Image grabbed blatantly from the interwebs

I feel like I need to squee just a little bit… I get to see Radiohead, twice, yep twice in 8 days.  After what has been an eternity waiting to see these guys, as I had a golden ticket from Sue mentioned in an earlier post, when I managed to snag some tickets.

I also agreed to Nigel’s call out seeing who wanted to attend the first day of the cricket, along with a breakfast prior to the days play, so it was poised for quite a day…

The day started early, with a 4 at the start of the clock radio coming into focus as I realised it wasn’t Christmas day, but pretty close to it.  After ensuring tickets were packed in a very safe area of my bag, it was off to the train.  I disappeared into my own world listening to a Radiohead mixed tape on the way to the train, and I when I got the the station, I pulled out my kindle as I was nearing the end of a novel, Shantaram, and it had me mesmerised.

Tickets for the big day

Our day started with a breakfast, hosted by 4BC radio station.  We met at 6:15 and headed in.  It was a very entertaining breakfast with Ian Healy quizzing Glen McGrath about some of his fast bowling exploits, and his big batting score at the Gabba, as well as other amusing anecdotes.

Healy and McGrath entertaining the breakfast crew

I guess you need to carb up at Breakfast for a big day

After our breakfast session, we had some time to kill before we could get in the ground, so we grabbed a coffee nearby, and Troy then hatched a plan for our lunch, as his wife used to work with owners of a very close restaurant.  Looking at the menu in the window as we passed before opening time, it did look a little higher standard than pie and chips that the Gabba serves.  Whilst we had our coffee, I made a comment to Nigel about his remark with his iPhone 5 bad battery life.  He asked how much battery I had left on mine, and I said I didn’t have the percentage coming up, so grabbed my phone and added it to the display, and I suspect something else I am thinking, as my power was in free fall all day (though it did start at 75%)

When we got inside, the ground look fantastic, even with the lack of rain recently.

picture perfect ground

We had a good morning chatting, watching the cricket, enjoying tasteless, weak beer in plastic, but still an awesome day.

We (Troy)  made our booking for lunch, and we headed across to Enoteca for lunch.  This was not my normal cricket lunch experience, but the food was superb!  It was very pleasant for the 5 of us, Nigel, John, Troy, Tom and I to enjoy some nice beers and the pasta I had was superb!  As a side note, our family drove past here the following day on our way to Potted Potter play and I commented that we must head here.

 

Enjoying lunch 

My tagliatelle, prawns, garlic, chili was superb! I guess you need to carb up at Lunch for a big day

The afternoon cricket wasn’t such a good couple of sessions for the Aussies, with South Arica looking very solid.

Some smarter folk, banked sleep before a late night ahead

Bad light was called before 5:00, and John spotted lots of rain heading towards us. Very Soon.  A call was made to head across the road to the German Club, though we were down to 3 good men, John, Troy and I.  After a couple of drinks (OMG they have my favourite beer, czech budvar, on tap!), Troy needed to get going, so John and I  decided to have dinner here.  I guess you need to carb up at Dinner for a big day.  We both went the low fat Pork Knuckle option, as I may have mentioned that I smelt something that smelled like pork knuckle when we were waiting outside.

Fast forward through getting wet trying to get a taxi, then getting wet trudging to the centre as we were dropped off outside Boondall as the road became a carpark.

We grabbed our seats, and good seats they were, and listened to buzz of people finding their spots and the electro music while we waited.

The band took the stage and launched into Lotus Flower.  The stage setup was great, with large LCD’s suspending on 4 wires each, which transmitted images from a lot of fixed cameras on each of the band members.  The 4 wires allowed the screens to move into different heights and angles.  The effect was great!  In one song, all of the monitors laid parallel with the stage and just above the group.  It mimiced a low ceiling club, with lights strobing off all of the band.

