One episode of The West Wing focuses on Take out the trash day, when the government dumps so much news onto the media that the bad stuff is lost amongst the sheer amount of information. Last week the Victorian government had its equivalent, when over 200 reports were released on a single day. I went ... [More]
We got the trampoline six years ago. Problem is it’s been used less and less over the years, so yesterday we donated it to Emma and Nick and Zoe. I’m relieved someone wanted it, actually. The fashion these days is the trampolines with the netting around the sides, which this old thing doesn’t have. After ... [More]
For many years I’ve used Herbal Essences shampoo. While I hated the ads, I liked the shampoo. But recently I’ve noticed tell-tale white residue on my clothes. Oh no. Dandruff. Not nice. So I’ve switched to anti-dandruff shampoo for a while. It doesn’t smell as nice, but it appears to be working.
Radio National’s Background Briefing had a feature story on the bike helmet debate yesterday morning. You can download it and listen to it here. It talks about Melbourne’s bike share scheme; the experience in Europe (where cyclist numbers are higher, but injuries are lower) vs Australia (which it sounds like is the only country with ... [More]
If you didn’t see this on The Daily Show, it’s a classic. “I snuck up behind him and took his Koran. He said something about burning the Koran, and I said ‘Dude, you have no Koran’, and ran off”
“You couldn’t have a full-blooded aborigine or Chinese teaching.” Well, *obviously*.
This is where one of Melbourne’s busiest buses terminates. The 630, in the middle of Elsternwick Park, between the skate park* and the golf course, and blocking the westbound bike lane. (Source: Nearmap) The closest shops are a few hundred metres away. It’s 800 metres (as the crow flies) to the nearest railway station, and ... [More]
Earlier this year I wrote a post showing what each type of Melbourne train looks like. Here’s the tram version, in order of appearance. This is a longer post, as there’s more types. This is the W-class tram. They’re something of a Melbourne icon, having been around (in various forms) since the 1930s 1920s, though ... [More]
Everything in the entire world except this bus stop sign is at a funny angle.
I’ve seen pictures before, but canola crops are startlingly yellow when you see them up close. These photos are from near Nagambie yesterday, where there seems to be a lot of it at the moment. Apparently the name once used here, and still used in the UK, is “rape”, or “rapeseed”. I think I can ... [More]
An unusual sight: this visitor on the back door this morning. Not sure where he thought he was going, but hope he got there okay.
When the Hitachi trains were built in the early 70s, it was before the days of dot matrix displays. Destination rolls weren’t easily changed, so they included a few places they thought that might one day get rail services. Forward planning, much of it in line with the stated rail extensions in the 1969 transport ... [More]
(I’m playing catch up here; this was from about a month ago.) How has a stupid idea like this giant bus on rails got so much attention? It’s never going to work. What speed could a thing like that run at without coming off its rails? What happens when a car or the “bus” turns ... [More]
A few weeks ago I did brain surgery on my computer. My PC (named “Tintin”) finally got a CPU upgrade — which I needed to move off Windows XP onto Windows 7. It’s quite incredible how much dust was inside it. Just obtaining the faster CPU wasn’t straightforward, as sometime in the last couple of ... [More]
I’ve written before about peak oil, when oil production peaks and then starts to decline, getting more and more expensive. There are various predictions around the place, but many seem to agree it’s going to hit this decade. Some argue it’s already hit, and only the Global Financial Crisis dampening demand has masked it. What ... [More]
Cattle class, anybody? The picture is from a Friends of the Earth stunt in London, protesting against factory farming, and their link to rainforest destruction. There’s some great images of cows on the streets and on the Tube.