Showing posts with label photo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photo. Show all posts

Friday, January 23, 2009

Gettin Back To Magic


Gettin Back To Magic
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

From inspiration I can't remember, I've been thinking about Magic: The Gathering a fair bit lately. I used to play it in high school, but stopped around year 10, I guess. Then, at Uni, I found out that one of my best mates played, too, and there was a resurgence. It of course, died off, too.
Yet I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.
Unfortunately, I don't have any of my cards anymore, so last week I went over to Ace Comics and Games in Queen St Mall and bought a duel deck.
I told them that I was hoping to get back into it, and that I was also trying to get Lilly into it. They warned me that the duel deck I was looking at was pretty advanced, so said they'd have a peek out back and see if they had any starter kits left. They were given a bunch of Series 9 starter kits for free when Series 10 came out, and sure 'nuff they had one. So they gave it to me for free! Woo!
Definitely for the best, too, as the advanced set didn't come with a rule book, and I've had to refer to the one included with the beginner set several times. As a second bonus the beginner set was set up for a turn-by-turn guided game, which I think is a good way to learn. It's all worked well.
Lilly and I have probably played about 8 games, and last night we decided to open up the advanced pack. The cards are so much more fun, and the gameplay so much more complicated (and enjoyable). It's good to be playing again.

Just thought I'd tell you that.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Not a Franger


Not a Franger
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

No, this isn't me sucking down the contents of a soiled franger. Believe it or not, it's an ice cream from Korea. For some reason (the only one Lilly and I can come up with is novelty) the manufacturer thought it logical to fill a latex sheath with chocolate ice cream, and market it with a turtle on the wrapper. Clearly the parallels with space docking weren't of concern to the marketing dept.
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Weird Condom Ice Cream Wrapper

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Last Weekend: A Photo Montage

We began by playing Guitar Hero: World Tour. Our eyes and minds started to expand.
We begin by playing Guitar Hero: World Tour

We went for a walk to the park in the dark, and sat like ghosts in the children's play area.
Simon is a ghost in a world of make-believe

Simon thought about colours, and the specifics of life.
Simon thinks about colours

We lay on the ground in the middle of the park and stared at the moon and the silhouettes of the trees that encircled us.
We lay on the grass and leant the camera on our bellies to take wobbly photos of the night sky

Something bit me.
Something bit me

It was somewhere in this grass.
The something that bit me was in this grass

Simon was concerned, and the bright flash made him wonder if any of it was really happening.
We sat in the park and wondered about life

We walked home and sat on our balcony, where we were further confused by this photograph.
This photograph confused us

Up close, the world looked all wavy and wobbly.
This is what the world looked like

We got naked, put a canvas on our bed, and finger painted (not a euphemism, nor a metaphor). The colours astounded us.
Colours! The best ones!

When our painting was done, we put it on the table on our balcony and admired it for an hour or more. Every way we turned it we saw new things, and sometime soon we are going to draw over the top of it in black marker.
Our beautiful painting, lit by candlelight

The next day, Mike came around and got addicted to Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Guitar Hero: World Tour

We then went to a German restaurant and ate amazing food (see posts below).
Weeeeee!

Some days later, our favourite kitty, Kitteh, came to visit.
It was Kitteh, in the lounge room, with the yellow cup

He fell asleep. The end.
Sleeping Kitteh

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A Big Fucken Hole!


A Big Fucken Hole!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

As I was walking home yesterday (before the storm), I noticed these witches hats in the road. I didn't stop and look, however, as I was distracted by the approaching (and spectacular) storm front:

Storm Front

This morning, I did stop and look, and holy shit it's a big fucken hole!
It's obviously caused by water, but the last storm event was a week ago, and the witches hats only appeared yesterday. Of course that doesn't mean the hole wasn't there earlier, but I'm suprised no cars fell into it. It's HUGE!
Ok, not big enough for a car to fit in, but a wheel definitely would, and that would be enough to get it stuck.

