’Pong and I are having dinner at Kelly’s on King, and voilá, there are musicians at our table. It almost makes up for the free Wi-Fi running out at 7pm and having to roll our our Internet connectivity via my phone (which also took the picture).
The Perils of Smoking
The Snarky Platypus has already messaged me tonight: “You are full of too many thoughts. You need a course of what Stephen Conroy is taking.” So I’ll change the pace with a photo.
Here’s a picture of ’Pong I took in 2002, back when he was still smoking that evil tobacco stuff. His sister Toi and her friend seem… concerned. Perhaps we need to come up with a caption for this image.
Sydney from the MLC Centre
One of the things I like about visiting my client in the MLC Centre — apart from them being nice people who pay their bills on time — is enjoying this magnificent view over the Sydney CBD and Hyde Park.
New year, new website header
Just in case you’re wondering how I made the new header image on the website, I’ve used the same technique as the previous one. I’ve taken a slice from a semi-random photograph and stretched it.
The source image is a random (and not very good) photo I took in Bangkok’s Chinatown. In Photoshop, I took a one-pixel deep slice through the middle of the image somewhere, then stretched that out to create the vertical stripes. I then tweaked the contrast and saturation — but not the underlying colour hue — until I had a “pleasing” result.
The previous image was a slice through the girders of Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the grey evening sky in the background — the whole scene blurred by smoke.
I must admit, I’m quite attracted to impressionistic views of the world. That’s why I like Trevor Paglen‘s work.
Distinctly personal reflections on 2007
As the sun sets on 2007 — literally, as I took the photo just before I sat down to write — it’s time to reflect on an astounding year. The Snarky Platypus will join ’Pong and me later, and (perhaps) help us put together some predictions for 2008.
This was a watershed year for me, for my household and business, and for Australia. Many of the changes happened late in the year, so we haven’t noticed the effects yet. But as 2008 unfolds I think we’ll look back and see that, yes, 2007 marked a change of direction.
Personally, my understanding of how I fit into my world (and yours) became much clearer.
Unreliable Bangkok 9: Train
’Pong’s movie Bangkok Express slices through the city at the height of the motorway. Yes, you can see urban decay, but it’s abstract, in the distance. The train slices the city differently: just above human eye level.
The photos I took from the train in Bangkok reminded me that a sign at Ashfield Station in Sydney has got it all wrong. That sign tells us that railway stations are for catching trains — and if I’m not catching a train right at that moment then I’m not welcome. I might be a terrorist. Move on, nothing to see here.
Bullshit.