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My new long-distance love

Photo of Greenwich foot tunnel, by Dave Gorman

Thanks to UK comedian Dave Gorman and the BBC Magazine’s Alternative tourist map of Britain, I’ve fallen in love with the Greenwich foot tunnel (pictured).

Look further! It has a dome at each end, almost infinite length and endless fascinating perspectives.

Opened in 1902, the tunnel runs 370m under the River Thames and is lined with white tiles — though the section in the photo has a thick steel and concrete inner lining to repair World War II bomb damage. You can see that more clearly in the Dave Gorman’s larger photo.

Perhaps it’s unpatriotic to lust after a very English tunnel on the 75th birthday of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but somehow this tunnel intrigues me. I suspect that once I see it “in the flesh” I’ll love it as much as ’Pong loves the Newtown railway underpass.

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Paul Keating ringtone: desiccated coconut

Thanks to Crikey and Red Symons, you can now download a free ringtone of Paul Keating calling John Howard “a little desiccated coconut”.

To download the ringtone, right-click on the link and then select “Save target as…” (for Internet Explorer) or “Save link as…” (for Firefox) and save it to your desktop or music library. Then follow the instructions for your particular handset to transfer it to your phone.

Since Symons currently presents the breakfast program on ABC Local Radio in Melbourne, I wonder if he’ll get in trouble with the ABC’s Howard-stacked Board?

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6 Lessons from Last Night

Last night I joined ’Pong at the launch of Mardi Gras: The Slide Show. Right now you can see some of his photos from before the Parade and during the Parade and the Mardi Gras Party projected onto the shopfront at 72 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. While doing this I learned 6 things.

  1. Snakebean, at 85 Oxford Street, is worth checking out, since the food they provided for the party was delightful.
  2. If the smiling waiter keeps topping up your champagne you can say, with complete truthfulness, “I only had one glass.”
  3. If the café you were planning to adjourn to is closed, there’s a dive selling alcohol just around the corner. It’s open late, even on Tuesdays.
  4. If you become engrossed in a conversation about military history with the heavily-built heavily-tattooed ex-biker, you will miss the barman calling “last drinks”.
  5. If the heavily-built heavily-tattooed ex-biker has local knowledge about another pub which is still open and which is only a short walk away, you should choose not to act upon this knowledge.
  6. No, you really should.