hey guys

The other day I went to see a new film called Animal Kingdom. Crime is not really a genre I'm usually that into. Part of me was a bit put off in the que, but from the moment it started to the gripping finish I was loving it. I know a lot of you guys don't really like Australian films, and yes there are quite a few bad ones, but Animal Kingdom is actually a great one, and being set in Melbourne added that little level of fun of being able to go "omg that's my shopping centre" or "lol that bowling alley isn't open anymore". If you don't see that many films I really think its one of the few that anyone should go an see (unless your under 7, then don't little kids crying in a movie is just annoying).

Peace out bro

E

Facebook to take on Google?

There is a great deal of talk around Facebooks latest change, the removing of ‘become a fan’ with simply ‘like’. Personally I think this is an absurd change, one because it also removed the capacity to comment on fan pages people join, and also because the change hasn’t applied to groups so I keep on liking people joining groups instead of joining them myself. What Facebook plans to achieve from this confused me, so I decided to do a little bit of investigating. What I uncovered shocked me, apparently they plan to not only rule the social networks, but now take over the entire net. Currently whilst no one organisation really rules the internet, probably the most powerful entity would have to be Google. Google is so revolutionary because of its capacity to sort search results by relevance. Previously all search engines would sort information based on how many times your searched phrase appeared on the page. Google instead sorts thing based on page rank, that is how many times other websites link back to your page. It is a tad more complicated then that (I myself had to do several hours of research page ranking when this blog started and i still don’t completely grasp it) but that is the basic point. With this patented method Google has been able to go unchallenged as supreme search engine for years. But now Facebook may pose a threat to this with their new plans to expand beyond social networking. At their latest summit, Facebook revealed plans to allow users to ‘like’ pages outside of Facebook. For example you could like a Wikipedia page, your university homepage, or even this blog. By doing this Facebook would be able to recommend sites based on what you and your friends like, thus making a much more customized approach to what Google currently offers.
Not only does Facebook plan to create a new way to search, but also intends on having customised ads all over the web. You know Google also has Google Ad sense, a great tool that places advertisements on the side of websites based on its page contents? Well if everything goes according to plan Facebook ads you see in the side of your Facebook page will now extend to anywhere you go. And instead of being based on what your looking at they will be on the contents of our Facebook page. Lol this is why I have had my relationship status set to engaged for four years. I find receiving ads for wedding cake and photographers so much more cheerful than any of the other ones they offer. But currently these ads are exclusive to when I’m browsing FB.
These plans of Facebook do sound incredibly bold. This is all based on information that has been released by FB themselves. One place however that has kept their lips shut is in fact Google. What a lot of people don’t realise is that the Googolplex (Google HQ) does an awful lot of technological research on a vast area of subjects. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they had something up their arsenal for what is soon to be called the great Facebook vs Google internet wars. Lets just hope none of us get made collateral damage...

Xoxo
E

Funniest story ever

Hey you guys and gals

I'm so sorry to have been away for so long, but GAH uni so much work, so many battles. To make it up to you all i'm telling you about Kate's party. You've probably all seen all the facebook groups refering to it, so this website will explain the story behind it. I honestly fell on the floor with stomach pain because I laughed so hard at it.

Here is what I found on know your meme about it:

This screen was taken fairly early on in the event

Kate’s friend organised a birthday party for her on 1 May 2010 via facebook & posted it as an open event (not know how to privatise it).
Free alcohol wasadvertised & every hour the amount of attending guests doubled & tripled until there were around 80K worth of people claiming they would fly over to Adelaide, Australia just to go to Kate’s party.

This caused a riot of humorous pages & groups to be formed, giving Kate ultimate “facebook fame”.
Many fans changed their display picture to one of Kate, or something Kate related.

Unfortunately the same friend who started the commotion also ended it. She later deleted the event causing thousands of hopes & dreams to be shattered..

Luckily the real Kate (Kate Miller) made “Kates REAL birthday party”, which she didn’t know how to privatise either. There’s significantly less going to this party (around 10K), but it’s still impressive.

During these events private information about Kate was given out by someone on her friends list. This included her personal home address (North St., Adelaide, Australia 5000) & mobile phone number (0425943708 or 0419317446 as two numbers were handed out by a close friend). Poor Kate.

Since then it has also become a meme on encyclopedia dramatica.

