Mastodawn

Kerry Stoke's candidate for "Premier of WA", a jock-minor-celebrity-radio-show-turned-mayor-now-boosted-on-Stoke's-newpapers-and-tv-stations-into-the-leader-of-an-emaciated-WA-Liberal-Party gropes for "points of relevance".
More lighting on trains.
Uranium mining.
Respect One Nation.
Reliable toilet paper.
More shopping.

(Actually which party does support reliable .. oh never mind.)
#KerryStokes #Perth #PerthWA #WA #BasilZempilas #WesternAustralia #OneNation
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-08/wa-opposition-leader-basil-zempilas-has-open-mind-on-one-nation/106771750

Ignoring One Nation like 'ignoring will of people', Basil Zempilas warns

WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas says One Nation deserves "respect" and he is open to finding a way of working with the right-wing populist party as support for it grows.

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rdm Jun 6

Storms, they cost us so much in so many ways.

There's a big one coming tonight. I've checked the predictions, and it is going to be nasty. I can't stop it, it would take the output of a couple of decent sized reactors to do that. But I can tweak it a bit. Divert some of it, weaken a couple of bits. Make it a bit less.

I know some people love storms. Even go chasing them. And I get it. I know the thrill. That used to be me. But not anymore. Now, I hate them. I've hated them for years.

I get in my car, and drive out to Osborne Park. I own a block of factory units there, and have one reserved for my own use. It's a 50 minute drive from where I live.

As I drive I wonder what Dad would have said. Even though I hate him almost as much as storms. He had been a fisherman - owned his own boat, and contracted out to one of the big concerns. But he lost everything in Alby when the mooring failed. And it broke him. His death never showed up in the statistics about the cyclone. He died a year later. And took my family with him. But I still wonder what he would have made of my machine.

This time the storm is moving slower than predicted. That is both good and bad. It is bad as it means the storm will hang around longer. It is good, because it gives me more time.

I pull into the driveway of the units. This late on a Saturday there should be no-one here. My headlights flash over a figure as I pass a speed bump.

He looks to be in his twenties. About my age when Alby ruined everything. He's just standing there.

I can see his expression in my headlights now that I've stopped. He's watching me. I can tell that he knows what I am here to do.

And I can tell that he knows that I know.

A minute passes. He does not move. I guess it is up to me.

I switch the car off, get out, and start walking towards him. When I'm about ten metres away, I veer towards my unit.

"Come on", I call out to him, "I haven't much time. We can talk while I work."

I hear his footsteps following me as I open the door and step inside.

#SF #SFF #SciFi #microfiction #Microfic #tootfic #Weather #PerthWA #IAmWriting

𝑱𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑺 𝑩𝑼𝑹𝑻𝑶𝑵 Jun 4

It's been surprisingly hard to find a publicly accessible greenhouse (in particular a glasshouse) in Perth that I can get into to take a photo for the cover of this track I'm working on

One place I've tried is Kings Park, no luck. Regardless, many thanks to the kind ladies at the Kings Park visitor information desk

If anyone in Perth knows anywhere that I can get into regardless of needed supervision to take a few quick shots, please let me know

#Perth #PerthWA #WesternAustralia #WA

skua Jun 2

The negative consequences for customers of formerly "reliable local ISP" #iinet sending its email customers off to #TheMessagingCompany continue.

Email server names have been changed. Email clients not sending and receiving emails.

There is a chance that The Messaging Company has sent an email out explaining what has happened - I don't know cause I'm not receiving emails. Would be on form for them though what with their non-filtering for TMC impersonators 🤮

#Perth #PerthWA #ISP #ISPBastardry

rdm May 30

My home town has a problem. So much so that they even make jokes about it on the internet. And it is the weather.

Now don't get me wrong, most of the time the weather here is wonderful. Summers can be a bit hot for a few days, but there is usually a sea breeze. Winters are not too cold, no ice or snow.

But over the last forty years, we've only ever had three major storms. Not that I really want a destructive storm, but it is odd. And people have noticed. They make jokes about "The Perth Dome", as a major storm roars towards the city, and then splits in two, just off the coast, and flows to the north and south.

Anyways, I did some numbers over the old data, and there was a big change in the early 1980s. About six years after Cyclone Alby - which was a Category 2 that actually hit Perth. But since then almost every major storm has almost magically avoided the city. We've had a couple hit - but they have been things that have had almost no warning - surprise supercells, for example.

Almost like someone had not been able to get to something in time.

So I did some more math, and calculated the centre of the effect.

So now I am standing outside a perfectly ordinary factory unit in the Osborne Park light industrial area. There's a storm due this evening, and there is no-one around.

A car is driving into the factory block. It stops about twenty metres away. I can see the driver watching me. She's in her seventies, I'd guess. She knows I know, I can tell.

Now I'm starting to wonder if telling someone else would have been a good idea.

#SF #SFF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #Microfiction #Weather #PerthWA #IAmWriting

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skua May 30

@loomhigh

Would like to attend.

Can install Linux Mint but not if there are hiccups.

What time on 2nd June is your talk at Cannington Library.
#ReduceReUseRecycle #Perth #PerthWA

WearyBonnie May 24

Landline this week has a brief story on the Magpie paralysis syndrome affecting magpies in WA 😭
There's information in this article on what to do if you see an unwell magpie:
https://www.bhg.com.au/lifestyle/health/magpie-paralysis-syndrome/
#PerthWA #Boorloo

What is magpie paralysis syndrome and what can you do to help?

Magpie paralysis syndrome is becoming a large scale problem for Western Australian magpies. Here's what you can do to help.

Better Homes & Gardens Australia

rdm May 23

ρ-Ophiuchi Nebula Complex and friends.

Located at the meeting of Scorpio and Ophiuchus, this is arguably the most venomous part of the sky.

Let's look around.

Down the bottom we have Antares, a red supergiant, illuminating IC4606 - the Antares Nebula, and next to it the edge of the globular cluster M4.

Above M4 is a region illuminated by Al Niyat or Sigma Scorpii.

In between and above M4 and Antares is the tiny globular cluster NGC6144.

Directly above that is IC4603, and above that is the edge of what is recognised as IC6404, the ρ-Ophiuchi nebula itself.

Lastly, almost directly above Antares is IC4605 - the Blue Angel nebula.

Shot with a #Dwarf3 from my back yard in suburban #PerthWA , post processed in Stellar Studio, #Snapseed , and #GooglePhotos . Total exposure 6:19, 60s subs at gain 80, Ha/OIII filter.

#Astronomy #Astrophotography #Astrodon #BackyardAstronomy #SouthernSky #Photography