Oztalgian

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Everything posted by Oztalgian

  1. I agree with Brew, using population density is ultra simplistic. Australia has an average population density of 3 people per sq. km. if we were all spread across the continent evenly. Unfortunately the bulk of the continent is of little use for any form of agriculture and as humans we are gathered around the coastal areas. Inner city Melbourne has the highest density of 19,500 per sq. km. Darwin in the Northern Territory has a population density of 703 per sq. km and the Northern Territory has a density of 0.16. Northumberland has a density of 64
  2. Howard will be devastated. Marina, gone to meet Compo, Nora, Pearl and most of the rest of the cast of LOTSW, taken too soon.
  3. Some quotes from Churchill that I thought are relevant to the discussion "If Britain must chose between Europe and the open sea, she must always chose the open sea" "The main vice or capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery" "We contend that a nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by the handle"
  4. Albert, that was stunning, never heard it played on a violin before, such clarity.
  5. Great Post RR. Thank you Still can't listen to the Last Post without misty eyes wherever and whenever it is played. The City Ground is unrecognisable to me from that I last saw in 1975.
  6. I am sure our German Shepherd took great delight in separating the tablets from the cheese, meat or anything else you tried to disguise them in and then giving you that look that said "Thought you'd fooled me didn't you"
  7. Should this thread be renamed Noshstalgia?
  8. What about these guys? Moved many a machine tool for companies that I worked for. Below is a film of them moving a hosiery machine into Foister Clay and Ward Belvedere St Mansfield in 1948
  9. In memory of all our faithful servants that also lost their lives I spoke to you in Whispers by Neil Andrew I spoke to you in whispers As shells made the ground beneath us quake We both trembled in that crater A toxic muddy bloody lake I spoke to you and pulled your ears To try and quell your fearful eye As bullets whizzed through the raindrops And we watched the men around us die I spoke to you in stable tones A quiet tranquil voice At least I volunteered to fight You didn't get to make the choice I spoke to you of old times Perhaps you went before the pl
  10. Kenworth (Paccar), Volvo and Mack still make trucks in Australia even though we have no high volume car makers here any more after having five local manufacturers. All gone and the skills and technical/engineering that went with vehicle manufacturing will never be replaced. Mainly due to the economists in Conservative governments that could not see that the subsidies provided were adding value to the skills and expertise of the nation. When we can no longer build, manufacture or repair anything we will be stuffed. We are currently spending gazzilions on diesel powered submarines, F3
  11. Cliff Ton Great atmospheric photo That wall on the right looks like a feat of engineering, just wonder how many bricks went into that? Back in the 60's we often caught the Blue Bus B8 from our village and got off at the Mapperley Rd, walked along Forest Rd then down Addison Street into the Arboretum. Thought it was huge back in the day but looking now on Google earth it is really not that big, loved a Walls ice cream at the kiosk.
  12. The open road speed limit in OZ is 100kph, some roads in the NT have a 130kph limit Imagine having one of these road trains coming at you a 100kph on a dirt road in the top end spraying dust and pebbles at you, Plays hell with the paintwork and windscreen. Quads can weigh in at 130 tons
  13. As part of my work we had to drive a lot on suburban and country roads and the company sent us on an advanced driving course. That is where I learned that when you pull up behind a car that is stationary in traffic you stopped where you could still see the tyres of the car ahead (the same as DJ's tyre and tarmac) when I asked why I was told that if you did this and were hit from behind in a normal rear end shunt you would be unlikely to be pushed into the car in front and your car would most likely still be driveable. We had great fun doing swerve and recover on the skid pan and dust bowl
  14. Sorry to say that most Australians, even now, do not understand the concept of "Keep Left Unless Overtaking" and it pi$$es me off that the police make little or no effort to enforce it. In Australia it is legal to "undertake" a car on a multi-lane road if the speed limit is less than 80kph. Above 80 it is keep left unless overtaking The main road from the south into Adelaide is a 100kph limit and at time is 4 or 5 lines wide yet you still see cars tootling along at 80 in the far right lane oblivious to what is happening around them and cars travelling in every lane as you can see from thi
  15. Saturday evenings as a kid were often spent at my grandma and grandad's house playing cards for pennies with other uncles and aunts and cousins. The eldest of the grandkids were sent up to the local off licence to fetch bottles of Nut Brown, a jug of Shipstones, lemonade for the kids for very weak shandy or port and lemon. Bags of crisps, peanuts and my favourite Nibbits. We played Sevens, Russian Patience and always ended with a game of Newmarket and as the kings were withdrawn at the end of the game much excitement as the pot on the last king grew and disappointment if you did not
  16. Tea only came in a chipped white enamel mug with blue edging, so strong that the spoon stood up on its' own after you put the obligatory three sugars in. Milk, stera, came from a Camp coffee bottle, cant be abiding that stuff that the spoggies have drunk thru the foil tops. The watter came straight from the rainwatter tank and was boiled in a pan on a small calor gas stove. At least it did when I had a cup with my Grandad at his allotment where I loved eating the raw vegetables freshly dug or picked. My favourites were of course peas, then broad beans, brussell sprouts and carrots, the od
  17. Was it Music Box Dancer? If so it was Frank Mills not Mrs Mills
  18. Whilst we are musing about piano players who remembers Mrs Mills and Winifred Atwell with her Black and White Rag which became famous as the theme for Pot Black.
  19. Got to No1 in 1962 He is currently touring with his 60th Anniversary Show and did the Palace Theatre in Mansfield on Oct 8. No show scheduled for Nottingham this year, maybe in the second half of the tour.
  20. We have proportional representation voting here in OZ. If the vote is close you often don't get a result in a seat or as a whole for weeks after the ballot. Our system is based on a STV system (Single Transferable Vote) We have the option of voting above the line where your votes are allocated in accordance with the preferences of the party you have voted for or by voting below the line by numbering against each candidate according to your preferences. You are lucky in that you don't have to vote for the upper house, our ballot paper can often be metres long with a hundred or mo
  21. As a kid 30th of October was "Mischievious Night" long before Halloween had any prominence. Who remembers "spirit knocking" by tieing cotton to someone's door knocker hiding nearby and using the cotton to knock on the door? Of course when they opened it there was no one there. Wait a while and do it again, then again and being given away by giggling and getting the usual response "If I catch you little boggers I'll bat yer tabs" Lighting bangers until they fizzed and then dropping them in the sewer hoping they would find a pocket of methane and lift all the manhole covers in the
  22. I can remember when they came round the back of the house to pick up your bin and then took it back when empty (photo from Pinterest)
  23. Good to see the Magpies are currently in the last of the play off spots after a thumping 4 - 0 away win at Woking who were above them in the ladder. Their current goal difference could be a decider at the end of the season.
  24. I still have two fake watches, one a "gold Lolex" purchased from the street traders on Penang and the second a fake IWC from the Russian Market in Bejing. The Lolex is almost thirty years old and apart from batteries is still going strong. The IWC is fifteen years old and is one of those that winds itself with the movement of your wrist, still keeps excellent time.
  25. Sitting here on a warm night with the door open I can hear the waves breaking on the beach, the occasional car and rarely the sound of an emergency vehicle siren and very, very rarely the emergency helicopter air lifting some poor unfortunate to another hospital from ours. At the weekend and during school holidays we get the sound of the steam whistle from the tourist train as it chuffs along by the ocean.