Year: 2012

Chadstone Shopping Centre is suffering from budgetary restrictions

liligans So you think you're cultured?, What Pisses me off

With all that’s going wrong in the world of retail wouldn’t you think that a complaint about the nauseatingly dirty restrooms at the Chadstone Fashion Capital would be taken seriously?

More about that later.

It’s no secret that things are looking grim in the retail trade. Shops are closing down and going out of business. Consequently, shopping centres and malls must be feeling the pinch as well. They will simply have to try harder.

More about that later as well.

So what is to blame for the downturn?

Certainly there’s the GFC. But there are other factors as well. Retailers like to blame international online traders and they are demanding a GST placed on all online shopping to level the playing-field.

But that would only add 10% to the cost of the item. Most overseas online purchases are very much cheaper than the 10% GST difference. So even if a GST were imposed on online sales these would still continue to grow.

Firstly, because the world of online shopping is huge and it’s tempting. There’s so much choice out there that local retail just can’t match.

Secondly, retail, particularly department stores, have been providing less and less personal service. Now you would think that retail would try to outdo online shopping in the personal service field. They’ve got an obvious advantage here. After all, they have the goods and they should offer a shopper face to face attention. What an opportunity to outdo online traders!

But service has been going downhill for too long. Staff shortages have meant that you get more attention online. How ridiculous is that? Combine that with cheaper prices and immediate responses by online sellers and it’s no wonder retail business is suffering.

Now we get to the main substance of this blog. About time…

I’ve often complained about poor service in department stores and lack of facilities at Chadstone Shopping Centre, in particular.

I did so again a couple of months ago to one of the Chadstone executives. His name is David and he is in charge of customer complaints.

He is a busy man.

And that’s why he took several weeks to respond to my complaint about the terrible state of the restrooms in his Centre. Dirty floors, lack of paper, blocked toilets, wet and slippery conditions. You get the picture.

At long last, David phoned me only to explain that it costs a lot of money to supply hand towels instead of the useless hand dryers. It takes a lot of money to monitor the hygiene of the toilets.

David assured me that the restrooms get cleaned at the end of each day (whether they need it or not, apparently).

But he did not seem to understand that toilets should be cleaned often. They should provide paper hand towels or efficient hand dryers such as the Dyson ones that actually dry your hands well.

There were budgetary restrictions, David said, and he used that excuse over and over again, when I talked about making shoppers welcome at “The Fashion Capital of the Universe.”

He made it all sound so sad that I almost offered him a donation. On the whole, it was a pathetic response to a complaint about dirty loos.

Mind you, this is the same centre that is planning a multi-million dollar expansion, in spite of David’s unfortunate budgetary restrictions.

It doesn’t make sense to tell me they can’t afford to keep the loos clean and make the place shopper-friendly. There’s not much point in expanding unless you raise the standard of the service provided.

Happy shoppers lead to more business, David. Isn’t that “Retail for Dummies” advice?

But you’re the expert, David, and I’m a mere customer who fails to appreciate budgetary restrictions when it comes to hygiene.

Shame on Premier Anna Bligh of Queensland

liligans Politics

Politics is a dirty business and elections bring out the dirt in heaps. The Queensland elections are in full swing and things aren’t looking good for the incumbent Premier, Anna Bligh. Her opponent in the premiership stakes is Campbell Newman who used to be the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. And he was a good one, so good that Bligh fears his popularity and has to accuse Newman of all sorts of nefarious deeds.

Newman has denied any such activities, but Bligh is so desperate that she has continued to accuse him of corruption and nepotism. She would like to accuse him of causing the Great Flood of Brisbane last year but that has turned out to be her government’s mismanagement according to a recent report on the tragic events.

Because of her constant accusations, the CMC (Crimes and Misconduct Commission Queensland) has been asked to investigate whether Campbell Newman has done anything wrong. It turns out that there have been no improprieties in his dealings as Lord Mayor.

In spite of this finding, Premier Bligh has refused to apologise to Newman. He has in fact said that she owes an apology to the people of Queensland. She’s still banking on finding something nasty about her opponent if she skulks around long enough.

