Work has been a bit of a pressure cooker lately -- in fact, the last 5 weeks have been uncomfortably intense.
So this weekend has been good for letting off a bit of steam.
Saw Polly Jean Harvey at the Opera House on Friday night. Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of the support act (long time Nick Cave collaborator Mick Harvey -- no relation to PJ). While I didn't love PJ's set list (I don't really dig the new album White Chalk) I thought the performance was quite good (mostly solo, with the odd cameo from Mick), and the venue was special. The highlights for me were Angeline (I have always loved this song, and it's always even more incredible performed live) and To Bring You My Love (which has really grown on me over the years).
Afterwards (11.30pm), I caught up with Nigel for his birthday to do a bit of singing of my own at Karaoke World. It's not something I normally indulge in when stone cold sober, but it turned out to be a good steam blowing activity.
Last night I went to the Waratahs game with Adam. We were sitting up high (I haven't done that for a while) just behind the corporate boxes at the 50m line, but it turned out to be a really good vantage point for observing the whole field while still being close enough to see who's who. The Tahs' kicking game was terrible and there were a lot of turnovers by both sides, but you always expect a bit of rust this early, and I think NSW would be happy holding the Hurricanes to 3 points. I thought the performance of the guys coming off the bench for the Tahs was particularly good - lots of speed and skills injected into the side as both teams began to tire. Final note: the change in music at the stadium and the new mascot "Tah Man" was on the yellow side of piss weak.
Afterwards, I headed to Tony's farewell (he is moving to Coffs Harbour). It would have been tempting to leave the Tahs jersey on with the number of Kiwis present, but I decided to stick with the party's theme (Tropicana) with a suitably floral shirt. Was nice to catch up with a few people and sink a few beers. Didn't get home til 3.30am.
Anyway, just goes to show the best thing for recovering from hard work is hard play.
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Insane!
But I love it! (pretty fast 32 GB SDHC cards)
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/pma08-32gb-sand.html
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/pma08-32gb-sand.html
Sunday, 10 February 2008
New Who
During my travels, I've had some opportunity to watch some of the "new" series of Dr Who. When I say "new", I mean what the BBC has revived over the last three years. Up until now, I had dared not go near Dr Who after the psychological damage incurred from the wretched American tele-movie blessed by the BBC which revealed gems such as the Doctor being half human etc etc. [How can it possibly be considered canon?!]
The good news is, the newly revived Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) is excellent. While there are some things that break the mold of previous Doctors, overall the writing is good, the characters are likable, and the production values are high. The romance factors and the humour seem to have much more emphasis in this incarnation which seems like a modern quirk, but overall it is a very entertaining and fast moving show.
The first three episodes of the first series are self-contained one hour episodes, and I figured this was a format change as well (i.e. none of the famous cliffhangers) but there are multi-part stories as well. Unfortunately, the people producing (and broadcasting) seem rather clueless, as when you see a potential cliffhanger, in the very next segment ("Next Week...") you see the Doctor jumping up and down happily, clearly out of harms way.
I do have to make an exception for "Dalek". Loved the concept, but hated the writing. It's not the "internet" references, which are laughable (or maybe even make you want to cry) -- it's the whole "absorbing" thing which seemed just a silly plot device. Then again, in a show which routinely features the sonic screwdriver, maybe I should just get over it :) "Father's Day" seemed to leave a whole bunch of strings holding the universe together not just undone but totally frayed, but I don't want to get too bitchy.
I look forward to getting caught up to the current episodes...
The good news is, the newly revived Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) is excellent. While there are some things that break the mold of previous Doctors, overall the writing is good, the characters are likable, and the production values are high. The romance factors and the humour seem to have much more emphasis in this incarnation which seems like a modern quirk, but overall it is a very entertaining and fast moving show.
The first three episodes of the first series are self-contained one hour episodes, and I figured this was a format change as well (i.e. none of the famous cliffhangers) but there are multi-part stories as well. Unfortunately, the people producing (and broadcasting) seem rather clueless, as when you see a potential cliffhanger, in the very next segment ("Next Week...") you see the Doctor jumping up and down happily, clearly out of harms way.
