My Seinfeld post

A post about nothing

Seeing that no one has commented on my last cutting-edge post about carbon tax  (written two days ago), I might as well write about nothing at all, and see how that goes. Over to you.

Say “yes” … to what?

This advertisement, which is NOT funded by the Gillard government but by a “coalition of unions & green groups”, begins on TV tonight. It’s about selling the proposed carbon tax by inducing Aussies to say “yes” to cleaner air, alternative energy and, oh, saving the planet from global warming of course. But who is it aimed at, you and me, the ordinary voter?

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How not to spend a Saturday

Off to Etihad?

This afternoon – if you’re at a bit of a loss – you could go down to the State Library in Melbourne at 1pm and join thousands of women, who presumably will be dressed like those above, for a protest march down Swanston Street that will go until 4pm for something called “SlutWalk“. Men are invited too, although I sincerely hope they keep their clothes well and truly on.

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AFL round 10 (2011) ‘expert’ tips

It’s ‘Easy Pickings’ round

This week’s games (with one possible exception*) look so one-sided that even the dullards of Albury should be able to pick most winners. Then again, Albury … have you ever been there?

That’ll do for an intro this week. I’m busy and don’t have the time to waffle on like I usually do. I bet you’re glad about that. Here are the ‘expert’ tips for Rd 10 with last week’s results, yada, yada  …. (*Hint: The Saints might surprise you this week):

Wang is wong

Update 27 May: The Wangaratta council has (sheepishly) dropped its 250 ha minimum lot size amendment after direction from the State Government. But the 40 ha minimum lot in rural zones remains, and it’s still too restrictive and anti-regional growth.

Wangaratta's 'CEO from hell', Doug Sharp is opposed to treechangers .. and growth!

Wangaratta’s rural land strategy is anti-growth

You’d reckon that a small rural city like Wangaratta in north east Victoria would want to encourage ‘treechangers’ to relocate to their area, buy up a few acres and build a new home, thereby injecting much-needed growth and capital into the local economy.

Imagine the benefits if just a few thousand retiring babyboomers sold up their 3-bedroom shacks in Melbourne for $1million+ each and invested a good part of that into Wang’s local trades & businesses. Not to mention the ongoing benefit of how much they would spend in the area for many years to come.

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Wrong target?

The front page lead article of the Bright Observer is confusing, to say the least (click on image to enlarge)

I’d be surprised if the Bright Ratepayers Association (BRA) knows anything much at all (or really cares) about tourism and what is good for our most important (well, only) industry. I doubt there are any tourist operators in the group, which seems to mainly consist of retired people, but here they are, on the front page of the local paper, claiming that *some* private property owners need to clean up their “unsightly” properties to provide tourists with “the best possible outlook”. But just which private properties they’re talking about is not clear:

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Easy pickings in Albury

Folks are dumb (near) where I come from.

Is the Murray River ‘The Great Dividing Line’ between smart and stupid?

They’re not very bright over there in nearby Albury, NSW where, according to the Border Mail, the locals are getting sucked in by the dumbest of scams:

Scammers duping the Border

SCAMS have claimed thousands of dollars from Border residents in the past month, and an ­Albury computer business operator is warning others not to trust people over the phone.

AFL round 9 (2011) ‘expert’ tips

Don't say you weren't warned.

It’s ‘Rapture’ round

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end of the world. Sometime late afternoon on Saturday 21st of May 2011 a series of giant earthquakes will wreak havoc and devastation starting in (of all places) New Zealand and spreading across the globe. Fire and brimstone will ensue and the world will be thrown into utter chaos. But don’t worry, Jesus Christ will return to fight off Satan and those who truly believe in God will be taken up into the heavens and saved while the non-believers and sinners (you know, the rest of us) will be damned here on earth for another 5 months of living hell until 21 October when God will just decide he’s had enough of us and blow the whole friggin’ planet into oblivion. 