Shot sourced from a google search showing an example of the staging

I won’t go into the concert in depth, as I think I will do that next week, when I experience with Ryan in Melbourne.  Suffice to say that the experience well exceeded my expectations, and I was a little worried that with all the build up to me seeing them, that it would not.  I have pasted the set list below, and whilst I knew most songs very well, I had 2 surprises. The first was how much I enjoyed There, There with 4 people playing percussion through most of it.  The next song, is one that hadn’t stuck with me before , but it has been in my head since seeing them perform it Seperator, which is from their last album released.

They also had 3 encores, which was awesome.  Very awesome!

I had a long train ride home, and without any sounds since my phone ran out of battery just before the start of the gig.  Once John jumped out at Roma St, my ride to Wynnum station was replaying the concert in mind, and chanting don’t fall asleep!

A link to their concert at Coachella which had a similar set list and staging.

Was there any doubt what the song of the day’s artist would be? Today we have Reckoner as song of the day.  This is another one that really stuck in my head after seeing them perform it live.  Thanks to John and Nigel for a lot of the photos above.

SET LIST c/- Setlist.fm

1. Lotus Flower
2. Bloom
3. Airbag
4. The Daily Mail
5. Myxomatosis
6. The Gloaming
7. Separator
8. Reckoner
9. You and Whose Army?
10. Climbing Up the Walls
11. Nude
12. Staircase
13. There There
14. The National Anthem
15. Feral
16. Bodysnatchers
17. Encore:
18. Give Up the Ghost
19. Pyramid Song
20. Morning Mr. Magpie
21. Paranoid Android
22. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
23. Encore 2:
24. 15 Step
25. Everything in Its Right Place
    (Unravel intro)
26. Encore 3:
27. Idioteque
    (Extended due to Thom messing up the outro)

Thursday November 8, 201

Well it has been a busy October and my musings here have suffered.  It was a gentle prod from the one of the three people I know that read the blog, Bruce, that reminded me to check one of the posts I want to do off the to-do list and onto the interwebs.  Thanks for the poke Bruce, you reminded me how fast time flies…

So my least favourite exercise would have to be running.  Well even below least favourite, as I am so bad at it…  My brother is tall, lean and was a gun runner through his youth.  I look like a pint of Guinness, and run with less ability than said pint.  So I have always had a nagging thought in my mind, why am I so bad at this, why can’t I learn to run a bit and do some fun runs, though I have done a couple including one I posted about a little over a year ago.

Well, one Friday evening as I was scanning through my email, I saw a note in our local councillors newsletter referencing Park Run, and it sounded like a great concept, and only a 15 min walk around the corner.

Ready for the start

The idea behind parkrun (read the link for the accurate description), is that it is a worldwide, weekly, timed, 5km run, free and run by volunteers.  You register online, and get a bar code, which you scan at the end of the race, and your time is uploaded to their website.

Listening to the briefing session (Don’t know this person, though may have met on my 2nd?? run) 

So fast forward 2 or so months, and I have 6 runs under my belt, and I have a lesser hate for running.  Still a hate though…  I started out wanted to be able to run 6 min k’s, and have been able to achieve that.  I am a little competitive, so it is a great way for me to try and push to better my time, on the same circuit – something that I haven’t consistently achieved, which may have something to do with it being stage at 7 AM Saturday morning…

The organisers, Alan and Roisin have done such a superb job in bringing together the organisation required to run the event.  Whilst I have only spoke with them a few times, they are very warm and welcoming people, and a tip of the hat to you both!

So much enthusiasm at the start

As the event for me is just around the corner, it has given me a chance to meet others who live on the area, in in one case, a couple of doors up, (Hey Paul if you ever find this).  It does have a real communal feel about it, and I like it!  I managed to get team Kelly to one event during school holidays, so the 4 of us register and set out on the day, though mother hen was more interested in walking the (not quite complete) course. As a side note, on this day I kept an eye out for the 3 of them, but couldn’t see Ryan at the turn around point, and I would later realise, that he was right on my shoulder.

