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Yet another Sydenham line screw up
Here’s a scene we see so very often in Melbourne: coked-up addicts in trains. Or something along those lines. This bloke held up an entire train, which was forced to stop at St Albans station. The driver failed to rouse him from his stupor. Passengers were asked to leave the train and board the next train while paramedics took their own sweet time to arrive.
Connex staff told me to fuck off before I could take the picture from another angle. Oh well. At least I got the picture :O
Ominous-looking clouds
Inauspicious dark clouds hanging really low across the suburb of Cairnlea. It’s been really wet and cold these few days. Don’t forget your umbrella or stylish raincoat when you head out! And above all, stay warm.
Where Art Thou Week 15-The Night Cat
I really thought this was going to be a hard one. I mean it was just a picture of a wall. Jopas figured it out within an hour of the posting. Good job.
The Night Cat is one of the best venues in Fitzroy for live acts and dancing. Nope, not your usual Billy Joel cover songs but all kinds of music like jazz and salsa. Unlike most other venues, The Night Cat has loads of room to spread out, so there’s little chance of absorbing other people’s sweat (unless that’s your thing). On certain nights of the week, they teach various dance styles such as the Salsa. If you really want to hear the 80’s cover songs, then don’t fret, 120 Bar across the street plays 80’s music all night. Note: Both venues enforce the 2AM Lockout.
Links:
Dumb ass driver
To the train driver departing Parliament Station at 6:04pm on the Sydenham line, it’s an express train from Footscray to Sunshine, not stop all stations. Fucking idiot. And to those passengers who actually got off at Middle Footscray, West Footscray and Tottenham, you’re bigger idiots.
Tram Tracking Map
Tramroute.com shows the estimated positions of trams in Melbourne. You just pick the route and watch the tram dots slowly move along the roads. The site also features interactive timetables so you can plan your trip accordingly. The one thing that is missing is real time tram information, something I don’t think Yarra Trams would be keen to release as they have their own revenue stream through their TramTracker product. It would be interested to see how the real time map would look compared to this one. Most likely all the dots would be clumped in one section and then a big space between the next closest dot.
Links:
Tramroute.com [via Digg]
Where Art Thou Week 15
You can name what’s in the building or name of the street. It’s one of my favourite places in Melbourne (although not located in the CBD) to go on the weekends. Where Art Thou? Put your guesses in the comments. Answers on Friday.
Aquarium’s deadly residents
Visit the Melbourne Aquarium to see the latest residents in action. My favourite is the puffer fish, one of the most poisonous fish in the world. It will puff itself up to the shape of a balloon to scare off predators. Too bad they don’t cook them in the cafe, it will be interesting to find out what they taste like.
Other interesting animals include the stringrays, (have you ever sampled one?), sharks and tiny but poisonous frogs. These are some of the newest but deadly residents at the Melbourne Aquarium. They are part of the Extreme Fun exhibition coinciding with the school holidays.
Ticket info
———-
Adult: $26.50
Child (3-15yrs): $16.00
Concession: $18.00
Family (2 adults & up to 3 children): $75.00
Single Family
(1 adult & up to 3 children): $55.00
Additional Children: $11.50
The aquarium is open daily from 9.30 am to 6 pm. Last admission is at 5 pm or 1 hour before closing time.
Hot tip from an expert
At a friend’s engagement just last week, I made friends with one of the blokes. Turns out, he’s a private investigator who works for himself. It’s not a hard job, but long hours (mostly waiting and observing in his car) and peeing into a 1.5L plastic bottle does dull one’s senses after awhile.
We were exchanging views on the more ‘dangerous’ suburbs in West Melbourne as our conversation focused on housing prices and affordable suburbs. I couldn’t quite believe my ears when he mentioned the new suburb of Cairnlea is one of the most ‘dangerous’ suburb to live in right now. Yes, this is the same Cairnlea with the huge sprawling houses, massive plots of land and vibrant community. Most importantly, it’s mostly young couples with a good mix of races and nationalities.
“But,” my new friend said, “that’s exactly what the burglars are into. New homes, with young couples. They strike these homes as the couple mostly works in the day. It’s an easy target.”
