fitzroyalty

I have a theory that real estate agents are secretly murder mystery novelists in disguise. A recent for auction sign on George St claimed that the studio flat in question is close to ’boutique shopping and elite Cafe Society Sect’. WTF? Is Fitzroy really home to an elite cafe society sect? A secret society of obsessives in capes that worship all day breakfasts? There are some strange shifty people around always muttering about organic, biodynamic, vegan, fair trade, etc. Perhaps these are the secret passwords. If you don’t look the part when you enter a Fitzroy cafe you may be told ‘this is a local cafe for local people; there’s nothing for you here!’

Spotted on Brunswick St on Saturday 20 June. It’s taken me a while to get through a backlog of photos. Sadly I think it has already been damaged.

20 sites along Gertrude St will feature projection art from 6.00pm to midnight between 3 July – 10 July 2009. See The Gertrude Association for more details.

On the evening of Friday 19 June I was out and about with thousands of others exploring the galleries and shops along High St in Northcote for the Northern Exposure art festival (a tip for the web designers – test your site in different browsers. It looks shite in Firefox). I quickly realised that I was not really in the mood for art, or maybe it was not to my taste. I was more interested in people watching and mooching around.

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On 30 June 2009 I received a phone call from a woman in the office of the Victorian Ombudsman acknowledging receipt of my complaint letter about the City of Yarra’s refusal to release food hygiene inspection information into the public domain.

The woman did not seem to understand the substantive point of my complaint or the outcome I wish to achieve, despite the fact I state both clearly in the letter. She focused on a narrow legalistic determination of what the Ombudsman’s office could do.

She explained that the office of the Ombudsman is not the appropriate body to determine whether the City of Yarra’s refusal to release the names of the businesses because of privacy concerns is justified.

I have to apply for a hearing at VCAT to contest Yarra’s rejection of my appeal against their refusal to release the business names, and this will cost me $198.60. These fees are obstacles established by the state to hinder the public’s access to information.

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