Tag Archive for: australia

Extreme Water Infrastructure Sports, Amateur Division

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Geo Contest! Where, oh where? There’s a (modest) prize and heavy praise waiting for the first reader/s who can identify these locations.

It looks like reservoir mis-use in the name of sport is an international phenomenon! In this clip from the land down under, our Oz sportsmen do without the fancy equipment and skilled videographers, but make up for it with a head-bangin’ punk rock track. Here, see “Aussie guys jumping off a huge tower at the res.”

A mere 5 seconds long, don’t blink or you’ll miss the action in “Water Tower Golfing.” This is strong evidence for the theory that “everything’s been done already.”

This one, aptly titled “Redneck Wakboarding,” depicts that memorable day when “Mitch went wakeboarding at the water treatment plant in the mud while it was freezing outside.”

Headline Let-Down: Aussie Metered Toilets?!

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You know the feeling, you see a tantalizing headline and bolt upright in your chair; like today, when “Doomsday Jim” (this blog’s eyes and ears “down-under”) sends a link to this:

AUSTRALIA’S TOILET TAX WILL CHARGE AUSSIES PER FLUSH

Wow! I read further on macedonia.eu:  

Householders would be charged for each flush under a radical new toilet tax designed to help beat the drought.

This is groundbreaking! Naturally, I am envisioning something like this:

Let’s read more! How shall they implement and administrate this exciting innovation?

The reform would see the abolition of the property-based charge with one based on a pay-as-you-go rate and a small fixed annual fee to cover the cost of meter readings and pipeline maintenance…As nearly all of (the homes in) mainland Australia’s cities and towns already have water meters, introduction of a volumetric charge, such as that used in the City of Bellaire, would not be difficult to implement.

Oh. Charges based on volume. Just like they do it my suburb. I’ve shared my belief over the years that the headline and lead-in should be 5% of the word count but 95% of the labor. This is yet more proof of the truth.

Unnecessary footnote: Photo is a faked-up photoshop job by the author. To my knowledge no such metered toilet exists.

Keeping abreast of water marketing trends

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Spotted in Adelaide, South Australia, this Mount Franklin bottled water billboard is from a campaign supporting breast cancer awareness with a “limited edition” bottle. It sports the line, “Every mouthful helps raise awareness for breast cancer research.” Yes, isn’t cancer sexy! The creators of this campaign are clever but crass.

Thanks, flickr-er photog Janet Leadbeater.