Touching Base

God I hate that term. I over hear it used at work sometimes. Thankfully no one says it to me, if they did I'd punch them in the nose. I assume the term is of American origin, talking about touching bases in a baseball game. Perhaps not?

Anyway just "touching base" with another general update...

On Friday night I went to a play put on by one of the local amateur theater companies. It was called Silvia and was about a man finding a stray dog called Silvia in the park and taking her home. Basically he fell in love with the dog making his wife jealous. Silvia (the dog remember) was played by a person, and was almost too convincing in the role. As was said in they play, she really did have a cute butt, especially when she came back from the dog groomers in the frilly French knickers (ooh la la!).

One of the actors ( a man) played three roles, another male dog owner in the park, a female friend of the wife, and a gender bending psychiatrist. As he/she put it in the play, "am I a man pretending to be a woman or a woman pretending to be a man". By far the best of this trio was the female friend, who had trouble walking in high heels, an alcohol problem and who seemed to attract much attention from the dog. This resulted in more than a glimpse of suspenders and stockings from under her dress, and the audience in stitches. One observation I made of some of the older men in the audience at this point was that they didn't seem too keen on the idea of a man in drag, in fact they looked a bit uncomfortable if not threatened, the women however loved it.

Saturday, I went to the football. In the end Collingwood beat Carlton, I was very happy, we are now third on the ladder. Afterwards we went to the (new for this year) usual pub, the Imperial on the corner of Bourke Street and Spring Street. That place is bride central on Saturday afternoon, I reckon I saw at least 5 or 6 on the walk there. The other thing we saw on the walk from the 'G' was a pair of international students (they were Asian, and I assume that all young Asian people I see in the city are international students) throwing a tennis ball to each other in the Fitzroy Gardens. Not so strange, except that they were putting very little effort into their throws and showing almost no facial expression.

After a pint at the pub (happy hour!), we made our way down Little Bourke street looking for a feed. We ended up in a little place in Heffernan Lane called Kum Den (no I kid you not, almost as good as hung long video). For the price, the food was exceptional. Although, I was a bit concerned about the upside down Barramundi swimming around in the fish tank (there were at leas two of them), I made mental note not to order any fish dishes...

Sunday was of course mothers day. We took mum out for lunch to a nursery/cafe in Yarrambat. The food was pretty good, especially the mud cake I had for dessert. Later in the afternoon we went around to my brothers house for a barbecue which was also good. For mothers day this year I gave mum a DVD of Sweet Charity and Thoroughly Modern Milly (she likes old musicals) and some Belgian Sea Shel Chocolates, she seemed quite pleased.

From my eldest brother in Northern NSW mum didn't get a present, but instead the news that he is in the process of leaving his wife, which is not really the worst news in the world because we all (Mum, my brother in Melbourne, his wife and myself) think she is a bitch have seen it coming for years. Even my eldest niece (she's 10), daughter of eldest brother thinks it's a good thing that they get separated. The marriage was quite literally at the behest of a farmer with a shotgun not quite 11 years ago (you do the calculations). So far, it seems like an amicable separation...

The truth about Americans...

If we ever needed proof that Americans (by Americans I mean the U.S. government and agents there of ...mostly. I do realise that there are many switched on individuals in the USA just like everywhere else) are a bit dim about happenings (just) outside their borders, then read this.

I wish we had coins like this.

The good and the bad days

Yesterday was a good day, today was a bad day. Most days lately fall into the bad category. I've been late to work (while I have no set starting time, by late I mean that I arrive after my preferred arrival time), I've been tired, and feeling generally crap. Yesterday I worked out what it is. It's a lack of sleep, and a lack of preparation for the next day the night before. It feeds on itself, making me later and feeling crappier as each day passes, and it affects this blog, because I don't feel like using the computer at home when I'm in this state.

The difference with yesterday was that on Sunday night I made my lunch, arranged what I was going to wear, and went to bed early.