Since starting, our friends,  Team Gill, have been heading down with ever more frequency!  It’s great to catch up with a chat prior, and make red faced, hand gestures after the run.

Josh coming in to the finish line, fresh as a daisy

Before my run last week, I commented to Sue that I have not done a run yet, that I whilst running,  haven’t thought any / all of these:

• I reckon I could stop about now;
• why am I doing this; or
• just walk for a bit…

She was a little surprised, but it is a fact, and one that (maybe) one day won’t be in my mind.  I have heard about the “runner’s high” that some people experience, and if I am honest, I do feel particularly good walking down, prior to the start, 3 minutes into the run, 3 minutes after the run…

Nick left nothing out there!

Happy to say that I have run start to finish, every one, including the misinformed weet-bix before race incident, and the only thing getting me there was my playlist list dragging me along.  I have a ritual to pick the songs, and the order of them being played, to get me through the euphoria of the start.

When I realise I don’t have to run any more

A note that all pics for this post are from the Wynnum Park Run Facebook page

Whilst I will attend all the runs I can, this month is a particularly crazy one, but if the public transport gods align, I will attend the Melbourne run next weekend.  This month has our gang (in no particular order), and only what comes to mind as I hastily write this:

• Ryan’s award for academic excellence
• Day on the green
• Break up at school (3 people)
• Nana (my mum) out of hospital
• 1st day of 1st Cricket test at the gabba
• 2 Radiohead concerts
• Potted Potter play

Today’s song of the day is the first song from my current park run play list, Pnau - Embrace. This song gets me in the mood to think I can run 1 minute without stopping… I love Lady Hawke’s voice, and it is a great matchup with the Pnau boys! This is a definitely a cross over song for Sue and I. Not many are…

Monday October 1, 2012

I woke up this morning early, as I do, and had some hours before the family arose on this public holiday, to push through some work tasks, do some thinking on a project I am working on, and then work up reasons to procrastinate Sue and I attacking the book keeping tasks, so urgently requiring attention.

I recalled a place that I was taken by Anthony, Nigel and Troy for my birthday lunch a few months back (thanks guys) which is a Japanese dumpling and beer bar.  What’s not to love about that combination!   So as sleep was hosed out of the family eyes, it was decided that it would be a lunch gig at Harajuku Gyoza

Dumplings & Beer bar, AND a smiling dumpling as logo, I’m all in!

Tegan immediately spotted the different plates each of us had

and they were all over the walls as well

We sat at a regulation table, but the bar looked a great post work drop in spot

To save arguments, we decided to order every type of dumpling, sans the chilli one (much to the silent angst of 25% of of the family).  Well we started to double up on a couple as we have a growing boy in our group, and one boy who is trying to shrink a little in size…

Something for everyone, dumplings and beer!

I was raving about a morish dish I had a while back, and I had spotted it on the menu when scoping out HG’s, Edamame.  Whilst they didn’t sound as good as I remembered them as I was describing them to the family, the 2 bowls were inhaled by all and sundry.

These guys are the business!

The place was very friendly and relaxed with staff shouting out each time someone arrived or ordered sake.

Relaxing at the bar

The menu instructed us how to mix the 2 parts soy, 1 part vinegar, and chilli to taste.  The boys side of the table heaped in the chilli with the wimp girl’s side opting out of the magic 3rd ingredient.

The 3 ingredients for the dipping sauce

The dumplings were superb! (thanks for the styling Sue)

Chefs in the middle of the bar area

We will be back, though those book keeping tasks are still to do, and scheduled for very early in the morning…

Today’s song of the day is taken from a favourite movie, Kill Bill –  Battle Without Honor or Humanity – Tomoyasu Hotei.

Monday September 17,  2012

Well they say better late than never…  The studio  is finished, late, over budget, but finished none the less…

We had an unfinished shed at our place, that became a dumping ground of junk I had collected for 20 odd years, but it had the potential to be a studio space, and then it could be used later for another purpose if required.