I expected better of Premier Bligh. How could she stoop so low and not have the guts to admit that she might have behaved badly?

Her government is on the nose at the moment. Queensland is praying for a regime change and I hope that the voters will disapprove of her muckraking.

Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, is going to lose my support.

liligans Politics

How can Tony Abbott claim to be defending women’s honour when he demands that Defence Minister Stephen Smith apologise to the Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy?

I do not intend to go into the details of the scandal that took place in the Defence Academy last year. It’s far too complicated. There was some filming of a sex act which was broadcast simultaneously on Skype without the knowledge and permission of the woman in question. Minister Smith was rightly outraged when he was told about it and expressed his disgust at the way the woman was subsequently victimised by the Academy.

The person in charge of the Academy at that time was Commodore Bruce Kafer and a report on the whole business says that “overall” he is not to blame and will be reinstated.

Be that as it may, I feel that Kafer did not behave as well as he should have last year. So Stephen Smith is correct in not apologising to him.

On this occasion, Smith has been valiant and admirable in his criticism of the Defence Academy and its head.

However, I fail to understand why Tony Abbott, who claims to be a defender of female rights, should then decide to continue his Dr No impersonation and blame the Minister for NOT apologising to Kafer. Surely, this would have been an opportunity to support the Minister’s ethical stand. Abbott could have demonstrated that women should not be treated with such disrespect by the Academy.

But no, instead, he reverted to his silly stance of criticising everything that the government does, even if it’s good.

That is so disappointing. He is in danger of alienating Liberal supporters like me. I already disapprove of his ridiculously unrealistic and unnecessary maternal leave scheme which will pay high earners their entire salary for six months. Talk about absurd!

And now Abbott proves how erratic he is by siding against women in the Defence Force case, just so that he can attack a serving Minister who has some balls.

Abbott has done well to raise the profile of the Opposition, but he is in danger of spoiling it all by being too adversarial.

“Late Bloomers”-don’t waste your time and money on this film.

liligans Films, So you think you're cultured?

How can anybody in this day and age release such a stupid and embarrassing film as “Late Bloomers”? What was the writer and director Julie Gavras thinking when she made up a ridiculous story about a couple of senior citizens who are having marital differences over the theme of aging?

Think of the possibilities of such a theme. Think of its potential for humour, pathos, wisdom, inevitability of the passage of time. And you will be disappointed. The film sets your teeth on edge with its puerile references to getting older.

Can you imagine how it would feel if your partner suddenly started to rave on about old age because she was approaching 60? She begins to install disability aids in the bedroom and bathroom so that she can convince her husband that they are both aging and should prepare themselves.

For what?

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Isabella Rossellini character, but she’s decided that her momentary memory lapse is due to senility. The MRI she demands shows that she’s okay. Pity there isn’t an MRI to test how annoying she is.

Anyway, the plot (I’m using the term loosely in this case) consists of her attempts to renew herself following the breakup of her marriage to a mumbling William Hurt. She has a haircut and tries to do aqua aerobics.

Her husband is still trying to be the world’s best architect and he is sick of his wife’s stupid antics. Aren’t we all! So he takes up some secret scheme to design a museum instead of designing a retirement home.

Get the message? I mean it’s really, really deep here. He don’t wanna get old!

They are surrounded by several older people such as the feisty mother played by Doreen Mantle (Mrs Warboys in “One foot in the Grave”) and even good old Leslie Phillips. Even Joanna Lumley has a role. She does the usual Joanna Lumley spiel and I’m always fond of her.

But nothing can save this idiotic set-up. William Hurt is totally miscast and must have been in need of the money when he accepted the role. Isabella is no Ingrid Bergman. She lacks her mother’s talent.

And as for Julie Gavras, writer, director and daughter of the famous film director, Costa-Gavras, I can only shake my head in dismay.

So why did I go to see it, you ask? Well, it was 38 degrees in Melbourne yesterday. Boiling hot here and we had had our long walk in the morning at Chadstone Shopping Valhalla (air conditioned, undercover) so we thought that a movie without violence or spies or coming to terms with your sexuality would be pleasant entertainment on such a scorching day.

