Last night kicked off The Queen Victoria Night Market. Running until the end of February, the market opens every Wednesday night, where you can enjoy a vast array of food from different nationalities. In addition, a live band plays music while you munch. Last night’s was San Lazaro and Guinee Berriffe, a 9 piece Afro-Cuban inspired group. Definitely something you don’t hear everyday.

My one bit of advice is to either get there early or late but not in the middle. The lines can be quite long in primetime (6-9PM).

Queen Victoria Night Market
Wednesdays, 5:30PM-10PM
Until February 27, 2008
FREE
link

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, Australia, Vic Market

What the hell was that?

I’m not even sure you can even call that a soccer (football) game. Surely Channel 10 could have just had Beckham shoot goals by himself for 90 minutes. Never have I heard such crap commentary nor have I heard the word Beckham mentioned so many times in a game. For those who didn’t keep count, his name came up every 45 seconds (I really counted). Doesn’t matter that Sydney scored 5 goals, let’s keep showing Beckham. Let’s interview Juninho about what he thinks about Beckham. Oh and let’s keep the camera aimed at his arse for most of the time.

Words can’t even express how cheesy, moronic, and set up this game was. This is one event that I’m glad Melbourne didn’t host.

Image via AP

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Sydney, Sydney FC, LA Galaxy, David Beckham, Beckham

Well, so that was it – Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party have officially won the elections (no surprise, no surprise) – it was a narrow sweeping victory (updated after votes and seat count were finalised). Regardless, from where I am now (not in Australia), the news came as a whimper; slightly disappointing.

Will the Labor win be affecting you much, or do you think it will mostly be ‘life as usual’? I reckon it will likely be the latter for most of us.

Tomorrow at 4pm, at the Royal Society of Victoria (9 Victoria Street, Melbourne), doors will open for viewing of items that will be auctioned off to raise funds for the “Dinosaur Dreaming” dig held every summer near Inverloch. The bidding itself will begin at 5:30.

Items on display will include a day down at the dig sit, a Museum Victoria dungeon tour, hand-made jewellery, fossils, dinosaur casts, books on palaeontology signed by the experts, and original works of art by Peter Trusler, Brian Choo and Andrew Plant (some of these will be very good, I can guarantee it).

The funds raised will go to support the dig site at Inverloch, which sits somewhere beneath the sand offshore from the coast near Inverloch, where there are tilted layers of grey-ish rock representing the sludge from the bottom of a 110 million year old riverbed. Every year palaeontologists and volunteers head down during low tide to sort through the rock for traces of dinosaurs, fish, turtles, and whatever else ended up in the river 110 million years ago.

Some of the most important fossil finds in recent history have come from this site, such as the jawbone of a tiny mammal that looks like it was a placental mammal – not a marsupial or monotreme, as many people expected. It’s completely reshaped the way we view the spread of mammals during the time of the dinosaurs, and opened up the possibility that Australia and Antarctica could be the original mammal homeland, rather than being obscure outposts for exotic and “primitive” marsupials and monotremes, as previously thought.

More information: www.sci.monash.edu.au/msc/dinodream

It’s that time again. Don’t know who to vote for? I don’t blame you as both candidates have run a campaign of one-ups and mistruths. The pillar of modern campaigns is the advertisement debunking the other candidate.

Youtube: Liberal Scare Tactics

Ok, now to get down to business.

Who to vote for?

howshouldvote.com.au
From the people behind GetUp!, this online quiz will match your answers to the candidates in your electorate. Those answers will then be SMSed to you. Too easy.

OzPolitics Quiz
This was posted a few months ago but wasn’t too well received by readers. Take it with a grain of salt.

How to vote?

If you can successfully read this website then I have faith that you will be able to figure out how to write numbers in boxes. But if you can’t:

How to vote practise tool

Where to vote?

Voting Centre Search

Thanks to Digg, Lifehacker.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Politics, Election

After 12 years in Melbourne, the Hard Rock Cafe has closed. I reviewed the restaurant / bar last year and found the food mediocre yet the music memorabilia pretty cool. The reason for the closure is due to the expansion and renovation of the Hotel Windsor next door. Speculation is that it will reopen in St. Kilda or the Crown Casino. Although the restaurant was often full its location lacked a good amount of young walk-in traffic. Hopefully, it won’t suffer the same fate as Planet Hollywood did in the Crown.

So now where am I supposed to go for my all you can eat ribs served by such lovely waitresses?

