Melbourne

Can anyone recommend a reliable electrician for me ? I'll be moving in six weeks, and need to get a couple of things done (replace old fusebox, fit a couple of lights, etc), and the Yellow Pages don't tell you if someone will turn up on time. Ideally someone based in the Eastern suburbs (the house is in Nunawading).

Also, any recommendations for locksmiths (reliable/not-too-expensive) ?

Is there a phone store where I can try out different phones ? I dislike the interface on my current phone, and really want to try a few out to see what works best for me, but that needs "live" phones to play with, not just display models stuck to the walls. Somewhere in the CBD, or Camberwell etc ?

Finally, possibly a bit late, but where are the best parks/gardens around Melbourne to catch Autumn colours ?
(yes, the streets around Balwyn/Camberwell etc are very pretty at the moment, but hard to take good photos of, and most of the trees have been butchered to fit around powerlines anyway)

 oooh. one for the World Music fans...
Youssou N'Dour: I bring what I love movie at ACMI. Ultra short season, 14-17 May!

 Bwahaha, I heard RRR advertising this event this morning: Show us ya 7 inch. It's a speed dating event, RRR style, which means you need to bring your favourite 7 inch single and be prepared to talk about what kind of music  you love.
I think it's cool - I'd like to meet other RRR listeners, but really the only events they seem to put on are live music events, which aren't great for chatting people up.
Any of you keen to take up the challenge? I have to admit, I'm tempted. :)

So what 7 inch would you take? I know I've jettisoned a lot of my vinyl over the years. Otherwise I could scare em with my daggy first single ever purchased (Genesis Invisible Touch). I would probably go with Retard Girl by Hole. Nice litmus test of how well they react to feminist/loud/angry chicks. :)

Just broke a tooth on homemade coconut brittle... Grr.

My usual dentist is Ben Olstein, holistic dentist in Armadale but I thought I might as well as around and check if anyone has a recommendation? I'm in Clifton Hill.

• I had a lovely dinner at baby-Malouf restaurant Arabesque on Saturday night but for my money After the Tears around the corner is much more delicious and filled with vodka goodness. :) (omg I love you Elsternwick!)
• Went to the Saturday matinee of The Magic Flute at the Arts Centre and there were several major fuckups with the sound and lighting. At one point the stage and orchestra pit lights went out completely - all credit to the singers and orchestra who carried right on without a hiccup! The Legs on the Wall did a cool job of providing some acrobatics and diversion, the Queen of the Night was a show stealer, and I loved Papageno despite the fact that he reminded me way too much of my ex boyfriend, right down to the hair and clothing style. :)
• Reasons why the interwebs is better than real life: When an internet service loses its shit, they post and tell you why. There was no announcement at the Arts Centre to explain wtf happened with their sound and lighting. :)
• So what's been good for you in Melbourne lately? :)

*Sorry, looks like we can't actually do polls on dreamwidth yet.

 *hugs* melbourne for not being a place to bag out homeless people. 
I love the mm comm on LJ, but c'mon folks. :/

Hai everyone,
If you used to use Semagic to post to LiveJournal, you may be interested to know that not only does Semagic work for Dreamwidth, but you can also cross post to both services by following these simple steps by kazbaby. I just tested it and it seems to work just fine. I don't seem to be able to link to people's DW account names and show the little DW logo like you can with LJ though. Bummer.

 Hai Melbin,
So... I bought a bike today from St Kilda Cycles on Barkly St. It was a good experience, I got lots of help and explanations and I got to test-ride three different bikes in their car park. Good stuff.
My question is for the bike riders out there. I'm going to be commuting from Elwood to Prahran (near Prahran train station)... and I'm wondering what's the best way to ride? There's a big hill if I go up Barkly Street (meep!) but I'm really not keen on driving up Nepean Highway either. How would you recommend I get there, bearing in mind I'm going to be a slow and fairly timid rider to start with? 
Thanks and please don't run me over! :)

(cross posted to the melbournemaniac comm at LJ, sorry if you see this twice. :)

Good morning, melbourne . :)
I hope I wasn't the only one tragically nerdy enough to be refreshing the Dreamwidth page yesterday to watch the countdown to open beta. *grin*
For anyone who's new or hasn't looked around Dreamwidth much yet, here are links to some useful Dreamwidth resources:

Useful communities:

There's an official list of communities here which you can browse to find comms you might be interested in.

dreamchasers  is a community for people to introduce themselves and share their names from places like LiveJournal to try to hook up with old friends from other web communities. 

And there's also dw_community_promo  where you can find out about new communities or introduce your own community. 


User icons:
The Dreamwidth wiki has a bunch of dreamwidth icons you can use and there's stock images if you want to make your own, customised dreamwidth icons. There's also the iconic  community.


Australian communities on Dreamwidth:
brisbane 
melbourne (I maintain this one *grin*)
No Sydney comm yet? Sydney we are kicking your butt. ;)

Please leave a comment if you want to share a cool resource or community you've found. :)

 Hi everyone,
I'm excited about open beta! I'd like to spruce up our new comm, put a few cushions around the place and pour some drinks in anticipation of a few new faces arriving from April 30th... 
I'm going to sit down and work on tags (hopefully between now and open beta starting) and I was wondering whether anyone out there might be good at making user icons? Would be great to have one or two Melbourne icons, but I have no skills with the pretty. :'(
If you have any suggestions for other ways to improve the community, please leave a comment. Bonus points if it's something you'd like to do yourself. ;D

Thanks!