I do have to make an exception for "Dalek". Loved the concept, but hated the writing. It's not the "internet" references, which are laughable (or maybe even make you want to cry) -- it's the whole "absorbing" thing which seemed just a silly plot device. Then again, in a show which routinely features the sonic screwdriver, maybe I should just get over it :) "Father's Day" seemed to leave a whole bunch of strings holding the universe together not just undone but totally frayed, but I don't want to get too bitchy.
I look forward to getting caught up to the current episodes...
iPod Video
I really thought this was a stupid idea.
I mean, who is going to wanna watch video on such a tiny screen?!
It turns out it is a godsend for making the time go by quickly on my semi-frequent (often enough) journeys between Sydney and the US (and back again). Not only does the 160 GB iPod hold all of my music, but I can catch up on TV episodes I simply don't have the time for in my regular day-to-day grind.
And the battery life is extremely impressive, which is why I eventually decided to replace my old 20 GB 3G iPod in the first place. I can watch several hours of video and then go to sleep listening to music, and I'll wake up with plenty of battery left.
Paired with my noise canceling Bose headphones, it is a very handy traveling companion.
That's Entertainment!
I mean, who is going to wanna watch video on such a tiny screen?!
It turns out it is a godsend for making the time go by quickly on my semi-frequent (often enough) journeys between Sydney and the US (and back again). Not only does the 160 GB iPod hold all of my music, but I can catch up on TV episodes I simply don't have the time for in my regular day-to-day grind.
And the battery life is extremely impressive, which is why I eventually decided to replace my old 20 GB 3G iPod in the first place. I can watch several hours of video and then go to sleep listening to music, and I'll wake up with plenty of battery left.
Paired with my noise canceling Bose headphones, it is a very handy traveling companion.
That's Entertainment!
HOF
What made Superbowl day even greater than the game was the fact that two of my all-time favourite players (Art Monk and Darrell Green) were elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. I feel so privileged to have watched them play, and I cannot think of two better role models for the league. These guys personify class and what it means to be a Redskin. Unfortunately it's very rare to see this level of class from modern athletes.
I dream of being able to fly to Canton, Ohio for the induction ceremony! (Very unlikely)
Congrats boys!
I dream of being able to fly to Canton, Ohio for the induction ceremony! (Very unlikely)
Congrats boys!
Comeupance
I haven't said anything yet, but man-o-man was this years Superbowl a great game. An instant classic. And it was two teams I can't stand!
This one day of my life I had to put divisional rivalry aside and do what 90% of the rest of the US was doing - hoping the NY Giants would upset the seemingly unstoppable New England Patriots.
You may shrug off that last sentence, but you have to understand, the only emotion that compares to screaming for the Redskins on gameday is rooting against their divisional rivals (NY Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles). I HATE those teams.
This year, however, a greater evil emerged. The 18-0 New England Patriots. Since 1972, no other team has won every single game of the regular season. I've actually liked previous editions of the Pats, but their arrogance this year (personified by Bill Belichick) has gone too far. It has nothing to do with Spygate (the scandal where the Pats were caught video taping the NY Jets defensive signal calling -- specifically listed as an illegal practice by the League). Despite this allegation (nay, proof) of cheating, it is impossible not to admire their execution -- maybe the best I've ever seen. They are a smart and talented football team, and clearly they are extremely well coached.
However, they do have a distinct lack of class. Exhibit A was Belichick not even bothering to shake Tony Dungy's hand in the come-from-behind regular season victory against the Indianapolis Colts this year. Exhibits B - Z were all the times they were beating the heck out of some other opposition (eg. 38-0) in the fourth quarter, but still left their starters in. I've never wished for injuries to other players before, but it's hard not to let the thoughts creep in while the Pats ran up the score against teams that were clearly beaten. I'm certain there's an untapped market for voodoo dolls with a Massachusetts theme!
