Weekly Off-Topic I usually avoid the city because it's crowded and hard to get parks and there is nothing in there I want. I ventured in over the weekend, though, for the first time in a while because I haven't been able to find an item anywhere else. We have Rundle Mall, which is a pedestrian-only section full of shops and it has always been a popular place for buskers and browsing. There was an almost peaceful, personal feel there despite being in the city centre that was kind of nice. That is not the case anymore. The population is so dense that you are constantly tripping over yourself dodging people, and the place is now filled with stands pumping the loudest, most obnoxious rave music to sell beauty products or whatever else. I couldn't hear myself think. There was one shop selling clothes, I think, with a chubby woman just in her underwear handing flyers. All sense of subtlety and decency is dead. To drive it home, there was this young kid playing his violin like the buskers used to do, but right at one of the far ends because that was the only place away from the speakers and shouting. It was a great visual showing how the tradition is being literally forced away to make room for the commercial and corporate interests. I can't move away from the city soon enough.