Category: Steyn
I went to the I.P.A.'s C. D. Kemp lecture last night and managed to stay awake about 4 hours beyond my usual effort. The folks over at Diogenes' Lamp have covered the lecture very well and I suggest you go there for a nice summary. The text of the lecture (which must be read, Jack) was in this morning's Oz, here.
I only have a few shallow observations to make:
- I went in on the 55 tram and was expecting to take a tram up Collins Street from Williams Street to the Parliamentary Precinct where the Park Hyatt has quite stealthily hidden itself. I manged to walk all the way (at the southern end of peak hour) without a single tram overtaking me. I enjoyed the walk but I should have been there earlier. "Thanks" go out to the minister for dodgy how-to-vote cards.
- The food was flagged by the Lamp folk as being a bit "unidentifiable". That is being kind. Why don't they just put plates of party pies and sausage rolls (and maybe even the odd quichey thing or asparagus roll for the sheilas) onto the table and forget about the pretension of "dinner"?
- Back onto the public transport topic, my homeward cab driver (Ahmad not Ahmed: was this just a strange romanisation or what?) hit the button on my arrival at home with the meter at $20.10. I looked in my wallet and found a $20 and he said "don't worry about the .10¢". I was shocked and had to reach into my pockets to find a few gold coins for him.
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