Melbourne stuff
Next in the suburban moral dilemmas: I’m walking down the street, and I have some litter to get rid of, say a food packet or something else that’s small. Is it okay to put it in someone’s rubbish bin? I reckon it barely makes a difference to their bin load, and it’s better off in ... [More]
Maggie, the station host, noticed a passenger who looked unwell. Really unwell. She tried to convince her to come into the office to sit down. The lady didn’t want to. She wanted to catch her train; she was going to see her doctor. Paraphrased: “Please come in and sit down. You look unwell. I think ... [More]
It’s great having a phone with a half-decent camera. It’s nowhere near as good as my “real” camera, but because I almost always have the phone with me, I can snap photos anywhere, almost no matter what I’m doing: And because a phone doesn’t look like a camera, even dogs of a nervous disposition, such ... [More]
Winter has arrived. The heating’s back in use, and I’ve started wearing jackets to work again, after some time of managing to avoid it. (Normally if the forecast high is at 20 degrees or higher, it’s not worth taking a jacket, since I only end up sweating on the walk from the station, and at ... [More]
You don’t have to be a 4WD owner to drive like a moron. Even Prius owners do it sometimes. The other contender this week was red Mercedes TLH 385, zooming down Jasper Road with at least one indicator and brake light not working, tail-gating and generally driving like a maniac on Wednesday night. Also seen ... [More]
Some great quotes from Lorraine Sommerfield in The Hamilton Spectator, Canada, on walking: “I watch people drive their children to every sport imaginable, to make sure they’re getting enough exercise. We’re idiots.” “Start walking to the gym — or perhaps instead of the gym.” “I don’t need to run out and buy a hybrid car ... [More]
Good numbers, considering it had poured with rain a couple of hours earlier. Human sign, as seen from ABC helicopter. Channel 7 also sent a chopper. We were on the A in “Climate”, where the cross-bar thingy meets the right hand side. Shot after the sign. They reckon about 2500 people turned up in all, ... [More]
If you’re worried about climate change, and the glacial (!) rate government is addressing it… and you’re in Melbourne, try this: on Sunday morning the Bayside Climate Change Group are getting together people for a human sign on Sandringham beach at 10am, to say “HALT CLIMATE CHANGE NOW!” (I’m assuming the team co-ordinating don’t all ... [More]
The other week I dropped past Hattams in Elsternwick, where I worked part-time as a teenager. Had a good long chat with Ian, who runs the store now. Hattams is a family business, started in 1879. They’ve had clothing stores at various places around the state, with their last two (for the past few decades) ... [More]
Heard: I don’t recall noticing it this time last year, but with Passover in full swing, the last few nights there has been some quite haunting singing heard from the nearby synagogue. It makes a pleasant change from the normal dull roar of distant traffic and toots from trains. Seen: A lady walking along the ... [More]
(On King Street, near Collins Street.) I wonder what ever came of the Melbourne Steamship Company? Hmm, Google found there’s a model of their boat the Duntroon.
Brrr. Winter time. Wintertime. How is it that Mother Nature knows to make it cold as soon as we go off summer time? Saturday was wet in Melbourne (much-needed rain), but at least it wasn’t cold. Sunday… dry but cool and windy. The moment the sun went down, cold. I felt the need to wear ... [More]
So today we’ve had the Citylink tunnels closed due to a fatal crash, a gas leak in Malvern causing the suspension of Frankston and Dandenong trains, a big grass fire in Sunshine, and vomit-inducing fumes last night at a restaurant in Doncaster. And I heard a truckload of (non-flammable, apparently) orange bottles spilled all over ... [More]
Marita & Justine’s dog Maisie will occasionally get it into her head that she knows a complete stranger. “I know you!” she’ll think, and barrel up to them, tail wagging. “I like you! I know you! I do!” But she doesn’t. I got a similar feeling yesterday, queuing up to buy some lunch. A man ... [More]
You know, there’s a reason they’re called golf umbrellas. It doesn’t make them suited for crowded CBD footpaths. And why is it that smaller people seem to like them so much? You’d think they had less body mass that needed rain protection. Fair enough if multiple people are cowering under them I suppose. But more ... [More]
When I were a lad, my sister and I walked to primary school with our friends — at least in the upper part of primary school; I don’t recall the first few years; I assume my mum walked with us, though she’s said a friend in the same block used to occasionally drive us. But ... [More]