Anyway, the game was gritty and competitive from start to finish. Eli is getting a lot of platitudes right now, and he deserves most of them. The Giants set the tone when their first drive on offense went for about 10 minutes! While it only resulted in a FG, it importantly kept the dangerous Pats O off the field and began the long process of wearing down the Pats D. The other heroes are the NY D-Line. After an entire year of the New England O-Line keeping Brady's uniform pristine, cracks in their pass protection appeared in the second quarter, which turned into a literal earthquake for Brady as the game progressed. Not just the sacks, but the knock-downs too. So very impressive after watching every other team fail at the task of putting pressure on Brady this year.
While the Giants have another Lombardi in the trophy cabinet (which is ultimately bad news for any other NFC East team), the greater evil in the league was vanquished for the day. Not only did the Pats lose the Superbowl, but this is arguably the biggest choke in league history after being on the verge of going 19-0. Maybe the only thing more improbable than the Giants pulling off the win against the Pats last Sunday is being in the position to go 19-0 in the first place.
I must ponder: intervention of a higher power? :)
This one day of my life I had to put divisional rivalry aside and do what 90% of the rest of the US was doing - hoping the NY Giants would upset the seemingly unstoppable New England Patriots.
You may shrug off that last sentence, but you have to understand, the only emotion that compares to screaming for the Redskins on gameday is rooting against their divisional rivals (NY Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles). I HATE those teams.
This year, however, a greater evil emerged. The 18-0 New England Patriots. Since 1972, no other team has won every single game of the regular season. I've actually liked previous editions of the Pats, but their arrogance this year (personified by Bill Belichick) has gone too far. It has nothing to do with Spygate (the scandal where the Pats were caught video taping the NY Jets defensive signal calling -- specifically listed as an illegal practice by the League). Despite this allegation (nay, proof) of cheating, it is impossible not to admire their execution -- maybe the best I've ever seen. They are a smart and talented football team, and clearly they are extremely well coached.
However, they do have a distinct lack of class. Exhibit A was Belichick not even bothering to shake Tony Dungy's hand in the come-from-behind regular season victory against the Indianapolis Colts this year. Exhibits B - Z were all the times they were beating the heck out of some other opposition (eg. 38-0) in the fourth quarter, but still left their starters in. I've never wished for injuries to other players before, but it's hard not to let the thoughts creep in while the Pats ran up the score against teams that were clearly beaten. I'm certain there's an untapped market for voodoo dolls with a Massachusetts theme!
Anyway, the game was gritty and competitive from start to finish. Eli is getting a lot of platitudes right now, and he deserves most of them. The Giants set the tone when their first drive on offense went for about 10 minutes! While it only resulted in a FG, it importantly kept the dangerous Pats O off the field and began the long process of wearing down the Pats D. The other heroes are the NY D-Line. After an entire year of the New England O-Line keeping Brady's uniform pristine, cracks in their pass protection appeared in the second quarter, which turned into a literal earthquake for Brady as the game progressed. Not just the sacks, but the knock-downs too. So very impressive after watching every other team fail at the task of putting pressure on Brady this year.
While the Giants have another Lombardi in the trophy cabinet (which is ultimately bad news for any other NFC East team), the greater evil in the league was vanquished for the day. Not only did the Pats lose the Superbowl, but this is arguably the biggest choke in league history after being on the verge of going 19-0. Maybe the only thing more improbable than the Giants pulling off the win against the Pats last Sunday is being in the position to go 19-0 in the first place.
I must ponder: intervention of a higher power? :)
High Def
Last week, Foxtel finally announced their high definition offering, which includes a new higher capacity HD capable PVR (the IQ2). It includes four HD channels, which doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm pleased to see that two of them are sports channels (Fox and ESPN). Based on what I have seen in the US, sport is particularly good in HD; the higher res makes it easier to read microscopic names on the back of jerseys or see what's going on when the producers decide they are going to zoom out to encompass the whole field.
When I got to California last Saturday, I went to Bernard's house. He has a very sweet high def setup; it was more or less the exact configuration I would love to own myself -- 52" Bravia at 1080p, a high def set top box/PVR for his cable provider, a borrowed PS3 (which includes a bluray drive), and the Denon 3808 which supports upscaling and many HDMI inputs (4!). I have had my eyes on the Denon for a while, so it was nice to see it in action. It did not disappoint.
