Lomo

this just made me chuckle for a full minute.
it therefore needed to be posted up here :)
it just reminds me of the semi rural backwater of Bakersfield in California. Summertime and see how americans can eat. we're talking plate fulls for a single serving of anything. it became clear why they are plagued with an increasing obesity level in young children and adults.

too much sugar. salt. chemicals.preservatives = your favourite Red and Yellow fast food chain. speaking of which, do yourselves a favour and check out the new movie out called Fast Food Nation. a fictionalised drama story about the truths of what really goes into those burgers we love so much. its been the catalyst for the golden arches to plague us with those bias tv ad campaigns about "making up your own mind" what a crock.

TRAILER

SITE

BOOK

Flickr Updates ...

Ive been messing around with Flickr lately to sync with my blog, allowing for me to post a whole bunch of photos to a wider audience and in a more open interaction format.

the link below is a direct link to my page. whole bunch of stuff going up there in the coming weeks. ie all holiday photos. bookmark and add comments.

snapfoxsnap

for those not cultured in what exactly Flickr is? you need to step aboard, the Flickr train rocks. basically its a free outlet for anyone anywhere to post photos and interact with others over the images they post. think of it as an online photo album, accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime, but 100% controllable by YOU the user. you can restrict what people can see and do with anything you post. secondly as it develops, Flickr's interface grows. meaning it looks better and operates more simply.

Flickr homepage

what is Flickr?

Not Just Any Old Toilet Paper Roll...

This is just one of those "What The Hell Where You Thinking Moments!!"

you have to wonder how this got past the board of directors with the rubber stamp of approval :) i mean whats next, seriously. an iPod waterproof holder for your shower? .... oh wait, thats already been done.

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.

Apple Store NYC

NYC Apple Store cube...
i think back and wonder why we didnt take any pics of this structure. cant quite put my finger on it, maybe we just thought we had taken it all, nope ... i think that was one of the days we left all our cameras and bags behind and just walked NYC freely.

never the less these are some pics of the huge glass cube that covers the entrance to the NYC Apple Store on 5th ave in NYC .. FFFabulous FFFith avenue .. cheers Andrew. (tour guide on the NYC skyline bus)

this glass cube is illuminated at night and stands out like dogs balls. awesome to see and the store inside stays open 24 hours a days ... no joke. props to the flickr bunch for the eye candy

Home Sweet Home

Hey everyone.

arrived back safe and sound after a month long vacation into the never never. the big wide world. i think i can safely say im so glad to be back and off a schedule of hoping on planes. if i dont see another airport in 2 months i'll be a happy man :)

like someone wise once mentioned to me, after being away you miss home and need to be back, then 3 weeks @ home you wish you were back anywhere else but at work. thats life. i guess now its a case of planning for another trip, another adventure, and doing things slightly different based on all we learnt. all up i cant fault anything we accomplished, and good or bad, we learnt from everyday out there, just opening my eyes to just how good we really have it back in Oz.

thanks to all of you along the way who helped make this journey so enjoyable and exciting, you know who you all are. and please keep your eyes on the blog as this is not the end... but the begining.

last words go out to those who are reading and not posting their comments < yes i know all about you millions. :) this isnt an exclusive blog for family and friends only. this is for anyone, anywhere, anytime. post your thoughts, your feedback, who ever you maybe. think of it as a global bullentin board, an electronic meet and greet. until the next post, heres some pics from South Africa, more soon.

Shaun.







PS.. Cheech, bro, we will returnith!

Why Dialup Sucks ...

Ello,
just got back in from the Game Reserve, Mfolozi, and thought id post some news minus photos due to connection.

anyway ... whats to say, we left early morning with Aunty Les saying we would catch breakfast "on the way to the gate" well she got talking and one thing lead to another and well you know the rest ... we missed the turnoff for breakfast. i was about to eat the seatbelt but we found a substitute. all was well.

leaving Durban's cloud and overcast conditions the Park greeted us for two days of sunshine and pure african weather. all was fantastic and felt so real. we checked in and began our day 01 tour / drive. well to cut a long story short we saw it all, apart from the big cats. heaps of everything and so close to the car. lots of giraffe, elephant, rhino and the like. brings back a lot of memories.

next up was a night drive for Mark and I, to which we were told by Darryl and others "waste of time. all you will see will be a hare or two" well .... we threw that out the window. our day luck had turned into night. WE SAW LION!! yup a huge male popped up close to the truck and we saw him wonder off into the distance. we also caught sight of black rhino and a small herd of elephant aswell. top night all round.

seeyou soon

Extra Pics

Hey everyone ..
arrived safe and sound in Durban, just thought id try and upload a few extra pics before we leave tomorrow for the Game Park. current weather here is all overcast and raining, heres hoping it will fine up for our trek. so looking forward to getting back for the Footy Finals!! hilight for WA teams.

Dad, the MNet info you wanted, blog a reply with what ever questions you need answered by Darryl here.

Rich, get ready for tuesday next week.

Post before the rush to the final plane ..