Rubenerd

One of the many things I do miss about home was their penchant for decorating. Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, you name it. At those times of year along Orchard Road, Chinatown and Little India, the buildings and lamp posts would be decked out with seemingly no expense spared. It was impossible not to feel the warm fuzzy vibes of these holidays as you wandered down these streets.

(The other thing Singaporeans seem to love is getting in early. It was typical to see workers donning Christmas decorations on Tanglin Mall in late September; Chinese New Year decorations start to appear almost at the start of the Gregorian new year, not just the lunar one! A similar phenoma also occurs in KL, though not quite as extreme. But I digress).

When we first moved back here, I was surprised at how little Sydney gets tarted up for the occasion. Practically all the CBD looks the same as it usually does, save for a few brightly lit green cones in receptions. Still, there are some amazing displays if you head to the right places.

This afternoon, Clara and I camped out in the summer heat cold and shared a warm Toffee Nut Latte and Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks. Since I was 14 or thereabouts, my beautiful mum and I would share those exact drinks in our "office", which was the Starbucks in Paragon. Say whatveer hipster thing you'd like about globalisation, but the fact I was able to relive that special thing again today (this time with Clara) was so wonderful. For reference, take this one example from Christmas in 2009.

After that, we wandered down towards the Pitt Street Mall, which also didn't have any holiday stuff going for it just yet. Fortunately, David Jones had some amazing storefront displays with bright lights, and mechanically moving puppets, teddy bears and nut crackers. We could have just stood there watching them all night!

Call me old fashioned or a nostalgic fool, but I do like this stuff ^_^.

Have an adorable fact from the MacRobertson Miller Airlines article:

MMA was affectionately referred to by the West Australian locals as "Mickey Mouse Airlines".

And another little factoid:

MMA usually named its aircraft after Western Australian rivers, and the last letter of the aircraft registration reflected this i.e. Fokker F27 "RMA SWAN" had VH-MMS, "RMA ROBE" VH-MMR etc. One exception was Fokker F27 VH-MMU, "RMA MABUHAY", leased from Philippine Airlines. The name meant "welcome" in one of the Filipino dialects.

Linked from there is the Perth Airport article, which is seeing quite the influx of traffic. The airport, I mean.

Passenger numbers have trebled in the past 10 years with more than 12.6 million people travelling through the airport in 2012. Based on the average growth rate, this figure will double to 24 million by 2019. The first mining boom in 1979 had 679,000 passengers use the airport. This number now travels through the airport every three weeks.

That said, I sure do agree with this:

In 2012, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a report rating the Perth Airport as the worst in Australia, as judged by airlines. The same report rated it below satisfactory for the second year in a row.

When I was studying in Adelaide, I'd fly via Perth to get home for the holidays. Going from the world class Singapore Changi Airport and the brand new, cute, well designed Adelaide Airport, Perth was always a shock. Among my fondest memories, paying through the tooth for a very long shuttle bus ride between the Domestic and International terminals, and being told off by the surly bus driver when I asked for confirmation. I must have looked like a Sydneysider.

That said, Perth Airport has Dôme, which is enough to make up for it. I miss Dôme something fierce.

Photo of the MMA Fokker F28-1000 by John Wheatley.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

Tanya Basu writing for National Geographic:

If your dog stays indoors and doesn’t come into contact with neighborhood dogs, the vaccination isn’t necessary. But if Spot’s going to be at doggy day care, getting trained, heading to the vet—if she’s going anywhere where a lot of animals congregate—it might be smart to vaccinate.

Good grief, now they want to mind control our pets?

This is clearly to install a beacon system that will allow the Federal Government of Gitmo Nation West to activate certain dogs to kill their owners. It’d be messier than a hot tub cover, but harder to trace.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

From DW:

Sunday’s vote pits the leftist wife of Honduras’ deposed president, Xiomara Castro, against the head of Congress, Juan Orlando Hernandez, of the ruling conservative National Party. Polls put the two candidates in a statistical tie heading into the election, though Castro is regarded as the slight favorite ahead of Hernandez.

A leftist… called Castro? Only your [Fake] No Agenda could have uncovered this obvious connection.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

The Associated Press:

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama is seeking to shift the focus away from negative headlines. He says jobs have been created, the auto industry is recovering and deficits are falling.

In light of shadow stats and boots on the ground, we beg to differ. John said the US economy would collapse in October 2013, and it did. Right?

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

Quentin Fottrell has a column in Market Watch explaining what billionaires apparently won’t tell us. They didn’t include the most obvious: that they’re lizard people.

Since John stopped writing for them, they’ve really gone downhill. I’m glad they dedicated a segment to detailing exactly the circumstances surrounding his departure. I mean, if they weren’t fully transparent, it’d be pretty hypocritical.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

As if we haven’t heard enough about failing Boeing 787s with exploding batteries, we have this news:

(Reuters) - Boeing advised airlines on Friday about a risk of engine icing problems on its new 747-8 and 787 Dreamliner planes with engines made by General Electric, urging 15 carriers to avoid flying them near high-level thunderstorms.

Obviously a ploy by climate alarmists to prove climate change is affecting weather.

Airbus operatives also continue to undermine the 787, to advance sales of their composite-constructed A350. I think Fokker are involved too, because of Dutch socialism.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

Rhiannon Elston, reporting for SBS Australia:

Some 28,000 schoolies will descend on the Queensland city during November, and more than 500 are expected to need emergency care. The top three expected injuries are alcohol intoxication, drug poisoning and cuts to hands and feet from broken glass.

Distraction! Queensland is the only state in Australia that doesn’t fluoridate their water. Naturally, people fly in from overstate and get crazy once they’re no longer under it’s sedative effects.

This originally appeared on the Annexe, in a parody post series about the podcast. Art is by zy2386262 on Pixiv.

The No Agenda show is a long running podcast by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak. Rather than be influenced by advertisers, their conjecture is dictated by their donors, dubbed producers.

This blog is an unofficial companion to this fine podcast and the No Agenda News Network.

The header image is of Enoshima Junko from Danganronpa, drawn by zy2386262 on Pixiv. Because guns mean freedom, and she has killer legs. Speaking as a “TV executive” of course, which excuses us from everything!

In lighter news today, Clara and I found ourselves in Mascot this morning for one of her job interviews. Arriving at the relatively new and clean Mascot station and popping up onto street level, I almost felt like I was back home in Singapore. Sydney, and Australian cities in general, so desperately need mass rapid transit everywhere.

But I digress. After her meeting, we wandered back towards the station and came across the cute Cafe Neo. Bound on either side by light industrial estates, it was set back from the street far enough to allow for some cozy outdoor tables, umbrellas, huge trees and well tendered hedges. Or shrubbery, as we would refer to them in a knee-high context.

I had an acceptable cup of coffee, and Clara and I split a gigantic box of ridiculously crispy, fluffy wedges. It was absolutely lovely; I could have spent the whole morning sitting there.

In Singapore, my dad had a self storage room in a similar light industrial area, and we'd frequent one of the local cafes near there after hauling some stuff down. Sitting there today with the evaporating evidence of a storm on the ground around us, it took me back there. It's interesting how our memories work.

Anyway, buried in there was a review for the Cafe Neo in Sydney. If you're in the Mascot area and need a pick me up, look no further ^_^.