Memorable tv ads

Cadbury gorilla in the air tonight. NOT AI but still fake.

Yellow Pages Not happy Jan (This phrase, Not Happy Jan, really slipped into Australian lingo)

Louie the fly. Nowadays, this tv ad might make the kiddies cry. Poor Louie!

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TDK. Was it some type of purgative that would do amazing things to your system? I expect my straight male readers might like this ad. 

Last but not least, if you are entertaining an Australian overseas and want to see them cry, give them a couple of cans of beer to drink, or an extra strong voddy and tonic, a schnapps, a sake or a bourbon then play this tv ad to them. Contrary to to the nonsense of politicians proclaiming we are the best country in the world, we do like to call Australia home, even if most of us don't think it as being the best country in the world. I hate to think how much this ad cost.

BIts

As they cooked me Mexican barramundi fish tonight, 'The Children' were also playing with their growing collection of model cars. A New York City hop on hop off double decker bus is the newest addition. 

There are bad floods in New South Wales. One of the most stupid pieces of advice I've ever heard was, if you have not evacuated your home and you are under threat from flooding, move to the highest point in your home. Nah, not for me. I'll just stay at the bottom as I slowly go under water and drown. Even small brained animals know to go to higher ground to avoid flooding.

Speaking of home safety advice, at least this one seems to have stopped now. At times there are factory fires and what can be released into the air can be very toxic. Good advice, keep your doors and windows closed. Stupid advice, turn off you air conditioners. This may have been appropriate decades ago when people had in the wall or window air con units that could bring in a minor amount of fresh air, but nearly everywhere now has a split system, used for both heating and cooling and the internal part does not bring in outside air. I don't consider evaporative cooling to be air conditioning. 

Phyllis is trying to pass his learner driver permit, which is all online now with some rather impressive graphics. You are given thirty on road situations and the pass level is 27 out of 30 correct. His first attempt ended with a score of 26/30, so just a fail. He sought my help for his second attempt and his score was 24/30, a worse fail. A fat help I am.

I was taken back to school days where the question wasn't phrased clearly enough. I think Phyllis clicked one choice that he didn't mean to, but where did I go wrong? Illegal parking, one in a loading zone, two cars in a bus lane, and I missed the fact that the nearest car was too close to an intersection. Twenty metres is apparently the limit.

Bicycle laws, and I am not up to speed with those. I thought it was a one metre distance to pass by, but we got something wrong in the multiple choice.

Now this to me is very odd. The question was can you drive through a red light to allow a police car with flashing lights to get past. Apparently yes. But recently I heard the question asked of an ambulance worker, and the paramedic spokesperson said the opposite. That is, no. Don't do anything illegal or dangerous. We are trained to deal with traffic and congestion situations.

Later edit: What the law says: You must give way to emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens and may proceed through a red light if it's safe and the only way to make room for the emergency vehicle.  

Today was shopping day. Unlike when Ray was alive, the shopping is minimal. I now shop nearly daily for a few things when I am out and about, and aside from staples, Phyllis and Kosov buy most of the food. Nevertheless I was instructed to buy from the supermarket delicatessen a kilo of basa fish for no more than $10. I don't know the fish.

Basa fish, also known as Mekong catfish or Vietnamese River Cobble, is a farmer white fish native to Southeast Asia. It's popular due to its mild taste, firm texture and affordability. Basa is a good source of protein and healthy fats, but it's important to ensure it's cooked properly to avoid potential food poisoning risks

The supermarket didn't have basa so I bought a kilo of barramundi for $9. That sounded incredibly cheap to me. You can book a boat trip in Queensland to go barramundi fishing for a fortune. I assumed it was an expensive and prized fish.

I don't take my reading specs with me when shopping, and so I asked the obliging lad to read out the barramundi small print. "Sourced from Vietnam and Sri Lanka", the label said. Oh well, it tasted nice, and no ill effects yet.

Centrelink sent me a letter, our social security government organisation, asking me to update my financial situation. I wanted to reply, I am still living in poverty and I need more assistance.

Instead I handed the letter over to company who deal with Centrelink on my behalf, and charges me a fortune. Now that I do receive an old age pension and my affairs are now simple, I wonder if I couldn't just do it myself. This is the first time I've considered this. I will see what the company wants to charge me next year. 

I keep hinting to Phyllis that I and they need more green vegetables. Beans, peas, broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower, silver beet, spinach, but to no avail. I will keep going on about that. They barely eat anything green. Are onions considered green?

A gay entrepreneur

I would guess it was in the 1980s Ken Payne opened a gay club called Mandate in Carlisle Street, St Kilda. It was very successful until it wasn't. It was formerly called Sweethearts but I am not sure if Payne owned the business then. I don't know why it closed. It could have been noise issues for local residents. Yes, yours truly attended a number of times. 

One New Year's Eve I locked the car keys in the boot of the car, so we just left the car there overnight...well, it was morning by then. The next day, somewhat hungover, I caught the 377 bus, my first time on a public bus with air conditioning, to retrieve the car. It was a hot day and the air conditioning was very effective, as it roared away. I must have used a 69 or 79 tram for the last kilometre, or maybe I walked.