Previously: Hard Rock Cafe
Hospitality Magazine: Hard Rock to shut

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Hard Rock Cafe

Harold Holt was an interesting figure in the Australian political landscape. His accomplishments include the planning and preparation of the decimal currency, breaking down the White Australia Policy, and including indigenous Australians (Aboriginals) in the census. Despite that, he is world famous for his sudden death less then two years into being Prime Minister.

On the morning of December 17, 1967, he went for a swim at Cheviot Beach near Portsea. Despite advice from friends who were with him that day, he went out into the water known for strong currents and dangerous rip tides and never came back. His body was never found which has caused many conspiracy theories to develop in the 40 years since his disappearance.

One such theory is that he spent his lifetime as a spy for the Chinese. ASIO found out about this and was going to make an arrest in a few days. So on the day of his disappearance, he swam out and a Chinese submarine collected him. Sounds likely.

In a TV special premiering Tuesday and hosted by Ray Martin, the mystery around Holt’s disappearance will be further examined. This time the theory of his death is suicide. Unlikely? Yes, but more plausible then a Chinese submarine taking him away.

Who Killed Harold Holt?
9:35PM, CH 9

The Bulletin:Sex, Lies, and Suicide

Wikipedia: Harold Holt

Harold Holt Murder
(Good for a laugh. “Holt was murdered, because he was opposed to American bases such as Pine Gap being built on Australian soil”)

Picture is of the Harold Holt Swim Centre in Glen Iris. Oh, the irony. Taken by fotodudenz.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Harold Holt

Sunday was a busy day for me. I was clearly short of time, and late for pretty much everything I had to go for. I was buying some boxes, when a bloke approached me, asking me to take me to drive him to the bus loop at Monash. It was a sweltering hot day, and he was complaining that the buses weren’t showing up, and he himself was late to a birthday party for his niece in Noble Park.

Completely believable. Public transport, especially on a Sunday, sucks.

I wasn’t going towards Monash, but I figured I’d give him a lift. So what, it’d take away 10-15 minutes of my life. Big deal.

I was a bit cautious, asking him what he had in his bag, that he held in his hand. He assured me it was a card. Fair enough. As soon as I arrive at the bus loop, he gets out, thanks me, and literally runs to a bus that I presume takes him to his destination.

Back home late at night, and decide to unwind a little and read The Age. Then I see this: Three stabbings in night of violence. Then I think to myself, that it could have also been me. Hitch-hikers can kill, right?

In my defence, I felt like doing a good deed. It was a bloody hot day, and even I wouldn’t want to be out walking in the heat. But how can people attempt to be nice, in an age, where there’s so much violence?

What would you do?

Ideas came to my head… take a digital photo, from my mobile phone camera, and send it straight through to Flickr. Ask for ID, and photograph it?

Oh well, maybe I’m thinking too much. Just be happy all is well, and two people helped each other (I, by providing a lift, he by not doing anything nasty to me). Alas, I don’t even know his name ;)

Driving to work? Or going somewhere and wants to avoid any possible traffic?

Well, check out the webcams of CityLink. The cameras show you the traffic conditions at 8 different points of the tolled roads.

Or you could check out the traffic conditions through Vicroads. I’m too sure how up to date this is.

Or try out RACV’s beta version of Melbourne’s traffic conditons or Melbourne’s traffic incidents.

Gluttony, sex, and Santa take the stage across Melbourne this weekend.

Friday

Christmas Tree Lighting
Our non wooden tree gets lit.
City Square, 8PM
link

Saturday

Christmas Parade
As mentioned by Colin. A sweaty Santa Claus and an always beautiful J-Ha.
Bourke St. Mall, 11AM

Turkish Festival
Kebabs, music, and dancing in Fed Square.
Federation Square
link

Saturday-Sunday

Johnston Street Fiesta (My favourite Melbourne Festival!)
Lots of great food, music, dancing. Burritos, Spanish donuts, pastries, paella.
Johnston St, between Brunswick and Nicholson St, Fitzroy
link

Sexpo
Not much of a fan, as the show seems to appeal more to women seeking uh.um.. products. Belladonna to appear.
Melbourne Exhibition Centre
link

Egames Expo
Mentioned by Squirt. I’m sure there will be plenty of people checking out the Sexpo exhibition next door.
Melbourne Exhibition Centre
link

Sunday

Polish Festival
For fans of sausage and vodka.
Federation Square
link Post from last year

Wish they would spread out the festivals and events a bit more but oh well.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Fitzroy, Johnston Street, Johnston Street Fiesta, Sexpo, Egames Expo, Turkish Festival, Federation Square