Right now, innocence is being taken by faceless government bureaucrats. The Age: Back at school after being illegally detained Immigration officers arrived unannounced at Stanmore Public School in March and removed Ian Hwang, then 11, and his six-year-old Australian-born sister Janey, after their Korean mother was arrested arriving at Sydney Airport with a false passport. ... [More]
I see a fair number of product promotions at Parliament station in the mornings. Yesterday they were giving out Lipton Chai tea, which was very nice. This morning though, an interesting one: a promotion for A2 “double quality” paper. I think that was the brand name — obviously their promotional guys have let them down ... [More]
I was having a chat to my friend Stewart. He and his mate Joe have just launched a web site to go with their band, Joey Stew. They’ve got some downloadable samples of their songs on the site, so check it out, it’s funny stuff. But one lesson I’ve learnt over the years is to ... [More]
Some people really manage to re-define “bloody idiot”. As we were walking on Saturday afternoon, a tray truck with those stupidly big tyres came around the corner and along the opposite side of the road. He must have taken the corner too fast (from a standing start mind you), and was skidding all over the ... [More]
A couple of weeks ago we were having dinner on a Saturday night in Bourke Street. Something was wrong, and we remarked as such: it was about 7pm and Gaslight Music wasn’t open. For years, Gaslight has been a haven in the eastern end of the city, particularly when waiting to meet someone on a ... [More]
After living for some time with my iPod only holding a dozen or so of my favourite CDs (plus that great Billy Bragg paid concert download), I’ve finally embarked on loading everything up, in alphabetical order. So far I’m up to B. Thus my iPod currently has an inordinate amount of Area 7, Bragg and ... [More]
Here are my oldest and newest items of clothing. (Well, if you don’t count the socks I bought last week.) The red jumper is an Exacto brand windcheater which dates from probably about 1989 or 1990. It still gets an outing on cold evenings at home, and when painting (note the paint stain, a fairly ... [More]
On William Street, some Jeep promotional girls (amusingly the Jeeps all had P plates) gave me a brochure for the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I can’t think of anything I am less likely to buy. There are few less efficient ways of getting around the place than in a hulking great juggernaut like that. Meanwhile, ... [More]
A Series of Unfortunate Events — This was a paradox worthy of the appearance of Doctor Who’s reapers: Jim Carey in one of his rubbery face roles, yet not annoying. Who’d have thought? Nothing deep, but funny and suspenseful (well, a little) in the right places and totally fantastic set design. This turned out to ... [More]
I’m a bit of a geek, but even I can see that sometimes technology isn’t the answer to a problem. The Victorian government has announced a $494 million deal for a new public transport ticketing system, to run for 10 years from 2007. Question is: does it solve the number one problem with the old ... [More]
Flashback to ten years ago: Srebrenica massacre. See also coverage on Google News.
As reported in the Age last week, there’s new research indicating that excessive watching of TV is associated with leaving school without qualifications, not getting a degree at university, and — oddly I thought — smoking. Particularly bad is a TV in kids’ bedrooms. I had a TV in my bedroom when I was a ... [More]
Helping to make stoicism the media’s most over-used word of the week, Londoners continue to show their defiance against terrorism: I’ve been asked several times by members of the public whether I’m scared to drive my train now. I answer that we can’t allow ourselves to be beaten. — a District line tube driver A ... [More]
8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. 8 out of 8. So there. (Hey, I’m doing appallingly badly at the footy tipping this year; I’ve got to celebrate when I can.) While at Southland yesterday I found a ... [More]
Reaction to the London bombings: US President George Bush told reporters at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles that “the war on terror goes on.” It occurs to me that if one is to wage a war on terror, it could do with not playing second fiddle to the war in Iraq. While Saddam was a ... [More]
London’s one of my favourite cities, which makes today’s events all the more shocking. Obviously it’s too early to know the cause with any certainty, but with multiple blasts around London, it does look like terrorism. Londoners, the world is watching, and I’m sure I’m not alone in sending our best wishes.