A Big Fucken Hole II

And it's DEEP! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on me, so I couldn't use anything other than the crappy flash on my phone to try and illuminate the innards (it didn't work), so you can't really tell from the photo, but it would be over a metre deep.
Well, I'm impressed.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Easy Mornings


Easy Mornings
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I think my little trip away last weekend has really refreshed my mind.
I don't know if it's now also because I am waking up to music again, but I'm getting up earlier than before, and having no problems doing it.
Then, to make my morning that much better, our favourite kitty was on the neighbours lawn, asking to be played with.
Things are really cool right now.
Let's hope I can maintain this positivity while I do my final assignments.

Listening to: Tool - 10 000 Days (it's been far, far too long since I treated myself to a bit of Tool. I just wish I had better headphones).
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Friday, October 10, 2008

My New Toy


My New Toy
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I bought two Logitech Squeezebox Classics off of Ebay before I left for Sydney last week, and they arrived yesterday.
I'm going to buy a set of powered speakers for one of them, and put it in the bedroom for an alarm/lull machine.
The other one I set up in the loungeroom last night as a replacement for the loud, awkward laptop that I was previously using for my music player.
It's the best thing ever.
My trusty (now 1TB) NAS streams all my music to it, so I don't need to have a PC turned on.
It plays internet radio (including those that are unmetered by my ISP, Internode), shows RSS feeds as a screensaver, has a simple-to-use search function, and the alarm clock supports different alarms for each day of the week, and can play any source the box can (Reggae Mondays, anyone?).
The software is all open-source and is very mature, so there are many add-ons and plug-ins available (although my NAS doesn't support all of them).
It natively supports ogg, flac (the two formats I care about the most), mp3 (obviously), wma, wav, aac, m4a and many others through on-the-fly transcoding (although my NAS can't transcode).
Oh! And it can be controlled by any browser (including full support for my phone browser!), meaning I can be sitting out on my verandah, and can pull out my phone to change the track/album/radio station to whatever I want. Hell yeah.
Oh! And you can play different things on both boxes (as you'd hope), or synch them together! You can also transfer playlists between the two, so I can keep on listening to the music I was listening to in the loungeroom when I go to bed.
I am in geek heaven!
I now need to decide on/purchase a pair speakers for the Squeezebox in the bedroom.
I was going to buy a cheap micro hi-fi, but I went into Allan's yesterday and saw some self-powered studio monitors with digital in (did I mention the Squeezebox has both coax and optical out?) for about the price I was willing to pay for the micro hi-fi. Not only would that be a neater package than a seperate amp, but the sound will doubtless be noticeably better.
I'm leaning toward the Edirol MA-15D's for $309, but have heard some good things about the very sexy Swan M200's, too. I haven't found a price yet, but I'm pretty confident they're more expensive. And then there's the Edirol MA-20D's (which I also don't yet have a price for, but will be more expensive).
Decisions, decisions.
As keen as I am for the speakers (so I can finally once again listen to music when going to sleep/waking up), I'll probably save for the next few weeks, rather than putting them on credit. Let's just hope I can refuse the itch.
I'm somehow meant to be fitting a new (replacement) PC into all of this, too.
*sigh* The life of a tech nerd.
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Monday, October 06, 2008

it's on!


it's on!
Originally uploaded by Carafaele

Simon and dad race kids bead toys as we wait for a table at the outback.
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Friday, October 03, 2008

Friday afternoon


Friday afternoon
Originally uploaded by Carafaele

We're having a few drinks with Michaela, Ian, and Mickey at a pub up the road from Mickey's soon-to-be bachelor pad. Michaela and Ian are having a pillow fight, and Simon and Mickey are watching Tenacious D shorts on Mickey's iphone. Tonight we're going to a german restaurant and then to a dub night with Renata.
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This Morning's Coffee


