Australia - Vyoos

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia, Cricket, Happy Spot

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Sydney to steal the Australian Open tennis tournament?

October 12th 2008 04:14

Barrie Charles Robran MBE, the best Australian rules player ever

I am not a man given to strong opinion or repetition of sentiment, but I think Melbourne, Victoria, should be cauterized, razed and raked into the sea. I loathe and detest and abhor Melbourne, and I am furious that my thesaurus doesn't have more synonyms for the sentiment.

All this started when I was a kid in Adelaide, South Australia, and Melbourne kept pinching our best footballers. In those days, before the national league, before sponsorship deals running to millions and before television broadcasting rights running to gazillions, clubs relied on gate takings for revenue. Melbourne, the bigger city, had bigger footy crowds, and used their fatter wallets to pinch our stars. The best footballer ever, Barrie Robran, told them to stuff it of course, but a lot of others headed east and we never got to watch them except on grainy black and white highlight packages.

But all that was nothing to what happened in 1995 when Melbourne stole our car race. Adelaide had hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix since 1985, and the city loved it. And suddenly we discovered that it had been stolen from us, the result of clandestine negotiations between the Victorian government and the Formula 1 people. Just like that. I loathe and abhor and detest the Formula 1 people too.

I have never been able to explain to Victorians just how much that hurt South Australians.

Until now. Until the news reported this weekend that Sydney has launched a secret bid to steal the Australian Open tennis tournament from Melbourne. This news elicits disbelief and shock. The Aussie Open is a major part of the Melbourne social and sporting calendar. It's inconceivable that someone could take it away.

I know the feeling.

FOOTNOTE: I don't really hate Melbourne. Not any more. I moved here last year and it's a great place to live. I refuse to go to the Grand Prix on principle, although maybe I should because another news report recently said both Moscow and Beijing want to steal Melbourne's spot on the F1 calendar.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia, Sport

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Connex cancels meaningful answers

September 5th 2008 00:40

Connex, the contracted provider of rail services to Melbourne, Australia, has removed seven carriages from service because of a problem with rust around doors and on floors. The carriages, which are almost 40 years old, have been sent for repair.

Connex spokesman John Rees was interviewed about the withdrawal on radio this morning.

He was asked, "Were you worried about someone putting their foot through the floor?"

"No," said Mr Rees, "the issue is structural integrity under pressure."

Which means they're worried about someone putting their foot through the floor.

As John Rees could tell you, corporate doubledegook can be tricky.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia

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Melbourne's tourism spin

August 28th 2008 23:51

View from the top of the London Eye (Picture: Chris Champion)

In 2002, when it was announced, Melbourne's proposed giant sky wheel was an exciting prospect. Located in the middle of town, it would rival the London Eye and be an instant icon. This, promised the pollies and the promoters, would be the wheel deal

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Tourism

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We support emissions trading! Whatever that means

July 30th 2008 09:39

Picture: graphico.free.fr/hfr/pollution.jpg

According to two recent polls, most Australians favour an emissions trading scheme, but at the same time most don't know what it means.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Environment

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Time to grab some NAB shares

July 27th 2008 08:22

NAB CEO John Stewart, who is 'a rare blend. He is as engaging and entertaining as he is effective' - according to The Australian, July 26, 2008

It was a bad day on Friday for National Australia Bank, its management and its shareholders, all of whom took a hammering. And now, while the media ask questions about competency and transparency, while institutional investors and analysts work over the weekend adjusting their financial models, and while mums and dads who haven't baled out yet consider whether to do so, I suggest you and I let them all get on with their finger-pointing and number-nudging and nail-chewing and quietly buy a few NAB shares as soon as the stock market opens tomorrow

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Investment

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Pay up doc, we didn't want twins

July 24th 2008 07:18

An Australian couple will have to pay the costs of raising both their twin daughters after a court today ruled against their claim that their obstetrician should pay the costs of raising one of them.

The lesbian couple, whose names have been suppressed, sued Canberra obstetrician Sydney Robert Armellin for almost $400,000 for implanting two embryos instead of the requested one. The ACT Supreme Court today ruled in favour of Dr Armellin, and ordered the couple pay his legal costs, even after the doctor admitted from the outset that a mistake had been made

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Law, Odd Spot

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Grill ride

July 15th 2008 07:03

How much can a koala bear? Quite a lot, according to a story from Queensland, Australia, today.

A male koala who for reasons which will become apparent has been named Lucky, was hit today by a car doing sufficient speed for Lucky's head and one arm to be rammed through the radiator grill. And there he stayed, as the unsuspecting driver drove on

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Happy Spot

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Give us our game back Andrew 2

July 11th 2008 06:06

It is stunning that, in the five days, seven hours and 24 minutes since we posted this advice to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, he hasn't called us to discuss the issue. Not once!

We have, on the other hand, today determined that great brothers think alike. Coodabeen Champions and Aussie music stalwart Greg Champion, who has the Champion family's allocation of fame all to himself, was only today made aware of my plea on the part of Tasmania for an AFL franchise

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