Crossways - Our Favourite Hare Krishna Eatery

Located at 123 Swanston St (Upstairs on 1st Floor) in Melbourne's CBD, the Crossways restaurant offers 'all you can eat' food, drinks and desserts for five dollars ($5!!!). The food is healthy and always rich with fresh vegetables and fantastic rice. The halava dessert is a highlight (a sweet, glutenous oriental dish, served with custard). Drinks are a choice of cordial, water or lassi (Indian yoghurt drink). The lassi and cordial can be mixed to make a creamy, fruity concoction.

Crossways is open Monday-Saturday from 11.30 to 2.30. It offers a relaxed, 'loft' environment for dining and clients have the option of reading any of the numerous spiritual texts with their meal. It also has intriguing spiritual paintings that add to the peaceful atmosphere.

Prices:

All you can eat for:
$6.50
$5.00 (with Concession Card)
(Plus $0.50 Take-away)

Menu:

Monday
Satay Vegetables & Jasmine Rice
Raisin Halava

Tuesday
Sambar & Brown Rice
Peach Halava

Wednesday
Chickpea/Spinich Subji & Jasmine Rice
Cherry Halava

Thursday
Malaysian Curry & Brown Rice
Orange & coconut

Friday
Thai Curry & Jasmin Rice
Pineapple Halava

Saturday
Chickpea Subji & Special Rice
Banana Halava

Desserts are served with custard.

Drinks:

Cordial
Lassi (Yogurt drink)
Water


Be there or be damned,

Mr. Harvey.

Hey guys here's the new controversial Lady Gaga video, banned on MTV apparently, allegedly due to sexy racy murder. Personally I think you should watch it with caution due to the high level of amazingness of it all. Tell me what you think
xoxo E

Cabbieoke again

Hey guys just another blog about the new cool way to travel, Cabbieoke. Seriously guys we actually won an XBOX 360 from it so yeah it is awesome. I had no idea that I would win but, surprise surprise, we won! It even comes with a karioke game so going to have a karioke party pretty soon... You guys defs should give the cabbieoke a shot, even if you don't win still an awesome thing to try

http://www.cabbieoke.com.au/

181 Domain Cafe' Bar - 181 Domain Road, South Yarra.

Located in a popular commuting route from the Eastern suburbs to the city area, 181 Domain is the perfect place to stop on you way to work or play. The range of baked products is substantial and the quality of these products impeccable. I opted to go for the raspberry and apple muffin (i LOVE muffins), along with a cafe' latte' that was well up to my lofty standards. Lachsley smashed out a fresh orange juice with a muffin of the same variety. The dough was moist and the top crisp, with a warm middle that was not the result of microwaving (a good thing!). The dining area has an up-market metropolitan feel and offers a comfortable atmosphere to sit and eat, or drink to your heart's desire.

Get out there,

Mr. Harvey

Cafe' Ray - 332 Victoria St, Brunswick

CONTINUED!

Cafe' Ray is located at 332 Victoria Street, Brunswick and provides a quintessentially Melbourne feel and relaxed atmosphere to its dedicated band of local regulars (as well as those - like me - that are willing to commute there!). A small range of high quality baked goods are available and not one item ever disappoints.

Yesterday (the 23rd), I ventured to Cafe’ Ray whilst my Mumster and Good Grief were at the supermarket and Spotlight. On this occasion I selected a blueberry, coconut and almond meal tart with a decadent yet light pastry crust. It was distributed evenly with ripe berries and sprinkled with crisp desiccated coconut. The almond meal offered a light cakey texture to the tart centre. At just $3.50 I could enjoy this baked delight on an economic level on top of its perfect sensual properties.

I thoroughly recommend this quiet achieving little cafe’ for any occasion.

Mr. Harvey

La Paloma - 259 Albert St, Brunswick

La Paloma is a favourite cafe’ of mine and is located at 259 Albert Street, Brunswick. As hinted at by its name, La Paloma offers a delicious insight into the culinary culture of simple Spanish food. The wonderfully “no-frills” environment radiates coolness and makes for the perfect scene to enjoy a strong cafe’ latte’. From the terrazzo paved floor, to the soccer paraphernalia and classic tunes being played through the owner’s beloved record player (yes a real turn table!), La Paloma provides an all round enjoyable experience for patrons.

