John Laws is dead, so as well as remembering him for outrageous on-air statements and the cash-for-comment affair, let me take this opportunity to remind everyone that in 1976 he released an album of country music covers called You've Never Been Trucked Like This Before It reached 69 on the charts

I won the Sydney Festival Early Bird ticket race again this year. Two tickets for Turandot so I can take Mum, at $49 a pop, as they sold out within 5 minutes.

Okay, okay BOM, I got the severe thunderstorm warning, you don’t need to keep giving me one every 15 min

I am now trying to envisage the 1999 NSW Legislative Council ballot paper in this format, and can't stop laughing

Jacaranda season is one of the most spectacular times of the year (And no I’m not trying to cut a tree down, my exam revision is fine)

my take on the rolling BOM website debacle: 1. The front page of the website is basically the app. Which is fine, but when I want that level of information I open the app; I open the website for more niche, less top level relevant information. And the thing is - everyone wants DIFFERENT niche info.

This has absolutely been the best year of Parramatta Lanes since Covid in terms of vibes and crowds. It’s finally back.

This point really upsets some folks, but it is true. Folks wonder why there's so much DLC, microtransactions and stuff and the answer is that at a $70 price point, inflation adjusted, games cost 75% of what they did in 2000 when it was typically $50. Inflation is like that.

Downside of the new BOM website (though it's very shiny) is that all my saved links no longer go to where I expect them to, and I haven't figured out where they've hidden all the observation data sets yet. ...oh wait they have a whole legacy interface under reg.bom.gov.au? oh that's handy.

The wind today is no joke though - I’ve almost been blown over several times

Omg yessss my favourite Parra Lanes people are back again this year: the Sierra Leone food stall. They’re so friendly and the food slaps - we ate there three times last year.

Wow I hate when ‘ergonomic’ design mostly means ‘you can no longer use this item with your left hand’

In terms of the top 100 books poll, I think I’ve read 8 of them? As a bunch of people have said, it’s a very Chat 10 Looks 3 sort of perspective for the voted list – I’ve heard of a whole lot of them but not picked them up. Plus as is always the case with this sort of thing, a lot of recency bias.

Current progress of the shawl

An anonymous outside source, who has opinions and expertise on submersibles, especially in diving down to the Titanic. That could literally be anyone. No way to tell who that is. (I mean, unless Robert Ballard's suddenly made a Titanic film instead of just consulting...)

Started rewatching The Cook and the Chef from the beginning. It’s hilarious how hard they’re trying to pretend their schedule is organic in the earliest episodes. Also the older I get the more I am amused by the class warfare going on between working class Simon and upper middle class Maggie.

Here we gooooo (It’s on)

A proper start to this shawl, so it finally is starting to look like something

The past 16 years or so have given Crikey a very clear idea of the distinct stages of a leadership coup. Let's see how Andrew Hastie's recent activity lines up.

Colour and gauge swatching for my latest project

God I love Australia. Woolies playing Throw Your Arms Around Me on the internal radio at 8:15am on a Monday feels like a ‘did you have a nice dirty weekend and you’re picking up supplies before work as you didn’t have time to get home?’ (Still not as funny as us playing it at weddings however)

"..... we look forward to your response" Dear Senators, I wish to bring to your attention that there is apparently some dipshit writing letters in your name. Sincerely, Anthony Albanese

Ordered the yarn for my sister’s baby shower present (which is, at her request, a summer weight shawl she can use as a nursing wrap)

Australian shitposters need, nay deserve, a new season of #libspill and all buttons must be pressed to On forthwith

Thank goodness. I can always rely on auspol to fire up with questions of Is It On? when the prospect of a spill is in the offing. We’d better check the leader danger board. Seems officially somewhere around doing the numbers, though we’ve got potential resignations being touted.

A too common small error made in fantasy writing - usually but not always by people from countries that don't have knighthoods - that disproportionately annoys me is "sir [lastname]". It's just not how the title is used and I feel like it's so easy to avoid it just shows carelessness if in print.

Tom Phillips is dead after a police shooting, and his three children have been found alive. The immediate danger is over. But a larger question lingers: who decided Tom Phillips was safe enough to be left alone with his children - and why? My story: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

If you are a normal person not across the intricacies of nswpol, part of the reason that Mark Speakman's apology for Price was on behalf of the entire Coalition, not just the Libs? The NSW Nationals deputy leader is Gurmesh Singh. The Nats very obviously wanted to help ameliorate the situation.

Happy “fateful day 8/9” to all who observe

Guess who gave whole blood on Thursday night and because she mostly gives plasma forgot that "no major exercise for three days" is there for a reason? Spent Sunday afternoon flopped on the couch going 'why am I so tired after walking everywhere and some routine exercise' until I Remembered

Just passed a guy leaving Woolies with a bachelor’s handbag and a 1.25L Coke. Never seen someone so stereotypically single in my life.

It’s a glorious day to remind everyone that Ben Roberts-Smith was the Plaintiff and the Appellant in this matter, but is no longer as the case is DONE. www.smh.com.au/national/hig...

One of the most frustrating things about studying at university at the moment is that due to AI, course coordinators are in an arms race to try and work out better ways to create ways to assess students that minimise reliance on ChatGPT. And so things feel like a testing ground far too often.

Just did my licence renewal and the stories are true: Service NSW is remarkably straightforward and frictionless these days. Only went in person as I wanted a 10 year licence; otherwise could have done it all online. In and out in 20 min, including completing the form. They overestimated the wait.

Truly my favourite preserved sign at Central Station. Yes, I won’t park my car in MID AIR in the MIDDLE OF THE STATION CONCOURSE

LO fucking L "Her learned friends were friendly enough to recognise that Ms Burrows needed time to review the vast bundles of material from the trial, with which they were innately familiar." Sue Chrysanthou dining well today I see.

There should be a court-appointed person whose job it is to follow high-profile defamation plaintiffs around, whispering in their ears "remember, you started this proceeding."

What everyone needs on a miserable grey wet day like today.

ICAC ATTAC

Let's all be super thankful today that Mark Latham formally quit One Nation

I think there are good reasons for both big tenters who want to influence things from inside a party, and for outsiders, who value their independence to try and move opinion publicly. Both are important to create change!

I have been through this rollercoaster of emotions in trying to discover information about candidates myself many a time, to the point I was laughing my head off at some of the summaries. Been there. Found only that.

Imagine being such a baby you spend all that money on an appeal to turn around and go "you can't fire me, I quit!" Such a wuss he won't even take his expulsion head on.

Yeah, it's a little foggy this morning (could see it at the end of my driveway when I walked out the door) The photos are pretty impressive however.

When your coffee shop hands you a short black to drink while they make the drink you actually ordered "because it's Friday and you look tired"

Famously an argument that judges are swayed by

For various reasons I’m a regular blood and plasma donor (I can, transfusions have saved family members' lives, we have haemochromatosis in the family, etc), and I’ve been thinking about the whole ‘donation actually lowers the level of microplastics in your blood’ research.

Awww love the fight AND the rider labels added. Good call, SBS editors.

Good evening folks! That scenery is looking impossibly green tonight

Glad to hear I haven't missed out on some budder.