News and current affairs
For all the problems you see around the world, Melbourne has, I think, been generally peaceful when it comes to race relations. Indeed, there are plans afoot to permanently implant some cultures’ businesses into particular city streets — an extension of the concept already used in Chinatown that would spread to the Greek precinct, the ... [More]
I remember reading about our local mayor, and the way she used to complain she didn’t appear enough in the council-produced newsletter. OVER-WORKED City of Glen Eira CEO Andrew Newton has enough on his plate chasing $40,000 from [a] sacked councillor … but now he’s had to listen to [the Mayor] wail about her photo ... [More]
I really pity the people of Sydney who have had to be in the CBD during APEC. (But then, at least most Sydneysiders get the day off, whereas I have to drag myself into work.) NSW Transport Minister John Watkins said yesterday “Between 3 pm and 7.30 pm today, there will be 92 motorcade movements ... [More]
Tragic events involving crocodiles seemed to co-incide yesterday. As the media noted the first anniversary of Steve Irwin’s death, they were also reporting the death of a girl in PNG, dragged from her village by a crocodile. Awful stuff. If that wasn’t enough, the night before, the new Mythbusters series started on SBS, with the ... [More]
It’s now just over ten years since Princess Diana died. One thing I didn’t mention in my blog post at the time was that when I got home, I found my VCR, which had been set to tape an obscure Sunday morning TV programme (the rather amusing look at the parables of Jesus, Wrestling With ... [More]
Last week a colleague who, shall we say, has form for forwarding dodgy emails, sent me one claiming Mars and the Moon would be aligned on Monday morning at 12:30am. Turns out to be a hoax. Happily I didn’t stay/get up specially to watch. Neither did anybody else, apparently (or if they are, they’re not ... [More]
A few weeks ago I was walking along Hotham Street in Balaclava and noted security people on duty outside some of the Jewish buildings. Fairly low-key — just a man and a woman in suits with radios. They said good morning, and I reciprocated. I grew up near there, and it didn’t used to be ... [More]
And you thought I was a geek for knowing 75 digits of pi. Peter Thamm of Melbourne’s Viewbank Secondary College has memorised ten thousand digits. (There’s video available of some of it.) I suppose these days, people have spare number-remembering capacity in their brains, since virtually everyone has a phone (home or mobile) that stores ... [More]
The APEC forum is coming up in Sydney in September, and they’re only shutting down half the city to accomodate them. But we all know what APEC really means… a big photo opp getting the leaders together in clothing that’s “traditional” in the host country — typically those colourful shirts. So, what’ll it be for ... [More]
Regarding the Haneef case… The SIM card. By my count, I have four first-cousins, and I don’t even know how many second-cousins. They all live overseas or interstate, so I don’t see them very often, but if they arrived on the doorstep, I’d welcome them, and if they were in need of a mobile phone ... [More]
Promotions at Parliament Station: 3. Monday: Free fortune cookie advertising Mt Franklin water’s “Well of Positivity“; Tuesday: free sample of Ocean Spray Cranberries; Wednesday: Amnesty International Beggars who have asked for money: 1 in Swanston Street who sounded very scripted “Excuse me sir, we are homeless for a few days”, and as soon as being ... [More]
I didn’t watch much of Live Earth, but it has inspired me to sign up to the pledge. Or at least, my variation of the pledge. 1. I will continue to reduce my carbon emissions, both by switching to more efficient appliances and equipment where practical, and by reducing my use of them. 2. At ... [More]