From La Paloma it is just a short walk down Sydney Road to Savers, Don Bosco op-shop, Aldi and episode, amongst numerous other Brunswick icons. To get to this famous cultural epicentre of northern Melbourne all one has to do is catch the Route 19 tram towards North Coburg from Elizabeth Street in the city!

After enjoying one of Melbourne’s best coffees at La Paloma and buying a couple of cans of Aldi tomato soup (my favourite!!) I felt peckish for something in the cake family...

To be continued in the next post (above!)

Mr. Harvey

BACARDI EXPRESS E http://www.bacardiexpress.com.au/Party-Carriage.aspx?trainID=639829198

Hey! Anyone that loves to have fun should add me on "Bacardi Express" and join up. If you don't want to go on the train or are opposed to drinking...do it anyway!!
http://www.bacardiexpress.com.au/Party-Carriage.aspx?trainID=639829198

Until next time,

E

xoxo
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Oskawhyte - 1013 High Street, Armadale

Once again I found myself on High Street, Armadale after work this morning. My cousin Lachsley and I were starving of course - we needed our appetites satisfied ASAP.

Oskawhyte is an up-market cafe' with a newly renovated feel that offers a breakfast menu, hot drinks and a small variety of baked goods. Lachsley and I both ordered the "muffin of the day" - a deliciously cakey, not too sweet blueberry of a very good size. The blueberries held their structure and the dough was of a beautiful creamy white, also maintaining a desirable moist texture.

At $3.50 apiece these muffins were good value and delicious with a cafe' latte'. Whilst not the best latte' I have ever had, the coffee was respectable and satisfied my early morning cravings. Service was acceptable, however, the barista looked how I was feeling - run down and somewhat grumpy. For me though, a muffin and coffee was enough to lighten my day. I can only hope a substantial employee discount puts a smile on his dial.

Lachsley's peppermint tea was a little weak early on, but only because he poured it far too soon in an impatient stupor. This problem was eradicated after the leaves were left to brew for an appropriate length of time and the tea was perfect - not too robust in flavour, yet very full.

I can recommend this old Armadale favourite, however, on a strip full of fantastic establishments there are others that I prefer.

Until tomorrow,

Mr. Harvey

Poached on Lygon

Recenlty I visited Poached. A small cafe up the Brunswick East end of Lygon st. With a nice summer rustic decore and friendly staff I found it a quite enjoyable atmosphere. The breakfast menu is very reasonably priced, with a nice selection. I opted for eggs benedict and a soy hot chocolate. Although it was a rather busy Saturday, I didn't have to wait very long for my meal to arrive. After eating the mushrooms this is what it looked like



The hollandaise sauce was perfect, not to thick but certainly not watery. It tasted slightly cheesy and tangy. The eggs were slightly runny as they should be, and the gypsy ham and muffin were excellent. All in all I would say its a good place to go. Perhaps as a first date brunch, I understand that a lot of people suggest dinner for first dates but I say brunch. I'll post a blog about that later on in the week though.

Poached
169 Lygon St, Brunswick East
(03) 9387 2396

Should smoking be allowed?

One very hot and smoking topic that the handsome Mr. Harvey and the hedonistic E always seem to debate is the legality of smoking. We're turning to you guys, any opinions? Should smoking be out right forbidden or changed to a free for all? We want your views

Pierssene' Bakery, 73 Glenferrie Road, Malvern

Pierssene' Bakery is located at 73 Glenferrie Road, Malvern, just a short stroll from Malvern train station. The warm atmosphere and rustic feel of the establishment is conducive to good eating. It offers an array of classic cakes and pastries – all handmade from scratch – but most importantly does a terrific cup of coffee.

I found myself in the Malvern area after work (as a swimming coach) with my cousin Lachsley once again (a café’ stop is becoming something of a Friday morning tradition of ours). We were both quite drained and in need of a caffeine boost – Pierssene’ seemed the ideal place for this said pick-me-up. The bakery has become something of an institution in the local area, with service lines commonly leaking out the door and down the road in the morning, as commuters flock the streets.

Lachsely and I both snagged a jam donut and a coffee – an unbeatable café’ combo. The donuts were soft and doughy, with the perfect dough:jam ratio, which is crucial! I would rate them up there with the best I have ever had in Melbourne.

I strongly recommend that you stop by Pierssene’ Bakery if you find yourself nearby, however, it is totally worth a special trip!

