Origin footy is back and it’s good! Serious talent putting on a strong, fun, entertaining, competitive match. Hope it continues. #AFL

The new leader of the Liberal party, starts first day in the job trying to be One Nation. What’s next, copycat ICE squads? Revolting.

Oh you got crowded house to dream it’s over? I got MC Hammer to touch this.

Time to revive a classic

Political commentators frothing uncontrollably at the opportunity to dissect tonight’s latest news about a political party that died years ago. The rest of Australia: what time is Jakara skiing for Olympic Gold tonight?

Week 2 of the new Metro Tunnel operating, and there’s still a billion people travelling outbound on Frankston Line trains and getting off at Caulfield to transfer to the Dandenong Line. Why? Surely they’re not all coming from Parliament Station? 🚊🔍👀

I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself! bluesky-map.theo.io I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail

Jeepers! For a club that made Foundation Memberships so easy to say yes to, they sure have over-complicated the subsequent membership sign up process. #TassieDevils

Kudelka. We’ve lost a good one. 😢

With today’s RBA cash interest rate rise, at least we can rest easy knowing the banks won’t pass on the increase to borrowers for a few weeks, just like when they delay passing on rate reductions, right? …right?

What happens when a major community sports facility is built miles from the nearest quality public transport? No option but to drive there. But the family club has organised a shuttle bus, so that's good right? It's not a shuttle from the nearest station, it's a bus to a nearby car parking paddock.🤦‍♂️

Day 1 of the new Metro Tunnel timetable, and there’s a power failure at Malvern… all Blue Line trains terminating at Hawksburn. The dreaded words: “Replacement buses have been ordered to take passengers to Caulfield”. Pity it’s not showing on any of the journey planners or network status boards.

New timetable is active on the Frankston (Green) Line, with just one consistent destination every day: Flinders Street via City Loop anticlockwise. But the passenger displays are confused by the order in which services arrive… the 5:20pm service most definitely arrived before the 5:30pm service.

With the 'big switch' timetable and new Metro Tunnel in full operation, it's worth reviewing your old travel habits. For example: travelling from Parkdale to Flinders Street on a weekend, it's now quicker to swap to the Blue Line at Malvern, and exit Town Hall Station near Young & Jacksons.

Maintenance staff attended #ParkdaleStation yesterday to implement a fix for the stairs that don’t drain. The fix? Drainage holes drilled through the bottom of the riser. Laughable. Those holes will be blocked by dirt and mouldy growth within months. #ParkdaleLXR

I kinda like the derogatory new state slogan doing the rounds, it’s catchy and it’s true: “Victoria - State of Disrepair”

You don’t have to look very far to see pile-ons of vile, angry, threatening, hatred-filled posts and replies targeting First Nations Australians, especially at this time of year. There’s even a couple of notorious political parties leading the attacks. 1/2

“Artist impression, subject to change. Vegetation shownlat 10 years maturity.” Hard to see how #ParkdaleStation is ever going to look like the 10-year renders if no plants have survived the first year in these planters.

#Bluesky iOS app just did something annoying that it hasn’t done before… I opened a linked story in a post, and when I came back, Bluesky auto-refreshed and threw me unceremoniously to the top of my feed. Why #BSKY? The ability to control my place in the feed was one of the joys of this place.

The AWW debacle broke on this platform, and the most immediate and factual updates from people close to the events appeared here first. Bluesky finally feels timely and relevant.

Trying to create a VicTraffic account so you can keep track of road closures during to fires on routes you regularly travel? Can’t, because #TransportVictoria doesn’t have sufficient API capacity on AWS. Embarrassing.

INModeration

Sweeeeet cool change just arrived in Parkdale. Wind has swung from NW to SW. Temp dropped from 42 to 34 and falling!

1/1/26 musing: When someone says “roads are for cars!” I say no, roads are not for cars. Roads are the means by which people and goods can move between property and locations. Cars just happen to be the mode society currently prioritises for facilitating that movement.

The trust destroying act of #Wired cataloging the biggest data breaches of 2025, but failing to report its own December breach www.wired.com/story/worst-...

