Sando and Sando

Kevin Rudd Still Australian P.M. - According to AAP

2011-09-15T16:10:00.002+10:00

Poor Julia. First the spousal buses, now the AAP quotes Australian PM Kevin Rudd.

Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #104

2010-08-02T10:40:00.004+10:00

Sando and Sando present 7 of the best Australian Tweets.....with extra doses of #insiders angst:

'Twas a quiet Sunday morning until The Insiders went to air....

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Dr_Tad points out that The Insiders was resembling more The Outsiders.

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A desperate, CAPS LOCK screaming plea to the MD Mark Scott.

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Phillip_Gomes paraphrases Akerman's bitch slap at David Marr. Coffees and teas spat out in disbelief!

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Thanks glengyron! If the shoes fit....

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From Claudia Hunt and the Urban Dictionary.

Things other than #insiders...

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banditcountry points out the irony. The government broadcaster, showing us what we can't see on the governments naughties list.

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Melinda sorts out the position on behalf of the single women of Australia.

Stay tuned for next weeks Dogs on Boxes. #dogsonboxes

Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #103

2010-07-24T13:20:00.001+10:00

Sando and Sando present 5 of the best Australian Tweets for the past week:

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Baffled? Obfusc8 captures the surmising of an electorate! What we really need are wind farms.........for all the hot air.

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Career over! Shafted and screwed....by his own doing. Perhaps a solo career for Jason?

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Rove McManus tabloid tags Ben Fordham. Ben didn't front court this week and his judge was mighty pissed.

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The ABC's Mark Scott on the MasterfChef / Election Debate schedule clash. Hilarious that! After ABC News 24 is launched while near 3 million Australians are televisually engaged otherwise.

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Thank you Ruff Stuff. Depending on who pulls what during the debate on Sunday the #masterbate hastag may actually come in handy.

Stay tuned for next weeks Dogs on Boxes. #dogsonboxes

Marion Grasby: Her Blog Before MasterChef fame...here it is!

2010-07-20T15:36:00.001+10:00

Alvin's blog Cinnamon Pig launched today and is a natural progression from his MasterChef elimination last night.What else do you do hot on the heels of being ousted from the competitive kitchen? Amongst this mornings Twitter chatter Alvin's blog was getting a plug when, out of the Twitterverse, a link to Marion Grasby's pre Master Chef blog surfaced. The blog has not been posted to in nearly a year and was coming along very nicely; click the dumpsters below for links.

Blogger Labels: Blog,MasterChef,fame,Twitter,Twitterverse

Up the Range without a Bypass

2010-07-19T19:43:00.001+10:00

Toowoomba is a great inland city, well known for its temperate climate and its beautiful parks and gardens, with a growing economy and a population nearing 100,000. A major problem is that it sits on the Great Dividing Range, 730 metres above sea level and the Warrego Highway from Brisbane and up the range is totally inadequate. The Warrego Highway also runs through the middle of Toowoomba and every day thousands of large trucks pass along what are basically suburban streets on their way to points west and south, not to mention in the reverse direction.

The need for a new road up the range and a bypass to the north of the city was established some years ago. A route for a new road up and over the range has been identified and largely planned including the drilling of a preliminary tunnel under the peak of the range to reduce the incline of the climb up and down the hill. However, the cost of the new bypass is big biccies – currently $1.7 billion and rising. The need for this piece of national infrastructure to serve the agricultural districts on the Darling Downs and the rapidly developing energy provinces further west is a no brainer, but like any costly project, politics is a significant factor in any decision to proceed.

In the case of the Toowoomba bypass, the problem is the fact it’s located within the federal electorate of Groom, a long standing safe seat for the Liberal party and formerly for the Nationals when the seat was called Darling Downs. As happens with many safe seats, the party that ‘owns’ the seat has little motivation to spend much in the electorate and the opposing party, which knows it is unlikely to ever win the seat, makes promises in the knowledge that it probably will never have to deliver on them.

That’s just about where the Toowoomba bypass project lies at present. The sitting Liberal member, Ian Macfarlane, has promised to start the project if the Coalition win government but he has only committed less than half of the required funding. The Labor candidate has been equivocal about a start to the bypass but as it’s unlikely he could win the seat, that’s not a problem for him right now. The reality is that unless Groom becomes a marginal seat for the Liberals, the Toowoomba bypass just ain’t gonna happen anytime soon.

But that reality doesn’t stop the bypass project being a regular topic of discussion in the local media. The locals are fed up with the huge number of trucks rumbling through their Garden City and want action. Ian Macfarlane has been strongly criticised in the local media for not getting the bypass started when he was a minister in the previous Howard government. With the federal election underway, candidates are in the news setting out what they will do for the seat of Groom. Here’s today’s article from the Toowoomba Chronicle.

Bypass drives Groom candidates

Callum Johnson | 19th July 2010

A number of candidates for Groom have identified a second Range crossing as a major election issue.

