Ferry Bridge

Oh dear, my problem has recurred. I have become Sydney focused. I fight against it, but it overwhelms me at times. Well, Sydney is on my mind for a personal reason. A post on that later.

A Sydney ferry crashed into some rocks recently. Management immediately took any blame from the driver, or should that be pilot, whatever, the person who steers, and blamed a faulty clutch. A little later, they unblamed the clutch and I have no further information. It is an old ferry. Nostalgia is all very well, but not if you want to get somewhere in a safely, in good time and in comfort.

Perhaps the Lady Northcott will suffer the fate of the ferry Dee Why. In the second pic you can see her sailing merrily along, not thinking of her fate and perhaps wondering what impact this weird structure behind her will have.

Fort Macquarie or the Opry House

Dina hasn't really mentioned seeing the Sydney Opera House when she just recently visited Australia with her husband and son. I expect she gave it a good going over on her previous visit.

The Opera House is best viewed from a distance where you can wonder at its splendour. Not one reader here would not recognise it from a picture. Truly an iconic building in the fullest sense of the word.

But what was there before the Opera House? Originally a fort, Fort Macquarie. Construction began in 1817 and the Fort was completed four years later.

In 1901 Fort Macquarie was demolished. Does this mean just post Federation that Sydney no longer felt that it might be invaded by the Colony of Victoria now that we had all become states of Australia? Work out your own theory. I like mine, no matter how implausible.

By 1902 the newly built Fort Macquarie Tram Depot opened. Maybe not as beautiful as the Opera House, but certainly very important to the people of Sydney who depended on their trams. The luxury of so much space after partly operating in the cramped area in the Bridge Street Yard must have improved the tram service immensely.

As Sydney's tram system tottered towards its forced closure, Fort Macquarie Tram Depot was demolished in 1959 to allow for the construction of the Opera House. The Opera House construction took considerably longer than the tram depot took to construct, not opening until 1973. Our big boss Lizzie cut the ribbon.

Fort Macquarie wasn't Sydney's largest depot. That honour goes to the Dowling Street Depot, now the site of the Moore Park Supa Centre. Sydney probably had just as many tram depots as Melbourne, but Dowling Street Depot was huge. Melbourne's biggest tram depot, Malvern, when the maximum number of trams were on Melbourne roads, perhaps supplied 100 trams to the system. Dowling Street ran 300 trams out of its depot. The logistics of this are mind boggling.

Questions for Father

'Dad, if a cat had was about to be attacked by a wild dog and there was a river, would the cat jump in the river to get away from the wild dog?'

'Probably not, it would try to run away'.

'Dad, if god sees everything, can he see you sitting on the toilet?'

I can't recall the answer.

'Dad, how can the universe go on forever? It has to stop somewhere.'

'And what do you think would be on the other side?'

'Dad, why do thingies get stiff?'

I can't recall the answer.

'Dad, Mr Holt (PM) has drowned. What will happen to us without him?'

'Nothing will change.'

'Dad, who is Nana Dorothy (The Bolter, Dad's mother)?'

'Your grandmother.'

'She is not very much like Grandma'.

'Dad, what is wrong with Mum that you go to that woman T?'

I can't recall the answer.

Not too long before he died the father son position is reversed, about 1998.

'Andrew, who is going to occupy all these office buildings and developments being built in Melbourne? There will be a big oversupply.'

'Yeah, Dad, I don't who will. There are too many'.

There was a brief period of oversupply at the time, but it was very brief.

No more questions from either side after that.

Getting R to work by PT

Just as an exercise, how long would it take R to get to work in Blackburn South? It takes him between 35 and 40 minutes now door to door in his car.

I am assuming everything will run to time, there not be cancellations and that he will arrive at work at 7.00am, as he now does. Obviously he now leaves home at 6.20 to drive to work.

Here is the pick, arrive 7.03 at his workplace.

He would leave home no later than 5.50 to catch a tram to Flinders Street Station. He would catch the 6.08 Lilydale train then change to a bus at Box Hill and after a ten minute wait, would catch the 732 bus to his work, alight at work at 703.

40 mins by car, 1hour 13 mins by public transport. I thought it might have been worse than that, but even so, going by public transport is really not a viable option for him.

