In the past couple of weeks council rates have arrived in our letterboxes. This is, in my extended family, always a source of annoyance. Local councillors are rarely seen except when kissing babies at election time – I only met my local councillor when, during the Federal Election, she was door knocking on behalf of …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
Swooping Season….
I have never actually gotten around to seeing any Alfred Hitchcock films – except for Psycho. Hitchcock having died around the time I started high school, his films really are for an older generation, and not as accessible. Yes, I am a bit of a Philistine. But I did read the short story on which …
When The Buses Don’t Run On Time
Aside from 7 months in the wilds of Belconnen (ie a township of Canberra) in 1999, I have lived my entire life within a maximum ten minute walk from the 406 bus route, which runs between Footscray Station and Keilor East (side note – I have this propensity to call it East Keilor). Before moving …
Treasury Wine Estate’s Share Price Dives, Again!
Let’s face it, I have never been good at timing the share market. When I buy is usually a good time to sell, and vice versa. Yesterday I seem to have inadvertently made an accidentally smart choice where I sold 900 of my 1000 Treasury Wine Estate shares at $7.78. Today, TWE shares dropped as …
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Footscray Shopping Centre Goes Retro – In A Bad Way
According to one of the historical plaques along Barkly Street, in the 1950s the Footscray Shopping Centre was the second largest shopping district after the Melbourne CBD. As a child in the 1970s, the Nicholson Street Mall (a new experiment then) was a vibrant place. There was Forges of Footscray on the north side, and …
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Can Lonsdale Street Still Be Considered The Greek Precinct Of Melbourne?
Not discounting time spent in Canberra or interstate, I worked for almost twenty seven years at the eastern end of Lonsdale Street, about two city blocks away from what we call the Greek Precinct of Melbourne. For those not aware, it is mostly the southern stretch of Lonsdale Street between Swanston and Russell, opposite QV. …
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Bilton School, Rugby – An Infestation Of Treasonous Karens
One of my quirks is that I sometimes self-identify as British, despite my ethnic origins being Italian and having never actually visited the UK. The basis for this is that until late 1985 when the Australian Citizenship Act was amended, all Australian Citizens were automatically considered British Subjects. As I never consented to give up …
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The Slow Death Of The News Agency
I regularly take the bus route that runs past my street to Highpoint West, so I know a lot of the other frequent bus passengers. One is an elderly chap who is always friendly and chatty, and who has lived in Avondale Heights his whole life (ie since the early 1950s). He knows a lot …
What To Do About Nuisance Calls
A couple of months ago, I decided to record my mobile number on the DO NOT CALL register through the ACMA website. This is not the first time I had recorded my number on this service, but as it was several years (sometime before COVID I think), I felt that it was probably wise to …
Forgetting Tom Clancy
You see lots of crazy stuff on social media. My Facebook feed (and I am a relative newcomer to FB) alternates between regaling me with AI generated stories of family conflict which approach Greek tragedy in their proportions (who would have thought spending one kid’s college fund on another or wearing white to your stepsister’s …
Lost For Words! 