Well I haven’t quite finished my Christmas shopping, but I have at least got over the hump, thanks to a few fruitful hours spent at the very noice Highpoint yesterday. It wasn’t half as crowded as I expected — and the beauty of Highpoint is you can easily get there without the car, and the ... [More]
Happy Gravy Day. Last night I saw the Bourke Street decorations by night for the first time. But I was in a bad mood this morning. After a recent good run, I had two hassle-filled commutes in a row — last night at 10:30 the trains were still stuffed after the storms, and this morning, ... [More]
I have a 240 litre bin for general rubbish (emptied weekly) and a 240 litre bin for recycling (emptied fortnightly). Usually I put one kitchen bin bag out per week, and the recycling bin is about three-quarters full when emptied. So our weekly household waste comes to about: 30 litres of general waste 90 litres ... [More]
In the past I’ve seen pictures of an American preschool graduation — in which they ludicrously dressed kids up in gowns and (mortarboard) caps. I’ve only worn a cap and gown once in my life — for my university graduation, after three years of (sometimes) hard slog earning my bachelor’s degree. This type of academic ... [More]
I was reminded at the weekend that near where I used to work, there’s a partly-triangular building. It’s at the corner of Nicholson Street and Victoria Parade. Here’s what it looks like from above… (Picture: Whereis.com.au) But look at it from the Lonsdale Street exit of Parliament Station, and it looks like it’s flat — ... [More]
I may not be the world’s foremost expert on driving, but even I could see you made two critical mistakes driving out of the supermarket carpark. 1. You drove the wrong way around the one-way system. 2. Your baby was on the lap of your passenger. I hope that you were pulled over and booked ... [More]
The news from the Bali conference reminded me a lot of the machinations during international negotiations on The West Wing. No doubt things would have progressed further if it was Jed Bartlett, not George W Bush, running the White House. But you’ve got to hand it to the delegate from Papua New Guinea, Kevin Conrad. ... [More]
I’ve long been a Monty Python fan, but am a little too young to have seen the movies on their first runs in the cinemas. So when it was announced that Spamalot would have a run in Melbourne, I decided to see it. I went along with the kids and Marita yesterday. Warning: some spoilers. ... [More]
I just saw a miracle. It’s lunchtime in the city. It’s two weeks before Christmas. There was no queue at the post office. How is this possible? Maybe it was a hallucination.
A phrase which is being thrown around in some circles (particularly government) recently is the Chatham House Rule. Perhaps it’s always been around, but I’ve only noticed it more recently. I think some of those using it don’t really know what it means. What it strictly means is: You can talk about whatever you hear, ... [More]
A comment on a very funny Scott Adams’ post about a Las Vegas casino sucking money out of his wallet led me to this fascinating post about casino design. In turn, some of the comments there are very interesting too. It reminds me a bit of supermarket design. How things like milk (that you might ... [More]
So far it’s not a good month for minor ailments. Last week Jeremy had a coughy-coldy thing; this week Isaac’s had it worse, knocking him out of school… thankfully he’s got over it in time to go off to camp this morning. As for me, I must have eaten something bad, and my over-sensitive stomach ... [More]
It’s not my place to elaborate on all the specifics, but a good friend of my sister passed away in quite tragic circumstances on Friday. One can only feel for her family, in particular her husband and two young kids. BeyondBlue: Postnatal depression. Donate (no online option unfortunately). PANDA: Postnatal and Antenatal Depression Association. Donate ... [More]
I have a profile on Facebook. I don’t spend a lot of time there; mostly playing the Scrabble clone Scrabulous, actually. (I’m winning one game thanks to “zit” on a triple word score; the other is heading for a photo-finish.) And seeing what my friends are up to. I’m not doing the free-for-all friends thing. ... [More]
Sometimes my brain doesn’t join the dots. Context in particular can throw me. I’ve had numerous emails over the years contributing to my Weird News page, most of them from a fairly small number of dedicated contributors. A few weeks ago at the Walk Against Warming, one of those contributors came up and said hello, ... [More]
Who is Vladimir, and why does Connex think he’s affected more than anybody else when the trains are out?