Tim Tam Slam

The Resident Judge of Port Phillip has never done the Tim Tam slam. I didn't know it had a name. Perhaps it is different. My recipe is not the same as that featured on her website.

Have a couple of spirit drinks, not too much dilution mind.

Make strong long black coffee from freshly ground beans. Suck up some black coffee through Tim Tam.

Chuck Tim Tam away over shoulder. Pour and drink another strong spirit and take another Tim Tam.

Suck up more black coffee. Feed Tim Tam to nearby child.

Pour and drink another glass of strong spirit. Suck up remainder of coffee through Tim Tam.

Feed left over Tim Tams to nearby dog. Pour yourself another drink and toast yourself in approval at your celebration of Australian culture.

Crook Track

Did I tell you I have just been to Calcutta to take photos of their tram system? Well, I didn't tell you that because I haven't. No, this picture is taken outside the highrise on a curve, but you could well be mistaken into thinking this is what a third world country's tram tracks might look like.

Eventually some little man in the dark of night will come along and make a repair with his welding machine. Highrise residents get quite naff if concrete has to be jack hammered out at night, but this is rare.

After it is repaired, another break will appear a short distance away, which will eventually get repaired and then the original repair will break again and so forth. The trams make quite a bang as they drop when they hit the cracks.

I suppose it is safe. Yarra Trams assures us that its tracks are well maintained. It just doesn't really look like it at times. It's the old story, perception.

The Underground

What is it about the London Underground? Your Paris Metro and New York Subway don't engender passion like London's underground railway system. Melbourne's own City Loop certainly doesn't.

This fascination with the Tube is infectious. I have just printed out a map of the London Underground with a key to each station on the back. Now whenever a tourist in Melbourne asks me, I will have all the information to direct them to the appropriate Tube station in London. What????

You want some Tube trivia? I am sure I heard you ask.

This, I think teenage, lass used to write a blog about her adventures on the London Underground. Now she only seems to post photos to her Flickr site. Pity, I enjoyed reading her blog.

Clapham Junction is the busiest railway station in Europe. I just checked my map and I can't see why.

The Tube is hot and stuffy. Electric motors whirring. Friction from brakes. Other associated equipment and people generate a lot of heat to the point where the temperature on trains or at stations can rise on an extremely hot day to 47 degree Celsius. (It was damn hot when we were travelling on it last year).

The first London underground railway opened in 1863. The first real Tube was opened in 1890.

The last new line built was the Jubilee Line in 1979.

The much loved Maggie Thatcher removed control of the Tube from the Great London Council in 1984.

Who owns London's underground train system and who runs it and who maintains it is a mystery I have not been able to solve. Cheers Maggie.

I recall a blog mate's son being very interested in the Tube, and probably poured over the map as I am doing. I am not sure why we in Australia need to know about the Tube.

Back to the lass Version 3 point 1. Doesn't the architecture at Uxbridge Station excite.

Non?

How about the fantastic use of colour on the metalwork at the station where the Eurostar departs? Forget your traditional black at St Pancras. Great use of blue. London to Paris by train from St Pancras to Garde du Nord in two hours and fifteen minutes.

St Pancras has the Barlow Shed over it. The largest single span structure of its time.

You are still doubtful about the passion for London's underground railway? Give me the url of New York Subway blogs or Paris Metro blogs. Here are a couple for London.

http://london-underground.blogspot.com/

http://solo2.abac.com/themole/

One Stop Short of Barking.

I haven't worked out why the Tube aka the Underground generates so much passion, but it is a pretty good train system to get about on.

Run Away for Kids

All we grumpy old men wanted to do was go to the city and get a few bits and pieces but the charity Run for Kids made it very difficult.

I knew the trams were stopping at the Arts Centre, so the walk from there as far as Lonsdale Street would be the exercise for the day. I didn't reckon with Flinders Street being totally blocked by the runners. This all seems to hard. Tempting to go back and go to Prahran. We pressed on and remembered the Degraves Street subway under Flinders Street. Luckily the railways had left a barrier open for people. Buying a train ticket to get across the road would have infuriated me. Ok, I did have one already, but that is not the point.