Payne kept hearing older gay men lamenting the loss of Mandate and so thought a massive development in St Kilda Road, St Kilda would be successful. Called Precinct 3182, the post code,  it certainly was on opening night. I remember seeing my still current doctor there. Within one area, there was an old train carriage. Bit by bit, it closed down. All those who lamented the loss of Mandate were not regular customers. The pub lasted longer and it was a really nice place. I learnt to play pinball with some skill (I'll be back) and we had great fun times. Ray picked up a crop duster pilot one evening. A couple of straight guys rented a house opposite us in Balaclava and they would go there for a drink at times, and they were fun. Once with our Brother Friends we won a trivia quiz. I have nice memories of the venue, but eventually it closed too. 

I am unable to find a photo of the gay entrepreneur Ken Payne online but among my trinkets, I did find these dog tags that were given out on opening night. 

I need your thumb

This kind of thumb.

Kentia has become too big. I seek advice from wise people who know about plants and style.

I don't like the pot, but it is self watering and has worked well for many years. Right click or press and hold to see how to make the photos larger. I want the plant reduced in size. The last time this happened, we gave the palm away and bought a new one. 

The older leaves are the lower ones, with the newer at the top. If I cut off the older and shabby fronds, it won't look good, looking more like a tree than an indoor palm. If I cut off the newer top leaves, it will also look bad with just old leaves, although once its new growing season begins, it may recover quickly. 

When I look closely at the base of the plant, could I divide a healthy looking section off, put it in new potting mix and, well, I don't know. Cut the fronds off that offend me?

Oh yes. There is a spider in the plant. I left a note for Kosov to remove said spider and throw if off the balcony. He is not very obedient. I had forgotten the beads Ray placed on top of the soil. 

I thank you for your attention to my first world problem. They'd probably eat Kentia in Gaza.

I read it in the newspaper so it must be true

Another old draft post completed. 

There is a Melbourne local government area called Glen Eira. It is one of Melbourne's expensive south eastern suburbs and a rather nice area to live. It has a high Jewish population and in some parts a high Indian immigrant population. 

Long have I known it has the least amount of parkland of any local government area in Greater Melbourne, however unlike Melbourne's western  and north western suburbs, it in common with most of the inner to middle eastern to south eastern suburbs, had good tree cover, known as one of the 'leafy green suburbs'.  

Truly disturbing, there has been a reduction of of tree canopy covering in the local government area of roughly, between 2010 and 2020, half. Like 50%. No doubt this is a result of older houses with large gardens and trees, being demolished and the resulting blocks of land covered with housing and paving, almost edge to edge, without room for large trees. 

Yes, we need higher density in these spacious areas to cater for population growth, rather than expanding the outer areas, but it really needs to better managed. Many free standing houses fit for a family are demolished for luxury apartments for wealthy older downsizers and cashed up Asian immigrants. The area of land probably houses no more people, in spite of the land being covered over and trees cut down. 

As long as historic areas are respected, the state government is doing the right thing with higher rise buildings near train stations. But allowing tree cover to be so reduced is not the right thing. This also applies to City of Stonnington, City of Boroondara and a couple of other local areas too.  

Monday Mural

Along with Sami and others, here is my mural for this week. 

The fantabulous Mirka Mora created this mosaic work at Melbourne Flinders Street Station. Part of it is now covered up by the gambling venue, Clocks, but most of it is still visible. It has since been 'touched up' since Mirka first created the work. The ever so wicked and talented Mora first.

 

Sunday Selections

Once again I'm joining with Elephant's Child and River for Sunday Selections  with a variety of photos, hopefully, unused here.

Kosov at times hides my bottle of Scotch, never so that I can't find it. He more moves it. My revenge was to wrap his large and beloved Nutella jar like this.

I didn't see any children at Easter, so the money I saved on chocolate eggs went towards these for my tenants. 

Aww, the pain.

This is built from mini Lego style blocks. Sister bought it for them when she was recently in the city. It took them a while to assemble it and they added the external bits to it.

Phyllis bought his mother a card for Mother's Day.

In Victoria Street, Richmond under the Epping and Mernda lines railway bridge.

A nice mosaic at a building entrance.

Phyllis told me there is a new supermarket at Southbank. I investigated. No wonder the City Road tram stop has become so busy. There is one full sized supermarket in the city at the QV Building, and now a full sized one has opened at Southbank. This new one is spread over two floors of this new high rise tower, with a lift and travelator to change floors. 

Quite nicely done and it is called Melbourne Square. I did not climb the stairs.

I am not sure how long the new station at Parkdale has been open after the elevation of tracks but they seem to have done such a nice job. There is even a kiss and drop off short driveway under the concrete supports.

I just thought you may have wanted to read the plaque. C'mon, you need to look down. 

The main entrance. To one side are heaps of cafes and food places. I did partake. The locals did not want this overhead train and new station. They protested loudly and vehemently. But now, the small local area is no longer divided by a train track at ground level and the messy train crossing has gone. What's not to love. 

Seating and a public toilet in the distance. 

I have just returned from dinner, last night as I wrote before this is published Sunday morning. It was a bit of sad day. Brighton Antique Dealer who will turn 90 later this year has earlyish dementia. She told me the same story three times, and could not remember meeting the mother of my friend and former workmate who she met on a cruise, nor my workmate himself. 

Further, about three months ago a champion Aussie Rules football player suicided. This week his twin brother, also a former champion football player who was going to run half a marathon in a week or so to raise money for a suicide prevention cause, but now he too has suicided. They both knew of their demons within and as often is the case, their lives were good, without any obvious reason to not want to live any longer. They received appropriate medical care, but it was not enough.  It is just so sad.