the icehouse has arrived in Melbourne, for the wheel you will have to wait

Melbourne has a new Icehouse, when I was mere boy a growing up in Melbourne Town in the seventies I remember this great band breaking into the music scene, the band Flowers and the debut album Icehouse. The band changed its name to Icehouse in 1981, and according to Wikipedia the name comes from an old, cold flat Iva Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.

I recommend that you check the band out but that not is what this post is about, now here we are in 2010 and Melbourne has a new Icehouse.

The Icehouse is Australia’s new, world-class ice sports and entertainment venue. The venue contains two Olympic sized ice rinks, state-of-the-art sound and light systems, stadium seating for up to 1,000 people, specialist winter sports gym and a café, bar and function rooms.

I was lucky enough to check it out last Monday and I will be learning curling there in the not too distant future. The Icehouse is conveniently located in the heart of Melbourne’s Waterfront City at Docklands; the Icehouse is easily accessible by car and public transport. Directly  over the road from where the Melbourne's Southern Star should be located and I suppose as the following photo illustrates still is.

I find it kind of ironic that the inspiration of a name of an album all those year ago could link a new Icehouse with a wheel that should be populated by people enjoying the spectacular views of Melbourne but alas there are not even itinerant people here as sadly the Southern Star wheel has closed indefinitely resulting from damage incurred by Melbourne's record-breaking 2009 January heat wave. The extreme conditions caused the giant wheel to buckle and crack. The owners sought international advice on how to best repair the wheel and rest assured that is being repaired and it will be one day again be fully operational.

This whole precinct is a lovely additional to Melbourne Docklands community and also houses a shopping district called Harbour Town, that looks like it is doing OK since the premature demise of  the Southern Star wheel, so I hope that the addition of the Icehouse brings the much-needed foot traffic and shoppers until the wheels eventual return.

visit the Melbourne museum and you might see a Cable Car

A Great Picture of an old and often forgotten Melbourne Cable Car.

I was lucky enough to visit the Melbourne Museum recently to attend the Titanic the The Artefact Exhibition This special event is being held at multiple venues around the world and I truly recommend you make your way along to an exhibition near you as it is truly astounding.

Being in Melbourne I obviously attended the Melbourne Museum, although I had been earlier tempted to attend the Titanic Exhibition at the Luxor Casino, Las Vegas, however this image is from a vastly different Melbourne display , the Melbourne Exhibition that is also included with admission ticket to the Titanic expo, a great day for family and friends alike.

Melbourne Museum explores life in Victoria, from our natural environment to our culture and history.

Located in Carlton Gardens, opposite the historic Royal Exhibition Building, the award-winning Melbourne Museum houses a permanent collection in eight galleries, including one just for children.

Highlights include a complete skeleton of a blue whale, the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, a living rainforest, the racehorse Phar Lap and an IMAX theatre on site. Major international exhibitions are presented in the Touring Hall.

Photography is not permitted at the Titanic Expo which is annoying as there was so many wonderful artefact's that I would have dearly loved to photograph and share , but alas , I was not permitted and recommend that if you are interested that you attend yourself its is running from the 14th May through to October 2010 at the Melbourne Museum details here Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition .

I did purchase a mouse pad and so here is the photo

its yours but they still own it sort of

Court halts PS Jailbreak sales, gives Sony control of inventory

By Ben Kuchera 

Sony has been quiet on the subject of the recently announced PS Jailbreak devices. These USB sticks crack the PlayStation 3 wide open, allowing games to be fully installed to, and played from, the system's included hard drive. They also allow homebrew software to be run. The company has won a small victory against those selling the device, as the Australian Federal Court has granted Sony a temporary injunction against the sales of the device, and the existing units must be given to Sony for safekeeping, not to mention analysis.

