Mayor4Unley

Remember the saga of the 3 noisey in-ground trampolines at the Katherine Street Reserve. A nearby resident complained of noise and bouncing people being able to see over the fence. The trampolines were removed. After receiving a petition from 600 people, Unley Council decided to re-install the trampolines. 2 will be installed at Katherine Street Reserve (in a central location) and 1 will be installed at Ridge Park. This will happen in 2 months. A great outcome showing #Unley Council responding to public demand. I fully supported the re-installation of the trampolines at Council.

A big crowd #onKWR last night at the #UnleyGala in #Unley for the #TDU. Sturt Double Blues supporters were there in force. Long time Sturt supporter Cr Mike Hudson lined up for a photo with Sue and Jason from Sturt FC. I've never seen Mike so happy.

Fantastic news that harness racing is returning to Wayville @ The Showgrounds. Years ago, many years ago, harness racing was hugely popular at Wayville. It drew crowds of 10,000s. The last trots race at Wayville was held in 1973. Wayville was the trots venue from 1925 to 1973. There will be 8 races over the year. The first event is on Friday 27 October. Put it in your calendar and get there. The first event will be a nostalgic return to the glory days of harness racing from yester-year. I am forecasting a huge crowd for the first race. See you at the track.

Last night was probably one of the biggest and most important Unley Council meetings of recent times; in fact, during the past 6 years. We finally debated the Unley Central DPA - the rezoning of the Unley Central Precinct. Whilst there was a strong thrust to go to the upper end of high rise, common sense mostly prevailed and we achieved a reasonably sensible and sensitive outcome. More on this later when the minutes of the meeting are released. When I got home, a bit late,  I was still feeling good about the outcome and did a bit of a song and dance for the dogs who warily lay in their beds. View the video

I found the bargain of the year! Yesterday on eBay I found a used bridge for sale. It was the pedestrian and cycle overpass bridge on South Road at Tram Stop 6. Despite it being SA Government property, a frustrated commuter from Sellicks Beach (eBay account keynes8963 ) listed it for sale on eBay. The description said that it was only 7 years old and had cost $30m. Postage was $10.40 via Australia Post Parcel delivery. I placed a bid early in the day at $250. I was quickly outbid with the bids exceeding $100k. I did send the seller a message asking if the overhead lights were included. He replied that if I paid cash he would throw in the lights. Later in the day the advertisement and all trace of it was removed from eBay; probably at the instigation of the Government.

It was a big storm a couple of days ago; with wild wind. The next day I surveyed the damage in the backyard. Several of my prized pine cones from the Queensland Kauri Pine tree were lying on the ground. Whilst holding one of the cones and contemplating what size it might have become, I felt a tugging at my trousers and looked down and was surprised to find a Pikachu Pokemon; they are still in the area. They're tough critters and being somewhat annoyed, I  considered dropping the heavy pine cone on Pikachu.

The Bum is much talked about, much loved and a frequent subject for artists. As artists say, 'if you can get the bum right then the rest of the body will just flow'. From a young age our fascination of the bum is fixed. There are bum jokes and bum stories; a kid's delight. As we get older there is a different fascination in the bum. I would not normally share such thoughts, but in my email inbox I received the following. It's an invitation to the launch of OBUM . It should be a good night. A bit of a bummer that I have another commitment that night. Dear friends and fellow travelers. You are invited to the opening of OBUM!  OBUM! is Deborah Baldassi's celebration of something which we would all rather put behind us - our bottoms. It includes  classic bottoms, the quirky bottoms of the Acrobutts, Burlesque Bumbushkas and the presidential posteriors of Barrack OBuma and Donald tRUMP.  A classic bum and a Burlesque Bumbushka are attached to whet your appetit...

Went to Bonjour Adelaide @ Unley today. Bought  a tray of lemon tarts (aka. Tarts de Citron). 9 for $20. A good buy. Tangy on the tongue. Excellent. Dessert tonight. Dawdled along to ETSY on Oxford Street. So many people and I needed to take a break. So I laid the tarts on the ping pong table @ the Civic Centre. Here's a photo ...

Fantastic last night at Bonjour Adelaide in Unley. Lots of people, having fun. The caption to this photo is: "Bob, you're my best girlfriend on Council" ... Unley Councillor Jennie Boisvert.

I recently attended The Mad Hatter's Twilight Festival held in Quadrant Mall. A fun night with pop-up stalls. A good example of place activation. The place really came alive. Here I am pictured with The Mad Hatter. He was quite a character; literally quite mad. I was part of a group and the Mad Hatter led us through the streets, winding through lanes and into Quadrant Mall. The Mad Hatter is the one in costume  

Last Wednesday I attended the launch of Pokemon Go in Unley; actually in Everard Park. Downloaded to my son's phone. After just a few days, Pokemon Go has become a killer app. It's being used by kids, youth, young men and women, older men and women and Mums and Dads. It's wild; totally sick. There are virtual Pokemons everywhere. They hang out at Pokestops and do battle at a Gym. Typically they can be found at parks, schools, community centres, historical locations, public swimming pools, libraries, ... everywhere; even in the home and in the backyard. One was seen perching on my shoulder. I even felt it. On the positive side it gets people out and about, wandering the streets looking for them and doing battle at a Gym. On the negative side, people are driving around, parking in front of Pokestops and on street corners; in dangerous locations. This app will cause accidents. My whole family (except for me) are into it; it's become totally obsessive. I'm ...

