Last Saturday night I was hauled along with the family to a 14th birthday party. There was a fairly good mix of age groups there but mostly adults and people (including your friend and humble narrator) who felt they had better things to do on a Saturday night.
After the ceremonial cutting of the cake, most of the younger children has been banished away to play playstation and the conversation which had been initiated by the 14 year old had changed to very adult subjects, sort of like a weird spin the bottle.
When the conversation changed to the subject of smoking, drugs and life in the 70’s. Most of the 40 somethings (including the parents of the 14 year old) spilled their beans about how many joints they smoked while listening to Pink Floyd and how many skyhooks concerts they saw while smashed beyond their wildest dreams.
Oddly enough my parents stayed very quiet during this part of the conversation. While I can only assume that they would not want to let the proverbial skeletons out of the closet. I now start to wonder if life for them growing up was as bad as they originally made it out to be.
You might recall well over ten years ago the City of Melbourne closed Swanston St from Flinders St to Latrobe street to help with the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and most importantly trams down that overcrowded thoroughfare. While I am too young to recall the reaction to the closure, I think it was one of those ‘it was a good idea at the time’ council plans.
In 2006 Melbourne seems to be facing similar problems in relation to overcrowding of streets and Trams. The options for the Council are fairly limited with their options: on Elizabeth St you have the Tram Terminus which causes most cars to divert down Collins St to avoid the intersection at Flinders St, Burke St has been permanently closed to traffic which moves traffic down La Trobe and Lonsdale Streets.
I wonder what would happen if the Council selectively closed parts of Swanston St leaving the major intersections open? There was talk at one stage of tram shuttles or the amalgamation of certain routes? What about taxi drop off and pickup points and the banning of medium and large trucks during peak hour?
So what do you think?
Over the weekend I will be adding a new section on the links side containing all the podcasts that I listen to. I’ve created a summary of the best ones for your enjoyment:
Desci and Bob Show
For some reason Desci and Bob remind me of Lucille Ball and Ricky Arnaz. What the hell is with that?
Open Source Sex
I discovered this one while listening to the Desci and Bob Show.
Samuel’s Presiflarge
Has some interesting interviews with people in the radio business, otherwise fairly banal. High production values make it all the more interesting.
Make
It’s the only overseas magazine that I subscribe to. Basically its a do-it-yourselfers magazine for people into technology or just like experimenting.
jkOnTheRun
This podcast rocks! If you are a gadget head I highly recommend this one.
I also added unboxing.com to the list of recommended reads. I’m not too sure if I should add spatula-city.net… I’ve seen Andy B driving trams mainly on the 96. I wonder what would happen if I went up to him and said ‘hello Andy, I’m your number one fan’… Anyone up for a bet?
My whole life I’ve been reasonably healthy, no major issues other than the standard braces in year 9. So by the end of year 12, I began to go on the slippery slide to unhealthy eating and lack of exercise thanks to too much partying, laziness and having to cope with university and work.
To prove the point: in the two and a half years since the end of year 12, I’ve put on almost 20kg to tip the scales at roughly 97kg (last check). I had big plans to loose the weight by my 21st and seeing that date is slowly creeping up I have two options: Lypo or hard and fast.
So far I’ve change my diet and removed almost all takeaway food except for a sandwich or wrap at the local cafe. Sweets, salty foods, and anything that comes from the supermarket freezer (other than veggies) are gone as well. All that is left is lean meats, vegetables and fruit - I’m more of a fruit man.
In terms of exercise or physical exuberance I now walk for one and a half hours 3 times a week and I walk Queens Park and play with the RC for about two hours on the weekend, depending on the weather.
While the scale still hovers around 95-93kg I feel a lot more healthier, plenty more energy and happier with the knowledge that in 30 or 40 years time I won’t be asking the public health system for handouts because my heart is about to give out.
Occasionally, I work in a conference centre to help out and make a little extra cash on the side. Today the centre had a group that has booked out the place three years in a row for their annual Freud Conference. Last year there were problems with the sound system. This year the sound system was fine but the air conditioning was acting out. I suppose you can’t win them all.
The building has a small parking area for about 30 cars. 23 of the 30 cars that were in the car park were Saabs. I wonder if psychologists go to the same dealership? Maybe I should just stop stereotyping…
This years crowd was much too pretentious for my liking. While they were psychoanalysing the mind of primary school bully (Primus Bullyus) from the Freud perspective, they turned the lunch into a wankfest of who thought what of which Freud theory was more important and who’s thesis agreed with the theories of Freud’s theorising more.
Generally the people were rude, boorish old farts who had a chip on their shoulder — so the $32.50 an hour I’m earning to clean up after you isn’t enough? — mix that with a couple of Fitzroy street cafe latte metros and you have yourself an interesting 18 hours.
So the day began fairly early, showered, dressed, packed and ready to Southern Cross at 6:30 AM. I had to ditch the camera because I forgot to charge the batteries the night before.
The 7:40 train heading up to Bendigo was a new V/Locity. Bombardier construct some pretty solid rolling stock, the fit-out of the train was reasonably nice however the particular set I was on was extremely noisy. It sounded like a prime mover when accelerating and made this high pitch whine when braking.