It wasn’t.

Kevin Rudd has been offered a new job overseas

liligans Politics, So you think you're cultured?

This is the scenario as I see it. Kevin Rudd wants revenge on Prime Minister Gillard. She deposed him and he naturally is miffed about it. He probably heard that Gillard is planning to sack him from his job as Foreign Minister. Therefore he pulled the rug from under her feet, announced his resignation just before evening news time in Australia and now will see how things pan out. If he gets support for his challenge, if a challenge is called, he most likely will not go along with it.

He will bring the Labor Government down. This will be his revenge on Gillard and the party. He will probably do this by the Ides of March, an auspicious day in History. Then he will head overseas and take up the job he was seeking. U.N? Who knows?

Amazing spectacle on a Melbourne tram

liligans Society, totally absurd

It takes a lot to amaze me nowadays, but last Saturday I was definitely amazed, stunned even. We were rolling along on our ancient tram in Melbourne when I saw an amazing sight. Two teenagers boarded our tram. They sat down across from us and they began to chat with one another, face to face like.

Not for a few minutes before taking out their phones, but for the entire journey. They talked, they laughed, they looked at one another and nodded or shook their heads. They used body language to communicate.

It was terribly unnerving. To see two young people who weren’t doing their finger exercises on a tiny screen or shouting into their phones made me squirm awkwardly and wonder.

Who were these two young people? Why were they having a conversation face to face, not on Facebook with a million twittering imaginary friends, but with one another as if the whole thing were natural?

Were they from another planet perhaps? Or had their phone accounts run out. Had they forgotten to charge them? Perhaps some catastrophic event had caused them to misplace their phones.

Or was it perhaps my own wishful thinking, a delusion, that had invented something that no longer exists. Genuine conversation minus electronics.

There’s got to be a perfect plastic container out there!

liligans Society, totally absurd

Seems like I’ve started the year off badly. Fallen off the wagon, you might say. I fear that 2012 is no better than 2011 and all the years that went before it. Guess I’m doomed to keep on searching for the holy grail, which in my case, turns out to be the perfect plastic container.

I’ve been through a passion for Tupperware. What devoted domestic diva hasn’t? Had a few of them with their lifetime guarantees but the parties were demeaning and, besides, Tupperware is oh so expensive!

So I turned to cheaper plastic containers that soon became discoloured and weren’t quite spillproof. When they became misshapen with lids that didn’t fit I relegated them to a special place in my kitchen devoted to spare and emergency containers. You know the sort of collection I mean. Too good to throw out cause you may need them one day in an emergency.

I don’t dare ask myself what sort of emergency would necessitate a crappy plastic container, but you never know. I certainly don’t. But should the occasion arise, I’m well stocked.

My latest indulgence is “Lock & Lock.” Apparently, you can never have too many of them. I have thousands of these containers, a kitchen full. All shapes and sizes, rectangular, round, and even bottle shaped.

Long ago my naive husband suggested that perhaps I have enough plastic containers. When will I use them all? Have we got room for all these things?

He has a point, of course, but he doesn’t understand that the search for the perfect container is a bit like religion. You have to believe that there is something out there that will give real meaning to your life, structure and order. Isn’t that what religion’s about?

Well, in my case, I’m under the impression that if I can have the perfect collection of plastic containers then all will be well with the world, my world, that is. So neat and tidy, so stackable, so useful. A place for everything etc. etc. And who wouldn’t want to live without chaos?

Sadly, just when you think you have enough containers for every occasion, you pass a shop that has more Lock & Lock containers. These ones offer the possibility of storing tons and tons of leftovers. And they put the others to shame. They are made of even better plastic without that dangerous chemical in them. You know the one I mean. BPA, the latest evil ingredient in plastic. They say it could cause irreparable damage to your cells. Can’t be too careful these days, can you?

Can you?

Well, this is what happened a couple of days ago and that’s how I fell off the wagon in 2012. But this time I’m sure that I have every plastic container that I will ever need. I’ve seen the light and intend to stick to my new resolve religiously.