For a long time I thought that social networking sites were a laugh, or a passing novelty at best. I mean most Myspace pages look like technicolour vomit, so were usually easy to stay away from.
That changed a little when I rediscovered Facebook. It's really neat being able to easily catch up with people you haven't seen for years, especially with the amount of effort that I've put in recently. I think I've only send half a dozen emails in the last 3 years that have actually left Australia.
Without signing up, I wouldn't know that one mate is moving to Melbourne in a fortnight, another is contemplating a transfer to Melbourne, another is four months pregnant, yet another is making a movie. It really makes the globe shrink when you realise the range of people that are sitting at your fingertips.
Maybe it's the booze (actually, it's most likely the booze) but I haven't felt this nostalgic for ages. I think it's time to break out the old photos, play some Drum and Bass and spark up a fat hooter.
Verdict: sweet
June 29, 2007
June 18, 2007
June 16, 2007
its been a slow few months
To stop this thing going stale, I thought I'd stick a few updates in here. Now to figure out what's happened since the 11th of April...
Well, mum's birthday was on the 20th, so happy birthday mum!
We got a new TV to replace the old 21" crt. The transformer in it was shot and you had to punch it to stop it from squealing.
Now I can play games on a nice big telly. We've also hooked up Deb's Mac Mini as a wireless media box, so we can stream video and music from computers in the other room (you can see it at the bottom right corner of the tv).
Dad is currently in the Solomons for a stint and last month he was on leave in Brisbane. After spending a few weeks there with mum, he came down and stayed with us for a week. It was really good having him here (and not just because we came home from work every night to a cooked meal). He now knows how to attach pictures to an email, so we should be getting some interesting pics soon.
We also caught up with my cousin Damian who lives in Clayton. We never seem to see each other unless another family member is over, but it's always a laugh.
My mate Travis finished up at work last month, which left a bit of a hole in the place. It was nice working with someone who was on the same wavelength as me. Now I spend a lot of my time explaining myself. So, my sense of humour takes a little getting used to. That's hardly my problem now is it?
We ended up at karaoke, which I really think is the scourge of the pub scene. What ever happened to self respect?
Of course, I say that, but Trav managed to get me up on stage for a rousing rendition of Tenacious D's "Tribute". Thankfully there's no evidence of that, so you'll just have to believe me.
Hmm, what else? Oh yeah, for our awards night at work we were encouraged to submit a team photo. There were prizes and stuff, so we decided we'd go with a superhero theme. I've never been any good at dressing up, so I volunteered to do a bit of Photoshop work instead.
It must have been ok, because we won the first prize of $500.
Looking at it on a different monitor now, there's a lot of stuff that could've been done a lot better, but it was good enough at the time.
So that's it for me. This weekend I'm going to try and send out a few emails to folks that I haven't managed to stay in touch with over the past 3-5 years. It not that I don't care, it's just that I'm exceptionally lazy.
Don't hold your breath though...
Well, mum's birthday was on the 20th, so happy birthday mum!
We got a new TV to replace the old 21" crt. The transformer in it was shot and you had to punch it to stop it from squealing.
Now I can play games on a nice big telly. We've also hooked up Deb's Mac Mini as a wireless media box, so we can stream video and music from computers in the other room (you can see it at the bottom right corner of the tv).
Dad is currently in the Solomons for a stint and last month he was on leave in Brisbane. After spending a few weeks there with mum, he came down and stayed with us for a week. It was really good having him here (and not just because we came home from work every night to a cooked meal). He now knows how to attach pictures to an email, so we should be getting some interesting pics soon.
We also caught up with my cousin Damian who lives in Clayton. We never seem to see each other unless another family member is over, but it's always a laugh.
My mate Travis finished up at work last month, which left a bit of a hole in the place. It was nice working with someone who was on the same wavelength as me. Now I spend a lot of my time explaining myself. So, my sense of humour takes a little getting used to. That's hardly my problem now is it?
We ended up at karaoke, which I really think is the scourge of the pub scene. What ever happened to self respect?
Of course, I say that, but Trav managed to get me up on stage for a rousing rendition of Tenacious D's "Tribute". Thankfully there's no evidence of that, so you'll just have to believe me.
Hmm, what else? Oh yeah, for our awards night at work we were encouraged to submit a team photo. There were prizes and stuff, so we decided we'd go with a superhero theme. I've never been any good at dressing up, so I volunteered to do a bit of Photoshop work instead.
It must have been ok, because we won the first prize of $500.
Looking at it on a different monitor now, there's a lot of stuff that could've been done a lot better, but it was good enough at the time.
So that's it for me. This weekend I'm going to try and send out a few emails to folks that I haven't managed to stay in touch with over the past 3-5 years. It not that I don't care, it's just that I'm exceptionally lazy.
