Two of the biggest local media outlets are going great guns encouraging citizen media: The Age and Channel 7, joining in a trend increasingly seen worldwide. Both have been increasingly encouraging contributions in the past couple of years, from web and phone polls to running footage or photos taken by members of the public. Of ... [More]
Despite petrol at record prices and traffic congestion, most people still don’t use public transport. Its share of the market sits stagnant at about 8% or so. Why? Because most people will only choose PT over driving when it’s convenient: when it goes where you want to go, and when it’s frequent. How frequent is ... [More]
Memo to self (and anybody else listening): Only put rugs with rubber backing onto wooden floors. They’re extremely slippery otherwise, as I discovered this morning, when getting ready for work. I was in a bit of a rush and attempted to run to go turn off the computer. I had shoes on, and my grip ... [More]
I was tagged for a literary meme. 1. One book that changed your life I’m struggling a bit to think of anything, but if I had to nominate something, I’d probably say Ben Elton’s Gridlock. It’s not an earthshattering philosophical work, but I think it (subconsciously) triggered a lot of my thinking about issues I’m ... [More]
Heinz Big’n’Chunky Beef and Vegetable Soup. I like a can of soup on a cold night when I’m feeling too lazy to cook properly. But this reminded me just a little too much of the aroma of dog food.
Oh what a tricky language we use. grammer — how come so many people make this (almost ironic) mistake? grammar dammit, grammar! peninsular — actually this is a grammatical error. Peninsular is the adjective describing a body of land surrounded on three sides by water. But so many people seem to think it’s the noun. ... [More]
Interesting mix… Italian and Indian cuisine. Anybody fancy some Spaghetti Vindaloo? How about Tandoori macaroni? When I lived in Hawthorn, up the end of the street was an Indian/Vegetarian/Fish’n’Chip shop. And in fact, I have made something approxiamating spaghetti Tandoori chicken once when I was scrounging around in the kitchen for leftovers. It was… well, ... [More]
I’ve mentioned before how I hate the expression “I’ll let you go”. It just tells me in the most thinly-veiled way that the person talking to me is sick of me, and has more important things to do. Last week I overheard a work colleague who had evidently rung someone he didn’t want to talk ... [More]
Dear Car 2, it’s not your fault. Car 1 has parked in a stupid way, in the middle of two spots. But you can’t fit there. Really, you can’t. No matter how many times you try. Whatever angle you come in at. Your car is bigger than the space that is left. You might as ... [More]
I rather like the design of this Warholesque tram. It’s to celebrate 100 years of electric trams in Melbourne, even though the first electric tram in Melbourne ran in 1889. It only lasted 7 years though, so I suppose this one can celebrate 100 consecutive years of electric trams. But that would sound a little ... [More]
A friend of mine has a car that is leased through a government job. The lease is expiring, and she’s seeing if she can swap models to something smaller and more fuel-efficient. Government policy dictates that, with few exceptions, fleet cars are Australian made. Australian made cars are all big ones: Falcon, Magna, Commodore and ... [More]
Today I’m working from home. Here is my (still relatively tidy from Saturday’s pre-party cleanup) home office. With the new flat screens ‘n’ everything. You see the stool at the far left? That’s got most of the bits of paper on it that were formerly cluttering up the desk. I’ll get through those and sort ... [More]
The 2006 Australian census is tomorrow night, and once again participants have a chance to answer the religion question as: JEDI. Apparently 70,000 did last time (including me). As the Australian Bureau of Statistics says: If your belief system is “Jedi” then answer as such on the census form. Taking a look at the Jedi ... [More]
(Couple of extra points added 8:45am Monday) Superb preparation help: Marita, cleaning and tidying yesterday. (The house certainly hasn’t looked better since I’ve moved in.) Obligatory pre-party crises yesterday: Washing machine broke down, leaking from inlet pipe. Water throughout laundry. Plus work hassles; many phone calls. Today’s isolated drizzle: thankfully hit before things started. Party ... [More]
Sections that get read, then recycled (in no particular order): News Insight A2 Good Weekend Travel Yesterday’s EG, which I haven’t got around to reading yet Sections that just get recycled: Drive Domain (I’m no longer house-shopping) Business (usually; unless some big issue catches my attention) Sport (except for checking last night’s footy score… damn ... [More]
I am not an economist, but I did study it in year 11. So forgive me if this is uninformed brainless speculation, but I was thinking about yesterday’s interest rate rise. I understand the principle of the Reserve Bank of Australia fiddling with interest rates when inflation is high, to scale back demand, though I ... [More]