Dragon: Are You Old Enough (1978) — around Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, including the now-gone behaviour of riding the running board on a tram, and a Silvertop taxi back when they really did have a silver top. John Paul Young: Yesterday’s Hero (1975) — around Swanston Street Paul Kelly: Leaps and Bounds — mostly the Nylex ... [More]
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, talking about deployment of Protective Service Officers on stations: âFrom time to time they will check tickets. When these PSOs see a group of young people that they believe are up to no good on a railway station a really helpful tool is to say, ‘Show me your ticket’. ... [More]
My cousin Justin’s move to Melbourne gives me an opportunity to see the public transport network from the perspective of a brand new user. He’s pretty well travelled, having spent extensive time in Europe recently, mostly based in London, but with plenty of travel to other cities. So he’s used PT systems in many other ... [More]
I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have my cousin Justin in town. He grew up in Brisbane, then Newcastle, before moving to Perth, so we barely saw him when growing up. He moved to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, and is now settling into his new flat and job here. ... [More]
This creation by my super-talented sister, for Isaac’s birthday.
Two mysterious noises have become apparent in the last few months. Both are virtually imperceptable in the daytime, but at night, in my quiet street, I can hear them from my bedroom. First there was the humming. It started sometime last year. It doesn’t seem to be in the house anywhere – I tried turning ... [More]
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Hand washing
Sometimes amongst the bum jokes you’ll learn something really Quite Interesting on QI. Last week I learnt that when washing hands, how clean you get them is not about the heat of the water, which can’t possibly be warm enough to kill off bacteria and escape without serious burns. Rather, it’s about how vigorously you ... [More]
From page 54 (Chapter 2, part 1) of the 1929 Melbourne Plan for General Development, commissioned by the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission. Other highlights include Chapter 2, part 7, which has a bunch of stuff about railways, including a discussion of a railway to Doncaster (page 132) and a strong argument for a combined transport ... [More]
The short version Myki credit, once on your card, does not expire after 90 days of not getting used. Nor does your card expire after 90 days of not getting used. If you top-up your Myki via online or phone (NOT over-the-counter or at a vending machine) but then you don’t use the card within ... [More]
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The view out the front window
When I was a kid, I liked to kneel on the front seat of the (W-class) tram, looking out the front, and watching the driver, trying to figure out how it all worked. I reckon the front still gives you the best views. Back in the day I recall a control to apply the power, ... [More]
The first Tuesday of May is Victorian State Budget day. On Budget day, journalists and some interest groups (well, those that have the resources) attend the Budget Lockup, where from about midday to the 3pm public release, they get to peruse the budget papers, but can’t communicate what they find with the outside world. They ... [More]
So this is Terminal 4 Arrivals — where you greet passengers arriving in Melbourne on Tiger Airways: You can’t go in, they can only come out. There’s no shelter to speak of — if it rains, you’d better wait in your car (if you brought one). Inside there’s just luggage collection. No trolley until you ... [More]
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V/Line’s possible timetables circa 2021
Following up my post the other week about proposed possible Metro timetables in 2021… The other thing that’s become apparent from the Travel Demand document is how the Regional Rail Link (and the other V/Line routes) could work. Frankly it’s a relief they have some idea of how RRL would run, as so far they’ve ... [More]
If you’ll pardon my boldness, I’ve worked out a new advertising campaign for Metro.
Where digital TV really fails is handling lots and lots of moving objects on screen at once. Look at these two grabs from last night’s ABC news. In the first, host Ian Henderson is shown. With little moving, the picture is very smooth — even with the slightly dodgy ABC blue screen. (See it bigger) ... [More]
Unbelievable. After less than a year, and less than a-dozen uses, the Shelta umbrella I bought last May has already broken. It’s not totally unusable, but structural integrity has been severely compromised. I’ll certainly be chasing up the 12 months warranty as soon as I can find the receipt, but in the mean time, what ... [More]