I also blame Connex, as if I leave too late and miss the 15 minute window of easy connections at Flinders Street I'm half an hour "late" for work. It happened this morning, I missed all four of my optimal conections, add in the uncertainty of which platform the next train leaves from, a bit of essence of late running, and you've got a recipe for me being pissed off. I mean my train left from platform 13 for gods sake, and then it was about 7 minutes late.

The ironing is taken care of, so right now I'm off to make some sandwiches...

ANZAC Biscuits

Almost forgot to mention that the night before ANZAC day I decided to make ANZAC biscuits. This was my first time cooking biscuits, and that despite not realising exactly how much bigger a table spoon is compared to a desert spoon (where some evasive action saved the mixture from being too dry), they turned out very well. I got my recipe from an ANZAC Day website, which also includes a little background info on how they came to be.

ANZAC Day

Here is the belated ANZAC Day post I intended to post on the night of the 25th, but didn't.

Mum and I went into the city after the parade had finished and visited the Shrine. Arriving after 1pm we managed to catch the very end of the service. As the crowds dispersed we went over to the eternal flame, where for some odd reason people were throwing coins into it as if it were a wishing well. I don't understand why they would do this, and I certainly do not approve, what a waste of money.



On the way back towards the city we were diverted around the St Kilda Road end of the shrine forecourt/ANZAC Avenue (we were diverted on the way in as well but didn't know why). It turned out that someone had left a bag behind and the bomb squad had been called to check it out. We got to watch the bomb squad robot empty the contents of the bag on to the ground before a police officer in a "bomb proof" suit came out to inspect it. luckily it was a false alarm.


By now we were hungry, and went to the Southgate for lunch, I ended up having a Nando's supremem chicken burger (or something like that). It was nice, especially the roll, but I still think I prefer Oporto. While the Nando's peri-peri is nice and hot which I like, I think I prefer the flavour of the Oporto chili.

After lunch it was onwards along the Yarra, past the Casino and the Exhibition centre and across the river to Docklands. It turns out that the Melbourne Maratime Museum, more commonly known as "The Polly Woodside" is closed, and the whole trail along South Wharf is due to be closed in the next month due to the nearby construction of the new convention centre and Hilton Hotel. Also to be constructed is a new footbridge linking the Exhibition Centre and the world Trade Centre.

After climbing the docklands hill to admire the view it was only a short walk to Southern Cross station and the train home. At Jolimont many Essendon supporters joined the train, the good news was that they had left game early as Collingwood was winning. That pretty much topped the day off for me.

Washing Machine Mystery #42

Why is it that my shorts always manage to turn themselves inside out? Although technically they turn themselves outside in, because I wash my clothes inside out, but I think you understand what I mean...

In case you didn't guess, I did some washing this morning, I hope it fines up a bit more so it get's a chance to get half dry. According to the radar the showers have all but gone from this neck of the woods.

Speaking of rain, the neighbours were washing their car in the rain this morning, ingenious.

Hey Buddy

I hate being called buddy. It's always people I don't know who call me buddy. I don't know you, and I'm not your buddy. I probably shouldn't take offense, but to me it is something of a put down. Don't do it OK people don't like it.

Easter

Better late than never, eh...

Easter this year was pretty good.

Friday:

Went to the movies with a friend to see Mr Bean's Holiday.

Definitely better than the last Mr Bean Film, and different enough from the TV series to make it worthwhile. While it did include some of the same old jokes, most of the film was new material. It was good to see Mr Bean make some friends for a change. Don't be put off by the bad reviews, they don't know what they are talking about.

I'll give it **** (four stars)

Saturday:

Shopping.

Sunday:

Visited my brother, his wife and kids at Anglesea with mum. The had a camping site in the foreshore caravan park from Good Friday until last Sunday. The weather was great, I actually went swimming. Most people were going in with wet suits on (wimps!), but I braved it, due to the fact that I don't actually own a wet suit. After the usual initial shock of cold water it was fine, the problem was getting out. Later on my cousin and her husband who happened to be down that way dropped in for an unexpected visit. I ended up drinking a beer which meant that I couldn't drive home, so Mum had to drive home. We stopped at Hungry Jacks in Geelong for dinner on the way home.

