley (this one from friends in the USA) came  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism Melbourne

Spot the odd one out

The Saturday Age’s property section has a bit on pages 2-3 called Private Property, where they highlight various homes for sale, and note who is selling them, and their claim to fame, such that it is. Spot the odd one out from yesterday’s edition: Frankston car dealer and philanthropist Gary Lechte Maryann Jesudason and her  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne

Walkability (again)

In some cities, they argue about whether or not streets should have footpaths. Thankfully not so much here. Of course, for people to walk, they need somewhere to walk to. An article in the local paper a few weeks ago highlighted the low Walkscores for some suburbs against others: Heatherton was the lowest in the  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne Photos

Sound and movement in Footscray Park

Footscray Park, half-an-hour ago…

Categories
Consumerism Melbourne Photos

A few pics

Nice bit of product placement there, Priceline. (They’re not just in the same aisle, they’re virtually opposite each other.) If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth half doing: This advert for VoteMyPet.com.au (promotion for Advocate, a product of Bayer) was nailed to a tree in the park. You reckon they had permission from Kingston Council  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne

The Dumbarse, in three acts

Act 1: He went to stand between the carriages for a smoke. (It was a Hitachi. Very retro.) It should be pointed out that this doesn’t stop the smoke smell drifting through the carriages, though obviously it’s better than doing it in the carriage. Apart from the fact that smoking anywhere is dangerous for your  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne Morons on the road

A missed opportunity?

I assume Glen Eira council put this graph of forecast revenue from parking in their propaganda sheet newsletter because they’re pleased about it. I was going to point out that plenty of people park in stupid places, and I’d prefer they got stung with tickets if at all possible, so they can subsidise my council  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne Photos

Cathedral Arcade

Almost hidden away in the bottom of The Nicholas Building is the Cathedral Arcade. I can’t say I frequent the quaint shops in there — I just use it as a shortcut — but that ceiling is quite amazing.

Categories
Melbourne

Street name clusters

On my day off yesterday we sauntered down to Jaycar in Cheltenham for electronic gadget goodness. I noticed looking at the map beforehand that a bunch of the streets are named after newspapers: Argus St, Herald St, Age St, Times St. No Sun St that I could see. There are plenty of clusters of street  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne

Attn: Melbourne City Council

On Thursday I noticed a Melbourne City Council City Of Melbourne worker wandering around Collins Street with a street sign under his arm, apparently puzzled as to where to put it up. Today I noticed it had gone up. In the wrong place. There is no way through to Howey Place there. If you follow  ... [More]