Don't hold your breath though...
April 11, 2007
red hot
We went and saw the Chili Peppers play at the Sidney Myer Music bowl last night. After hearing today that Anthony Kiedis was feeling crook, it does explain why he didn't look as energetic as usual, but that didn't stop the music from being fantastic. John Frusciante just keeps getting better.
Here's the set-list if anyone's interested:
Also, Chad Smith (the drummer) was due to perform in Federation Square at 6.30 this evening. What I didn't know until they came on stage was that Flea and John were joining him! It was a 30 minute jam session which was bloody brilliant. Especially because we were much closer than the night before.
verdict: friggin sweet
Here's the set-list if anyone's interested:
Also, Chad Smith (the drummer) was due to perform in Federation Square at 6.30 this evening. What I didn't know until they came on stage was that Flea and John were joining him! It was a 30 minute jam session which was bloody brilliant. Especially because we were much closer than the night before.
verdict: friggin sweet
wilson's prom
For chocolate weekend (refered to as Easter by most of the population) Deb and I took off to a little spot just north of Wilsons Promontory.
I'm not feeling very wordy this evening, but I thought I'd throw a few pics up just to stop this thing from getting too stale.
Rocks on a Beach:
View from on top of the same rocks a bit later on:
From the top of Mount Oberon:
The Great Sout... ah, read it yourself:
Our first snake seen in the wild:
So, it was a great weekend, fantastic weather, plenty of booze and a car for four days! It's going to be hard getting back on the bike again after that.
I'm not feeling very wordy this evening, but I thought I'd throw a few pics up just to stop this thing from getting too stale.
Rocks on a Beach:
View from on top of the same rocks a bit later on:
From the top of Mount Oberon:
The Great Sout... ah, read it yourself:
Our first snake seen in the wild:
So, it was a great weekend, fantastic weather, plenty of booze and a car for four days! It's going to be hard getting back on the bike again after that.
March 18, 2007
office 2007 is neat
Still officially being a Uni student, Deb managed to get a full copy of Office 2007 for $75. According to the articles I've read, that's a 93% discount off the retail price (although who really uses Publisher and Onenote anyway?)
So, we got home from dinner last night and installed everything, and I've got to say, it's pretty damn cool. There's loads of little details that make the whole experience nicer. When you select a block of text and then go to change the font, the text changes to the different fonts as you roll over them. It doesn't sound like a big thing, but trust me, it is.
The colour palette has had an upgrade as well. Instead of just the standard crappy (and weird) colour selection, you can also select a theme, which will give you better and more consistent looking colours. Sweet!
Excel is probably where I'll spend most of my time though, it now has over a million rows and 16,000 columns to work with. It give you a full selection of functions when you begin typing, as well as an explanation of what each one does.
Obviously, unless you actually use Excel on a regular basis, you won't see why this is neat. Also, if you're as old as a high percentage of people in my department, it won't be neat, it will be scary and unsettling. Maybe that means it's time to cash in your super!
verdict: very cool. Shame I won't see it at work until at least next year
So, we got home from dinner last night and installed everything, and I've got to say, it's pretty damn cool. There's loads of little details that make the whole experience nicer. When you select a block of text and then go to change the font, the text changes to the different fonts as you roll over them. It doesn't sound like a big thing, but trust me, it is.
The colour palette has had an upgrade as well. Instead of just the standard crappy (and weird) colour selection, you can also select a theme, which will give you better and more consistent looking colours. Sweet!
Excel is probably where I'll spend most of my time though, it now has over a million rows and 16,000 columns to work with. It give you a full selection of functions when you begin typing, as well as an explanation of what each one does.
Obviously, unless you actually use Excel on a regular basis, you won't see why this is neat. Also, if you're as old as a high percentage of people in my department, it won't be neat, it will be scary and unsettling. Maybe that means it's time to cash in your super!
verdict: very cool. Shame I won't see it at work until at least next year
March 17, 2007
pride of the south
Found out last weekend that our local bottle shop sells 24s of Speights.
It's a bit weird though, as the labels and bottles are different for export. They aren't screw cap (which I assume is to make it classier) and the label doesn't say "Pride of the South" on the front.
Anyway, at $42 for 2 dozen, it's reasonably priced compared to other imported beers, so I think I'll be buying a lot more in the future. That said, when I was home in Feb I noticed that you could get a dozen Speights for $9.99 if you shopped at the right place...
verdict: beer is good
It's a bit weird though, as the labels and bottles are different for export. They aren't screw cap (which I assume is to make it classier) and the label doesn't say "Pride of the South" on the front.
