@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

jamesbannan

@jamesbannan@aus.social

Husband, dad, author. IT consultant living in Melbourne/Narrm.

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pat, to random
@pat@hachyderm.io avatar

Don't suppose any Narrm/Melbourne folks have recommendations on tradies/services who can improve an old house's heat insulation? Particularly with a focus on windows.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@pat Nu-Eco do excellent double-glazed, sealed windows. Made a huge difference in our place

timrichards, to writing
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

If I ever wonder whether travel writing might be frivolous, I think of the poor souls who write recaps of reality TV episodes. If I found myself doing that, I'd be seriously questioning my life choices.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards it’s one step from there to creating reaction videos

decryption, to random
@decryption@aus.social avatar

someone left a pile of business cards at the KFC drive thru window lol

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@decryption I hope they are a cardiologist 🙂

timrichards, to melbourne
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

I've often wondered about this sign above a door on Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. There's a story in that.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards Looks like 63-65 Gertrude Street used to be the Gertrude Hotel, and has always been a retail space. Some interesting info on Page 73: https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/ycc/the-area/heritage/fitzroy-urban-conservation-study-review-1992.pdf?la=en

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards And interestingly, one angle of Street View shows that sign mostly covered over, with just a few letter poking through. Seems like it's only been relatively recently restored

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards And it looks like there was an Upward Publishing Co. It was liquidated in 1983: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/231376573?searchTerm=the%20%22upward%20publishing%22%20co

jamesbannan, to random
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

Loving "Attack Surface" by @pluralistic - the main protagonist is kick-ass. I'm also having to make notes of all the apps and utilities I need to download and start using....

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Is there anyone in your work who is not a hot mess?

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@golgaloth I do know some people like that. They tend not to be renters or have a mortgage.

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

#WordWeavers
What are some of the tropes typical in your genre? Do you use them?

I love playing with them. That's the point of tropes. They exist in a genre for a reason. You can play to them or deliberately ignore them. Either way their presence or absence is obvious. If the knight doesn't slay the dragon, there's still a dragon. Still a knight. Still a princess. Have fun with that.

#WritingCommunity #writing #AmWriting

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@golgaloth War and Peas have done some great comics on that very theme 😊

timrichards, to random
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Hmm what fresh hell is this?

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards it’s already written your next article 👍

timrichards, to random
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Am I right thinking that it's just plain WRONG to charge the same price for a sausage roll as for a pie? To my mind, sausage rolls should be about two-thirds the pie price.

Discuss.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards this is the type of quality conversation I’m here for 👍

timrichards, to tv
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

IMO, streaming services should be banned from ending a series with a cliffhanger. We finally got around to watching Severance, two years after it first aired, and it ends with a bloody cliffhanger!

Very annoying, after you put in all that time – you feel like you've been cheated. There's still months to the second season release, and who's to say that won't also end with a cliffhanger? And there's always a danger of a cliffhanger show getting cancelled without a conclusion.

Rather than making me keen to continue, it's more likely to make me drop the series (which I did with Umbrella Academy and The Great after their first seasons ended with cliffhangers). Stop treating my time as unimportant, TV creators.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards it’s like modern mobile games.

“So when does it end?”
“There is no end. Until there is. But it won’t feel like one.”

Illuminatus, to random
@Illuminatus@mstdn.social avatar

I have to say I have had some very good nights with @pluralistic novel. I never would've believed forensic accounting would make for a really engaging topic in a novel, but 'Red Team Blues' has proven me wrong.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@Illuminatus @pluralistic I feel that there’s a generation of accountants who are now feeling vindicated in their career choices

jamesbannan, to random
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

It’s been an enjoyable visit to Sydney. And it’s another reminder just how more efficient the train system is here. I mean, double-decker trains where you can change the facing direction of the seats. Bliss.

jamesbannan, to random
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

Banged through “The Bezzle” by @pluralistic - given how much I enjoyed “Red Team Blues” it was great to see that the second book held up just as well. Really engaging story, but the sad part is that it was finished too quickly 😕

timrichards, to flying
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Good old Ryanair, everyone loves it.

Ryanair review: Flying with Europe’s most notorious carrier is excruciating

(maybe paywalled) https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/airline-review-flying-with-europe-s-most-notorious-carrier-is-excruciating-20240318-p5fd9n.html

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards price aside, what were they actually like to fly with?

kcarruthers, to random
@kcarruthers@mastodon.social avatar

Melburnians I require your assistance. Need recommendations for a fancy restaurant (with excellent food and wines) for a dinner.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@kcarruthers Bistrot d’Orsay on Collins Street, right opposite the Regent Theatre. Most incredible French dining experience I’ve had in a very long while

timrichards, to random
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Just got a haircut from my Iraqi-Aussie barber in Equitable Place. Every five weeks, without fail.*

*actually usually a few days later when I get around to it

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards The Turkish coffee place where you are is also extremely good 🙂

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards The one next to the bagel place (also those breakfast bagels are sweeeeeeeeet)

jamesbannan, to random
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

That snake’s day went in a direction it was NOT expecting: https://www.theage.com.au/national/queensland/snake-experts-say-there-s-another-way-to-rescue-the-family-pet-from-a-python-20240201-p5f1mk.html?btis

timrichards, (edited ) to melbourne
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Now free for all to read... I wander through Triennial, a mega-exhibition which gives a kind of wonky snapshot of the world today - through big, colourful & weird works:

Dateline Melbourne: Big city, big art https://www.patreon.com/posts/95512602

#Melbourne #Art #Exhibition

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards I LOVED the digital Bosch panoramas

jamesbannan, to random
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

Given that the UK Home Office has now lifted the restriction on UK subjects living overseas on voting in elections and referenda, I've got my application in. It's a strange feeling, given that I grew up in Australia and am Australian in every way. But, being able to take part in the democratic process regardless of where you are or which country it's for is exciting.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards There were plenty of overseas UK subjects who were unable to take part in the Brexit referendum and were particularly annoyed at that. It impacted them considerably and they simply had no say.

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@luciedigitalni @timrichards Here's the link: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Any documentation you can provide helps, but isn't 100% necessary. It might mean that the application takes longer to process. I have a UK passport, so I provided those details, as well as the address I used to live (so they know which council to enrol you in).

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards There seems to be a sense that lifting the restriction is also political, with an election coming up and the current government hoping to galvanise overseas Brits to vote Tory, especially those choosing to vote by proxy: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/22/tories-hire-coordinator-to-get-expat-supporters-to-vote-in-general-election

jamesbannan,
@jamesbannan@aus.social avatar

@timrichards that's the thinking, certainly. I'm definitely planning to vote by post, not by proxy

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