Ant Mer's Personal Page

31/07/2024

Those .......ART Transport names

For those who live in areas of the world with Public Transport networks that have "Rapid Transit" in the names, here are a few examples I refer to:

BART ~ Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco Bay, USA

DART ~ Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas & Fort Worth, Texas, USA

DART ~ Doncaster Area Rapid Transit, Doncaster, Melbourne's mid eastern suburbs, Australia

HART ~ Honolulu Area Rapid Transit, Honolulu, USA

Now, if either Charlotte, North Carolina, or Cologne, Germany, renamed their systems, they read as:

CART ~ Charlotte/Cologne Area Rapid Transit

:However, the one I would have raised eyebrows about would be Frankfurt, Germany, if they named theirs as:

FART ~ Frankfurt Area Rapid Transit

:I will leave this for others to judge for themselves.

07/04/2024

The Building Of My Scale Model Anytown Airport

As seen by the images here I took on Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 12:38 pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time, AEST, here in Melbourne, Australia, I have been busy building a Scale Model Design for future Major City Airports.
Mine is carrying the name "Anytown Airport", Anytown a completely fictional name, commonly used here in Australia when describing services provided by Governments at Local (Councils), State/Territory and Federal Levels.
Whilst still "A work in progress", the basics are I have seven terminals within one large wrap around building. Three towers are Accommodation Hotels with a roof near Terminal Seven, whilst a large Car Park Tower for Short Term and Long Term Parking is near Terminal One.
At the southern end is a complex of Airport Admin Tower, a large Air Freight area, Maintenance Hangar, Executive Jet Transport, Emergency Services (Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Fire Dept for US residents, Police), Customs, Federal Police, Australia Post and Car Hire complex.
At the terminal there are 10 piers, with Gates, to handle Regional & Low Cost, 12 each in T1 & T7, Domestic, 32 each in T2 & T6 and at International, T3, T4 & T5, 36 gates, for a total overall capacity of 124 Gates across Regional & Low Cost, Domestic & International Commercial Flights.
All work is 100% mine and once fully painted and fitted out, further photos may be included.

07/04/2024

Why I Prefer Dating Brunette Ladies over Blonde females as a man myself

The basic answer comes down to personal experience around romance. Of all the females I've dated over the years and, since age 23, have had Intimate Activities with, 98% have been Brunettes.
I've found that Blonde females have been associated with wider social issues, and there have been numerous News Media Reports where they have caused serious trouble.
In terms of Intimate Activities with "Red Light District" Ladies since 1993, Australian Laws have permitted this since 1989/90.
And when you consider the amount of Reports around single women being harassed by single men in nightclubs, etc, myself and many other decent men have shied away from approaching and dating single women, as we don't want any trouble.
And, for whatever it's worth, as a, now middle aged, white man here in Melbourne, Australia, who's to say that the only so - called "Miss Right" has to be a Blonde female. The Brunettes out there are just as good, if not far better, anyway.
Now these are just my thoughts, etc, others can disagree if they want. I do, however, wish to have my opinions respected at least as a human and man on this planet. Here are some images of Brunettes, I hope Facebook can allow these just this once, because for the sake of relations between men and women in Dating, etc, a Balanced Perspective is needed and long overdue.

27/03/2024

To explain these two photos here, I recently found an Artificial Intelligence App that can allow people to change appearances in photos. Another App can allow you to flip photos to create a mirror reflection image.
I used one App to change my Profile Picture's hair colour, and another to create the Mirror Image. I'll leave it to others to judge for themselves.

19/01/2024

Light Rail Tram Network For Hobart, Tasmania

The Southernmost and only true Colder Climate one, Hobart is Australia's second smallest State and/or Territory Capital City, with 220 000 people. It once had a Narrow Gauge Suburban Train Network, plus a Standard Gauge Tram Network. The trams disappeared by 1960, the suburban trains vanished by the late 1970s. Since then, it's been serviced by Public Transport Buses.
In the early 2000s, plans arose for a Northern Suburbs Light Rail Tram Line. However, after numerous revisions of this, the plan faltered through Political Point Scoring and lack of cohesion.
Additionally, the corridor in question became focus on Glenorchy and the Hobart CBD City Centre. This is one obstacle, Cost being another, as it would take $500+ million to build from new. However, in 2010, I looked at this and found there may be a "break even" Financially solution.
Instead of simply being Northern Suburbs only, set it up as a North - South Corridor by doing the following:

Northern Suburbs ~ Granton to Hobart CBD via disused railway line

Southern Suburbs ~ Blackmans Bay to Hobart CBD via Taroona and Sandy Bay

:The Southern end would use main roads, yes, however, it could be cross linked with the Northern end via Sandy Bay Road, Macquarie Street↗️, Davey Street↙️, then through the old Hobart Railway Station, later freight terminal at Macquarie Point.
This would create two Light Rail Tram Lines, with links to existing Metro Tasmania Hobart Buses along these routes. Wishful Thinking? Maybe. Aspirational? Probably. However, if Hobart is to address its Public Transport needs now and into the future, then proper planning, etc, such as my review here, is needed if it's to avoid further issues as it continues to see population growth now and into the future. I'll let others judge these issues for themselves.