I spent a fair percentage of the evening slack-jawwed, looking at the various HD content, including a very _very_ sweet dedicated Kungfu channel. While the Kungfu content was not high def, someone has gone to a lot of effort to restore some old chopsocky (and Samurai - we are talkin old school 60's here) movies into a digital format, as well as immaculately subtitle it. On the upscaled setup it looked terrific. Also, the nice thing about watching films in HD on the bluray disc player is that they actually look like films (i.e. the quality you see in the theatre).
Then on Sunday, I went to my friend Richard's house (in Palo Alto) to watch the Superbowl. He also has a nice HD setup, with an impressive array of speakers and an HD projector which illuminates a 150" screen. Definitely the way to go for a big sporting event!
I may hold out for a little while before I adopt, but this visit to California did not do a good job of providing me with more willpower :)
When I got to California last Saturday, I went to Bernard's house. He has a very sweet high def setup; it was more or less the exact configuration I would love to own myself -- 52" Bravia at 1080p, a high def set top box/PVR for his cable provider, a borrowed PS3 (which includes a bluray drive), and the Denon 3808 which supports upscaling and many HDMI inputs (4!). I have had my eyes on the Denon for a while, so it was nice to see it in action. It did not disappoint.
I spent a fair percentage of the evening slack-jawwed, looking at the various HD content, including a very _very_ sweet dedicated Kungfu channel. While the Kungfu content was not high def, someone has gone to a lot of effort to restore some old chopsocky (and Samurai - we are talkin old school 60's here) movies into a digital format, as well as immaculately subtitle it. On the upscaled setup it looked terrific. Also, the nice thing about watching films in HD on the bluray disc player is that they actually look like films (i.e. the quality you see in the theatre).
Then on Sunday, I went to my friend Richard's house (in Palo Alto) to watch the Superbowl. He also has a nice HD setup, with an impressive array of speakers and an HD projector which illuminates a 150" screen. Definitely the way to go for a big sporting event!
I may hold out for a little while before I adopt, but this visit to California did not do a good job of providing me with more willpower :)
Back Again...
I've literally just got back from the US this morning. I've been there for a week doing some good ol' technical specialist style training. It's one of the activities I really enjoy in my role -- getting together with a bunch of people from around the world in the same specialist area as you, and having lots of interesting discussions.
In terms of my absence (i.e. very few blog posts), it's been an extremely busy three months for me, basically due to some additional (ad-hoc) responsibilities I've inherited (or is that "invented"?). I'm doing my best to untangle myself, to not only have more time but also attempt (yet again) to establish some balance.
For blogging, I'm using MarsEdit on my Mac. It gives me the luxury of being able to put together posts for Blogger without having to be online. This may not sound like a big deal, but I really do love offline tools (coincidentally, written by the same people who built my favourite offline RSS reader NetNewsWire. As an aside, NetNewsWire is now free!).
Anyway, time to drink some coffee and publish my MarsEdit drafts :)
In terms of my absence (i.e. very few blog posts), it's been an extremely busy three months for me, basically due to some additional (ad-hoc) responsibilities I've inherited (or is that "invented"?). I'm doing my best to untangle myself, to not only have more time but also attempt (yet again) to establish some balance.
For blogging, I'm using MarsEdit on my Mac. It gives me the luxury of being able to put together posts for Blogger without having to be online. This may not sound like a big deal, but I really do love offline tools (coincidentally, written by the same people who built my favourite offline RSS reader NetNewsWire. As an aside, NetNewsWire is now free!).
Anyway, time to drink some coffee and publish my MarsEdit drafts :)
Monday, 31 December 2007
Hail!
Hail to the Joe Gibbs' Redskins! We are back in the playoffs!
It's gonna be tough flying to the West Coast in a short work week to take on Seattle, but the Seabirds are as inconsistent as hell right now. I like our chances!
Sean would be proud!
It's gonna be tough flying to the West Coast in a short work week to take on Seattle, but the Seabirds are as inconsistent as hell right now. I like our chances!
Sean would be proud!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! -- Let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on 'Til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! -- Let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on 'Til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Friday, 21 December 2007
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