Michael Bell

1 Jan

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.

abc.net.au'Get a reality check': Cartoon maker refuses to apologise to Jacqui LambieSenator Jacqui Lambie is calling on the One Nation candidate and creator of the party's 'Please Explain' cartoons to drop out of the race for an upper house seat in next month's Victorian election.

This guy claimed at his campaign launch to be a former criminal lawyer. Only he has never been admitted to practise law in Australia. In the USA, you’d only last one Zacharia (5 days, or half a Scaramucci) in a political role if you lied about being a lawyer. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...

One ‘trial shift’ as a dishpig at a restaurant. Had never been in a commercial kitchen and had no idea they used a new pan to cook every single dish, or that uneaten ‘decorative greens’ were recycled on the next dish served. Never got paid. Never since eaten ‘decorative greens’ at a restaurant.

This post is unavailable.

So close… @7news.bsky.social

Hey #Qantas, is this canoe tail cone (Boeing 737-800 trailing edge flap track fairing tip cone) meant to be missing???

Local MP is a coward that hides comments from their Facebook page.

After a century of resistance, it’s great to see #Trump advocating for the uptake of #SI. Wait, he was unaware of the existence of Système international d'unités? Yep, he’s still just a self-serving moron.

X’trapolis 2 Set 8103-8503 on test, Frankston line passing through Malvern Station

Correction: Set 8003 (8103-8603)

abc.net.auFirearms businesses struggling under Minns government's gun lawsFamily-run firearms businesses say they are copping the brunt of the Minns government's post-Bondi gun laws, with some forced to sell their homes and dip into their retirement nest eggs.

Oh no, won’t someone think of the firearms businesses…

ABC News Australia@news.abc.net.au

Firearms businesses say they are struggling under Minns government's post-Bondi gun laws

22 Sept

I quite liked Bailey Smith’s blue and black Brownlow suit. Or was it white and gold?

Did you know the practice of using fire to burn combustible matter in controlled circumstances with the goal of reducing the risk of uncontrolled fire at a later date, is known by different names in each state of Australia?

View full thread

Yuin Nation (NSW South Coast): Ngalgala Dja Dja Wurrung (Central VIC): Djandak Wii Woi Wurrung / Wurundjeri (Greater Melbourne VIC): Wii Bagurrk Guugu Yimithirr / Binthi (Cape York QLD): Yuku Ngaala

Kaurna (Adelaide Plains SA): Gunya / Karrku Palawa / Pakana (TAS): Lutana Kunwinjku language group (Arnhem Land NT): Karl / Lorr

NSW: Hazard Reduction Burn VIC: Planned Burn QLD: Planned / Hazard Reduction Burn WA: Prescribed / Planned Burn SA: Prescribed Burn TAS: Fuel Reduction Burn NT: Prescribed Burn ACT: Prescribed Burn

Did you known the cultural practice of using fire selectively to manage and care for Country has different names across the multitude of different Aboriginal language and clan groups? Some examples: (Please correct/teach me where I’ve got these wrong)

19 Sept

Domain.com.au still reporting test data on their live auction results prod site 🤷‍♂️

20 Aug

What’s up at Parkers Rd roundabout pedestrian crossing? It was painted as a zebra crossing during the Level Crossing Removal project, and Pedestrian Crossing signs installed. The signs are still there, but the paint has been ground off. Conflict now ensues: is it a pedestrian crossing or is it not?

19 Sept

WTF - now the pedestrian crossing signs are also gone. Such a backward move. Does #CityofKingston not care about pedestrian safety?

abc.net.auOpal readers turned off on Sydney Ferries amid industrial actionTransport for NSW says the workers cannot turn off the readers under the notified industrial action, despite the maritime union's announcement.

9 Sept

There are no Opal readers on Sydney Ferries. They’re on the wharf.

ABC News Australia@news.abc.net.au

Opal readers on Sydney Ferries to be switched off for four weeks, union says amid industrial action

8 Sept

You know that oft quoted objection to EVs: “but how will it tow my caravan, around Australia, on a trip I do once, ever?” Surely EV and caravan designs will evolve such that the caravan will supply power to the towing vehicle? Active power hitch and a small static dino-fuelled generator in the van.

8 Sept

The caravan is likely to be infrequently used, compared to the towing vehicle. So make the towing vehicle full BEV for maximum everyday efficiency. And build an old-school, small, efficient static mounted onboard generator into the van to provide supplementary power to the EV when it’s needed.

8 Sept

It’s not carbon-free. But it’s a hell of a lot better than having a fossil-fuelled vehicle driving around emitting carbon full-time, when the task that actually needs the extended range and capacity is very infrequent.

6 Sept

I think I just vomited a little bit

6 Sept

“Applehead Deli” opened this week in the old Mentone Station. A cafe/bar collab by the people who run the successful popular Applehead Deli Mentone and Mates Bar Mordialloc. Breakky menu & coffee today were great, service flawless, seating plentiful. They’ll do well. maps.app.goo.gl/zGtSjHPBeTDf...

abc.net.auFamily loses house and e-bike business in battery fireA family in northern New South Wales say they have lost everything including pet dogs in an intense blaze thought to have been sparked by an e-bike battery.

