Appears in the weekly Toxic Custard newsletter
Before blogging and the web, there was email and Usenet and FTP sites. Just over 29 years ago I started writing online, sending out literal undergraduate humour to mates at Monash University and beyond mostly via email, under the truly ridiculous name “Toxic Custard“. It got into the student newspaper, then in 1996 it went ... [More]
View post to subscribe to site newsletter.
The wave of climate protests (the Climate Strike a few weeks ago, and to a lesser extent the Extinction Rebellion last week) are a good reminder that although our current political masters (especially at the Federal level in Australia) are keen to do nothing, pretty soon a large mass of people who want action will ... [More]
Improving my house’s heating and cooling and energy efficiency is an ongoing project. 2008 Solar hot water 2012 Ceiling fans and roof insulation 2015 External blinds 2017 Air-conditioning (a backwards step for energy efficiency, but a giant leap for comfort on very hot days) This week it was wall insulation. Obviously this is best fitted ... [More]
Another in my series of old ten year old photos. This turned out to be a bit of a bumper crop – a few months before I’d got the Nokia N95 phone, my first with a decent camera, so perhaps no surprise the number of photos was increasing. Melbourne’s first wind-powered tram had launched in ... [More]
One of the issues that contributes to excessive car use is that it’s not straightforward to calculate the cost of driving. Once you have the car, the cost of each additional trip you take in it is obscured. Apart from tolls and fuel costs, many might see an already-paid-for car sitting in the driveway as ... [More]
My regular post of ten year old photos… The smiley in the sky (first posted here) Tram of the beast (First posted here) The next station is Connex Back when the trams were battleship grey, and they used obscure route numbers like 47. In December 2008 a brand new bike parking cage was under construction ... [More]
Desire lines are where authorities intend for people to go one way, but people (especially pedestrians) quite logically ignore them and go a different way. Often they indicate poor design. Here are some quick examples from my neck of the woods. You have to wonder whose bright idea this was. Try and divert the pedestrians ... [More]
Continuing my series of ten year old photos… The coal industry trying to pretend they’re good guys. I don’t know if they even pretend these days… note yesterday Adani announced it would press ahead with its new coal mine, in the middle of a state bushfire crisis — nice touch. Warrnambool holiday! This was fun. ... [More]
Many people have written about the state election result. I thought I’d add my two-cents worth… noting that as of Wednesday night, some seats are still in doubt. The Coalition crime fear campaign didn’t resonate. The stats don’t match the rhetoric, and while the accounts from actual victims could be harrowing, Melbourne is not a ... [More]
Family business took us to Euroa on Saturday. The station is on the western side of the town centre. The main street goes over the railway line to the south of the station — Wikipedia notes that the the road overpass was built in 1960 during the first round of standardisation. The second round, last ... [More]
While my most pressing home renovation need is the bathroom (planning to do this the next time my sons are away on a trip), I was also thinking: Governments should be doing a lot more on climate change, but what are the major emissions in my home, and how could I decarbonise? The car. I ... [More]
My monthly post of ten year old photos… My day job had me working in Collins Street, and occasionally we’d get to go to the upper levels and check out the view. That’s Manchester Lane at the bottom left, and near the top left you can just see the Shrine. Newspaper House dates from a ... [More]
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. This is especially so for school reunions. My eldest son is pondering whether to even go to his – the people he wants to stay in touch with, he does via Facebook. Fair enough. I however do go to my school reunions. Melbourne High School has an active ... [More]
Here’s my monthly post of photos from ten years ago. For a while I was waging war on ghost tram route numbers via this blog post and then this Age article. Numbers like 7 and 9 were pointless because nobody outside a few gunzels knew them. This was tram route 7 to Malvern Depot. In ... [More]
On Sunday I went out to see the Mernda rail extension. The Level Crossing Removal Authority, who built it (well, it does involve new stations and grade separation of an existing disused rail corridor, so it kinda makes sense) ran a community open day, with free shuttle trains between South Morang and Mernda. After catching ... [More]
I was looking through some old photos, and found these from November 1996. I’ve scanned them from the negatives. As you can see, they provide some good advice… (Click on either photo to view it larger in Flickr) Things to note here: “Don’t be a jerk” is a work by Barbara Kruger, originally from 1984 ... [More]