It still needs a paint on the outside (as does our house), but we are now using the space for it’s intended use.

Right hand side is the studio

Work in progress shots

I was happy to leave the old chipboard, complete with years of neglect and stains as the floor, as is.  Sue persuaded me that this wasn’t such a good idea, and she was proved right after three coats of paint.

The old floor didn’t look that bad did it?

Grey going on over the undercoat, glad it was just one shade!

I wanted to hand our paper rolls on the wall permanently, but all of the information I read said that you were unable to due to the cardboard inner roll, sagging under the weight, and creating ripples in your paper.  I found one post n flickr that looked promising, and I contacted the author of the post (years on from the original post) and he was very obliging with confirming that it had stood the test of time, and gave me some great additional detail. Thanks Robert Mac from the Sunshine Coast, kudos to you for being so helpful to a random!

So Sue and I replaced the inner cardboard core, with an aluminium core.  After a somewhat frustrating hour or so, attempting to get it right, we were done.   Well Sue was, I still needed to get them on the wall.

Transferring the paper to the new core.

Mechanism for unrolling the paper

Mounted on the main wall

Storage c/- Ikea

When I was wiring up the power, I made sure to put in speaker cables so that the radio, playlists or TunnFM can be streamed during a shoot or whilst I am testing.

Old amp gets a new life

One of the elinchrom’s ready to go

Old couch also gets a new life, with the inlaid speakers punching out the tunes

Never have enough sandbags, though these are filled with gravel.

Our intent is to shoot friends for free in the next couple of months, so that we can build a portfolio before hanging the shingle out proper.  An old work colleague came over with his wife and 18 month old son, for a studio session, and then to the park and beach.  It was great fun, and we got some great shots, and learnt a heap!  Like when you scope that perfect location on Thursday afternoon, it may be a little more busy on Saturday with a Rugby carnival going on!

Sue was a great help, and I couldn’t have done the session with out her!

Testing the lighting prior to the shoot

One the shots we captured

Looking forward to the next shoot!

The song of the day is Santigold – LES Artists, as this song sits on most of my excercise playlists (which has picked up again) and I like the link in to artists, and with the strobes going off in the film clip is now occuring in our studio.

Sunday September 2, 2012

Well after a wonderful week away in the snow, and a road trip either side, it was great to roll in home yesterday afternoon.  Lots to write about with the trip, and I will pop up various posts over the next couple of weeks.

Almost 3,000 kms round trip

We tend to use our splash backs a lot for messages, recipe timings, and I draw a pic when I left very early the previous Saturday.  I love that Tegan, modifies these.

Pic waiting for me when I got home

When ever I can, I like to say thanks to people personally and professionally.  There was this time that a fellow photog helped me out a lot when I was learning how to light images.  Well even though I do it each year, it stills gives Sue a surprise (somehow???) when she gets flowers delivered to her work saying thanks.

I got to see the flowers first hand when I got home.

More stories from the trip to come.

Today’s song of the day will be a new song that I heard whenever I had triple j on the radio on the trip.  The new song by Grinspoon – Passerby 

Wednesday 22 August, 2012

At the start of the year, I wrote a post about my goals for the year.  Every other week I review them, and ensure I am on track.

In most areas I am tracking well or at least have activities underway to get on track.  I have marked myself a B- overall, with A’s in some areas, and a D in one…

The area that has lapsed is my fitness and health goals.  I won’t be hitting anywhere near my goal k’s for my bike riding this year, and I had been grazing a little too long in the back paddock, and have undone some of my good work last year.

Nothing like the scales to shock you, and an acquaintance to comment after my recipe discussion with him, “So that’s why you are putting on weight” whilst patting my belly, to get me moving again.

So it’s back to logging everything in MyFitnessPal and at the gym whenever I can.  I am now 3rd week in, and starting to trend back to where I need to be.