The court decision, obtained by PS3News, hobbles the ability to do just about anything with the PS Jailbreak hardware. As of now, you can't:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/08/court-halts-ps-jailbreak-sales-gives-sony-control-of-inventory.ars

Google does good to the land of Oz or a mistake

Aussies make cheap phone calls through Google

By Asher Moses

Australians have been able to make cheap phone calls to landlines and mobiles using a new Google Gmail feature that launched this week for US and Canadian users.

Australians who have their Gmail language set to "English US" are able to use the Google Voice plug-in for Gmail to make calls using the microphone on their computer. The service throws down a significant challenge to Skype and traditional phone service operators.

Users start with $US0.10 credit, which can be topped up using Australian credit cards.

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/aussies-make-cheap-phone-calls-through-google-20100827-13usc.html

create ways to explain your tardiness

Train late? Now the grass is to blame

Clay Lucas

A NATIVE grass is to blame for late trains on the Ballarat line last month.

The regional train operator V/Line is consulting with the Department of Sustainability and Environment about how to control the spread of the grass, which it said made 144 Ballarat trains late last month.

V/Line general manager Geoff Arthur said heavy rain in March had contributed to the outbreak of ''rigid panic'', a grass growing on properties neighbouring train tracks in Parwan, near Melton.

The grass, Mr Arthur said, had blown onto the tracks, affecting signalling systems. Last month 40 per cent of services on the line ran late.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/train-late-now-the-grass-is-to-blame-20100826-13u5y.html

10 goes plus 1 and launches 11

Ten launches channel Eleven

Michael Idato

The Ten Network has confirmed the worst kept secret in the television industry - that it will launch a new digital channel targeting the "distinctly youthful" market.

Industry observers have expected Ten to make the move for some time, given the extent to which Nine's digital channel Go! has eaten into the youth television market.

Ten will call the channel Eleven, and has formed a joint venture with the US studio CBS Studios International to deliver content to the channel.

Programs to feature on the channel will include Futurama, The Cleveland Show, Supernatural, Stargate, Dexter, Smallville, The Office, Nurse Jackie and the remake of 90210.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/ten-launches-channel-eleven-20100826-13spf.html

Gap to enter Australia, first store in Melbourne

The first Australian Gap store has opened in Melbourne today

Patrick Stafford

American retailer Gap has signed an agreement to bring its brand to Australian shores following years of speculation, in the latest sign US companies are flocking to the local market attracted by the strength of the franchising sector.

But while there should be enough demand for the company's product, one retail expert wonders whether it will struggle to compete against Australia's fashion-conscious market.

It comes as a number of other American retailers, including the NexCen brand of food and beverage chains, are in the process of location-scouting and finding potential franchisees.

Gap confirmed its plans overnight with the company signing a franchising agreement with Brand Republic, a subsidiary of Busby Holdings Australia. Stefan Laban, vice president of strategic alliances for Gap, said in a statement the first location will be in Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre and will open in August..

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/retail/20100326-gap-to-enter-australia-first-store-in-melbourne-by-end-of-june.html

The 10 greatest episodes of Doctor Who ever

by http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

This story pre 2009 how does it stack up now?

With the final episode of series four approaching, the Daily Telegraph's in-house team of Doctor Who buffs (including, we might add, Gavin Fuller, who won Mastermind in 1993 with Doctor Who as his specialist subject) has compiled a countdown of the sci-fi spectacular's finest ever episodes. They've been selected from both the original era (1963-89) and the new (from 2005); in some cases, multi-part storylines have been counted as single episodes.
Disagree with our choices? Think we’ve left out a classic episode? Then post your comments, and your own below. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3674193/The-10-greatest-episodes-of-Doctor-Who-ever.html

Metro payments go up as services go down

Metro payments go up as services go down

By Clay Lucas

METRO earned $53 million more from taxpayers over a three-month period this year than Connex did over the same period last year, a state government report quietly released on the eve of the federal election shows. The jump in payments came despite a fall in the rail system's performance. The government report shows Metro received payments of $206 million between January and March this year.

Full story @ the Melbourne Age http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/metro-payments-go-up-as-services-go-down-20100823-13il6.html