Anyway, at $42 for 2 dozen, it's reasonably priced compared to other imported beers, so I think I'll be buying a lot more in the future. That said, when I was home in Feb I noticed that you could get a dozen Speights for $9.99 if you shopped at the right place...
verdict: beer is good
time for a wii
Dumb name for a console, but it's pretty damn fun.
I saved up points in a reward scheme we have at work and bought a Nintendo Wii.
I've had it for a week now and still feel like a dork swinging my arms around to play baseball, but it really is good fun (even more fun is watching Deb at the bowling alley. It's only a matter of time before she leans too far and goes through the TV. I guess that would mean it's time to upgrade to an LCD... with a plexiglass screen to protect it :)
verdict: the control system will be perfect for the Super Monkey Ball, which I picked up on eBay today
I saved up points in a reward scheme we have at work and bought a Nintendo Wii.
I've had it for a week now and still feel like a dork swinging my arms around to play baseball, but it really is good fun (even more fun is watching Deb at the bowling alley. It's only a matter of time before she leans too far and goes through the TV. I guess that would mean it's time to upgrade to an LCD... with a plexiglass screen to protect it :)
verdict: the control system will be perfect for the Super Monkey Ball, which I picked up on eBay today
climate change?
For those who are doubting there's a water shortage here, these photos were taken at the reservoir just outside of Heathcote.
March 07, 2007
February 13, 2007
nz air
So I'm back in NZ for a wedding.
I've got no more to add, so here are some photos I took during the flight:
The Southern Alps
A braided river
Cromwell
Clyde Dam
I've got no more to add, so here are some photos I took during the flight:
The Southern Alps
A braided river
Cromwell
Clyde Dam
dad's off to the solomans
My old man is off for a six month stint in the Soloman Islands. I didn't realise it made the papers!
February 12, 2007
lilydale to warburton
On Sunday me and Deb went for a bike ride with folks from my work.
We started at Lilydale around 8.20am and got back to the car sometime around 3pm I think. We covered 76km over that time, the second half being mainly uphill. It was a shallow climb, but was still pretty hard work near the end.
Map
Wandin
Somewhere on the track
Kind of like snakes on a plane, except with cows
and no plane
We started at Lilydale around 8.20am and got back to the car sometime around 3pm I think. We covered 76km over that time, the second half being mainly uphill. It was a shallow climb, but was still pretty hard work near the end.
Map
Wandin
Somewhere on the track
Kind of like snakes on a plane, except with cows
and no plane
February 03, 2007
sketchup
Sketchup is a really easy to use 3D modelling tool that I came across the other day (and it's free!)
What's the first thing you do when you play with something like this? You recreate where you live of course!
If I'm still bored tomorrow, I might have a crack at furnishing the place, including having the right pictures on the walls.
I really did it so I could show my folks what our place looks like without them having to fly over here to see it.
What's the first thing you do when you play with something like this? You recreate where you live of course!
If I'm still bored tomorrow, I might have a crack at furnishing the place, including having the right pictures on the walls.
I really did it so I could show my folks what our place looks like without them having to fly over here to see it.
cabinet part xxiii
It's been a while since the last cabinet post, so I thought I'd post a short update:
...
and that's about all that's happened since last October.
I've just bought a pot so I can move the volume control off the amp on the floor to a spot beside the speakers. I'll then be able to put the amp inside so it's not making the place look untidy. At the same time, I bought a switch box so I can move the output from the speakers to the TV without having to unplug cables and stuff. I might pull the box to bits and incorporate it into the cabinet itself; another step towards tidiness.
I also priced the cost of printing a marquee at Ted's. Because the width I need is wider than the roll of paper they use, I'll have to print it longways, which means It'll cost around $100 with 60% white space left over. I'm going to have to fill it up with other pictures to get my money's worth, but it's a good step towards completing this damn thing. I really wish I'd left the control panel until everything else was done, because now that everything works there's not as much motivation to make it look pretty.
...
and that's about all that's happened since last October.
I've just bought a pot so I can move the volume control off the amp on the floor to a spot beside the speakers. I'll then be able to put the amp inside so it's not making the place look untidy. At the same time, I bought a switch box so I can move the output from the speakers to the TV without having to unplug cables and stuff. I might pull the box to bits and incorporate it into the cabinet itself; another step towards tidiness.
I also priced the cost of printing a marquee at Ted's. Because the width I need is wider than the roll of paper they use, I'll have to print it longways, which means It'll cost around $100 with 60% white space left over. I'm going to have to fill it up with other pictures to get my money's worth, but it's a good step towards completing this damn thing. I really wish I'd left the control panel until everything else was done, because now that everything works there's not as much motivation to make it look pretty.
January 24, 2007
happy new year!
It must be time for another bulk catch up.
