personal – Page 3

Manly vs. Melbourne

I was in Sydney last week for the excellent WDS08, but it was some other aspects of Sydney that I want to write about this time.

1. Soul

Sydney doesn’t seem to have one. I find it an intensely sad city – I’m sure there are exceptions, but Sydney is beautiful in spite of what has been done to it, not because of it. I’ll admit that the areas I visited probably skewed my view, but at any time you can see thousands of people rushing along and not noticing the real world around them. It’s hard not to lust after harbour views, a fancy boat and a sports car when there is so much wealth so obviously on display, but I reckon Sydneysiders have forgotten how to be happy in themselves. A shame.

2. Rugby

While I was in Sydney, there was an incredible build up to the Rugby League Semi Final between the Cronulla Sharks and (the common enemy), Melbourne Storm. I honestly don’t give a toss about Rugby – the game bores me to tears, but I was amazed at the level of vitriol and wildly biased reporting that flooded the press and airways before the game. They had totally written Melbourne off well before the game started. Of course, Melbourne trounced Cronulla something like 26-0. I went back to my hotel room and watched the last 30 minutes or so, but the commentators wouldn’t give up… with literally minutes to go and a huge deficit – they continued to call the Melbourne players slow and tired. Obviously not as slow and tired as the Cronulla players, but that didn’t seem to register.

I can sort of understand the controversial comments from Melbourne Storm’s coach and Manager, I’ll be they get thoroughly sick of listening to that sort of garbage all season. Anyway, it’s all down to a Grand Final against Manly, who also thrashed their opposition, so they seem to be a worthy opponent.

3. Coffee

It’s a long standing joke that you can’t get a decent coffee in Sydney. I don’t think it’s really that bad, but there are still plenty of fancy cafés that don’t seem to worked it out. However, I am delighted to report that things are improving and I have found at least one place where the fussiest coffee snob can get a brew that is nothing short of superlative. It’s Manly once again – hmm… is there a pattern here? no! – but tucked away, just off the garish Corso, is Scuzi Mi (sorry, I can’t remember the name exactly) in Darley Road. You really can’t miss it – amongst the franchise cafés Sydney seems to be flooded with it, stands out like a sore thumb. I chose it because it looked like it belonged in Sydney Road and the long macchiato I had was nothing short of sensational.

the city bike…

If you’re visiting Adelaide and you like to ride a bike, you’re in luck. The city has a scheme of free bicycle hire it calls City Bikes. Yep, totally free – all you have to do is provide some sort of ID as collateral (eg: licence, passport), and you’re on your way, with a bike, helmet and lock.
The city is as flat as a pancake, the roads are generally wide and almost always quiet, and the parks have a network of well maintained trails. It is paradise on two wheels!

Daisy

Had to take dear old Daisy to the vet for the last time this morning.

Advanced kidney disease; she wasn’t eating and got thinner every day. The basket seemed heavier when I carried it home empty.

Thanks my sweet girl.

Radio Parts have a customer service problem…

… and sadly, I appear to be the victim.

About 6 months ago, I bought a PVR/set top box. I went with Wintal for a few reasons: I already had a non-recording Wintal set top box which had given no trouble; and the retailer, Radio Parts Group, assured me that they have their own repairers and could offer great backup. I have to say, apart from a slightly mystifying interface, the unit has been great… well it was great until it stopped. Don’t know why, but one day it just wouldn’t turn on, so it was time to try out Radio Parts’ great backup.

watching the wheels of government turn…

The web keeps popping up interesting experiences all the time – today I had another.

I subscribe to Get Up!. They are an activist group. I have to admit, I don’t really know who is behind them, but they don’t seem to be directly affiliated with any mainstream political group. Get Up harness the power of the web to promote well thought out campaigns on a wide variety of issues… Cluster bombs to saying Sorry. The most recent one was Public Transport.

Get Up asked its 280,000 odd members to write a message to their local member of parliament, which they said would be duly delivered. It’s an issue close to my heart, so I wrote to Kelvin Thompson – I thought it was a good little letter. I hope he liked it.

Now sometime over the weekend I got a message from a friend of mine, (a far more politically motivated person than I), about the launch of OpenAustralia.org, a website that lets you track the performance of your local member of parliament via email alerts, and just generally simplifies access to the formidable amount of information passing through parliament. So, naturally, I sign up to receive alerts about Kelvin – he’s not a high profile pollie, so I’ve no idea how active he is in the house and whether he’s earning my vote. OA tells me that he got really busy around the end of May, but has been pretty quiet since, so I was confident I wasn’t going to be swamped by email alerts.

Imagine my surprise when this afternoon, I get an alert… Kelvin said something! So, I head off to the site to see what he’s banging on about and what do you know?

In the last couple of weeks GetUp! has engaged in a follow-up to that initiative, with an email campaign promoting the need for public transport infrastructure. I have received around 200 of these emails and I dare say other MPs would have received similar correspondence. The GetUp! members take the trouble to personalise their emails, which I think is a good thing.

I think he’s read my email! … I am mildly impressed to have seen the political wheels turn so quickly.

Oh, and by the way, subscribe to Get Up! they do good stuff!

resilient

News reports tonight are describing the people of Burma as ‘resilient‘.

