Dressing Down the Duchess

From an article in today's Guardian newspaper:
"Last night the princes - joined by the Duchess of Cornwall who was wearing a midnight blue embroidered coat over a dark suit - took their seats to loud cheers from an audience of 2,000 at the Tower of London for a concert to celebrate the anniversary. "

Are we living in the 1950s? Why is it relevant to mention what Camilla was wearing? And especially when the same sartorial attention is not given to Charles, or his sons? I know the left-leaning Guardian is no friend of the monarchy, but is it too much for them to try to not be sexist?

Towing Icebergs up the Thames?

The Times reported on May 17th that Thames Water was considering towing icebergs up the Thames to alleviate the drought conditions. (This is probably the only island in the world with water shortages - strange but true).

The same day, Thames Water issued a statement disputing the credibility of the iceberg story, citing media foolery for blowing the whole thing out of proportion. And this press release isn't buried in their website. There is even a mention of it on their corporate home page, where I found it with minimal effort.

But that didn't stop The Australian reprinting the exaggeration (with dumbed-down prose, no less), on May 18th.

Now, it may be possible that The Australian went to print before Thames Water issued the statement... but if not, it would have been nice if they checked their facts first, instead of regurgitating the sister paper's copy? Perhaps the lure of a sensationalist article was too much to pass up, especially when it cannot be so readily disputed down under.

Brisbane Underground

Seeking distraction from the drudgery of work, today I googled some webpages detailing Brisbane's new transport infrastructure plans. It sounds fantastic, with the North South Bypass Tunnel, the Hale Street bridge, the Airport Link highway, the Gateway parallel bridge, and the possibility of more tunnels and bridges as part of the TransApex project.

My curiosity also led me to google plans for an underground railway in Brisbane. I learnt one independent group has already prepared a proposal document. The proposed route map is here. The proposal document cites London's Central Line and Dockland Light Railways (DLR) among examples of several options for the different system to be considered. The less said about the DLR, the better. Basically, it's an ugly light railway system augmented with some new tunnels and viaducts. But like all light railways it reeks of compromise. The Central Line, a deep-level tube line more than 100 years old, is fantastic, and perhaps my favourite on the Underground. Its east-west axis cuts across London in next to no time, and its 1992 rollingstock is fresh and modern.

The proposal makes mention of the Central Line's large windows, and their appropriateness for a Brisbane system, begging the question of why you would need windows on an underground railway? I learned the answer at London's Transport Museum last year. When the London Underground first opened, the carriages only had tiny windows at the top of the carriages, making for a very claustrophic experience. It wasn't long before new carriages had windows, and the feeling of claustropbia was greatly reduced. And nowadays (as might happen in Brisbane according to one scenario), the tube carriage windows are used for their traditional purpose, as only about 40% of the Underground is actually under ground!

Whatever subway is chosen in Brisbane, we can be sure that it won't be as susceptible to failure as the UK's rail network. I don't know whether the infrastructure is just old, or the rail companies staffed with whingers, but it's a well-known fact that trains stop running in London for the most absurd reasons. In autumn, it's "leaves on the tracks" (apparently tree leaves get wet, and turn into a slippery mush). In winter, it's "snow on the tracks". And in spring and summer, the tracks warm up, and bend, and the trains can't run, causing the mass panic we saw last week when the system shut down. And yet, everyone knows that in other countries there are leaves, and snow, and hot weather, but this problem remains peculiar to England...