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“

You have to feel sorry for Werribee. Not only does it suffer from Boganitis but is also infamous for it’s sewage farm. Yes, 55% of Melbourne’s sewage goes to Werribee. Here’s a joke to start off our shortened week.

HURRICANE APPEAL

A major hurricane (Hurricane Shazza) and an earthquake Measuring 5.8 on theRichter scale hit the Werribee/Sanctuary Lakes area early Friday afternoon with its epicentre near the Geeelong Freeway.

Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly, muttering “Faaackinell”. The hurricane decimated the area causing approximately $30.00 worth of damage. Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their centrelink Cheques arrived.

The Leader Newspaper reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with it. One resident - Traycey Sharrynn Smith, a 16-year-old mother of 5 said “It was such a shock, my little girl, Chardonnay-Mercedes came running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Harley and Kev slept through it all.”

Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal.

The Australian Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Bacardi-Breezers to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including Health Care Cards, Jewellery and Lap Tops from Officeworks.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for thoseunfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster. Clothing is most sought after - items most needed include: Baseball caps, Da-da tracksuits, singlets (blue & white), white sport socks, Nike boots, any other items usually sold at Dimmey’s or The Reject Shop.

Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same.Required foodstuffs urgently needed include: Microwave meals, baked beans,Ice cream, Chips, Fizzy drinks. Donations of $15.00 will be taken to buy a packet of Winny blue 25s and alighter to calm the nerves of those affected.

**Breaking news** Werribee Uniting Church has cancelled their local “Nativity Display” due to their inability to find three wise men or a virgin.
Thanks to Strider

When looking for a good image for this post, I found The Werribee Blog. Good for a laugh.

Just an add on to Darren’s fog post (and mine several days back). The annual Fog Festival has descended upon our shores again. Drive slowly and carefully, and remember, do not turn on those pesky high beams. Image was taken Sunday night in Cairnlea at 11.30pm, after dinner at a friend’s. The fog makes for pretty pictures, but vision’s obscured to less than 30 feet. As of this morning, the fog’s having a field day with communications and transport.

I had a chance to walk down Lygon Street over the weekend. Friends and family of the two killed (Raed “Ali” Marouche & Mohammed Moussa) have erected a memorial on the lamp post. Just meters down the road near the phone box, as seen in the far distance of the photo is the memorial for Damian Cooper. In an even stranger twist, it appears that the driver’s brother died in similar circumstances seven years ago, further up Lygon Street.

Links:

Melbourne Metblogs: Change out of a Tragedy and Hoons

Herald Sun: Two sons died on same street

Following Adrock’s post on Melbourne’s railway overhauls, I caught the the new Connex advertisement on TV one evening and it rocks my socks. Of course, everyone still hates Connex anyway.

It’s a great PR campaign for a network that is constantly failing, though - just blame the city that is growing exponentially.

Imagine if tomorrow you had to move a city,
Take nurses to hospitals, school kids to schools,
Futures analysts to, well… wherever it is futures analysts go.

Imagine getting all these people,
Hundreds and thousands of them to where they needed to be.
That’s what Connex does everyday.

It’s a big job, and as Melbourne grows it’s getting bigger.
Which is why we’re making changes to the network,
Adding more carriages, more staff and more services.
You can see our new plan at connexmelbourne.com.au

Connex - We’re moving more people everyday.

And the score that plays throughout the advertisement reminds me of the theme from Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Though, when the tractor in the advertisement stopped at the intersection (when everyone turned to stare in awe at the speeding Connex train), I was half-expecting a semi-trailer to come running into it and turn it into an advertisement for safe driving.

See the advertisement on Connex’s site here: http://www.connexmelbourne.com.au/index.php?id=204

Heading home in Carlton this evening, I spotted a caucasian man, in his late thirties with a short, stout build, fitted into a dark coloured jumper and a black beanie (looking so classically burglar-ish), fiddling about with a bicycle parked next to a sign post. After handling the heavy chain for abit and studying the lock, (discounting the fact that I was practically staring at him) he figured it would be too much trouble cutting the lock, and walked off.

Very dodgy.

What would you have done?

Andrew from += woowoowoo += caught this gem in last week’s issue of the Moreland Leader.

Makes me thankful of our big EDIT button.

Link:

+= woowoowoo += :Post title in here…

Welcome to the redesigned site. After many months of hard work by Jason & Sean, the new redesign is finished. Other than the frontend look, we have switched from the very very slow Movable Type platform to the faster Wordpress platform. To comment on a post, you will require an account which you can create within a few seconds. There’s a lot more features that we are still going over and a few bugs that are still in the system (my pictures have disappeared :( ) but all in all, it’s a change for the better. Give us a few days to go back to “business as usual” while we all adjust.

Update, Day 2: Feeds are back baby! Welcome feed readers.

Apparently the City Library is running a zine workshop along with a zine exhibition.

Hypatia (fizit) writes in a livejournal post that there will be an opening night next Wednesday (20/2) from 6 to 7.45, but the exhibition will be running in the gallery there from from two days ago up to the 28th of Feb.

According to the website, there will also be a zine workshop next weekend, and you can book a spot on 9658 9500.

Sorry, another tennis related post but cmon its exciting for Melbourne. I managed to get a great deal on EBAY the night before for a Vodafone pass. I was fortunate enough to see Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and a few others play. Given its my first time at the Australian Open, I made a few notes and pictures.

-Unlike previous years, ground passes will NOT get you into games at Vodafone Arena. Definitely worth the extra ~$20 for the Vodafone pass.

-Vodafone session passes will get you into every game at the arena on the day. Rod Laver tickets are only for individual games.

-Sharapova although still pretty, has a lot of competition in the looks category. Ivanovich comes to mind.

-Sharapova gets a bad rap of being loud but there were plenty of other girls (and guys) grunting at the same level.

-Metlink has done an excellent job with public transport to Melbourne Park including staff pointing people to trams and a vast amount of trams.

-Despite the capsicum spray incident, tennis crowds are by far the best crowds.

-The new blue Flexicushion courts look great.

-My prediction: Serena Williams to win the womens singles.

Definitely a fun time, with the first week having the most amount of matches to see. I would consider getting a 5 day pass next year.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne Park, Vodafone Area, Australian Open