Monday:

Went and had a look at the Hobsons Bay Model Railway Exhibition. This is always by far the best model railway show around. Until last year it was always held in the stadium at Albert Park Secondary College, but due to that school closing it was moved to Collingwood College. I found it a bit so so this year, perhaps like the air show I feel I've seen it all before. One of the best things about these types of events is the sausage sizzle, unfortunately this year a new system was implemented whereby you had to go and buy a ticket from the canteen before going out to the BBQ and collect your sausage. Unfortunately the last ticket was sold to the person in line in front of me. Not happy.

Hungry, and for some reason or other we decided to make our way to Beacon Cove for fish and chips at D'Lish. Not as expensive as Doyle's in Sydney, but still pretty good. The final leg of the day was a drive down along the bay to Mordialloc, and back to Elwood before cutting cross country via Hotham Street, Alexandra Parade,Grange Road, Madden Grove, Swan Street, Power Street, Denmark Street, Princess Street, Willsmere Road Kilby Road and Burke Road, back to the right side of the Yarra.

That's about it really.

Are Apples Lemons?(And Computers in General...)

All these people with iPods that they need to send back for repair have got me wondering as to whether, Apple really do make quality products. Mind you, I've never really heard about any apple computers having serious problems. Perhaps it's more to do with the number of people who use these products, with iPods making up a large proportion of mp3 players out there, problems are more likely to get noticed, while the relatively small proportion of Mac computers go largely unnoticed. I don't know anyone (in person anyway) that uses a Mac (OK I have a crappy old Powerbook, but I never use it, it was a fad with me at the time), and yet they seem to get a much higher coverage in the media, than their actual installed user base (marketing 101).

The above is what I originally intended to post, what follows is the diarrhea that flows out of my brain after midnight.



On a number of occasions in the last 6 months or so I've been temped to just go out and buy a mac mini to see what the fuss is about, If I like it I'll keep it, otherwise it will go on eBay. That is until I realise I can get a much better spec'ed PC for about half the price, one that allows me to keep doing the things I do now, the same way, plus other stuff my current PC is too gutless to do.

Then there's the whole thing about these great little slimline HP PC's I keep seeing in Dick Smith and Officeworks, but nah I'm cautious of those too. In then end I again convince myself that I could get/build a PC that's just as good if not better for half the price.

Then there's the whole laptop debate. Very interesting is that one, but can't bring myself to fork out twice the price for outdated hardware and substandard drive capacities, lack of dvd burning and lack of memory, and the fact that now it's very rare to find a new laptop not running some version of Windows Vista.


Honestly this is what goes my head, while I sit here with this dinosaur (seemingly unbreakable it is too) that gets older by the week. It's at least 7 years old (Not sure exactly I got it second hand), and all I've done to it is put in a larger hard drive, a CD burner and more ram. All the peripherals are fairly recent as well, a sexy LCD screen, a good mouse and keyboard and a brand spanking new set of speakers. Would it kill me to fork out the 5 or 6 hundred dollars to get something new, something that I could muck about with Google earth on and play some games made in the last five years on?

That time of the year again.

The footy season has begun. Now before I go too far I'd better state my alegences. I'm one of the most hated of all football supporters. Yes, that's right, I barrack for Collingwood, and damn proud of it. I was born into it, and grew up in an area where most, well every second person at least, barracks for Collingwood. Although I say I barrack for them, but I'm just not that into footy, I've never played (never will), and I definitely don't know all the ins and outs of the game as well as some of my friends do, and I'm a bit hopeless at players names and numbers. Never the less I enjoy watching my team play.

This brings us to yesterday. Earlier in the week we arranged to go to the footy, after meeting under the clocks we made out way to Transport for a quick drink and one of their semi famous $10 over the bar steak sandwiches, yum. Having satisfied our hunger we made our way to the 'G' via Barak Bridge to watch the Magpies take on the Kangaroos.