TOOWOOMBA’S candidates for Groom have spoken out on the region’s big issues as August 21, the recently announced day of the general election, draws near.

A second Toowoomba Range Bypass features prominently once again, with both Liberal and Labor candidates promising it will go ahead if their party is elected.

Federal Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane said the Coalition had the funding for the bypass and if elected, would start construction as early as next year.

“We’re absolutely committed to it; it’s in our budget and we have the funds to go ahead with it in 2011,” Mr McFarlane said.

“Health and education are other issues I want to focus on in the Toowoomba region, as well as a commitment to keeping Cabarlah Barracks open.”

Australian Labor Party candidate for Groom Chris Meibusch said the Range crossing, Warrego Highway upgrade and regional airport were all issues he wanted to focus on for Toowoomba.

“My main issues for Toowoomba are health, the environment, infrastructure and WorkChoices,” Mr Meibusch said.

“For health, we want more doctors, nurses and allied professionals in the Toowoomba region.

“For environment, we want to protect our agricultural aquifers from (the mining of) coal seam gas.

“For infrastructure, I’m campaigning for sufficient funding for the Toowoomba Bypass, the Warrego Highway upgrade, the inland rail, a new regional airport and aged-care facilities.

“As for WorkChoices, whatever the name, never again.”

Greens candidate for Groom Frida Forsberg said protection of farmland in the Darling Downs was paramount.

“With Peter Garrett’s moratorium on coal seam gas mining, there has never been a better time to get Greens in the Senate,” she said.

“We want to see really good progress for Darling Downs farmers and stop the poisoning and mining of our farmland and the Great Artesian Basin.”

Peter Pyke, CEO of new party Republican Democrats, said he was looking for an “outstanding local citizen” to stand as a candidate for Groom.

Groom candidate for the Family First Party Rose Kirkwood said she would make her comments at a later date as yesterday she was, ironically enough, spending time with her family.

Dogs On Boxes - Game On #ausvotes Special Edition

2010-07-17T18:25:00.002+10:00

Sando and Sando present 5 of the best Australian Tweets as the nation Tweeted down the clock to the Australian election campaign 2010.

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Julia kicked of with this Tweet on Friday evening.

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A tabloid style observation on the early moments of the campaign. A move to Woman's Day? Fashion editor perhaps?

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Catherine mortified that Channel 9 dare utters her name...........Who could blame her?

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A sign of the times.

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On Tony Abbotts ~~tired~~ tyre changing speech.

Special Commentary:

Oh Julia! "Moving forward" has now stalled. 29 utterances and that slogan is dead in the water. Ben Fordham on 9's Today Show made a good point in that repeating slogans was appropriate for making sure the message blipped on the radar on an evening news bulletin. Our live fed, 24 hour news cycle has rendered the ad nauseam use of campaign slogans is over. Julia was left looking like a dill today and a salient lesson learnt for all politicians on the campaign trail.
Hold on! Did I say 29? Her post speech Tweet, dispatched within seconds of the closing, was the 30th reference to the "moving Australia forward" concept, and without a doubt Julia's last move on moving. It'll be a long night for sloganeers.

Stay tuned for next weeks Dogs on Boxes. #dogsonboxes

Dogs On Boxes - The "Game On" #ausvotes Election 2010 Edition

2010-07-17T08:17:00.002+10:00

Sando and Sando will publish it's Game On #ausvotes special edition this evening. Featuring the best of Australian Tweets as the nation Tweeted down the clock to the Australian election campaign 2010. You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the post. #dogsonboxes

Blogger Labels: Weeks,Best,Australia,Twitter,Tweet,

How Bent is Your Toothbrush? The A.T.O. Goes Pink!

2010-07-08T10:23:00.001+10:00

By DSando

The same sex marriage debate was bought to life again and snuffed out as quickly as a spot fire by the new PM Julia Gillard. Perhaps she had to play it safe after scaring the begeezes out of the Christian lobby groups in Canberra by revealing that she was an atheist and therefore putting the lobby's very existence under threat, or at least under employed.

While commentary flowed on the PM maintaining the status quo in regards to same sex marriage, the A.T.O. released its Tax Pack and E-Tax for 2010. Congratulations to same sex couples all around the nation, in the eyes of the A.T.O. your tax obligations will now be assessed in the same way as those in a defacto relationship or those married. The A.T.O.'s description for this type of arrangement is "genuine domestic relationship". With no awareness campaigns involving toothbrushes (thanks Centrelink), many same sex couples will have their tax arrangements thrown into chaos, especially those whose incomes that include government benefits, retirement savings and superannuation.

Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #102

2010-07-06T19:22:00.001+10:00

Sando and Sando present 5 of the best Australian Tweets for the past week:

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Look out! Twitter is evil according to Tracey Grimshaw..........A+ for irony.

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More than one person has noticed the shameless pimping of MasterChef. Here's a congratulatory Tweet on who ~~pimps~~ "cross promotes" hardest for the MasterChef PR team.

