Loose ends

Sleep well tonight Jah Teh. Here is one and a bit answers. Rank Arena still makes tvs, obviously not for Australia though.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swan was a brand of soap marketed by Lever Brothers Company in the 1940s and 1950s. Like its competitor Ivory, it was a floating soap. Swan was advertised as a soap that could be used in the kitchen as a hand soap or in the bathroom to bathe the baby. A typical ad boasted that Swan was "the white floating soap that's purer than the finest castiles".

Lever Brothers used the Swan brand name to sponsor several radio programs, including The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show from 1941 to 1945, My Friend Irma in the late 1940s, and The Bob Hope Show from 1948 to 1949.

Swan Soap is no longer marketed; Lever Brothers Company is known today as Unilever.

This week's flowers #94

You can't go wrong with fresh flowers picked from a friend's garden. My grandmother's voice rings in my ears, "Don't touch the camellia petals or they will go brown". Red rag to a bull for us kiddies.

Quick Answers

R needs to buy some gusso tomorrow from an art supply shop. I have heard the word, but wtf is it? I have forgotten.

I heard in some media 'since Christmas Island is no longer part of Australia'. Since when???

Stud for the week

Today I went to view the Bollywood exhibition at the Immigration Museum. The six dollar entrance fee is ok if you have not seen the Immigration Museum and I urge you to do so, but not great value if you have and just want to see the Bollywood exhibition. I spotted a photo of an actor who looked a bit interesting. It was showed 40 per cent of his face.

When I arrived home, I did a search with his name. It would seem he is the most famous male Bollywood actor at the moment. I reckon he might amuse me for twenty minutes.

Shahrukh Khan

On matters multi cultural, an email arrived today from our body corporate manager and concluded with Viva La France. What, I thought? They lost the football final. It suddenly clicked later, she is Canadian, it would seem French Canadian. Happy Bastille Day to all. Kill the rich and up the poor.

1982

The 1982 winter was one of extreme dryness. There were heavy winter frosts. Ice hung from the tram overhead wires making lots of pretty blue flashing in the early mornings and jerky travel as the trams gained and then lost power because of the ice.

Melbourne is now a warmer city and that no longer happens.

In early 1983 we had terrible bushfires, a dust storm and little water in the reservoirs. I was in a tram in Swanston Street as the dust rolled in from the north west. It was like a dark cloud, although a little brown. Suddenly everything was dark and the tram was covered in dust.

Why the history lesson? I think it as bad now. I am really worried about the lack of rain, as our population just grows and grows.

Rank Arena

As previously mentioned, I was at my mother's house last week. Her aircon broke down last summer. The repair man came and he had never even heard of a Rank Arena air conditioner, let alone find parts for it. She replaced it with a second hand Daiken.

News for him. Her cooling air con has worked without fault for around thirty years, as has her Rank Arena tv. She has a much newer tv in store in another room, ready to replace the Rank Arena when it expires, but you know, I thought the Rank had quite a good picture. It is pre remote though.

I started to think about Rank Arena. I recall Rank movies and assumed they are connected and it was an American brand.

Favourite Movie Titles (Mark)

I have a few. Can't remember them all now but here are two that come to mind. Sleepless in Seattle, not seen the movie but the title appealed to me. Throw Mama from the Train is the other. I think I saw that. Here are another two. The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and the Lover. Saw that one. Looking for Ali Brandi is a good Aussie one. Do you have a favourite? You don't have to like the movie, just the title appeals to you.

Collins Street Transport

We were returning from Brunswick Street. R and my connection was at a difficult point. He had his hair cut and we had a bite to eat at some place outdoors and did the shops. I remember having a wonderful lunch there a few years ago with our brother friends and our friend who now lives in Japan. Our waiter was a really hot muscular dude in a singlet, really hot, until he came near you and you smelt the pong from under his arms.

Brunswick Street on a cold winter's day is not the best place to be, but there were a couple of trendies to see R put his chair leg into a grate and fall to the ground.

I was drifting off on our return to the city on the tram. I was vaguely aware we had turned into Collins Street. I thought we were at Exhibition Street, but then I heard the driver announce, next stop Swanston Street. What? I payed attention to where I was. We had just left Exhibiton Street on the departure side of the street and the next stop was Swanston Street. Oh, that is a long way I thought.

Then peoples complaints about the new stops in Collins Street gelled for me. The departure side stop at Exhibion Street to departure side stop Swanston Street is a full two old type stops. It is a long walk if you are half way between.

I would have to have a good look at and see if was always the same, but we still sat through a full set of traffic lights Russell Street and Swanston Street before we could get off the tram. There was no time saving compared to the old way.

I heard Yarra tram spokespeson say this morning that already running time in Collins Street has been shortened by one minute. I ask, at what price?

Old woman

Well she is not so old. She is about R's age or younger. Her hair was curly blonde when she worked as a building manager/cleaner in our building. Her hair has suddenly become grey. She is a bit common. She drops the occasional conluding letter and she pronounces Essendon in that very special way. Over half of Melbourne's population pronounce this surburb in the same way, so I should not be so critical.

She is managing a building at Docklands now while the regular manager is on leave. I am proud of her. I knew she was good from the first time I met her. Fancy being in charge of 300 apartments? She has an assistant manager, and a cleaning co-ordinator under her. One day last week, 7 move in/out. She is outgoing and friendly as well. But she is one tough lady, 50 odd, slim, nice looking.........but tough, and she knows how far a bit of gentle flirting will get you. I have seen her in action.