We did what we had to do and loaded with stuffs, we waited at the tram stop for a tram home. I knew they were to start running at 12.45 and after a couple of minutes, the first tram through the city arrived. It was showing Arts Centre but we were turfed off and Flinders Street. A few minutes later a Toorak tram arrived but that turns off before our place. We caught it anway and changed again at Domain Road to a Carnegie.

I can inform City of Melbourne and traders that next year when the run is on, I will not be going to and therefore not be spending my money in the city. I will go elsewhere. Why can't a run be held elsewhere for a change? What's wrong with Croyden or Sunshine?

Sexy Older Men

Generally a guy has to be under thirty for me to fall in instant lust with him, although gay guys who work hard at their appearance could string this out for a few more years. This doesn't mean I wouldn't or don't have sex with older guys, but slim smooth bodies with good skin are what really excite me.

But some older guys still do it for me, although I am not sure that this in not a case of memory of what they used to be rather than how they are now. The list of pop stars would be long. David Bowie would be in there, as would Mick Jagger. As I said, the list would be long.

But on a more personal and local level there are a few guys seen on our screens who don't not exactly make me weak at the knees, but certainly stir something in me.

I was going to include actor Erik Thomson, until I learned that he is a good bit younger than I am. Since I went to the trouble of finding some pics of him, you may as well check him out.


Now to the biz. There's only a couple of older guys. I realised why this post was saved and not done. It is rather hard and I am not going to spend too much time on it.

Aussie actor John Waters. I have no idea how old he is but clearly not so young and he seems to have been around for a long time. He is certainly of the age where he ought to stop wearing a large gold earring. I can't remember what he was like when he was younger, so I guess I did not find his younger self so hot. He has a face that tells me he has lived and that is why I think he looks so attractive. I am sure you would not die of boredom in his company.


And you could say the same about Gordon Brown of ABC's Collectors show. Do you know how many pictures of I had to look of England's PM before I found a couple of Tassie's Gordon Brown. He still has a decent Scottish accent, a penchant for very bright shirts, is very knowledgeable about antiques and seems to do things with passion.
"I'd do 'im" seems to fallen out of the highrise general household lingo and moved on to "I'd knob 'im", or "Would you knob him sweetie?" So Erik, John and Gordon, I'd knob you.

Suggest any older bloke or woman if you like who works ok for you.

Up to you

As Thai's infuriatingly say when asked their preference, Up to you. So it is your choice. I should get on and finish some posts. A couple date back to 2007. One is ready to go, but then I only wrote it today. Any suggestions as to which I should complete first? 'Failed gay activist' is out for certain reasons as is 'Pandora'.

	Edit		Crook Track		draft		4/3/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		NZ East coast railway		draft		3/30/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Mary Street tram		draft		3/17/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Highrise living, the good and the bad		draft		2/21/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Radio Luxembourg		draft		2/21/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Pandora		draft		2/13/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Lucient		draft		1/20/09	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Sexy Older Men		draft		10/13/08	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Dr Who		draft		10/2/08	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Questions for Father or Childhood Memories #31		draft		9/9/08	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		Having a laugh with friends		draft		9/10/07	by Andrew	Delete
	Edit		The failed gay activist		draft		3/29/07	by Andrew	Delete

Old Lamp #73

Another old lamp. This one sits in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, perhaps the corner of Victoria Street. Pretty sure it would be electric and I doubt it grew there, surely moved there from somewhere else.

Change of Life

At a recent birthday celebration, a dyke friend sat under the air conditioning. I was concerned that she would get too cold. The change, she said. Jeez, she isn't that old, I thought. Apparently she is.

It connected back to something I was thinking about the other day, something from my early teen years when older women seemed to be dropping out babies out like there was no tomorrow.

I forget who told me, but it was explained to me that they were change of life babies. I may have subsequently thought about change of life babies and quickly concluded that as women age, they become less fertile and worry less about becoming pregnant, perhaps give up contraception, but at the point when they are going through menopause, for a short period, they become very fertile.

I have never bothered to check that my specularation has any basis for fact?

Oh, I am getting a bit excited. Shall I hear some 'news' from some of my girl blog mates in the future?

Ah, just learned from our weekly television guide, the phrase is 'mature age pregnancy'.

Synagogue Saved

Due to my furious lobbying on the morning of April the first, the synagogue has been saved.

Does that make it clear? An April Fools Joke.