What an utterly boring game that was, the only redeeming feature being that Collingwood had a bit of a resurgence in the fourth quarter to win by 3 points. The game was a comedy of errors, both teams making stupid mistakes, overall the Kangaroos were the better team, but their cause wasn't helped by hitting the post from 15 meters out, straight in front of the goals. I daydreamed through the whole 3rd quarter. zZZ...

We started the game in the new "Ponsford" stand but it too cold so we moved over the Great Southern Stand at half time, whereI got sunburnt. It was interesting to note how cramped the southern stand feels in comparison to the new stand. I prefer the new one even if it doesn't get the sun.

After the game we retired to the Imperial Tavern on the corner of Bourke and Spring for a few drinks. It was interesting watching all the bridal parties come and go on the steps of Parliament over the road. We came to the conclusion that bridesmaids dresses really are designed to make the bride look good, even if she does look like a marang. We had a few beers and before we knew it, it was 7pm and time to go our separate ways.

It was a good day all up, and one thing I learned was never to knock back a win, no matter how bad your team plays.

Picasa web albums

It appears that Google is hoarding all the photos that people post to their blogs in Picasa web albums. At the moment it's only photos that were posted after December last year, but they claim to be working on migrating all photos people have ever posted. That's great. I might consider dumping my flickr album which I never use anyway.

In general, I seem to be languishing in the photo taking at the moment, I just can't be bothered. The photos I took at the air show are evidence of this.

Airshow

Catalina, Hornet and Tiger Moth

Yep, once again I ventured to the airshow. And you know what? It was boring. I've lost count of the airshows I've been too, I think I've been to all of them except for the the first 2 (92 and 95), and I may have missed either 2001 or 2003. It was probably most disappointing because there was nothing new or different there, I'd seen it all before, in fact I reckon there were things missing that had been there in previous years.

It wasn't all bad though, once again V/Line did a wonderful job of getting the crowds to and from the event. I walked straight off a suburban train and straight on to an airshow (Lara) train at Southern Cross, and then straight on to a bus at Lara. Bloody briliant. After the airshow I hung around on the flight line watching the departing aircraft while the hordes went home, I only left when security came around rounding up the stragglers. Again it was straight on to the bus to Lara station and a 5 - 10 minute wait before the 6 car VLocity train turned up, smooth and fast. I pity the fools who drive to the airshow, of course the only way to get there is in style and fly in.

At the end of the day I was $110 down, in possession of a new hat ($25), a program ($10), and a mild case of sunburn. (it cost $45 to get in, the train ticket was $16 and I spent about $12 on food and drink, I'm not too sure where the rest of it went)

Where'd all the water go?

Sugarloaf Reservoir - September 30 2006



Sugarloaf Reservoir - March 18 2007



The first photo was taken on grand final day, when I went fishing at Sugarloaf Reservoir, I was surprised to find this much water in the reservoir. Then on Sunday, nearly 6 months later we visited the reservoir and found the reservoir nearly empty. Sugarloaf Reservoir is fed from the Maroondah Reservoir near Healsville via the Maroondah Aqueduct, and the Yarra River. The first photo was taken from around about the greyish coloured rocks on the shoreline to the left of the second photo. The hill in the background of both photos is called Mt Graham.

Oh and if anyone is wondering I only caught one fish, a small Redfin, on grand final day. I threw it back. There are also Trout (Brown and Rainbow), Golden Perch and Carp. There are eels too, but no body talks about those...

Sydney has trams too.

A lot of people may not realise that Sydney has a short light rail line. It is much like the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines in Melbourne in that much of the line is a former heavy rail line. The line originally opened in 1997, and ran from Central Station to Darling Harbour, and around the other side of Pyrmont to terminate at Wentworth Park. In 2000 the line was extended to its current terminus at Lilyfield. Major attractions served by the line include Darling Harbour, Star City Casino and the Sydney Fish Markets. The line is operated by Metro Transport who also operate the Sydney Monorail. A definitive history of the line can be found at Matthew Geier's Sydney Light Rail web page. There is a technical fact sheet on the system available here.