Surrounded Sound

I like the concept of surround sound. Being enveloped by the sound track, the music, the dialogue stong in your ear.

It was a bit of a fave night for tv tonight. New Inventors, Spicks and Specks, some UK show I can't remember the name of, Glasshouse, Movie show.

But I had been busy today out with people and had phone calls to make as well. R had worked and then had to come home and immediately set to and polish the building newsletter, with some help from me.

There was much to discuss and much to watch on tv. So we wrestled the remote from each other at time to time. One of us would grab it and turn the volume down, the other would turn it up a few minutes later. Back and forth.

At one point when on the phone, I could have kicked in the tv. Too loud.

A bit later I recalled back when I connected the tv to the sound system. My tolerance for being enveloped in sound lasted about an hour. It then annoyed me. All the sound around me I can't think.

Home theatre, surround sound is a wonderful thing if you like to pretend you are in a movie theatre and watch something, but for day to day use, nah, don't like. I won't be spending money I don't have on surround sound special technology.

Is the media powerful?

I don't think I would want to be on any shame file. I don't think I would want to be named on Melbourne radio. I think I would pay up smartly.

Somebody in our building has a very bright green, almost lime, Falcon ute. I noticed a note tucked under the windscreen wiper. I went back and checked what the note said.

It was along the lines that, You have rented my carspace and you are behind in payments. When I last saw you, you promised to pay in a couple of days. It is now four weeks later and you have not paid. I am asking you to not park here anymore and our parking agreement is finished. You still owe $xxx.

Signed, famous bearded commercial Melbourne drive radio program host.

Tuesday is good

I like the mid week days, especially when I am not working. Tomorrow promises to be extra good.

I have not mentioned it, but ten days after our aircon was repaired, it failed to proceed again. Circuitry was wet, as it was last time. We can't understand how a weatherproof unit sitting on a balcony can suffer from wet, but it has. Back to the fan heaters and a wait for the parts.

Tomorrow the man comes to fix it. I will be happy.

Oldest niece, not the one who stayed, returns from Surfers Paradox and nephew has already returned from from Dunk Island. Their mother who is picking daughter up from airport phoned today and said she will call in. So I will see gorgeous, but overweight and unfriendly to us niece, and very laid back and long messied haired nephew, and of course always great to see sis in law.

Then R has to attend a body corporate committee meeting, so there will be lots of juicy goss after that. The new security system is under strain trying to identify who was smoking on the landing of level 14. Actually they dropped their but and burnt the carpet.

Life is good.

Losing battle

I fight a losing battle. I am now subsrcibed to 43 blogs through bloglines. Thanks for the advice GG. About bloglines that is. Quite a few are infrequent posters and it is no hardship to read their occasional post. Some are great and interesting and clever blogs and I read them always, but there is not anything much personal in them. Some are both, but they don't post often, obviously busy in Bacchus Marsh.

The real losing battle is my linked blog list. For me it it is the personal that makes a blog interesting. That is knowing a bit about the person and what they are interested in. Some posts are personal, some aren't. For me, that makes a good blog. As much as I try to limit my linked bloggers, this lass in Australia with a funny accent works for me. Can you say 'about' please Jess?

Seems I am not the only one

I haven't done it for a long and I cannot even remember why I needed to do it now, but there was a time when it was useful.

I read on someone's blog how many people use the zip code of Beverly Hills, California when asked for their zip code at a check out.

I have done that when I needed a zip code to sign up for something on net that wanted a US zip code. Beverly Hills 90210. American tv has a lot to answer for (no, never actually watched it).

What strikes me about what I have written above is not knowing a US zip code, coz that was useful information I might have sought anyway, but that I knew even before the www that US used zip codes, like we have post codes. Even as a potential anglophile, I don't know what the UK call their very complicated codes.

How come so many of us in Oz know what the US call their postal code but you can bet they don't know what ours is?

Ah, I know where the blame lies, Reader's Digest and Time magazine and their perforated detachable subscribe forms.

Calming the rebellious

Follow the arrows. Look at our products. Do not rebel. It is pointless. You must complete the circuit. You will obey.

Of course I was in Ikea, not my favourite store. We have only ever bought bits and pieces worth a couple of dollars, here and there. Their tea candles are great value, but alas, they had run out.

Ikea seems to make no concessions to the countries it operates in, so there are many items that are confusing to us down under types. One that I puzzled over for quite some time was a piece of flat translucent flexible plastic with a wide magnetic rubber ring aroung it. The label had fallen off the hanger. Eventually I concluded that it was some sort of lid for saucepans.

While in this confusing maze with no obvious escape, I started thinking about what if there is a fire? I am very fire conscious

I looked around for the obligatory exit signs and they were there. I poked my head around corners to areas where customers don't go, and there were emergency exit doors that looked like they would lead to somewhere outside.

But what if these doors were locked? They often are in third world and second world countries. Fortunately standards are high in Australia and I can fairly confidently say that there is not a chance in hell that they could be locked. Not a chance. Not an iota of chance...........we hope.

On a related matter, we had a letter from our letting agent of our rental flat this week, Shocking Stupid,. It was a notify us if you want to opt out letter. There will be annual inspection of smoke detectors, cost $65. Evidently someone was seriously burnt because the smoke detector did not work in their rented flat. If the history of our tenants is anything to go by, it is because they took the batteries out or did not replace them. I am quite happy to post them a new battery if cost is a problem. And no, the detectors are not badly placed near the kitchen.