19/01/2024

Light Rail Tram Network For Darwin, Northern Territory

The Northernmost and only true Tropical one, Darwin, NT, is Australia's smallest State and/or Territory Capital City, with a population of 120 000 people.
With a road based transport network, both for private cars, that city's DarwinBus bus services and the Road Trains that provide freight transport across the Top End, etc, talk has been around since the mid 2000s (2000 - 2009) about a possible Light Rail Tram Network corridor between Darwin CBD and Palmerston.
There is the 3000+ kilometre (1800+ mile) railway line to/from Adelaide, Sth Aust, via Alice Springs, opened into Darwin in January 2004. However, this reaches into East Arm, well away from the city.
Two obstacles are against Light Rail. Cost is one, it would cost $500+ million to build as new. The restriction of a network to being a singular route from/to Palmerston is another.
However, and as a Railway Enthusiast I looked at this in 2006/07, and again in 2010, if two lines as:

Casuarina - Darwin CBD
Palmerston - Darwin CBD

:Were built, it might just "break even" financially to begin with.
Another mistake from the NT proposals was they looked at running trams via the Stuart Highway and through the city. My thinking is to set up access between the Bennett & Mitchell Streets intersection, CBD City Centre southeast end, and Woolner Road & Tiger Brennan Drive intersection, Parap, for both lines. Casuarina would then run via Woolner Road, Stuart Highway, Bagot Road and Trower Road. Palmerston would run via Tiger Brennan Drive and Roystonea Avenue.
Set these corridors in place like this, then you can incorporate them as part of a network of trams and buses, with bus links at Berrimah to/from Darwin Train Station and Karama, and at Casuarina buses could run to/from Darwin Airport. And as the city's population is set to increase in future, buses would service new settlements between Palmerston and Casuarina via Knuckey Lagoon, as well as between Palmerston and Noonamah.
At present, a Coach Terminal in Mitchell Street, CBD City Centre, is disconnected from the Smith Street Bus Station for local buses. Relocate the Coach Terminal from Mitchell Street to the Smith Street Bus Station, you'd have connections between Buses, Road Coaches and Light Rail Trams, as those trams along Bennett Street would be 50 - 100 metres (160 - 340 feet) away from the combined Bus Station & Coach Terminal.
Wishful Thinking? Maybe. Aspirational? Probably. However, as Darwin has time on its side to plan for future expansion, proper planning, etc, such as my review here needs to be done, if it's to be an example of an Australian City that got its Public Transport Network sorted out the right way.

20/10/2023

Managing Victoria's Population ~ Centralisation versus Decentralisation

With Melbourne officially Australia's most populated city of 5.4 million people, a "Fork In The Road" has been reached.......again. The entire State of Victoria has a situation where it's State Capital is becoming increasingly overcrowded, yet, large areas of rural towns, farms, etc, are seeing Activity and Population declines.
The Problem is obvious even to "The Village Idiot" ~ Centralisation of activities, population and services in Melbourne at the expense of the rest of the State. This is failing and increasingly very badly. And with Earth's Humans grappling with issues of Climate Change, etc, we can no longer afford to continue this way.
There's only one alternative we can ill afford to ignore ~ Decentralisation. I know this sounds like "Wishful Thinking" to some, however, it has to be done, and ASAP if we're to manage Population Growth in a warming world.
The Goals should be that we (a) actively promote the virtues of life in rural areas and not just for "Sea Changers (coastal)" and "Tree Changers (inland)" middle age rich types, (b) bring economic clout to rural communities by further developing Regional Centres, (c) drive the need to construct housing, etc, away from inner Melbourne and (d) if nothing else, endeavour to set up these various Regional Centres to combine with Melbourne, the State Capital, if our State wants to get a larger part of its Goods & Services Tax, GST, revenue back from New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. The State has been hamstrung by Federal Governments, Labor and Coalition alike, so it's had to use its own resources to finance Public Works without an extra cent from Canberra.
In summary, we can either continue the way we've been going, or we change our trajectory now, to ensure our future for years, decades and centuries to come. Decentralisation is our greatest, but, not only, chance to get things right in Victoria for once.