Since you last tuned in:
Actually, I'll probably mention the boring stuff as well.
Since you last tuned in:
- I went home for Christmas and actually enjoyed my time there. I think I could almost move back to live if there were jobs that paid well enough for the scattered skillset that I have.
- I bought a new compact camera after giving my old one to my folks. They had it for a week before it got a major error and I had to pull it to bits to remove the permanent battery. Hopefully it's all fixed now :) The new one does fancy tricks like letting you pick one colour to remain while the rest goes black and white. Cool.
- While I was at home, I built a new PC for the parents. When Dad bought home a printer/scanner/copier/refrigerator/bottle opener I started scanning in and cleaning up some of their old photos It was really nice to see pictures that had been faded to orange for as long as I can remember become vibrant and full of colour again.
- Deb and I went to the botanical gardens for a Moonlight Cinema showing of Clerks II. The inflatable screen was a little unstable due to the wind, and we warned at the start that if it blew away the screening would be cancelled. It turned out to be a bit of a chilly evening, but we had a couple of beers, a bottle of wine, loads of food and also rented some beanbags, so it worked out fine (the screen folded in half a few times, but didn't blow away)
- Bushfires knocked out an electrical supply line between NSW and VIC, causing blackouts across the city, which was already struggling due to a 40° day. Trains were delayed (in some cases stuck on the line for 1 1/2 hours), thousands of traffic lights went down and thousands of people were trapped in their office and apartment blocks because security doors weren't working properly (now that's some piss poor planning). I rode to work that day, so wasn't affected in the slightest except I may have lost a kilo or two of sweat on the ride home.
- Bought some t-shirts from Mr Vintage. There's loads of cool stuff, but I got these three:
- The cabinet is still at 85% and I don't really know how to finish it. Ideally I'd rebuild the control panel now that I've used it for a while and put in a 4 way joystick (Pacman, Dig-Dug etc) and a spinner (Tempest, Arkanoid). Would probably move the trackball back a little as well, I've almost broken my fingers on the monitor a few times being a little too enthusiastic playing Golden Tee.
- Troakie (my old boss/booze buddy from Channel 4) has moved to Bermuda. I'm led to believe it's a paradise for records managers, where filing and rum go hand in hand.
- Went and saw Tenacious D play at Festival Hall last Friday. The concert was great, but it must have been close to 35° with 95% humidity inside and the acoustics were terrible. We had seats and still came out totally drenched with sweat. I felt sorry for those crammed down on the floor in the general admission area.
- Deb and I are off to Apollo Bay on Friday for a couple of nights. This is the first time we've left the city together with just the two of us, so I'm really looking forward to it.
- Deb is off back to NZ in a week or so for her cousin's wedding. A week after she gets back, it's my turn to go home for my mate Geoff's wedding. Shame the weddings weren't closer together, but I'm sure we'll both be happy for a break from each other :P
It makes me want to have a crack at designing my own (or even better: taking elements from things others have designed and making them my own)
Actually, I'll probably mention the boring stuff as well.
December 13, 2006
brown tinted spectacles
The bushfires raging through Victoria and South Australia are having their effect here in the city. There is so much smoke in the air that the sky looks brown and you can look directly at the sun*.
Deb tok the phto below on the way to work:
She didn't take this one:
I'm at home at the moment and can smell the damn smoke when I open the front door, it's really eerie.
Deb and I are flying back to NZ on Saturday morning and there have been a number of delays because of poor visibility and smoke alarms going off at the airport. Fingers crossed we get away ok.
* don't look directly at the sun
Deb tok the phto below on the way to work:
She didn't take this one:
Deb and I are flying back to NZ on Saturday morning and there have been a number of delays because of poor visibility and smoke alarms going off at the airport. Fingers crossed we get away ok.
* don't look directly at the sun
December 11, 2006
stupid fruits of the world #27: pomegranate
I bought a pomegranate at the supermarket the other week. I'd heard of them, but never actually seen one before, so thought I'd give it a shot.
What a shitty, messy waste of time that was! Ignoring the bright red juice that I had to wipe from the walls and scour from my hands, I couldn't eat much because it was sour and made my teeth furry.
What kind of person wants to pick hundreds of corn kernal-sized fleshy seeds out of a leathery husk while waiting for the juice to somehow migrate from the kitchen to the lounge carpet?
What a shitty, messy waste of time that was! Ignoring the bright red juice that I had to wipe from the walls and scour from my hands, I couldn't eat much because it was sour and made my teeth furry.
What kind of person wants to pick hundreds of corn kernal-sized fleshy seeds out of a leathery husk while waiting for the juice to somehow migrate from the kitchen to the lounge carpet?
December 07, 2006
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