Certainly they are resilient. When we visited, we saw these people living in pretty ordinary circumstances – poverty, lack of basic services, poor to non-existent infrastucture, all against a constant undercurrent of oppression. Despite their obvious hardships, they were friendly and open, with a ‘can-do’ attitude and beautiful smiling faces.

They certainly don’t need this latest obstacle.

If you’re feeling a little compassionate, don’t be put off by the fact that Burma is run by a cadre of self serving military officials. I’m sure they’ll find a way to get their grubby hands on a portion of your money, but trust the aid agencies to do their best and get your money to the people who need it. Head over to the Red Cross Donations page and be generous.

the old sou’wester

Am I imagining things? Perhaps there’s someone out there that can help me with this.

As a kid, (many years ago!) I remember all the bad weather came from the south west. Cold, rainy days, cold fronts, storms – you name it, they all came out of the south west… as I remember, anyway. These days, when rain approaches Melbourne it is just as often from the north west and seems to get scattered by the ranges on that side of the city. I also remember summer storms – cracking shows with thunder and lightning and winds so strong that they swept the rain in spirals down our driveway. Obviously, we are still in drought and weather patterns are pretty grim, but this is one trend I feel has happened over the last 10 years.

So, the question – has anyone else noticed the relative lack of the old sou’wester? and storms, weren’t they almost inevitable after a hot day in summer?

Of course, those days we never had the wonderful BOM radar and all I remember is wonky lines on the ABC news weather map. I’m intending to look back over what records I can glean from the extensive bureau archives, but I thought I’d just pop the question here too, in case others have noticed it.

Well said, Kevin

When you hear it, you know it is right.

sorry

a standing ovation no less, and not a dry eye in the House.

Terry Chops, but reveals nothing!

I consider myself quite internet-savvy. I’ve seen most memes and scams come and go, so it pains me to admit that I have been taken in by one.

Yes, I’m afraid my initial entusiasm for Terry’s Chop Shop is now tainted with the belief that it has just been a viral marketing campaign all along. Bloody clever one all the same!

Petrol to hit $25/litre!

I remember in the early 70’s when the world was experiencing it’s first “Oil Shock”. Cruising along, dad at the wheel of the old Humber Super Snipe (kewl eh?) when the interviewee on the radio made the dire prediction that petrol would get to $1 a gallon. (Yes, it was definitly gallons, the ‘metrication’ program ran from 1960 to 1988).

My memory says we were paying about 40c/gallon (about 9c/litre) at the time. The predictions, equivalent to 22c/l., were exceeded within 5 years.

petrol at $1.48.5 Well, last week the predictions were for $1.50/litre and sure enough, today I was filling up at $1.48.5. It won’t be long! Fortunately for me, the tank on my little CB250 could only hold 12.5 l. so I’m still only using 4 l./100km. I can see the current scooter craze is only going to strengthen in the coming years.

So, what about the future? I can’t see the rate of increase slowing – carbon taxes and dwindling resources will almost certainly see it increase, but for arguments sake, lets assume a constant figure. My youngest child is now about the same age I was then, so it’s a given that by the time she’s my age she’ll be paying at least $25/litre for petrol.

I think I’ll walk!

‘allo, ‘allo, ‘allo!

Credit for spotting this goes to my good lady, but this week’s theft of a Garbage truck, as reported on page 28 the Moreland Leader (December 10, 2007) seems to be an “open and shut case” as they say in crime reporting parlance.

I only hope the local plods are reading the paper too, because on page 16 is a red hot clue to the whereabouts of the missing truck. Tucked among the Letters to Santa is this intriguing admission from young Fabian of Pascoe Vale:

Surely we’ve got the culprit red handed! He might even be wearing a full red suit… can’t be hard to spot someone like that, can it? Hang on a minute: did he say he wanted a digger too?!

the union scare campaign…

Yesterday, I was asked a question from a newspaper quiz “Who is the premier of Queensland?”. I remember Peter Beattie, but I also remember his graceful resignation – I have to admit, I’d never heard of Anna Bligh, but today I’m a fan!

The Spring issue of the NTEU journal NEXUS features a quote from her that displays an eloquence, intelligence and incisiveness rarely seen in politics these days:

“I believe the question was whether 90 per cent of the members of my cabinet are union members. I think the answer to that is no. I believe that 100 per cent of my cabinet are members of relevant trade unions.

Not only are they members of their relevant trade unions; they are proud members of their relevant trade unions. They are proud of that, because trade unions have been one of the organisations that have built this country.

They secured the eight-hour day. They secured decent working conditions so that people could feed their families and be safe in their workplaces. There is no shame in it – none whatsoever.

The member wants to come snivelling in here doing the dirty work of John Howard. We do not resile for one minute from the fact that people on this side of the House care about the interests of working people. In terms of the talent of my cabinet, I will stack them up one by one against every runt of the litter that the other side lines up.”

Stirring stuff! Sadly, it is a bit of a lone voice in a landscape where the government’s cowardly campaign should never have gained traction.

I am constantly amazed at how few of my colleagues make the connection between the past work of Unions and their own comfortable circumstances. I certainly don’t agree with everything unions say and do, but the reality is that there are just as many lunatics on the conservative side, and if we, as workers with families and children who will be workers in the future fail to support the unions now, then the future lack of balance will be to our detriment.

Join a union today.