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A Tasmanian solution?..................Go on Julia......give them a call.

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Thank you Godwin. Ever dependable.

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Australia! Should we take comfort in the fact that at times the Office of the Prime Minister has no idea where our Prime Minister is? Watch chance does the electorate have?

Special International mention:

This is the biggest Tweet we have ever seen, on the biggest tabloid story of the biggest game on the planet. Big, big, big.

Stay tuned for next weeks Dogs on Boxes. #dogsonboxes

Blogger Labels: Weeks,Best,Australia,Twitter,Tweet

Case of the Missing Ford Super Coach.......Solved!

2010-07-06T09:54:00.001+10:00

A Sando and Sando Original Feature.

I always thought the Greyhound Coaches brand was imported from the US. but no, it was an early Australian brand that ended up in the US. After WWII the Streamliner coaches were a futuristic vision of road transport and were the pride of the Greyhound fleet, the streamliner styling influenced the architecture of motorcoach terminals across the US.

The photo above is a group of streamliners at an unidentified location in Brisbane, Australia ca.1946. The second from left bus has a Charles Hope body powered by a Ford flathead V8, the five buses from the right are GMH / Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Bedford Transits.The gem in this picture is the bus on the far left, a 1938 Ford Super Coach. The coach was built on a Ford chassis in Brisbane; Australia by local company Watt Coaches and serviced the Brisbane to Tenterfield route from 1946.

The bus had an unusual centre door entry, and a distinctive four strip deco style lengthwise adornment on it's side. It sported luggage racks and has a rear boot/trunk that may have provided additional storage; oversized wheel arch panels on the front capped by swept back, bug eye headlights and the panels over the rear wheels gave the coach a sleek, low-rider look. It would have looked a treat in it's day, as it trundled the roads between Brisbane and Tenterfield. The Super Coach would have been well known and a real head turner for it's time and many folks would have fond memories of trips taken on that bus and the events surrounding them. Perhaps some even wonder what happened to the Ford Super Coach from the Greyhound Streamliner fleet?

I live in a mixed residential/light industrial area in an inner Brisbane suburb. We have a convenience store but also have panel beaters, fabricators, warehouses and overgrown vacant lots, one of the lots is a yard for retired buses. I often pass it as part of my daily routine and one day hopped the fence. The yard holds about 15-20 buses in various states of disrepair, many decayed. I walked the up and down the rows of buses and sitting up in the back corner of the lot, it's rear covered in weeds and shrubbery, was the Ford Super Coach. As soon as I saw it, I new it would have to be a bus of some note, so I did a bit of quick research and sure enough, I'd found an old Greyhound Streamliner, and a special one at that.

There's no doubt that this is the 1936 Ford Super Coach Greyhound Streamliner. The poor Greyhound is in a state of decay but I would not say that it is beyond saving, it has been pretty well stripped but the deco style embellishment down the side is still there. The special thing about this bus is its timber frame and use of VJ panelling.

In the interests of safety I didn't hop aboard but the side door is missing and you can have a look in. The lining of the roof has fallen away and exposed the timber frame and some of the electrical wiring is still there, intact. The floor of the bus is timber and the VJ planks are exposed in the step area of the entrance. The door is missing but must have opened outwards with the hinge positioned on the left side, latching on the right. The front wheel arch panel is also fabricated of VJ boards, you can see where the outer skin has separated from the timber. has a hand painted "The Greyhound" on it's side and the front roof panel; however the last paint livery that can be made out is branded Kangaroo Klipper and sports an early version of the QANTAS Airlines jumping kangaroo.

Interior, looking to rear.

VJ panelling of centre entry step.

Metal skin separating from VJ panels of front wheel arch.

Kangaroo insignia; door latch can be seen top right.

This Super Coach has some decay but is not so bad that it couldn't be saved and refurbished. For now it has a nice spot, rear end up against a high wall and is relatively sheltered from the elements and the western sun. If anyone has any memories of a trip taken on this Super Coach or perhaps your Great Uncle used to drive it between Brisbane and Tenterfield, please let me know; it would be good to share the stories with others.

Sando and Sando

Kevin Rudd Still Australian P.M. - According to AAP

Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #104

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Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #103

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Marion Grasby: Her Blog Before MasterChef fame...here it is!

Up the Range without a Bypass

Bypass drives Groom candidates

Dogs On Boxes - Game On #ausvotes Special Edition

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Dogs On Boxes - The "Game On" #ausvotes Election 2010 Edition

How Bent is Your Toothbrush? The A.T.O. Goes Pink!

Dogs on Boxes...The Weeks Best from Australia's Twittocracy #102

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Case of the Missing Ford Super Coach.......Solved!

A Sando and Sando Original Feature.

Original Images Copyright http://www.sandoandsando.blogspot.com/

Additional Images sourced from http://www.nla.gov.au/pict/