Disregard for the historic coloured tile subway ramps at #RichmondStation continues with more advertising wrap. Metro Trains Melbourne - current franchise owner - seems to have given up on caring for Richmond Station, and instead is chasing revenue from whoever is prepared to pay. #MetroTrains

#RichmondStation is falling down. Temporary structural props have been installed over the mid-platform subway, on all platforms. Interestingly, this is where the mid-platform PIDs used to hang.

In-train PIDs not working. Train is atypically empty… 2 days ‘till Christmas. At Moorabbin, driver announces “this is a limited express service, running express to Caulfield”, then proceeds to stop all stations to Ormond. Skips Glenhuntly, then stops Caulfield and Malvern. #MetroTrainsMelbourne

A #Mentone Level Crossing Removal Project park bench story in 4 pictures.

Counting down the minutes until Pauline Hansen turns this moment into a political message of division and hatred in an ugly attempt to recruit voters.

There are some people that say local council is all about roads, rates & rubbish. They’re wrong…. local council is all about community! #CarolsByKingston

Is Arden Station Melbourne’s first ever high-capacity public transport service in a yet-to-be-developed urban setting? Rather than criticise the station in “a barren expanse of weedy gravel”, it should celebrated! www.theage.com.au/politics/vic...

Infrastructure cost blowouts - not a uniquely Victorian problem. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

The presence of a bus stop, tram or train line alone is not sufficient justification for high density, car-free residential developments. The government must commit to increasing public transport service frequency and hours of coverage, for this policy to be successful. More bus/tram/train services!

ABC Spin Doctors remarked how clever UFU was to use firefighters considerable public trust to make statements about tunnel safety (even if statements were untrue) vs statements from government and gov agencies that are inherently untrusted (even if true). But this is stupid, trust destroying.

Melbourne’s #MetroTunnel opened, and there’s 2 things worth mentioning that none of the usual shouty commentators have reported yet: 1. The trains fit in the tunnels 2. There’s level boarding (no step) between the platform and the trains That is all.

There’s a new pigeon in town: #AnzacPigeon

What happened to childhood obesity in Australia? An issue that seemed to have been a widespread problem a few years ago, is it still a concern?

Eh, what’s up? Taylor Swift has republished ‘Wood’ with changed lyrics. Thighs has become skies.

Battin gone. Party still completely unelectable.

Unelectable. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

An unusual listing: a set of 3 adjacent homes goes on the market, on the ‘beach side’ of #Parkdale, through the same selling agent. Aimed at developers maybe? I seem to recall collections like this being a popular selling tactic in parts of Sydney.

One of 2 beautiful bronze ‘Windsong’ statues, by Anne Ross, was chopped and stolen from #Parkdale on Wednesday night 12th November. Mindless and pointless, as the scrap metal value is minimal. Hope the second one remains safe. bigbuild.vic.gov.au/library/leve...

So now the Liberal National Coalition alternative government of Australia has no plan to reduce CO2 emissions AND no plan for cheaper energy. Good luck with that.

And when you do a route search on the Transport Vic website, the route maps they provide are godawful. Dots on a page, with route lines missing. Significant points-of-interest (such as stations) unlabelled. Do better.

Amazing that buss are being added and enhanced in areas of need. But surely the Department can afford to provide graphics/maps with these announcements. Text-only route descriptions might be how the operator defines them, but they're meaningless to people that actually use them. tinyurl.com/nbk58mh9

As a property (mortgaged) owner, I sit in one camp. But as a parent of young adults facing the impossibility of buying first homes, I sit in the other camp. How does Australia break this conundrum?

Lots of news-talk today about some Sydney radio talk host that no-one outside of that city knows or cares about.

The end of an era, last ever feed at Montezumas #Parkdale last night before they pack up and relocate to Hampton. But, the good news is a bigger, better #Bocconcino’s Woodfired Pizza is moving into the space!

VIC Premier Jacinta Allan visited China for 5 days in September, and copped a barrage of criticism in the media and personal attacks in the socials. VIC Opposition Leader Brad Battin has been visiting China for the past 5 days, and 🦗crickets 🦗…