We've all heard the meme. It's the 21st Century - where are the jet-packs? Personally, I don't want to share the skies with people who can't merge their vehicles adequately into freeway traffic (also known as my fellow West Australians), but that's just me. Before we even get to jet propulsion as a means of personal transportation, let's get some other stuff off the drawing board and onto the shelves at BIG W. Most of this may not suit you and where you live, Dear Reader, but it's my blog, so I get to call the shots. SMOOTH TALKING CAR Not like KITT from Knightrider, but a vehicle that psychs you up for meetings and big events with motivational patter uniquely styled for your psychology. Ships with 1000 phrases like: "Mandy, you look smoking hot today and your CV totally kicks ass! Prepare to NAIL this interview, sister!" HAULING OATS On wintry days, this contraption transports a bowl of steaming hot porridge to your bedside to the music ...

Hail, Happy New 2010! Sometimes an E-Card says deep things far better than you mere words ever could.  Please click here . Regards, Mr Trivia http://twitter.com/mrtrivia

I was raised in the hospitality biz. My people are itinerant restaurateurs. Travelling from Perth suburb to Perth Suburb they established restaurants and a lunch bar. My mother had a knack of making good food, which continues, but only domestically these days. Her prime time eatery days are behind her. I don’t pretend to be Master Chef’s Matt Preston – I’d look terrible in a smoking jacket and cravat for a start – but dammit, I know what I like. When I go to a café that makes breakfast, I always order some form of bacon and eggs. I think this basic dish is a good test of whether or not the cooking generally is any good. And this is the sort of thing a questing, pretentious git like me needs to know. Those of you who have chanced upon me at my other Internet hidey-holes will know that I am the sort of person who will order bacon and eggs at a café, photograph it, then rate it.   Believe me, I am a trial to myself sometimes. I have been haphazardly engaged in this over the ...

Fong's Takeaway Section , originally uploaded by Mr Trivia . Eating out has become too simple - too 'easy'. Okay, maybe not for Bear Grylls, but for the rest of us, it's something we do almost without thought. What I like about Fong's Kitchen on Canning Highway (Palmyra-ish opposite the MacDonald's) is that they have a separate takeaway section that is essentially a narrow, bleak corridor. It's a place that invites reflection. If you're of a nervous disposition, then you will notice your literal reflection in the fish-eye mirror in the corner. Paranoia. If you are on hallucinogens, then you might wonder if someone is about to pop out of the hollow-core door and drag you off into some grisly Lynchian nightmare. However, if you're a practical type with no time for such flights of fancy, you'll go there, order something from their excellent menu and enjoy the food. It's entirely up to you, friend. Fong's Kitchen. Go for the sho...

I discover that I'm middle-aged. I'd been living in denial of this fact. But when a friend cast me as an extra in his film and I discovered that my part was 'middle-aged man' I decided it was time to embrace my new status. I'm over youth. Apart from health and attractiveness it has so little to recommend it. For a start you don't know anything. You greet every new experience with fear and drama. I, on the other hand have become jaded and cynical. So much better than having fragile expectations.

Don't walk on the bike path. And don’t cycle on the footpath. The City of South Perth has got it sussed. Saw this when out walking along the South Perth foreshore yesterday. This is a shortish piece of cycle path that runs across Sir James Mitchell Park. Most of the path that you might use on the 'Bridges' run, walk or cycle (ie around the Swan from the Narrows Bridge to the Causeway ) is dual use. So what's with this stunted section of single use cycleway? Odd. Mr Trivia

The Applecross foreshore last weekend.