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]

Project 183

Myki, so-called smartcard, but should really be called stupid-card.

Myki, was supposed to have been introduced in the second half of 2007. Well, we are almost into the mid-year of 2008, and we have just been informed that there is a delay of a mere 3 years and a billion dollars over budget.

Why do we bother? Cheaper to give everyone free rides for the next couple of years, if the government is into throwing money away.

I can understand the complexity of the required software to compute the best fare for the user, but this contract was tendered for a specific time period for a specific budget. I can never understand why nor how an overdue project can be extended, seemingly, indefinitely and money continuously poured into it until completion, regardless of whether the requirements have been achieved.

Last week, Vivian Miners, chief executive of the Transport Ticketing Authority, is no longer there. Who else is next?

We’ve all seen it outside the State Library. At first, it’s what the hell is that? But after you pass it by enough times its just another eccentric design of Melbourne that happens to be a favourite of skaters.

It’s actually a sculpture design made out of Port Fairy bluestone called Architectural Fragment by Petrus Spronk. Designed in 1992 and unveiled in 1993 as part of the Swanston Walk Public Art Project, it is one of the most recognizable sculptures in Melbourne. The artist created his design to resemble the portico of the library sinking in to the pavement. Inspired by the the island of Pythagoras and Pythagorean theorem, the fragment is built in a 3:4:5 ratio.

Other recognizable works in the Swanston Walk project are the ornate bench across the street outside Unilodge and the three business men waiting for a tram on the corner of Bourke and Swanston Street.

Petrus Spronk
Visit Victoria: Architectural Fragment

Picture by H4NUM4N

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, State Library of Victoria, Victoria, Petrus Spronk

I am finally following up on squirt’s first post. Here is what a (poor) international student can make out of $20 on an average school-day:

Brunch in school: $8.50
Dinner at Dominos with discount coupon (courtesy of OZbargain): $6.95
Bottle of 1.5L coke from Safeway: $1.65

Total: $17.10

Evidence that you can survive on $20 a day with $2.90 to spare.
Not recommended, of course.

Links:
Metroblogging Melbourne $20 Project
Find out more about the $20 Project.

This is Melbourne’s first contribution to our worldwide Metroblogging $20 project. It is about what we can buy with the equivalent of $20 in US currency. Given the current exchange rate, it is as good as a one-to-one exchange. So, what can I buy with 20 Australian dollar? Well, a trip to my closest Coles supermarket had given me the following:

Mainland Tasty slice cheese, 210 grams : $4.29
Original Black label orange juice, 1.5 litre : $4.19
Coles Dairy milk, 1 litre : $1.47
Arnotts Salada biscuits, 250 grams : $2.36
Earth’s choice fabric softener, 1 litre : $1.70
Brushed potatoes @ $2.48/kg, 1.077 kg : $2.67

The entire shopping costs $16.68. I spent $3.95 on a cup of chai tea latte from Gloria Jeans, which takes me to a total of $20.63.

The $20 covers what I usually buy from the supermarket, except for the potatoes. Bloody expensive potatoes. I have to start growing some in my garden!

Oh, and a litre of petrol is $1.26 near my home. You can find the petrol prices in your suburb on the RACV website.

Find out more about the $20 Project.
Tell us how you can stretch $20!

Picture courtesy of the RBA.

A couple of months back we brought you news of artist Julie Shiels and her ongoing CityTraces project (see the initial post here: ‘Botanist of the Pavement’).

We’re now more than halfway along, with the project set to culminate in a gallery showing at 45 Downstairs in November, and our city’s Botanist of the Pavement has been leaving traces behind for others to contemplate.

The most recently photographed object in the Botanist series sent a little shiver down my spine, when I thought about how briefly that piece of card would be there for, considering it’s placement…

Check the locations listed beneath the photographs; a mysterious source informs me that Caledonia Lane and Tattersalls Lane are among the most likely places to find future artifacts.

The same source advises, “Taking them home is de rigeur”… which makes you think. There could be something happening here, between the ephemerality of the pieces and the need for permenanence and preservation that a collector feels. Or perhaps it has more to do with the work being absorbed into the city (and occasionally it’s population) itself?

Re: Neil’s post the other day, I thought I’d link to a really cool project over at State Library. They’re digitising the old MMBW records, and you can now view the map covering the period 1890 to 1950.

There are three layers of map, so you have to kind of know where you’re clicking (if you’re looking for your house), but it’s also fun for a casual browse. At the Street Detail level of the map you can even see where the outhouses, kitchens, etc were.

The system isn’t completely intuitive, so play around with it for a while. You have to click the “select” button and then click the map to go down to the next level.

In 1897, my house was the Dove Hotel. Pretty cool.

Project Info [State Library]
MMBW Digitised Records [State Library]

If you have walked around Docklands / Victoria Harbour you might have noticed these stumps erected near the dock. Mugley, who took this photo labelled it as “viagra testing ground”. I don’t think he is too far off but I’m guessing this is some sort of art project.

Picture via Mugley

View Larger Map

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Docklands, Australia, Victoria Harbour

“Firefly” fanclub Can’t Stop The Serenity Melbourne is holding a sepcial event for all feminists and Joss Whedon fans: they are holding a special screening of the sci-fi movie Serenity at RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre, 360 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Tickets cost $14 online, and will be $15 at the doors (which open at 6:30, Saturday the 23rd June - thats one week away). As well as the movie itself, they will be showing a Canadian fan-made parody of the Firefly TV series, called “Mosquito”, and you’ll get to see previews for a Melbourne-based fan project. Proceeds from the event will go towards the international feminist lobby group Equality Now, which campaigns on Womens Rights issues around the world (from discriminatory laws to stoning to FGM - and if you don’t know what that stands for, go to the website now…).

*Serenity Charity Screening website
*Joss Whedon blogging on the absolute need for feminist action

Artist and teacher Julie Shiels has been giving Melbournians reasons to keep their eyes open since at least the early 1980s, and over the next four months, she will be exploring “the way people use the city by photographing and writing about the events and conversations that are overlooked”. She writes to Melbourne Metroblog: “Using objects, text and stories and a series of my own interventions, I am re-presenting a view of Melbourne that is surprising and unexpected, but immediately recognisable. The project crosses over between the cyber and physical domains using the web and public space as sites for exhibition.”

At the Botanist of the Pavement website she documents traces of life in Melbourne, and relates conversations from locations around the city. Along with the photographic record online, expect to see various bits of temporary public art cropping up around Melbourne.

There are always good reasons to keep your eyes open in this city, with the pavement art, the unexpected bits of city art you stumble into every now and then (just the other day I walked through a dingy alley and found myself surrounded by pictures in elaborate frames), not to mention one of the most vibrant graffiti communities in the Western world. Julie also draws our attention to the other, less obvious signs of life littered around the city, taking us to places both hidden and out in the open, “from the centre to the edges.”

The project will culminate in November of this year, when the gallery 45 Downstairs (located at number 45 Flinders Lane, downstairs…) will be exhibiting ‘emblematic’ objects related to the project.

I don’t know about you, but this is inspiring me to set aside some time to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and just go exploring.