This Morning's Coffee
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Is better than most morning coffees.
It's very warm in Sydney today. Nice because I'm by Coogee beach.
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Thursday, October 02, 2008

Beer Before Boarding


Beer Before Boarding
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I have half an hour before boarding my flight to Sydney, so I thought I'd enjoy a beer at the bar.
A pint of Tall Tale Pale Ale.
It's quite nice, actually.
I'm pretty excited about Sydney, but I'm disappointed that my timing was so terrible (most of my friends aren't actually in Sydney this weekend... yeesh).
But still, it'll be really nice to see what friends are there, my family, and Lilly of course (a week apart now! That's the longest we've been apart since getting together). Really looking forward to seeing her.
I just wish I remembered to by Mum a birthday present... whoops.
Yay! Sydney! I miss it so.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Epic Fail!


Epic Fail!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Well, I fitted the PSU just now, got it all hooked up, pressed the power button, and exactly the same thing happened; a flash of power lights, then nothing.
And I lent Lilly my laptop for her trip to Sydney, too.
So it looks like I need a new PC.
Hmmm... Umart is open until 8pm tonight...
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dinner


Dinner
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Went to a German Restaurant for Lilly's farewell dinner tonight. I'm so god-damn full right now.
I think the picture explains the done well enough.
Wow. Delicious, but wow.
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Flogging a Dead Horse


Flogging a Dead Horse
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

In what may turn out to be a vain attempt to resurrect Blue-Steel from the dead for a second time, I went and bought a new power supply today.
I cross my fingers, but not with too much conviction, as if it doesn't fix it, then I have a perfectly valid excuse to go buy a new PC (despite not really having the money for it).
I'll let you know how it went after I've installed it (tonight or tomorrow night).

Listening to: Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows - Le Chambre D'Echo: Where The Dead Birds Sing (album). I'm mighty disappointed with the news today that I missed out on yet another wonderful limited edition of one her latest offering. Dammit.
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Govinda's For Lunch


Govinda's For Lunch
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Yesterday Lilly, Chrissie and I went to Govinda's for lunch. I'd never eaten in before.
It's totally awesome.
$10 gets you all you can eat vegetarian curry, salad, kofta balls, pappadum, drink (ginger, lemon and mint cooler), and dessert (Halava with custard).
So delicious, so filling.
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Friday, September 19, 2008

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!


Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Just wishing all of you a happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Even my coffee tower got into the spirit of things, I hope you did, too!
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Thursday, September 18, 2008

A Most Momentous Day


A Most Momentous Day
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Today is the day that my coffee tower reached the height of the pod divider.
What joy!
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Monday, September 15, 2008

Strawberry, Pineapple and Coconut Muffin & A Coffee


Strawberry, Pineapple and Coconut Muffin & A Coffee
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Man. This is the tastiest muffin I've had in some time.
Actually really, really tasty.
The flavours have transported me to a tropical island. The gentle breeze cools my sun-warmed skin (actually the air conditioning vent above my desk). The sound of the waves fill my ears (actually the hum of my PC cooling fan).
Over in the distance, a seagull cries out (someone in the pod next to me receives an SMS).
I like my island. So relaxing.
Muffins are funny things. Cakes in disguise really. Not even a clever disguise.
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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Finally Learnin


Finally Learnin
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Woohoo! I *finally* got a new string and a "teach yourself banjo" book, so I'm able to start learnin now! Woo!
At the moment I'm struggling through _Skip To My Lou_ but I'm getting there.
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Monday, September 01, 2008

Doodle Of The Day 20080901 - Triptych Challenge


Doodle Of The Day 20080901 - Triptych Challenge
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee

Simon has been drawing a lot of things lately, and this one is FREAKING AWESOME and TRIPPY... (bare in mind that I AM tripping, though...)

Saturday, August 23, 2008

She Came From Outer Space!


She Came From Outer Space!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Descending from the heavens, she rained down a fiery hell upon us.
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