Loads of good Filipino restaurants in Melbourne these days; here's the latest. --- Filipino restaurant Askal opens in Melbourne CBD with pork sisig platters and purple ube negronis
I'm reading a book about the history of spelling (Spell it Out) and it's more interesting than you'd think.
Did you know that arctic was originally pronounced "artic", but the pron changed after some wise guys added the 'c' to make it look more like its Latin source?
Also, that ghost gained its 'h' entirely because Flemish typesetters preferred the look of the Flemish word "gheest"?
And apparently honey was once spelled "huni", but that looked like a collection of incomprehensible short downward strokes in cursive script, so it was changed to something more visually distinctive.
On: Thursday 18 January, from 6pm At: The Quiet Man pub, 271 Racecourse Road, Flemington PT: Newmarket Station or Tram 57 (Stop 24).
We can meet for a drink in the front bar, and there'll be a table booked in the dining room from 6.30pm. (Find menu etc here: https://www.thequietman.com.au/)
If you can definitely make it, could you let me know by replying below? Then I can get the numbers right when booking the table.
Something I've noticed in recent years is that people tend to finish work before Xmas about a week before the actual day. When I was initially in the workforce years ago, we worked right up to and including 24 Dec. Not sure when that shift came about.
You rarely read restaurant reviews this negative in Good Food. Dolly sounds like a real clunker. --- When we walked in, the question was: Why is there nobody here...? By the time we left, that question had answered itself.
Huh, just learned that Melbourne, Florida wasn't named after Lord Melbourne - it was named after Melbourne, Australia! Which makes sense, as Florida wasn't held by the British when he was UK prime minister.
@skribe@Ex_spurt@ajsadauskas I've just remembered I was in a school team on the WA TV quiz show, It's Academic. We did pretty well, got into the finals. :)
@ajsadauskas Yep, I grew up in country WA and at first we only had the ABC on TV, then a commercial channel at evenings from 1970. There are lots of "mass culture" shows I never saw as a kid, eg the original Star Trek.
I don't know that I'm that nostalgic for a common mass culture as is Waleed Aly. I was always interested in minority stuff, particularly science fiction, so I was rarely marching in time with the zeitgeist as a kid or as an adult. --- Who do Barbie, Taylor Swift and the Matildas have in common? Us
Interesting, this trend of much older politicians in the US, when in other Western countries it seems to be moving in the other direction. Politicians in Australia tend to hit the top jobs in their 50s, or even earlier. Can only assume that the system in the US must be tilted toward incumbency. --- "Today’s events are also likely to reignite the broader debate about renewal in the US Congress, where the median age in the Senate is currently 65.3 years according to the Pew Research Centre. In the House of Representatives, the median age is 57.9 years."
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell freezes during press conference
I have a cartoonist friend who wants to join Mastodon and would appreciate advice on the most appropriate instance. He's a cartoonist who draws a regular comic strip with anthropomorphic (ie animal-based) characters, following the life of a country doctor.
Could you suggest any instances which might best suit him? He could of course join aus.social or another Australian server (he's based in Melbourne), but I thought perhaps an instance serving artists or specifically cartoonists might be a good idea. What do you think?
(Would appreciate any boosts to pass this request to a wider audience.)
Travel writer living and working on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia. Rail travel expert, current books on sale include Heading South and Ultimate Train Journeys: World. See my published writing at iwriter.com.au.