Melbourne stuff
I think it was Alexei Sayle who described people who regularly protested outside the South African embassy in London against the Apartheid regime. When Apartheid finally crumbled, they were shocked that they’d actually won, and didn’t know what to do anymore. Over in my little corner of activism land, three of us slogged our guts ... [More]
Spotted on North Road the other day, a letter missing from a the big sign atop a hot chicken restaurant, making it: RED ROOTER. Hopefully the kids didn’t know why it was so funny.
Too damn hot yesterday. And last night. I’m going to go evaporative cooler shopping. There’s a parent at the school who looks like Billy Connolly when he was in his beardless phase, complete with the windswept and interesting long grey hair. But he has an Australian accent. There’s another parent at the school who looks ... [More]
There’s always the odd one(s) out. At 9:30 this morning on the train into the city, it was the couple with the baby. Something about them was different. If you were to have categorised everybody else in the carriage, they would have fallen into: professionals going to work – many of the blokes in ties, ... [More]
A long time school friend’s mum died of cancer on Thursday. Such a horrible thing for their family, all I can do is pass on condolences from my family. Film crew blocking off Hardware Street on Saturday, making me more late for lunch than I had previously been. Crowd control consisted of a woman in ... [More]
Tintin In America (1932): A comic with a message. Page 29 – within hours of oil being discovered, the local native Americans are booted out and an entire city is built. There is a bit of Tintin in America where the discovery of oil sees the development of an entire city overnight. The QV project ... [More]
I was wandering around Melbourne University on Sunday. Oh, sorry, it’s notMelbourne University, is it. No no, it’s the University Of Melbourne. Yeah. Great. I had gotten off the train at the Central Station of Melbourne, and caught a tram up the Street of Swanston. I was looking for the South Lawn. It had looked ... [More]
The second Melbourne Flash Mob in action (pic by Troy Boulton). What was interesting was that just before the earthquake signal, a woman asked why we were all waiting. Following Flashmob etiquette, we said we didn’t know. When it started, she joined in anyway. Picture this: You’re a young woman, perhaps about 20. It’s Saturday ... [More]
Most days I make a sandwich for lunch, which I eat at my desk while reading the newspaper. And sometimes to accompany the sandwich I’ll nip downstairs to the 7-11 across the street for a fruit juice and a little fresh air. I did so today, and around 12:30 I found myself, juice in hand, ... [More]
Australia’s first flash mob (pic: F2) About an hour after it happened I heard that Australia’s first flash mob event occurred outside Flinders Street Station during the rush hour last night. I suppose that means I’m just an hour behind the times. To me it’s an appealing idea. I like the sense of absurdity and ... [More]
Last Sunday I took the kids to the Melbourne Museum. A bunch of fun to be had, and at the new government subsidised price of $6 for an adult, free for everybody else, a bargain. And it hasn’t been a waste of taxpayers funds, either – not only is museum patronage way up, but long ... [More]
The newspaper guy normally tries to conceal the newspaper in the driveway shrubbery somewhat, so people can’t easily see it and steal it. It only happens occasionally, but it’s annoying when it does. Well this morning it was so well concealed in the shrubbery (hey, I get to use the word "shrubbery" twice – it ... [More]