Remember to become a follower of the blog,

Mr. Harvey

Happy B'Day Mr Harvey

Today is the great mans 19th birthday. A rather dull one compared to the 18th but a birthday none the less. Have a good one and everyone keep looking back, soon I'll be taking him to the Eureka Skydeck as a gift and we'll tell you all if that's worth going on or not.

Xoxo

E

Birthday at "Cooper and Milla's Fine Food"!

Blueberry Teacake from "Cooper and Milla's Fine Food".

So...yeah it's my 19th birthday. I thought everyone should know. I would love a few birthday blog comments just because. Went to a great little cafe' at 1094 High Street, Armadale this morning after swimming coaching with my cousin Lachsley. The cafe' is called "Cooper and Milla's Fine Food" and it serves exactly that!

I had a phenomenal serving of delicious oat porridge with dates, banana and honey. It was truly the greatest bowl of "podge" that I have ever had. I would recommend everyone go there, particularly those that enjoy the special "homemade taste" that is so difficult to find these days. Lachsley had a lovely scrambled egg dish served with tomato and avocado in homemade flatbread with herbs. It was absolutely fantastic and beyond flavoursome.

To take home with us we grabbed a raspberry and white choc muffin and a blueberry teacake that looked like it was straight out of Donna Hay Magazine!

Hope everyone has a good day,

Mr. Harvey

Cabbieoke

Ok, for the next few weeks there are free cabs in the city if you do a karaoke in them! I can't tell you how unbelieveably fun they are and really suggest you give it a go.

Here's a link to a video of myself and Harvs doing it!

http://www.cabbieoke.com.au/songs/?id=HyaUNqW08iA

12th Feb, 2010. Here is a photo of E (left) and I (right) about to get into the Cabbie-Oke with the Sandman (photographer).

Vindaloo Against Violence - 24th of February, 2010.

“Vindaloo Against Violence” is an event that is taking place on the 24th of February, the brainchild of Mia Northrop. Mia encourages every Melbournian to go out to their favourite Indian restaurant/eatery to enjoy a meal on this date and show their support for the Indian community in our city. So get out in force! The Facebook event that Mia created has already attracted almost 8000 attendees.

She describes the event as an "easy way for ordinary Melbournians" to:

1) Express their anger and disappointment that racially motivated violence is occurring in their city

2) Embrace and show solidarity with the local Indian community

3) Mount a show of force against the perpetrators of violence.

E and I thoroughly support this great initiative. It is a fantastic way to raise the issue of racially motivated violence in our city in a non-violent and non-disruptive manner. I myself have already made a booking for 8 at my local Indian restaurant.

Visit the link below for the “Vindaloo Against Violence” event page and RSVP:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=266109388050&ref=ts

For further information on “Vindaloo Against Violence” visit the homepage:

http://vindalooagainstviolence.wordpress.com/

The Word of E

I would just like to say to those who read Mr. Harvey’s last post that there are one or two things he seems to have misunderstood. I'll try to clear them up in my post.

The first is that Sandman and myself were not late due to a lack of navigation skills on my behalf. Perhaps Harvey knew this and was just being kind on me. What actually happened was that I buggered up the address. I admit that I was wrong about it, and it was my mistake. For anyone who wishes to visit the Carlton Hotel, it is located at 193 Bourke St, not Brunswick St. I did also pay for the taxi to get us there at around 6.05, so we were only five minutes late. Fortunately Harvs was able to get in as my guest without me being there. Once I arrived there however, I found a most amusing fact. Harvey, who prides himself on never drinking a drop, was in fact drinking an alcoholic lemon lime and bitters, and a fairly strong one at that might I add. In his defense he did not actually know that bitters is a strong spirit.

The Carlton Hotel is a great place to go. For those of you who are like me and do not like beer (although I am working on it), you will be as grateful as I was that they have cider on tap. I had never even heard of such a thing but by golly it was good. We were given four drink vouchers, although I received 8 not 4. Due to Harvey being invited by myself he received only 4. I'm not quite sure, but you could get an actual pint with that, so I was tipsy very soon. I would also like to add that they did give as quite a few more as the night progressed. The only down side to the drinks was that we couldn't purchase them ourselves and cocktails were not on the tab, so I was unable to have one of the Carlton Hotel cocktails that I have heard so much about.

