NINO (D1): Finally, D2, we’ve reached the one time of year where it does not look too sad to be waiting outside the doors of department stores before they open.
Haven’t seen the odds for a white Christmas in Bendigo, but I’d imagine they would be as long as Shoaib Akhtar’s run-up.
What do you make of the council’s $50,000 decorations? I’m all for them, and when you consider it equates to 50 cents a ratepayer, I’m not sure what all the stink is about.
Your plans for the break? The way your beard is going you could do a bit of moonlighting for the big fella if Bendigo gets too hot for him and his reindeers.
RICHARD (D2): Are you saying I could moonlight for Santa or Inzamam-ul-Haq? As for the $50,000 . . . I reckon it could have been better spent elsewhere. I understand the argument for spreading the Christmas cheer, but you cannot go anywhere without being reminded of season’s greetings.
Fifty grand is a lot of moolah. On Christmas Day there’s a lunch in the Town Hall for some of Bendigo’s most needy.
Surely the money could have gone towards that.
My Christmas plans will involve work and a trip down to the state capital to watch the cricket. I pity Shane Watson if he ends up fielding anywhere near me and my mates.
He is a disgrace. His performance against West Indies Captain Chris Gayle was abhorrent. Learn some class, Shane.
I wonder if he knows how many Australians laugh every time he gets close to 100 but goes out?
D1: There’s not many likeable characters in the Test team at the moment. It’s all well and good being a surly and intimidating bunch of world-beaters, but when you’ve just managed to scrape over the line against woeful opposition it might pay to keep the attitude in check.
It’s about this time of year when my longing for the beach reaches its climax. I’m told there was once a proposal to build a beach at Kennington reservoir. Then again, proposals for underground bus bays and monorails linking Bendigo and Melbourne have also been suggested recently.
What left-field idea would you most like to see developed?
D2: Trams. Just more of them. Also more express trains between Bendigo and Melbourne. The London model should be applied to Victoria - good, fast express links to Melbourne by rail so people can enjoy their regional lifestyle and still work in Melbourne.
A wave pool would be good in Bendigo so there was at least some resemblance of the coast.
Perhaps the city could take a cue from Paris, which sets up a sand beach on the banks of the Seine.
The Bendigo Creek could easily be turned into a white-sand beach.
D1: I know it’s not very left-field, but I like the idea of someone setting up a hotline to deal with all the strange complaints that get thrown our way on a regular basis. One lady called recently wanting us to fix her blue television screen.
Another person wanted me to stop it raining so her backyard didn’t get overgrown with weeds.
And somebody wrote to say they could save money by reading books instead of newspapers.
As this will be the last Doyens column for 2009, what do you think have been some of the year’s biggest issues?
D2: Since I’ve only been here six months I’d say the constant debacle of the Hargreaves Mall has certainly captured many imaginations - it was even talked about in France.
Fires, fires and more fires has been a constant topic, and now that we have an arsonist on the loose in Rochester things look set to be the same in 2010.
Fingers crossed that I’m wrong.
Bendigo’s booming boundaries have also been a source of much conjecture, with the debate on conservation and heritage versus progress and development.
Krystal Fraser has also grabbed the headlines on many occassions.
For me the feel-good story of the year was the Fernandez family in Pyramid Hill. The fact that a community of strangers rallied to help reunite a family from the Philippines is pretty touching.
D1: Biggest story was the fires, and the most ink was spilt reporting on the myriad fights between the council and traders. It seems there’s more chance of peace in the Gaza Strip than there is of those two hitting it off.
But who knows what the new year will bring?
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