Viva la Republique

There is plenty of passion in Australia for us to become a republic. KRudd says, not yet, but soon. The Queen lovers and sycophants speak out loudly against the idea, as do the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' band.

I have some sympathy with both views. It isn't actually broke and there is no pressing need. The Queen is widely respected and I would go so far as to say loved by many in Australia, perhaps more so than in England, coz we don't have deal with class issues so much. The crunch time will be when she no longer long may she reign over us.

But on the other hand, surely we are an independent country. Surely we can fuck (inserted for shock value) ourselves up as well as England has without Betty glowering down upon us. Technically, she rules us. This can't be right, even if we would jump if she said so.

This post is really just an excuse to use a couple of pics I came across on the net. Ok, I have used one before. You don't remember anyway. Add a caption if you want. Mine might be, first picture, "I have to sit next to who at dinner? A Kev and a Tess from Australia?"
or, "I just so am not going to that Maggie woman's funeral. You can't make me."

Second, "I didn't really want to come across William's personal pictures when I was researching sporrans on the internet. Clearly he has his father's genes. I did change Chas's nappy once or twice."

Words #35

My gardening friend started it in the eighties when he insisted on pronouncing Ficus as you would say fickle. Later I learned it was actually Ficus, the i being like eye. But to this day, I cannot bring myself to say it this way.

Along came gardening guru Don Burke in the nineties, late eighties even. Never liked him, although he was interesting and entertaining. He used to say PERgola rather than perGOLa. He may well have been technically correct, but it sounds stupid. Stick with the way most people say it.

There was a brief period in the nineties when people started saying HiMALayas rather than HimaLAYas.

Pattaya in Thailand was another. Fortunately the PatTAYa pronounciation seems to have died.

I am just not going down the road of new names for Indian cities. Calcutta will not become Kolkutta in my world. My Indian workmates still call Madras as such when discussing cricket in Chennai and how could the glorious city of Bombay become Mumbai.

Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City. Only technically. No local used it. Saigon will always be Saigon.

Myanmar seems to have disappeared and we are back to Burma and Rangoon, not Yangon. Fortunately they left Mandalay alone. The Road to 'insert alternative to Madalay' would not have been nearly as melodic.

Cambodia changed to the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. I used Kampuchea for a while, but it reverted to Cambodia and I wondered why I bothered changing.

I call Rome, Rome, not Roma. I call Paris, Paris, not Paree (although I might say gay Paree for theatrical effect). I think I shall revert to calling Beijing Peeking.

My pet peeve words remain constant.

Sport commentators have a lot to answer for as they are who promoted 'back to back' instead of consecutive. What is wrong with consecutive wins?

The biggest gripe of all for me, disorientated. Why not disoriented? I am disorientated. I am disoriented. Why add extra? It is a battle lost already.

And to finish, one that never occurred to me, but I heard of recently, why would you abbreviate world wide web, three syllables, to www, nine syllables? In fact let www just die. It has served its purpose. It is no longer needed. Just forget the http://www. No longer required and please people on the radio, stop laboriously saying www.

Farewell to the Gog

We affectionately call the synagogue opposite us 'the gog'. I recall the kerfuffle when the visiting Israeli PM called in to pray? Choppers, barricades and cops everywhere. Doubt anyone would have known otherwise. You can see some of 'the gog' in my blog photo heading.

We make a joke about it being a Muslim terrorist target, and therefore could be a threat to us nearby. Our friends joke about slipping on some rubber band like things on the footpath outside the gog when they visit us. Once we were watching them arrive from the balcony and the looked up and saw us and did this very animated slipping exhibition.

Of course no doubt it will be a long fought battle at the evil VCAT, but I don't expect anything will be overturned.

I have always wondered how sustainable such a large building was for the Jewish peeps, and it would seem it is not and 'the gog' must go. Now the battle is for what replaces it. Of course the developer wants to breach the 'advised' height limit and I am sure he will, it is always a he.

I am surprised the building doesn't have some sort of heritage protection, but it would seem not. The wreckers are supposed to move in around June.

I kind of like 'the gog' across the road. Demolishing it is really going too far. Quite a few apartments could be fitted within its structure, but developers never seem to like this idea. I suspect they just don't make as much profit.

I guess once it is gone and something shiny goes up, I will adjust.