Categories
Consumerism News and events

The last weekday of @TheAge as a broadsheet – I won’t miss it

I don’t read The Age in paper form everyday, but when I do, it’s either on the weekend where I can spread out as much as I like (so broadsheet is fine, though the smaller format of the supplements is fine too), or on weekdays on the train, where the broadsheet format is extremely awkward  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism Home life

Where is it made? Advertising implies NZ, but the box says China.

We upgraded the kids’ beds to King Single… because they’re both getting big. Unfortunately the place I bought the excellent old bunk beds years ago (“Chunky Pine Bunks”) seems to have closed down… a real shame because all I wanted was fairly plain, but really sturdy beds. I hunted around and eventually found these: Good  ... [More]

Categories
TV

Not live, from studio 13 at Gordon Street

A little while ago I bought myself the Collected Shaun Micallef — a box set of numerous shows of his, including The Micallef P(r)ogram(me). The kids and I have been watching our way through it. I remembered that I had gone to a recording of the show, but had no idea which episode it was.  ... [More]

Categories
transport

#FrequencyIsFreedom – even in the country

Overheard near Nagambie, about travelling to Melbourne: “A lot of people go to Seymour to catch the train. There’s one once an hour from there.” Yep. At stations beyond Seymour, where the Shepparton and the Albury line branch off, there’s usually only about 3 trains each way per day. But at Seymour, there are 20  ... [More]

Categories
transport

What are the load standards for the different types of trams?

A while back I was talking about train load standards, which as you’ll recall is 798 per train (or 133 per carriage). Similar desired load standards exist for trams, but they vary much more widely because the tram fleet is much more diverse in size. These are found in volume 2 of the tram contract,  ... [More]

Categories
Bentleigh Photos

Live from the BBC (and a few other pics from this week)

Live from the BBC! I’m no big fan of motor vehicles, but that is a fine looking machine. Advert for Myki top-up at 7-11 talks up the fact that it’s instant, without the delay of online top-up. And finally, from a friend’s kids’ party last weekend… this castle had a high quotient of princesses in  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Yesterday’s Monash closure showed why a “backup for the Westgate” won’t work

Yesterday’s closure of the Monash Freeway outbound at Warrigal Road due to an accident shows one reason why the “second river crossing“/”backup for the Westgate” idea wouldn’t work. The Monash Freeway is 4 lanes for most of its length. So is Dandenong Road (aka the Princes Highway), which runs more-or-less parallel to it, and was  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne

Local history: North Road, SE9

Here’s a little bit of history: an old street sign showing the pre-1967 UK-style Postal District Number: SE9. I’m quite amazed the sign has survived so long, unless perhaps it is a deliberate, heritage-based decision to keep and maintain it. The old codes don’t seem to be in the first edition Melway, but I did  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne transport

Metro people

Lily Dale Dan Denong Flin der Street Lyn Brook Ben T’Leigh Pat Terson Mal Vern Frank Ston Cam Berwell William Stown Glen Ferrie Victoria Park and Clifton Hill (of course!) Thomas Town Wes Tall Syd Enham Mel Bournecentral Al Tona and his brother Wes Tona Glen Roy Craig Ieburn Edith Vale Ken Sington Merlyn Ston  ... [More]

Categories
Geek transport

Transport simulation games – will we ever see one that’s realistic?

I finally got around to playing a bit of Cities In Motion. The game is fun, but in some ways is really not much better than the older Traffic Giant… though it looks nicer, seems to have more underlying complexity, and has more scenarios. From what I’ve seen, my main beefs would be: Trams and  ... [More]

Categories
Doctor Who News and events

Meteor & asteroid on the news – it’s like Doctor Who when they have the fake news bulletins

Over the past 24 hours, seeing the stories of the asteroid close-call and the meteor falling in Russia, it’s been a bit like those scenes in Doctor Who where they have a news bulletin about the latest alien invasion.

Categories
Clothes Retrospectives

No old school tie for me – how about old school cuff links instead?

I’m not a great cuff link wearer, but recently I inadvertently bought a shirt that needs them, and I couldn’t find any at home. I noticed the school Old Boys association sells them, so (I guess to mark 25 years since I did VCE — gulp) I bought some. I don’t mind these… they aren’t  ... [More]