http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/sydney/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-people-are-such-sooks-about-the-weather/ You know you’ve officially become a Sydneysider when you become obsessed with “The Southerly”. When’s it due? Why hasn’t it got here yet? It’s reached the airport - bloody-well hurry up. In Sydney, having the Bureau of Meteorology as your homepage is not considered weird. We’ve been bitching and moaning for months about how wet it is, how cold it is, how we wanted to spend Christmas at the beach but it raaaaiiined. Then yesterday in Sydney we had our first day over 30 degrees for the summer, and last night it didn’t get down below 25.5 degrees at Observatory Hill. You’d think this event would be welcomed with wild celebrations yes? Not in Sydney. Today we’re all soooo tiiiirrred because none of us could sleep properly. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-people-are-such-sooks-about-the-weather/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-people-are-such-sooks-about-the-weather/#item7645 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-drunkest-stupidest-greatest-city-in-the-world/ Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-drunkest-stupidest-greatest-city-in-the-world/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-drunkest-stupidest-greatest-city-in-the-world/#item7489 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-hipster-invasion-threatens-inner-west/ There are many reasons to move to Sydney’s inner west but none of them is more compelling than your girlfriend telling you to. And so it was that a few months ago I overcame my bitter prejudices and moved across town, upholding a fine family tradition of men doing whatever it is they are told to by their partner, wife, mother, sister or the nearest woman in the street. The inner west, for those of you who are not from Sydney and indeed the vast majority who are, is a small enclave nestled snugly between the CBD and the real world. People in the proper suburbs have no desire to go to the inner west and people in the inner west don’t want them there. However despite this the people in the inner west have spent the past 10 years campaigning against a motorway that would give both parties the exact result they wanted. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-hipster-invasion-threatens-inner-west/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-hipster-invasion-threatens-inner-west/#item6879 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/trams-might-fly-melbourne-gets-the-jump-on-sydney/ This is the third and final piece by Penbo for the Herald Sun about what Australia really thinks of Victoria. When Melbourne hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006 its opening ceremony was hailed as delightfully whimsical in its hometown and ridiculed as laughably provincial elsewhere. In our coverage in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph we ran a double-page spread of flying trams and Leunig ducks under the deliberately annoying headline “And the winner is…still Sydney”, an obvious reference to Juan Antonio Samaranch’s declaration of the 2000 Olympic host city and its much more majestic and ambitious opening ceremony. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/trams-might-fly-melbourne-gets-the-jump-on-sydney/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/trams-might-fly-melbourne-gets-the-jump-on-sydney/#item6359 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/adelaide.-its-ok-no-really/ The Property Council of Australia - in one of those surveys aimed at getting their name on every news service - has named Adelaide Australia’s most liveable city. ‘Liveable’ is such a beige term. Talk about damned with faint praise. They used a bunch of different characteristics such as traffic congestion and housing affordability to judge each capital city. The fact that Canberra came in second goes to show that having a rockin’ good time wasn’t a criterion. (Oh come on, the Holy Grail doesn’t count). feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/adelaide.-its-ok-no-really/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/adelaide.-its-ok-no-really/#item4954 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-oprah-could-save-sydney-pride/ This week, we have seen two incredible women on television who have both made us feel proud to be Australian. One is Anna Bligh, with her outpouring of emotion, reminding Queenslanders and the rest of the nation that people from the sunshine state are “the people they breed tough, north of the border.”  The other is Oprah.Yes, Oprah. In Sydney, we are struggling to harness a sense of pride. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-oprah-could-save-sydney-pride/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-oprah-could-save-sydney-pride/#item4946 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-sparkles-to-hide-the-rot-beneath/ Tonight, the City of Sydney will squeeze into its glad rags and put on the pyrotechnic razzle dazzle that has become the standard way to see in the New Year. As always, event organisers have promised this year it’ll be bigger, bolder and with added bang for our $5 million bucks.  In recent years, they city’s grandiose flair for making stuff explode and decorating the Harbour Bridge has given Sydney a cocky strut. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-sparkles-to-hide-the-rot-beneath/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sydney-sparkles-to-hide-the-rot-beneath/#item4797 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-reasons-pubs-will-always-be-better-than-bars/ There are several truths about the ritual of the Friday night drink. They’ll never make you healthy or help you stick to your holiday or household budget, you’ll always stay later than you say you will and you’ll never, ever, just have one. And if you’re not among those lucky handful of people whose employer wheels out a trolley of drinks at 5pm every Friday afternoon, then you’ll join the thirsty pilgrimage of office workers making a beeline to the nearest local for a “quiet” drink to kiss the week goodbye. Unless that is, you live in Sydney. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-reasons-pubs-will-always-be-better-than-bars/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-reasons-pubs-will-always-be-better-than-bars/#item4476 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-cousins-stay-off-it-this-mad-monday/ It’s the wild day of the AFL calendar – Mad Monday – and there’s a BEN-DER alert on those party animals, the Tigers. After Richmond farewelled Ben Cousins yesterday, the players will pump up the celebrations on Mad Monday. It was a brave last AFL game for Cousins, who racked up 21 touches while playing with a bung hamstring. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-cousins-stay-off-it-this-mad-monday/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-cousins-stay-off-it-this-mad-monday/#item3926 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.) http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-rail-blueprint-all-aboard-the-bullshit-express/ First promised in 1823, today’s announcement by Labor that a $2.1 billion Parramatta to Epping rail link will be constructed within seven years is easily the most visionary transport blueprint for western Sydney since the last one, that other one, and the other one just before that. This model cleverly synthesises the best of the past blueprints to take the passenger experience to dizzy new heights. The seats will be made entirely out of snuggly mohair. Neil Perry will serve canapes. Female commuters will receive back rubs from members of the Chippendales, while the men will be able to watch Foxsports, Top Gear and Wild On! Cancun via an on-demand passenger entertainment system. For the kids, every fourth carriage will be decorated under Walt Disney’s Fantasia theme, with those surly old ticket inspectors replaced by cheery elves. If you vote Labor in any of five Sydney marginal electorates next Saturday it is expected that construction on the rail link will start one hour later and be completed by the following Tuesday. All aboard the Bullshit Express. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-rail-blueprint-all-aboard-the-bullshit-express/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-rail-blueprint-all-aboard-the-bullshit-express/#item3774 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Every New Year’s Eve Sydney’s Lord Mayor takes over the city’s prime harbourside viewing area at the Opera House just so society’s self-serving elites can get their snouts in the trough, quaff free champagne and look down on the poor people below them. I know this because after years of trying I finally got an invitation. Last Saturday marked the first time I had ever managed to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks display up close without the water police involved. (This does not count the year that I thought I was watching the fireworks display but had actually just set the kitchen on fire.)