Out west
Posted on May 31, 2009
Today I headed out to Sydney’s west for Mandy’s bday. Upon arriving I was quickly reminded that I hadn’t been over since January. Surely it hasn’t been that long? They have a pretty trick three-storey pad and the best feature has to be the pond that snakes around the perimeter. It’s kind of like a moat, with a walkway over the water to enter the house.
Filling the pond are Koi fish. I once tried to count how many there were but it made me dizzy.
While I was taking the pics the Koi started clambering over each other, probably thinking that I was there to feed them. Sorry fellas.
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My sis the artist
Posted on May 29, 2009
Everyone has a constant in their lives, and for my older sister Caroline, it’s art. She’s a full-time artist, and her portfolio is killer (sorry sis for ripping these images from your site). Ever since we were kids we both had a keen interest in the creative side of things, and her mammoth 4m x 2m pencil drawing (her Year 12 major work) still sits proudly in my mum’s living room. After high school, art kind of fell off my radar but for my sister its been an unwavering passion. So I thought I’d show some of my favourite pieces that she’s done. This one’s an oil and graphite work entitled A Beginning.
Canary in a Coal Mine is an awesome oil painting and definitely in my top five.
Here’s a work in progress, Maximus.
Without doubt, my favourite is this painting, named Chibi. I first saw it four or five years ago at one of her exhibitions and instantly fell in love with it. Unfortunately photos don’t capture its sheer presence. I instantly connected with everything about it; its duality, the juxtaposition of evil and innocence, the whole confusion is represents.
Although my sister received serious offers from buyers for Chibi, she eventually turned them all down and gave it to me instead. When you consider how hard it is for full-time artists to have a steady income, turning your back on such a lucrative sale was a pretty big sacrifice. It’s still wrapped up in storage as I only wanted to hang it in the right place. It might sound weird, but I feel that none of the places I’ve lived in are worthy of it. However I do know that one day I’ll find it, and I’m looking forward to the moment I have the privilege of hanging it on my wall. Thanks sis, I’m very grateful!
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Product testing
Posted on May 29, 2009
Receintly I was asked to provide some feedback for an alcoholic beverage that is being evaluated for sale in the Australian market. Since I’ve been on deadline I haven’t had a chance to crack open a bottle, but now that it’s the weekend I’m sure I’ll be finding the time to! While it’s always cool to get freebies, filling out the long questionaires that come with it can be tedious.
Bye Ray
Posted on May 29, 2009
Today was Raymond’s last day at ASM as he’s heading over to join one of the armed forces (I can’t remember which; either the defence force or air force). However, since most of the people in the office have been struck by a cold, there were only five of us at his farewell dinner.
Didn’t finish work until 8:30PM and so we headed down the road to the Graphic Arts Club for a very late dinner. Papz and Willy each tried the 1kg steaks. Crazy. There’s another steak beneath this one too. Being such a big eater, Papz demolished it with relative ease.
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Groundhog Day
Posted on May 28, 2009
Every month is a new cycle in the world of publishing, meaning there’s always a deadline looming. It’s relentless. This week we’ve averaged a very trying 18 hours a day, and knowing that it’s over is like a huge load off our shoulders. The bad news is that there will be another one in four weeks. It never ends.
I said no sauce
Posted on May 25, 2009
Everyone seems to think I’m weird because I don’t like sauce. That’s right, I prefer my burgers plain. I make a point of ordering my kebab (or gyro if you’re in the States) sans sauce. I may, if I’m feeling particularly daring, get a splash of chilli, but that’s it. No ketchup, definitely no BBQ sauce. I watch those Subway dudes like a hawk to make sure they don’t automatically drown my foot-long in any of their dozen sauce options. These days I’ve even started opting out of mayonaise too. But the funny thing is I don’t mind sauce on my fries. I truly am a weird one.
Perfect start to a Sunday
Posted on May 24, 2009
Since I was getting a haircut anyway, I decided to wake up a bit earlier and head to Makoto, my favourite sushi place in Sydney. I’ve blogged about it before and mentioned how people queue up even before it has opened. I arrived at 11:45AM - 15 minutes before they opened for lunch - to find that a dozen other people were also planning to kick off their Sunday with mouths full of sushi.
Super fresh salmon sashimi. All up the entire meal cost $45 for two including drinks.
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Cut my locks
Posted on May 24, 2009
After receiving comments almost daily about being in need of a haircut, I finally found some time to visit my hairdresser. My last cut was probably three or so months ago, and so I’ve had a rather big mop of hair of late. My hairdressers must love me because I’m one of those people that’s easily sucked in to buying products. Perhaps I cave in so easily because they’re holding a pair of scissors close to my head. “You want me to buy what? Sure, no problem!”
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New deck
Posted on May 22, 2009
Finally picked up a new head-unit for the beater Jazz. Can’t believe I put up with the crappy stock deck for so long!
Hoochie Mamma?
Posted on May 19, 2009
Chantal was telling us about this cafe we should try named Hoochie Mamma. Very weird choice of name and I was imagining all sorts of things while we headed to it at lunch.
Here’s Kula doing what he always does: Twittering.
Ordered the steak sandwich and I must say it is one of the best I’ve ever had. Fries were nothing special but the sandwich itself was killer.
Garth ordered the pizza.
Caeser salad was Hons’ choice. Everyone was quite happy with their food except for William, who wasn’t impressed with his risotto. Forgot to take a picture of their french toast, which apparently is what they’re famous for. We shared two types - one made up by the chef especially for us (Chantal has connections!) - amongst the eight of us, and the plates were devoured in a matter of minutes. Yummm.
Oh no
Posted on May 18, 2009
Usually we have lunch within the immediate vicinity so that we can be back in the office pronto. However this time we emerged from Cupcake & Wheels to find an incredible traffic jam. While O’riordan St always has its fair share of traffic, this time is was absolute grid lock. It took 15 minutes to cover 200m, and it turns out that an accident at the intersection - between a bike and a Ute - was the cause. I’ve always been afraid to ride a bike on public roads, and this further cemented that I’ll probably never do it.