Eventually the sponsor of the evening was revealed, much to my surprise it was Telstra. I have no idea why they kept the sponsor was a secret, but I was expecting it to be some new company. Taxi cabs fitted with karaoke equipment sounded like something I would expect from some over zealous 25 year old to be pitching to Dragons Den, not something being done by a telecommunication company with by far the greatest coverage and speeds in the country. To be honest I'm still a bit confused why the devil they were doing it but I must say it is still a lot of fun.

The song list available was somewhat limited, but I immediately decided on Barbie Girl by Aqua. I love that song and sing along to it all the time. The video of us singing will be put on the web and I'll post a link to it when it’s up. Please vote for us because we can win an XBOX 360 if we win! We will also go into the draw to win a new mobile. We had a blast singing along and driving around whilst doing it was surprisingly fun.

Afterwards we took a cab provided and paid for by Telstra to the Carlton Yacht club on Lygon Street. If a free cab that requires you to sing seems like too much effort then don't worry, the free regular cabs are also on offer in the CBD on late weekend nights, paid for by Telstra. However these are completely random and so won’t be possible to identify.

The Carlton Yacht Club is a favourite spot of mine, although a tad pricey. Shouting Harvey and Sandman each a drink was maybe a bit silly of me. The cocktails are 15 dollars each and a mocktail is about 8. They are completely worth it, and same goes for the drinks ;).

All in all it was a most enjoyable night out and I would recommend just about everything we did. I must confess I am a little bit nervous about how I'll look on the video given I'm sandwiched between a perfectly sculpted blonde and a ruggedly handsome youth, but hopefully we will all be looking so ridiculous it won’t show that much.

Stay posted and we'll have more for you to enjoy later on,

Until next time,

E

A night of Cabbie-Okie and mocktails

Friday, 12th of February, 2010 - The Carlton, 193 Bourke Street, Melbourne. This is the venue where the evening began, some time later than expected due to E's lack of navigational nous. Along for this ride was the Sandman, who was more than happy to take up our offer of becoming a 'guest blogger' some time in the future. Upon arrival at the venue there was a significant trek up several flights of stairs, which (upon completion) saw a reward of four 'free drink' cards being distributed and gleefully accepted by our party. Being a non-drinker I polished off a couple of ginger beers, a raspberry lemonade and a lemon, lime and bitters. E and the Sandman, on the other hand enjoyed fine beer and wine on the house, sufficiently relaxing them for what was to be a night of high energy and intense choreography.

At approximately 6.30pm our hosts (Telstra employees) revealed that this was no ordinary karaoke evening we had got ourselves into - this was karaoke in the back of a maxi-cab rigged up to support the recording of the entire track of our choice - "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. This video can be seen on Youtube later this week and will be posted to the blog for your own viewing pleasure.

The event was awesome and these Taxis will be driving all around Melbourne for the next five weeks. Anyone is able to hail one of these cabs down and will receive a free ride as long as they sing for their fare! We thoroughly recommend doing so, it was great fun. Things were a little 'squeezy' considering we were all above 6ft 3, however, extremely enjoyable nonetheless.

I will leave the rest of the evening for E to describe in his own words. Starting with a suprise free cab ride (on Telstra) and ending with a few beverages at the Carlton Yacht Club on Lygon Street. They make a cracking berry juice mocktail!

Until next time,

Mr. Harvey

Excitement and Apprehension

And so the time has come for E and myself to embark on this most epic of journeys. I am really excited about the prospect of fulfilling our mission of finding and trying some of the weirder and perhaps more unknown sites, foods and activities that Melbourne is has on offer. I also have some feelings of apprehension because knowing E, he will get me into some tough and compromising situations multiple times along the way. Time for us to get this ball rolling...it could be very, very interesting. We will undoubtedly keep you posted on all the goings on. Photos, videos and blog posts will follow. Keep watching this spot.

Mr. Harvey

Pretty excited...

Ok I'm pretty exited about this. Should be fun, plenty of things I want to see and do, although I haven't quite run them by Kit yet... oh well. Melbourne really is such a great city, and I personally believe that that so many people just don't know what it has to offer. However, we're here to find out what it has, what to stay away from, and what the budget needed is. Our first trip we're planning on is to a new Karaoke party, with a bit of a twist. I'm not going to tell you what though, you'll just have to wait to see. However, I can say that it should be a great night out.

Stay watching

E

Coming Soon

Soon me and Kit will be starting up this blog with our views and experiences of Melbourne city. Stay posted.