31 Aug

This business seems to have used quality, reputable brand e-bikes - like Amp Bros Chubby, Vallkree, NCM and MURF. I wonder what they did wrong? Mixed up the chargers maybe?

ABC News Australia@news.abc.net.au

E-bike battery fire engulfs Murwillumbah family's house and business

30 Aug

Maroochydore’s “new” city centre has an underground automated waste collection system, the only one in Australia. Intended to reduce the need for waste collection trucks, particularly services for large apartment and commercial sites. Seems to work ok. www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/living-and-c...

31 Aug

I immediately wondered how it dealt with discarded vapes and their pesky tendency-to-ignite LiON batteries. Fire in the hole?!?

30 Aug

The rental market is tight on the Sunshine Coast, and letting agents have taken to using bait-pricing to make their properties appear lower in searches. This tactic is prohibited in VIC, and should be prohibited everywhere. Ping @purplepingers.bsky.social

30 Aug

Share the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Tassie Devil@tassiedevil.bsky.social

Share the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

29 Aug

Replaced again (16 Aug26)

Michael Bell@xtrackka.bsky.social

Bike repair tools stolen again. They lasted a year this time # ParkdaleLXR

27 Aug

“Windsong” Two beautiful bronze sculptures by Anne Ross, installed in the plaza under the new Parkdale Station, December 2024

27 Aug

One of the “Windsong” sculptures hacked off at the ankles and stolen, November 2025. Plinth boxed the following month.

27 Aug

Apparently the state government doesn’t insure public works of art, and they’ve just given up on replacing the stolen sculpture. July 2026. Plinth will be removed.

26 Aug

Um, what? It’s a 1% levy based on the ticket price of a trip. I don’t know who you think is spending $6000 a week on public transport fares? The maximum weekly cost right now for travelling every day is ($5.70x5)+($4x2)=$36.50, and the ‘secret 1% tax’ included in that would be 36.5 cents.

24 Aug

Can almost guarantee that the thing Carroll is planning to cancel is the thing that will make #SRL useful: the ability to easily, seamlessly transfer between lines at interchange stations. If he does cancel this, he may as well cancel the whole thing.

25 Aug

And there it is. The things that make this project actually worth doing: cancelled. Safe, efficient and convenient interchanges for travellers have been deemed “unnecessary additions”. So frickin stupidly short sighted.

22 Aug

Can’t let the VIC opposition’s proposals go without comment. The 2 highlighted changes would result in an economic, environmental and energy disaster for the state. Irresponsibility destructive.

23 Aug

Yallourn closes mid 2028. VNI west is already behind schedule. Without it, VIC will face a power crisis. If you thought power prices were high after Hazelwood closed, that’ll be kiddy-stuff compared to what’s coming if VNI West is cancelled.

20 Aug

Premier & Planning Minister announce new suburb for 36,000 residents, and the best they can deliver in equitable public transport is “bus capable roads”? This shit is so friggin predictably unsatisfactory. 12 years in government and they’ve learned nothing. www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-suburb-m...

20 Aug

In case this wasn’t sufficiently obvious: no actual buses or bus services. Just roads that are capable of - waves hands ambiguously - some day, being capable of supporting bus services.

18 Aug

Incredibly, after more than 8 months of being “off”, the Shared Use Path lights south of Parkdale Station are back “on”! #ParkdaleLXR

17 Aug

“Strategic Cycling Corridors (SCC) are important transport routes for cycling and are a subset of the Principal Bicycle Network (PBN).” But apparently, not THAT important. These 2 sites are 900m apart. Parkdale & Mordialloc LXR Projects both fell short of building an integrated cycling connection.

www.vic.gov.au/strategic-cy...

17 Aug

vic.gov.auStrategic Cycling Corridors in Victoria.Strategic Cycling Corridors (SCC) are important transport routes for cycling and are a subset of the Principal Bicycle Network (PBN).

16 Aug

“We’re letting politicians sell the future so they can get reelected, and that’s what they’re doing. The way they spend, they spend money to buy votes, that’s what they’re doing do. And it really works.” I think you might be onto something #Hughesy 🤔

16 Aug

So this is the new ‘winter’ in #Melbourne. I don’t recognise it. And I’m worried for what summer will be like.

9 Aug

Ok, who are these people aligned with? They’re spending big bucks on prime time Sunday evening TVCs.

6 Aug

What happened to cause development to be abandoned at Altera, 70-72 Cubitt St, Cremorne? It features some beautiful precast and off-form concrete elements, but construction stopped after it topped out. www.ausprivate.com.au/static/uploa...

6 Aug

Looks like construction stopped after developer Pricipal Constructions ran into funding difficulties after the passing of owner Peter Lenassi.