Sunday

Usually I'd report on my shift last night but it was downright miserable as a result of Sydney's wild and wet weather. There were few passengers and even fewer interactions. So here's some Sunday reading for those after taxi-related stories.

Peter Hamill's book review of Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver is well worth reading. Hamill laments the passing of New York's quintessential cabbie,

When I was young, most of them had adopted a common strategy against loneliness: a fleeting intimacy with their passengers. This was the era of the cabby as philosopher or comedian, quick to make observations about life itself, or its subdivisions in politics and sports, or to crack wise about women and other mysteries. This form of performance art had two goals: human contact and better tips. Some of the cabbies (most of them Irish, Jewish or Italian) were very smart. Some were very funny. Some were bores. And one morning around 1972, I realized that all of them were gone.

Most Australians are aware of Perth's unsolved Claremont murders of three young women. It is widely assumed a taxi driver was involved. Now comes a special report by an author who suffered terrible domestic violence by an offender with overnight access to taxis. She believes this man could be the Claremont killer,

It was Wednesday April 2, 1997, two weeks after Ciara Glennon had gone missing while walking along Stirling Highway, Claremont, trying to hail a taxi. I kept tying to convince myself there could be no link between this and the other two victims of the Claremont killer, Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer, who had both been planning to get taxis home.

Taxi drivers had been thoroughly investigated by the Macro Taskforce. But what about other people who had unlicensed access to them?

Also there has been recent speculation on News Ltd's crime blog, Gotcha, that the Claremont killer was commenting there with cryptic clues.

...a lecturer at Perth’s Centre for Forensic Science and a former police detective, (describes) the contributions to Gotcha from a mysterious figure using the name “Dr Phibes” as “seriously spooky”. “Whoever this blogger is, he has more than a passing interest in the subject and is teasing us with his knowledge of all three victims,”

Finally, a tragic end for a vacationing 'Shirley Valentine' type who fell for the charms of an Egyptian taxi driver.

Comments

[Uncle Al]

Well lads two more cold and miserable months to go before the sun comes out,,
I'm sitting watching the Wallabies struggle agin the All Blacks 6-15 @ half time.
I read these blogs on this site,and have to say it's very hard to keep a stiff upper lip.knowing we are being being ripped off by the system. and all the other shit you can think of, but hay life goes on.
I'm sitting in my warm apartment, dinner cooking, watching the the rugby. not in fear of gunfire bombs, or any thing, so hey life's not too bad.
YAHHoo Aust try and conversion 2 point game c'mon

hang in there guys

Uncle Al