Sorry about the last photo, I was having a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock moment...;-p

QEII and QMII

Well there they are, the file names do all the explaining.

General Updates

I don't know where the last two weeks have gone but here I am.

(Is it just me or do I say things like the above far too often on this blog?)

On the long weekend just passed I really did nothing in particular, it was nice and long though. I enjoyed it so much that I had trouble hauling myself out of bed this morning. I was an hour late for work...(it's OK though, my hours are very flexible)

Friday Evening: Uncle Ben's child minding emporium (no pies or dog food to be seen, you'd be surprised how often I'm asked about Uncle Ben's pies) was open for business. We played AFX slot cars before fighting world war 3 at bed time. I won (or perhaps it was tierdness?), in the end...

Saturday: Shopping and lunch at local shopping centre.

Sunday: Went to see The Illusionist. It was a great film, very mysterious and was well cast. It was set in Vienna but filmed in Prague, so was visually fantastic.

Monday: Took a "Sunday" drive to Kyneton and Malmsbury. Had a pie from the Malmsbury bakery.Very highly recommended. Walked around the botanic gardens before driving home again. The Malmsbury Botanic Gardens feature a lake, which unlike lake Wendouree in Ballarat still has some water in it, although it's not much more than a mud puddle. The ducks didn't seem to mind though.

That's it really.

P.S. I finally got around to going through my Sydney photos, so I might post a few over the next few weeks. And I might even install the final installment into my Sydney tale soon too.

Sydney ferries again

Lady Herron at Circular Quay. It's weird because only yesterday while driving over the Westgate bridge did I notice the same type of ferry moored in the Yarra River at Spotswood. It was Lady something, but the writing was too small to read. I believe Sydney Ferries only operate two of this class of ferry these days.

I love Sydney Ferries

If you've read my rather lengthy posts on my trip to Sydney, you may realise that I spent a lot of time riding on the ferries. Over my various visits to Sydney I've come to love them. To me they have a personality, and think that they say Sydney as much as a green and cream (or red and cream) W class tram says Melbourne.

Much to my delight I discovered a book at the ARHS NSW book shop at Central Station, The Sydney Ferry Book, by Dale Budd and Randall Willson. These are the same authors who wrote the fantastic Melbourne Tram Book. I did intend to go back and buy the book but totally forgot on my last morning in Sydney. I must visit the Railfan Shop in Melbourne to see if they stock it or can order it in for me. Or I could just order it through the Railway Digest book listing, or the ARHS NSW online bookshop, which I just discovered while gathering links for this post.

Such Great Heights

The end of the world: Back in Melbourne

I can't believe I've been back in Melbourne for 6 days. My time away in Sydney felt like about two weeks, but in reality it was only 5 days. I've decided that I need more holidays. Perhaps next time I'll go somewhere I haven't been before.

I'll finish blogging about the rest of my trip (as boring as it may be) over the weekend, with some backdated posts. I've been jotting down dot points of things I did so I don't forget. And I'll probably try and get some photos up as well.

I always find it interesting to draw comparisons between Sydney and Melbourne. The thing that struck me the most this time is how green and lush the vegetation is up there, there's lush green lawns everywhere. And fountains, they have water running in their fountains. I thought Sydney was meant to be in the middle of the same drought we are, obviously not. From what I've seen on the TV weather it's been raining pretty much the whole time since I left on Saturday under very threatening looking skies.

The other comparison is how laid back and Melbourne is, Sydney is so busy (traffic jams at 9pm on Tuesday evenings don't help). The humidity is another thing that I don't like about Sydney, although apparently we had that in Melbourne last week as well. Actually, it feels pretty humid now. Another difference is the public transport, I can see the good and bad of both cities. I think I'll save that for another post though.

I' don't mean to sound negative towards Sydney, I like it a lot, it's just different to Melbourne.