I’ve been to Cairnlea. A lot. Many of my friends live there. If anything, I think the suburb is really peaceful and a great place for your kids to grow up in as the demographic is just right. I found it hard to believe my new friend, but coming from an expert’s point of view, I found it hard to reject his opinion as well.
What do you readers think? Any of you live in a new estate/suburb? Hot tips on keeping the house safe?
Last day to donate
Today is the last day of June, it is also the last day of the 2007 financial year. Today is the last day to donate to obtain a tax deduction for the 2007 financial tax year. So, final opportunities to donate to charities!
There are many charities who will be grateful for donations. Below are some of them, the list is not extensive.
Who’d be living at Parkville?
A group of friends who conducted door-to-door interviews with folks living in Parkville early this year received generally positive responses relating to the security of the area. Most residents, however, complained about the lack of services and the relative boredom of not having any form of entertainment in the area, ‘lest you trek/hike/drive/ride/hitch-a-ride down towards the busier suburbs.
The Age, today, painted a fresh new outlook for Parkville. According to a RACV analysis of police statistics and census numbers, Parkville came in at the Burglary Chart tops with a burglary rate of one in every 15 homes.
So, considering the calmness (boredom) and the activity (burglary), who would be wanting to live at Parkville? Something has to be wrong - current residents, feel free to correct me.
See The Age article here.
Food prices to increase
More bad news. So, now we know we are amongst the fattest people in the world. With the increased cost of fuel, it doesn’t surprise me that the cost of food will also increase.
According to today’s Herald Sun’s article, the cost of bread will apparently increase by 20 cents per loaf, eggs by 30 cents per dozen, milk by 5 cents per litre, chicken by 80 cents and lamb by $2.50 per kg. And if you are buying all these from a supermarket near you, they will add on the cost of transportation on top of more profit.
What does all this mean? Its time the whole nation go on a diet!
We are the fattest!
Nothing to be proud of but we are officially the fattest people in the world, beating the Americans at their own game!
According to the latest health report, 9 million Australians are obese. Which translates to 7 out of 10 men and 6 out of 10 women between the age of 45 to 64 have a BMI of 25 and over. That’s a scary thought.
Health experts are worried that there will be an increase of weight related illnesses such as heart diseases, strokes and knee injuries.
Just imagine, we will need bigger and wider seats on trams, buses, trains, and planes. The health cost will have to be increased, gyms and fitness centres will be profiting from people wanting to lose weight. A scarier thought is that the next generation of Australians might be more obese!
Are Australians really that fat?
News Link
Herald Sun’s “Obesity epidemic puts Aussies above Americans”
Guy tries to ride on all of Melbourne’s trains in one day
I was thinking the other day of how long it would take someone to ride each tram route from source to destination. Would it be possible to do it a day? Sure I guess if “nothing” went wrong but who would willingly want to stay on a tram for that long. Well, a guy called Heath Tully has set out on a similar mission to ride the entire train network of Melbourne.
Telstra and Connex have joined forces in this odd mission and he is providing instant updates via his phone/computer. I think more commendable is the overall prowess of completing 183 completely random goals before he is 30. Some of them are fairly easy “38. Do the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk” and some could be quite difficult such as “18. Meet Sir Richard Branson”. Good luck on completing 141.
Nowwearetalking- Ride all the trains in Melbourne
via [Digg]
We are now pseudo scottish!
Victoria now has its own official state tartan! Its blue with lines of pink, white and green. The Victorian tartan is registered with the Scottish Tartans World Register. And I quote
“It has blue for the colours on the coat of arms and the Eureka flag, five white lines for the stars of the Southern Cross, green denoting the olive branch on the coat of arms and pink for the floral emblem, the common heath.”
I wonder how much money the state spent on this?
I wonder, can anyone just buy it now and wear it?
Did anyone receive any mail yesterday?
Did anyone receive any mail yesterday? I received a parcel, from an Australian post contract courier. I did see the mailman on his motorcycle around the suburb, but there was no mail, unless you include junk mail as mail.
A look at the news says there was a snap strike at a sorting centre at the Dandenong Letters Centre. Well, that explains everything. Well, sort of. I thought strikes had to be announced in advance and snap strikes are no longer legal. Or have the rules all changed because Labour are now in power?
News Link
Herald Sun’s “Mail delayed by Australia Post Strike”
The Age “Picket at Vic post centre“
