300

this just gets me excited...



hands up those who have seen the movie "Sin City" ? ok then you should all know who Frank Miller is and what he does. no ? ok quick history lesson, famous graphic novel writer and artist who through the late 90s created world famous stories, focusing on his strong black and white art and adult drama themes. suddenly with the explosion in hollywood of every studio seeking the next greatest "comic book movie" Frank's got his chance.

following on from Sin City, and the upcoming Sin City 2, Frank's latest book to film is 300. a retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (played by Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.

the point for me is seeing Franks work come to life on the big screen. from the pages and imagination of his art, with the aid of modern CGI, to the visual art of film. check out the pics below for a clear comparison of art and scenes from the novel translated to film. incredible! click the pics for larger formats. and the trailer is linked below.

check check check it out ...

TRAILER HERE



original art from the graphic novel




snapshots of how the art / novel to film adaption has been done. notice the use of green screens which allow for the digital departments to add all the exterior details in after filming. digital film, saving money on props and locations. the film industry is changing. click the pics for enlarged verisons.

Are We There Yet ?

Where have you been!
is the first thought i recon you will all be having. things have been busy in terms of grinding the wheels of work, and not much play lately, so hence not much to report. working part time at HR means i cant take paid leave, so what ever i miss in terms of days, i need to catch up on when i arrive back. so ive been working my tail off full time for 3 weeks + freelance on top of that + University applications and the list goes on. im now back into the swing of things with 2 days a week dedicated to freelance and portfolio.

well SYDNEY is all go!
Mark and I have booked and paid for all flights and accommodation, and cant be happier. really excited to hit the east coast again for an extended break before i possible start UNI. Richard has also pulled through with funds for flights and accommodation. this i hope is all out of his own pocket, but i cant control parental assistance :) the point of this journey for him is not to "to see a band" its to get him to achieve a positive short term goal, make some personal sacrifices of time and money and see the results of his hard work. its not about getting handed a plane ticket. you tend to respect and appreciate things a bit more when you've had to sell your left kidney for a plane ticket :) ..... just joking kids

lastly ive recently grabbed a movie called "Loose Change" 2nd edition.
you may or may not have heard about it, but im making copies and sending them out. once you see it please pass it onto friends and family. its a documentary produced about 911 and the conspiracies surrounding the facts we all know. its a fascinating watch and thought provoking to think, "what really happened?". it poses questions that we all have forgotten to ask, especially our 6PM mainstream media. keep an open mind, comments welcome. visit the website below for more info.

http://www.loosechange911.com






views from the Y Hotel in SYD CBD, the first stop for our trip...





picked this little critter up out of the second hand shop :) purs like a kitten and will be used for UNI and Freelance work outside of the office .. PB 1.67Mhz 2G RAM 128VRAM 100G HDD DVD-DL ... just cant beat that in the old PPC Macs. this will be the new machine for Bloggin while in SYD aswell.

BIG DAY OUT

Planning for JAN - SYDNEY 2007.

everything is underway and moving quickly. the plan is to try and spend some time in sydney to soak up more of the sites and sounds rather than the quick dash we made last time. :) as mentioned we are primarily going for the TOOL concert at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, but theres a bit of a back story to that all ...

AUG 23rd (4 days prior to leaving for a world trip)
Mark and I hear word of TOOL touring australia next year. after we pull ourselves off the wall, we agree that we have to at least get tickets for the show, and we can work on getting there after we come back from the round the world trip. you might be asking yourself why dont you go to one in Perth? simple reason, Perth is too far away and has no large indoor venues left for a band like TOOL to play in. they were in fact the last band to play in the old Perth Entertainment Center prior to its closure.

so we figure ok, lets get tickets to SYD. but then i hit a brainwave. Rich (cousin) had been going through a few hassles lately and had wound up without a car, no license, and the prospect of ... not much :) so to try and pull him out of his black cloud, my thinking was and still is this. Lets give him a goal. a short term goal that he has to push for and is acheivable. so we bought a 3rd ticket to the show, giving it to Rich as a birthday present, with the condition that he present to us proof that he can save and make it to the show, then he will get his ticket on the other side.

well im pushing him. and so far so good. we will see what happens come JAN:)
but you know we dont do things by halves, so we also managed to secure Big Day Out SYDNEY concert tickets to see the show the next day. two concerts in two days! the story here was once again we bought three tickets, it just so happened that the event sold out in 20mins and now the spare ticket can be purchased by Rich. he doesnt know how lucky he is ....

next up is booking flights and accomodations. we need to jump on this quickly because alot of people are streaming into SYD for that BDO concert. just waiting this last week cost us $50 for flights. crazy stuff. more as we go along....

pics below are a taste test of what we will see in JAN at the big day out 2007. these are from a friend who went in 2006.

Back to the start

Yep im off again.
SYDNEY : JAN 07 ~ 20th to 27th
holiday / TOOL concert / possible Big Day Out / business portfolio drops.

lightly planning from here on in, the thought is to zip over and have a break before the chaos of 2007 begins. ok i lie, the plan was to go and see TOOL play 1 of only two shows in Australia again, and i swore i did it once and wouldnt hesitate to do it again.

this time theres a catch, theres a stowaway. Mr Richard Clements will be joining Mark and I to form the 3 Ameigoes. more to this story as we go along... until then some applebites of sydney. and our transport wagons :)



Opera House from the inside .. how cool is that!




the camels are right around the corner ..

Who Killed John Oneill

think you know what 911 was all about?
an independent film maker and research analyst in the USA has put together this short Doco on the 911 terror attacks and the mysteries surrounding it. what we see everyday in our media outlets is only one side of the glass. see the otherside, keep an open mind, think for yourself and lastly make up your own mind.

if you have a broadband connection, click this link, sit back and watch. if not then ask me for a hardcopy and i'll try and pass one on.

CLICK HERE




PS. where is Miguel these days? love to chat to you about this sort of stuff. right up the Coast to Coast alley if you know what i mean .... type Bilderberg Group into google

StarBucks ? whats that then eh?

this topic came up recently as many have, discussing my holiday travels. it began with, so are there heaps of McDonalds in NYC?
OH YEHH!!! and then i reflected on all the street corners we crossed and i kinda felt i had seen more StarBucks than golden arches through manhattan? then the responce "whats StarBucks?"

so this post should clear things up for all those out there uneducated in the worldwide domination of StarBucks and the coffee addictions of the western world. StarBucks is the world's largest multinational chain of coffee shops, originating from Seattle, USA, and spreading round the globe. specialising in everything coffee, from hot and cold drinks done in every form imaginable (with one key ingrediant you have to push the envelope here and there, Maccas still have fish and chicken to play with) to pastries and wireless internet. ... my personal reason for visiting. free wifi on arrival, just open your laptop and bang your surfing the web. Mark did grab a couple of coffees while we were trekking through the streets, but as usual if your not american, order the smallest size you can, or face the next hour drinking a 1L of coffee.

for more info check out wiki .
we all know what the wiki is right ? or is that the next lesson for all the oldies out there :) and no its not the bloke behind the stumps. he isnt the vice capt and his nick name aint gilly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks

http://en.wikipedia.org

search and you shall find.