20/10/2023

Australia Day ~ Another Reason Why It Should Be Changed

As an Australian citizen and middle age white man, I've never really acknowledged my country's National Day as January 26. To me, that was the day the British settled at Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, in 1788.
No, when it comes to what I consider what Australia Day should represent, it should recognise the following, including:

When the six British Colonies became Australian States
When the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders attained Legal Citizenship and Voting Rights in 1966/67
When the Commonwealth of Australia came into being and we became a self - governing Sovereign Nation
When both the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and the external Territories came into being

:Based on this modelling, Australia Day should be either on January 15, or on February 1. As Australia came into being on January 1, 1901, New Year's Day, many wouldn't even be awake after a heavy night before on New Year's Eve.
There's another reason, India's Independence Day is actually on January 26, which means that at present, not only does Australia mistakenly recognise British Settlement and Colonialism, it mistakenly recognises India's National Day.
We should finally address these oversights and change Australia Day to January 15 or February 1. This would finally give us Australians a truly national day, it would stop India trying to interfere with our national day and it would allow Sydney and New South Wales to have their own State Day on January 26. These are my thoughts, others rightly have their own, however, my thoughts are based on proven evidence.
And think about this for those who follow "All Things USA" ~ America's National Day, July 4, acknowledges Independence from Britain in 1776, not British Settlement at Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1600s. I'll let others judge for themselves.

20/10/2023

After much searching for old Records......which wasn't an easy task......in 2010 I initially devised a series of sketches as to how Spencer Street, Southern Cross since 2005/06, Station, Melbourne, may have looked if it had been rebuilt up to a 100 years prior to its major 2002/03 - 2005/06 Station Rebuild.
However, when I reviewed my notes in 2022, I found that they needed an update, including usage of colour where applicable.
I did, however, retain sketches as to how Melbourne's Underground City Loop Railways would've likely looked if built by the 1920s instead of by the 1980s.
Here on this Post, we see both photos and sketches as to how this Suburban, Country and Interstate "hub" as to how these various plans and actual outcomes appeared, since the original 1857 Batman's Hill Station was renamed Spencer Street Station in 1882 and proposed designs first appeared. Also included are photos of Flinders Street Station, with some Collage images I created in 2022 showing both major CBD City Centre "hubs" in Melbourne.

19/10/2023

Again using an Artificial Intelligence App, we see three snippet videos combining a Stills Photo I'd created by flipping another photo seen elsewhere on my Personal Page here with some music.

19/10/2023

Again as part of a look into the world of Artificial Intelligence, we see three snippet videos where I combined Stills Photos, in this case one photo used three times, with sound, again in this case, some songs. And for those who may recognise the photo, I found another App that can flip photos as well.

01/10/2023

And here in this selection, we see where I again used another AI App, this time to match Stills Photos to Popular Music.

01/10/2023

In a Special Edition one off, I used an AI App that allows photos to be animated with music, etc. I thought I would be more daring and have my two videos of lady models.......letting out some pent up energy......so to speak.

11/09/2023

11/09/2023

11/09/2023

In the world of Photos and Photography, the advent of Artificial Intelligence is making a large difference in many ways.
To begin with, using Apps, you can generate AI Versions of Lady Models, etc, whilst other AI Apps can allow for Real World Lady Models to be enhanced with Artificial Intelligence Backdrops. There are even Artificial Intelligence Apps that can allow old photos, Black & White and Colour alike, to be Restored digitally. Here in this Album, we will see where I've been doing work using Artificial Intelligence Apps to generate AI Versions of Lady Models, Restoration of older photos, adapting Real Lady Models to new photos using Artificial Intelligence Backdrops and so on.

01/08/2023

1854 to 21st Century Rail ⚡ ~ Melbourne's Suburban Electric Train Network, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

On September 12, 1854, Australia's First Train Service ran between Flinders Street Station and Sandridge (later renamed Port Melbourne) Station. From this beginning, we would see the expansion of Rail Transport into the largest Suburban Train Network in Australia.
Then on October 6, 1918, Australia's First Electric Train ran Test Runs between Newmarket Station, Craigieburn Line, and Flemington Racecourse Station. Then in May 1919, Australia's First Electric Train Services began running between Essendon, Craigieburn Line, and Sandringham. This would see steam locomotives begin bowing out of service on Suburban Trains. By the time Sydney's First Electric Trains ran in 1926, 80 - 90% of Melbourne's network was electrified.
Here on this Post we will see photos of Melbourne's Suburban Electric Train Network, including a Lithograph sketch of Australia's First Train Service at Flinders Street Station in 1854 from a Newspaper Article on that day, Flinders Street Station as how it was by the 1880s/90s prior to it being rebuilt into its current form during 1901 - 10, and old Richmond Station, prior to being replaced by the current station in the very early 1960s.
Trains include old Swing Door, then Tait, red timber bodied trains, Harris blue trains, which when released from 1956 were Australia's all steel bodied Electric Trains, Hitachi, Comeng, Melbourne's sole Tangara Double Deck electric train, Siemens, Xtrapolis and 7 car HCMT trains.
A Side Note here ~ when Electrification was launched, it was decided electric trains would service metropolitan Melbourne, whilst steam locomotives would haul rural Victoria trains, a policy carried over into the diesel era.