How the news media coped with the bushfires?

Once again radio has shown it is the premier media when it comes to covering an emergency. The ABC’s coverage, which included bringing in weekday morning host Jon Faine and broadcasting constant local fire warnings and providing constant updates via the CFA, Victoria Police, DSE, power distribution companies, the Bureau of Meteorology had been outstanding.

Of course most of the breaking news was provided by listeners who called in, often in a panic as flames tore through areas that weren’t even yet on the CFA’s radar – such as Yarra Glenn.

3AW also brught in its morning big gun Neil Mitchell, who also did an excellent job. It was good radio, though I think if I was in an at risk area and needed information I would have stuck with the ABC because of those official warnings.

The internet should also be an excellent media for this sort of thing. The Herald Sun web site has done a good job in continually updating the news- shame it had to allow people to comment. The Age web site was slower to update. It took more than hour to report that police had confirmed 14 deaths and even then it was only with stories from news agencies. 

Our television news services were nothing short of disgraceful. How is it every network happily broadcast the inauguration of Barack Obama but would not show extended coverage of the bushfires. I know it’s the weekend and newsrooms are short staffed, but if ABC Radio in Melbourne can fly in staff from Tasmania to help with its effort why can’t the TV networks?

Sky News was slow to react to the urgency of the story and only seemed to go into top gear once deaths and serious property damage was reported. That’s the trouble with TV news, it only seems to react and has fuck-all worth as a source of true information.

I’m sure now the shit has really hit the fan Seven will parachute Mel and Kochy into the fray to “help” poor bastards in places like Yarra Glen and Wandong who have suffered enough. The only saving grace is that Ray Martin is no longer at Nine.

Far queue – petrol tight arses!

Mr Neil “Let’s make a fucking difference” Mitchell on 3AW started a campaign today to get petrol stations to sell discounted petrol in return for plenty of free advertising.

One petrol station owner in McKinnon took the bait, and slashed the price by 10c to $1.49 for one hour, which seems cheap these days. Cheap enough as it turns out for 200 cars to queue up, some of which were driven about 45 minutes from the western suburbs to save about $5.

I know people are hurting, but Jesus Christ, as far as I’m concerned anyone who’s willing to go to such great lengths to save a few bucks is a tight-arse fuck who has no place in a functioning society. If you know anyone who did this, tell them I hate them.

Fuck queuing up to buy petrol. I’d pay five bucks to avoid a queue! I queue for no cunt!

 

Rudd pwnes whingeing pensioner

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was on 3AW’s Neil Mitchell this morning spruiking the Budget and took a call from an old lady with the usual “woe is me” tail about paying taxes since 1879, fighting in several world wars and looking after her husband suffering from 16 terminal illnesses, a stroke and a very irritating itch under the shoulder blade that he can’t reach.

When she said “there is nothing in this Budget for “us pensioners” Rudd politely reminded her of measures including a senior’s bonus of $500, an increase in the utilities allowance from $107 to $500 per year and rise in the phone allowance from $88 to $132 per year.

Insisting that she was still getting fuck all Whingeing Mavis threw in the “we’re not all married to millionaire business women” comment, to which Rudd politely repeated what she was getting again.

Pwned you old bitch!

It’s a shame Rudd didn’t do a Hawkey and call you (to paraphrase) “a whingeing old bitch”.  Even Mitchell, the champion of the grumpy and wrinkly, sided with Rudd.

Note – Club Wah’s mummy is a senior pensioner who lives on her own and while doing it tough doesn’t carry on like the world owes her a favour.

Credit where it’s due

 

We’re always moaning on blogs, which face it, are a means to allow us to vent out frustration with the added bonus that a few people might read what ever it is you’re on about. So, for one night only I’m going to mention a few good things, starting with:

The Tullumarine/Calder Freeway Interchange

This is a piece of freeway design genius that has to be experienced to be believed. Once one of the worst freeway bottle necks in Melbourne it is now a free-flowing and impressive looking piece of road that connects two freeways and includes seem-less of and on ramps. Well done VicRoads!

Nathan Buckley, media commentator

I hate Collingwood and took perverse pleasure whenever Bucks did a hammy in his later years. I always figured him to be a hard, humourless bastard but through his football commentary duties with 3AW and Channel 7 Bucks has shown he’s quick witted, intelligent and of course highly informative and reasonably opinionated about our great game. Well done Bucks!

The potato cakes on Platforms 4 & 5, Flinders Street Station

These freshly made potato cakes are fish and chip shop quality despite being made in the pissy little kiosk. These are so yummy they kind of make you want your train to be delayed so you can get in line to get a few. Their popularity ensures you always get a fresh batch and the kiosk proprietors always ensure there are plenty on hand to satisfy the demand. Hopefully it’s like this on all the platforms. Well done couped up seller of battered tater!

The food trolley lady at work

It’s getting on lunchtime, you’re too busy to go down to the food court and you’re still hours away from getting the train to grab a quick potato cake. All of a sudden you hear “MORNING, MORNING TROLLEY” to find a feast of tempting fare including sandwiches, risottos, chicken schnitzel and “cheesy balls” for around the $5 mark. Well done mobile vendor of lunchtime joy!

Srabulous on Facebook

In which I just whipped the arse of Grods Goddess Bron. Well done Wah!

Please feel free to recommend anything that genuinely deserves credit.

 

Soul mates my arse

 

If there’s a phrase I hate more than “closure” its soul mate, which has become such a cliche term to describe a relationship that, like the word hero, it’s true meaning has become diluted. Soul mate should imply two people who defied the odds to become one perfectly interlocking unit that shares a love like no other – now it’s any couple who have stuck together for more than six months.

Women, often of the less sophisticated variety, use it quite freely “Oh me and Shane, we’re such soul mates” while it’s not a phrase you hear men normally use, except perhaps at funerals – “she was my wife, my lover, my friend, my soul mate”, a lie which most people forgive, considering the cicrumstances.

Soul mate is the sort of phrase that lies in wait to ambush us on thankfully few occasions including weddings, magazine articles about famous couples shortly before their divorce, and of course Valentine’s Day – when people feel the need to bore others with public expressions of their supposed love for each other.