I arrived in Bendigo around about lunch time and decided to hunt out food. Ended up having some fish and chips at the park where I kicked back for a short while while just enjoying the great weather. The whole town seemed to be like Melbourne, only a little bit more relaxed and sans wiggers, druggos, bogans and bums.
Checked out the architecture around the centre of town including the old Myers building, the town centre and a couple of the old pubs. The Cathedral is definitely worth taking a look at.
Rode on the talking tram tour and a tour around the museum. The museum also had a Z1 class lurking out back. They were fairly doubtful that the thing would be run while Melbourne still has their Z1’s in service. I wonder what a B2 tram would be like up in Bendigo. Maybe a whole new transportation system can be built around the stock that Yarra Trams no longer want.
Anyway, by the time 2:00 rolled by and I decided to make my way back to the station. Being on foot in an unfamiliar area can make for an interesting experience. I made it back just in time to take the train home. This time it was an N Set. While the design of the train reminded me of something out of the 70’s it was a far more comfortable ride than the V/Locity, no heavy braking and hardly any noise. I found myself sitting next to a used car sales man from Queensland and a fruit picker from Mildura. While the conversation was horribly banal it was good to talk to someone on the way home.
So yeah, that’s basically it. The five hour experience was pretty interesting, it felt great not being stopped on the street by someone I knew to make ‘teh conversation or being asked for spare change by a druggo.
Would I live in Bendigo? Maybe. If there was a reason to? Definitely. Would certainly make for a interesting seachange.
Today is my parents 25th anniversary. Normally I would make some wise crack about how surprising it is that the shotgun wedding lasted but I am all out of wit. Anyway, last night we had a small event at home with a couple close friends and family and today lunch at Crown’s Conservatory.
I’m too tired to write much else other than I would hate to know what the next 25 years will be like.
I probably shouldn’t say this but I’m one of those people who one day are here, another missing, uncontactable, whereabouts unknown. Incognito. Not to say that I am not reliable, if something needs to be done it gets done, properly and on time.
But when things get boring I go out, explore the city and other hidden gems around town. Normally privately because I am that kind of person. I’ve decided I need to be a bit more bolder with my wonderings so I’m planning a train trip to Bendigo. The idea is to leave the city first thing on Friday and be back by late afternoon the same day.
My ultimate goal is to see the Bendigo tramways. So far I’ve set up an elaborate web of lies: Home: Uni, Work: Home, Uni: Work. Worked out the timetable for the day and the supplies I will need to take.
I’ll be taking the DSLR with me in order to get some good snaps of the trip. Are there any other sites around Bendigo that you readers on teh intrawebs can recommend?
We went down to Docklands for a late breakfast, early lunch. Medici had a special which for the price gave us a four course lunch and not those crappy one ravioli in the middle of the plate rip-offs but a real meal.
Luckily, we left Medici before the lunchtime rush. The number of parents and screaming little shits was enough to make me glad that we were leaving the area. After a short stroll on the promenade, mum decided that we should head cross town to the NGV or St Kilda Road seeing she hasn’t been there since before the redevelopment.
I’ve been twice in the last three months so there wasn’t anything new for me. Dad decided to go on his own way and explore the Asian art while mommy dear and I looked at the 19th - 20th century art. One thing that shits me to no end is the parents who bring their kids and think it is some kind of day care centre where they can do what they fucking want.
I remember being told as a kid by my mother to behave because we are in a ‘grownups’ place. Of cause dad would chime in with his and if you don’t I’m going to beat the living snot out of you - but that story is for another day.
Seriously, just because its bloody mothers day doesn’t give you the right to let your spoilt little shits behave like they have a right to do anything they want.
I went to the Virgin Megastore (heh heh virgin) today to purchase some CD’s and DVD’s, little more pricier than Borders or JB but hey, when you can’t be fucked walking. Two of the four counters were open and the queues were fairly long. After about 10 minutes I finally got to the front of the line…
ME = Me (Duh).
VW = Virgin Wrench.
NL = Man in next line.
ME: Hi hows it going?
VW: I’m sorry but the man in the line next to you has been waiting longer.
ME: Excuse me?
VW: Could you please let the man in the line next to you go ahead?
ME: No.
NL: Its quite alright.
VW: (Gesturing to other man) Please come through.
ME: With the time you have wasted you could have put the items through.
VW: With the time you have wasted this man could have been served.
// WTF?? Hello, Customer Service 101
ME: So is this what Virgin calls customer service?
VW: I’m behind the counter so I get to decide who goes next.
ME: Right, so what happens if I ask your supervisor who goes next?
VW: (Silence).
ME: Exactly. And from my perspective it would be risky to piss off a customer with over $250 worth of goods in his hands (Editor note: Mothers day). But look what happened, you just did.
I ended up dumping the CD’s and DVD’s I was carrying on the counter and walked off. In case you were wondering, I did get some satisfaction out of being a prick.
I wonder what Richard Branson would have done if he had been in my situation.