Fitness Apps in high rotation on the iPhone again

I am off to the snow next week, and I am hoping for a net neutral week with lots of food and drink to be offset with high energy skiing.

Today’s song of the day is one from my playlist of “up” songs to get me moving at the gym - Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio

Sunday June 8, 2012 

A bit of a nothing day besides our travel to Auckland for our flight home, so not too much to write and show photos of.

We had a blast in NZ, it was great catching up with the Smith’s and we shouldn’t leave it as long to do it again.  The snow was a highlight, and a tentative plan for a 2013 trip to the Aussie snow is emerging.

Just got to grab our dog Charlie in the morning to be back in the home routine.

EDIT:  Thanks to my one reader for waiting so long for these to be published

Saturday June 7, 2012 

Early stroll taking in the beach across the road.

Gorgeous beach

Our bach

Figured we should check if the toaster needs the crumbs emptying based on the condition of other items.

yep, good call

We decided to head back to Rotorua to check out the luge ride we had heard goods things about.

Car park was full

In the gondola heading up

Obligatory pose for dad with camera

Lining up for the luge

Production line of luges, or is it a gaggle of luges??

Lucky I had a fast shutter speed, Sue is sideways, out of control (I waited for the toddler to walk past her for the shot)

Sue and Ryan heading back up

The view was superb from the peak

The girls went for a walk on the beach, so Sean grabbed his camera gear and caught up for a quick photo session as the sun went down.

The girls

Tegan is getting good at taking photos!

We then had the best burgers we have tasted in a long time from the local fish and chippy.

Tomorrow we head back home…

Friday June 6, 2012 

Today we headed out on a boat around 50km out to see to White Island.

We could see White Island from the breakfast table of our accommodation

Crew ready to go

Leaving Whakatane

 It was a looong trip out, and some seasickness crept in to our family.  Getting off the boat onto the island was no easy matter as there was a south east swell running.

On the volcano, looking back to our boat over the sturdy landing jetty

“Single file please, don’t fall in the lava”

Our best family portait ever

So glad we had the masks, the sulphur was bad!

Another family getting back on the tender

This was on the upper level, with water over the front.  Sean got a little green…

View back to White Island and the sulphur we bathed in

Thursday June 5, 2012 Day 10

Today we leave our snow village accommodation and travel to Ohope on the Dessert road.  We got the tip from Peter that there is a great view of “Mt Doom” from Lord of the Rings, but there was too much fog to see much of anything.

Pea souper

It did start to clear as we approached Lake Taupo

We grabbed some hot drinks for the trip, grabbed some shots of the southern end of the lake, and hit the road again.

Sean stopping for shots. Again.

The happy crew waiting ever so patiently

Lake Taupo looked superb, and the town itself got Sue’s approval “I could live here”

We stopped shorty after for a low key attraction of geothermal activity.  It was a way low budget excursion, but one that we oldies remember do similar when younger.

Steam coming out of the ground everywhere

Sue negotiating the muddy tracks with gay abandon! 

Tegan in search of the source of the steam

Beware pig, the girls like bacon

We headed on to Rotorua and spent a few hours at Te Puia, which is a Māori cultural centre.  We were able to check a few things off the list:  Plopping mud, geyser, see a live kiwi, learn some maori culture and buy over priced tourist shop gifts.  All checked!

We grabbed some supplies for dinner and headed on to our accom.  This one was a strange one, as we didn’t realise until after booking, that the mother and kids move out whilst guest come in.  That wasn’t such an issue, but the place was left a mess…  Neat freak Sue was not amused!  The location and view out to the beach was great though.

We had been a internet connection rations at our last place, and we finally got some internet to share, but not wireless.  What the… Channelling Magiver, Sean connected his macbook to the ethernet cable and made a hotspot that all others others could connect to, so we could all catchup on what has been happening in the world.