Most of us want backyard chickens, but space is often the problem. There is an alternative. Consider having a flock of quails. They are smaller and more trouble free; and they usually lay an egg a day. The eggs are smaller and have a nice colour, but have more protein and a relatively larger yolk compared with a chicken egg. Yes, it takes five quail eggs to make up the weight of a large chicken egg; but it is better value. An added bonus is they are great to have with young kids who get enormous enjoyment. Quails don't roost and it is easy to move a pen through the backyard; to feed the quail and nourish the garden. Give it some thought. Here's a link for more information

I know that it's theft, but this is an enjoyable story with an artistic twist. In fact, it's a fork'n good story. A man working at a high end restaurant in Melbourne collected forks used by visiting VIPs eg. Hillary Clinton, Prince Harry, James Packer, Richard Branson, ... He stole the forks over a period of 15 years and stored them unwashed with food and saliva intact. Now he has catalogued and displayed them just like a museum exhibit. Next time you are eating out (and you think that you are special, important, a VIP) then your eating utensil may be stolen by the waiter and later be exhibited in the name of art. Read the story ...

Last week I attended the launch of the Alliance Française French Film Festival. One of the sponsors of the French Film Festival is Peugeot and their advertisement of the 308 sedan was stunning; a must see action packed short film. People were talking about it afterwards. I suspect that sales of the Peugeot 308 will soar. The film screened was 'Rosalie Blum'. A lovely film, just so ... so French. A nice sting and a twist in the plot that took the audience to an unexpected ending. The After-Party flowed nicely with delectable nibbles and entertainment. A nice and somewhat familiar crowd of people. A great night. Had a cleansing ale afterwards and then caught a tram home. The photo below shows some of the beautiful people at the launch.

Harmony Day at Unley Council last night; in the Town Hall. This year it was to recognise the Italian community. A fantastic night of music, dancing and wood fired pizza; washed down with local wines. It was a good night of the community getting together. A diverse group of people. I met up with Simon, a Nigerian who is studying agriculture in Adelaide. He said that we were the best dressed there; or at least we had the loudest shirts in the room. Here is a photo of us taken in front of the red spot light.

Last night I went to see the Adelaide Fringe show Showtime @ Gluttony, East End of Adelaide. Absolutely fantastic. I rate it 9.5/10. It was a mix of circus, magic and music. All great acts. The magician was just, magical. And then there was the lovely (stunning) French chanteuse Rose who wowed us with her big and sexy voice. I was privileged to be invited onto the stage to accompany her on a drum. Took me back to my boyhood drumming days. The task I was given was simple - just beat the drum in tune with her gyrating 'ips'. I think I did ok. Just had to concentrate on those 'ips'.

I'm not really into Yoga; and maybe I should be. I was pleased to discover that one of the teachings/disciplines is SANTOSA ... defined as the practice of being happy for no particular reason at all . So simple and beautiful; a simple goal to achieve. Thinking about it, I'm happy for no particular reason.

The other day I was asked what does ‘J’ mean in email and text messages. Some people have strange understandings eg. joke, smile with a big mouth, big cheesey grin, etc. Wrong! It all came about through an accident with one computer converting a smiley face to a a J. Now people associate J with a J and use both interchangeably; without wondering why. The technical explanation is as follows ... Answer: If you've ever received an e mail with a mysterious J in the body of the message, you may have been perplexed by its meaning. Some messages have a single J, while others have several. Most Js appear at the end of sentences, but they can appear anywhere in the message. So what does this character mean and why does it show up in e-mail messages (and now also text messages)? The J is actually supposed to be a smiley face. If you have Wingdings font installed on your computer, the character J will appear as a smiley face. Otherwise, it will be the letter J. This is beca...

SALA is big in Unley. It’s huge. Of all the Councils across the State, Unley gets the top gong for participation. This year it promises to be bigger and better. This season SALA runs from 1-31 August. @ Unley the involvement includes: The coordination of Where Business Meets Art , a project developed in conjunction with Unley’s five Main Street Traders Associations for businesses and artists to participate in our ongoing initiative to put art in our shops, cafes and businesses. This year over 40 businesses will display work in a variety of mediums from around 120 artists. This continues to be the single largest response to SALA in any metropolitan area. The premier event SALA on Show has now been reformatted into a different event SALA Gala in the Garden . We are again supporting this event on Sunday 16 August 10.30-4.30pm . Last year it attracted over 4,000 people and there was excellent feedback on the economic return from the local traders. This year the whole...

A friend is having a problem with a private parking firm at a shopping centre. It is claimed that he overstayed the free 2 hours parking and was sent an expiation fee. He didn't pay it and was then sent an additional late payment fee. It seems (according to my friend) that the parking firm has no legal right to issue and collect expiation fees. He's not going to pay. That's his choice. Anyway, he asked me for advice. I said that it might be time to send the spider (and a cheque for $3 as a sign of good faith). Here is the link to the spider that I sent him. It's an interesting email exchange, not dissimilar to my friend's situation. Enjoy. Click on this link to get the spider tale