My lucky day

Maybe it’s the full moon, but sometimes you just get lucky. Imagine my delight to receive this email out of the blue:

From: micheal donald [mailto:micheal_donald051@msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:07 PM
Subject: RESERVATION REQUEST

Hello,
How are you today?
I want to make a reservation in your facility for three couples from Hong Kong, on their forth-coming pre-season vacation and honeymoon.
Date: 1st to 10th July, 2011.
There are 3 couples.
1. Kindly get back to me with your total cost for 3 couples for the duration of 10 nights stay.
2. So that i can send you my Credit Card for immediate deposit.

Arrival Date: July 1st, 2011.
Departure Date: July 10th, 2011.
Number Of People: 6
Number Of Rooms: 3

Kindest Regards
Micheal Donald..

Wow! And my reply? (Click on “more”):

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Planking

There's no fool like an old fool.

If the Footy show’s Sam Newman wants to risk his life ‘planking’ on the railing of his Docklands apartment – on the 40th floor! – then let him. Who cares? But just don’t let him have any publicity for it and, most importantly, don’t republish his obviously self-taken photo of the ‘event’ in the Herald Sun  for Christ’s sake. You’ve gotta wonder about the mentality of a 65-year-old who does this and then goes on to defend it as follows:

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Beechworth Harvest Celebration 2011

Great setting ~ shame about the crowd.

Going hungry at a food and wine festival !

Believe me, I really tried hard to enjoy myself at the Beechworth Harvest Celebration yesterday but it didn’t get off to a great start. I mean, when you are charged $10 entry fee (plus $5 for a wine-sampling glass) to an event like this you are basically being told, “If you pay us $15 each we’ll let you both come in and buy stuff.” It’s a bit like charging people to enter a shopping centre – you shouldn’t do it. Worse still, when they offer Beechworth residents entry at half price (on proof of address), well, I have to wonder just who they are trying to attract to this so-called tourism event, visitors or locals? Anyway, not being ‘locals’ as such, we paid our $30 and went in … with about, oh, no more than about 600 other people in my estimation.

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Off to Beechworth

“The most important food & wine event in the North East” ? … We’ll see.

We’re heading over to Beechworth tomorrow (about 60 kms away) to go to the annual Harvest Festival. This year they’ve relocated it from the Main Street of Beechworth to the beautiful grounds of La Trobe at Beechworth (see “more” below). That alone makes it worth the trip. I’ll take the camera and report back with my usual insightful & incisive views of what is being proclaimed as “The most important food & wine event in the North East”.

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AFL round 8 (2011) ‘expert’ tips

Oh, it's in the Saints' colours!

It’s ‘Are you feeling lucky?’ round

I am not superstitious, although I think I’ll start wearing my St Kilda boxer shorts whenever they play from now on – it can’t make things any worse.

No, it’s just that today is Friday the thirteenth and, as luck would have it, the two undefeated sides, Collingwood & Geelong, play tonight, meaning one these two ugly sides finally gets to lose a game.

It might also be the round that I get lucky and pick a perfect 8. I mean, just take a look at my tips – I’m out there!

Here are ‘the experts’ with last week’s results etc, etc. Good luck:

The set-top box debate debacle

For $350, what do you think is the better buy?

While debate rages over the Federal government’s plan to supply 38,000 free set-top boxes to pensioners at a cost of (wait for it) $350 each (!!!), it surprises me that no one seems to have picked up on the screamingly obvious:

Why not just give them a brand new TV?

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Bright accommodation

This is a bit of shameless self promotion, but I’ve just upgraded the photo gallery on the Grevillea Gardens website and I really think it’s worth showing you. Here are a few pics but click on the link underlined above (and scroll down to the gallery) to see them all*. Many thanks for the assistance of Leon Kouts from website developer Presentor for his assistance in sorting out my stuff ups. (*don’t forget to click on each image to enlarge):

The horses in the paddock opposite Grevillea Gardens, on a frosty May morning.

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