Last Saturday, Sydney gave us a sunny winters day for sailing on the harbour, even if it was a bit icy on the water with the wind chill. We ate. We drank, not too much mind you. There was a bit of work to be done, but not a great deal - of course.
Captain Tom and crew
Postcards from Sydney
You seriously have to say WTF. What on earth was this guy planning?!?
From smh.com.au:
A man allegedly found with a machine gun and ammunition in a laneway next to a nightclub on Oxford Street has appeared in Central Local Court today.
Police say they searched the 30-year-old man’s bag after he was spotted acting suspiciously just before 1am on Monday.
They said they found a black machine gun, 32 rounds of ammunition and a magazine.
Oh. Dear.
From smh.com.au.
It’s never fun calling dad after crashing his car - but when you’ve just wrecked his prized Ferrari you can bet you’re in for an earful.
A Melbourne man had to make that call on Saturday night after destroying the front-end of his father’s Italian Stallion in a smash near Rod Laver Arena.
Related articles: My Maserati Doesn’t Go 185 Anymore
Centrepoint Tower
So, what’s Earth Hour?
Earth Hour was created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.
From smh.com.au:
Sydney embraced its second Earth Hour tonight, as hundreds of thousands of citizens turned off their lights across the city between 8 and 9pm to make a statement against climate change.
Most skyscrapers in the CBD were darkened, though if the groups gathered in harbourside parks were expecting a sudden blackout, they would have been disappointed - the majority of high-rise buildings had flicked the switch before 8pm.
The Harbour Bridge was a couple of minutes late in joining Earth Hour, but all non-essential lights were shut down by its chief electrician Justin McInerney by about 8.05pm.
By 8.15pm, only a handful of electronic signs and a sprinkling of apartments still appeared brightly lit around the central city, although Star City Casino defied Earth Hour for “operational reasons” and continued to power its thousands of bulbs.
More than 370 locations around the world joined Earth Hour this year after Sydney pioneered the event in 2007.
Sparklers in Hyde Park
I took my camera out last night across the eastern fringe of the CBD, and whilst an effort had been made by some businesses, I still feel that many couldn’t care less. Many floors in the MLC Centre still illuminated and Oxford Street not looking any different at all, so much so I didn’t even take any photos. However, like last year, the famous Coca-Cola sign at the top of William Street, Kings Cross was turned off. Yet, walking past the St. James Hotel on Castlereagh Street - its lights all blazing, I almost felt inclined to go inside and find the manager.
A prank on a “grand” scale.
Over 200 people freeze in place on cue in Grand Central Station in New York. The onlooking travellers who weren’t part of the act were mystified as to what was going on.
This is just one of over 70 different missions Improv Everywhere has executed over the past six years in New York City. Others include the No Pants Subway Ride, the Best Buy uniform prank, and the famous U2 Rooftop Hoax, to name a few.
One minute walk from where I live, this occurred last night.
From smh.com.au:
A 32-year-old man has a collapsed lung after being repeatedly stabbed in inner Sydney.
He was walking along Sophia Lane, in Surry Hills, about 8.40pm yesterday when he was approached by an unknown man, police said.
“A verbal altercation ensued before the 32-year-old was stabbed several times,” police said.
“He was taken to St Vincents Hospital in a serious but stable condition where he was treated for stab wounds and a collapsed lung.”
The attacker is described as being aged about 30, with an olive complexion, medium build and short brown hair.
He was wearing a blue T-shirt.
Whilst the Super Bowl has been won in an upset by the Giants - for those whose team didn’t make the final or those that don’t follow the game, of greater importance are the numerous new TVCs especially created to be launched during the game. Some excellent executions featured, some not so brilliant and thankfully none so poor as the new Commonwealth Bank “Dare to be ridiculed stupid foolish in the dole queue different” by Goodby Silverstein and Partners. In fact, it’s so bad that Neil Shoebridge has already coined it as the worst ad of 2008, and it’s only the first week of February!
Anyway, back to the good stuff! Here’s my favourite from Audi.
…and here’s another that will make every male wince.
MySpace have just set up a page that allows you to see all the ads and vote on your favourite. All the TVCs are here plus the FOX/NFL promos. What’s your favourite?
Drexciya – Sea Snake
Rayon – The Panther (Rubber Re-Edit)
Daniel MehlHart – Dunkelkammer
Modeselektor – Hasir
Bonde do Role – Melo do Vitiligo
Japanese Telecom – Beta Capsule
Deep Chord – 6:03.07
Trickski – Sweat
Anthony Rother – Genstruktur
Sascha Funke – In Between Ways
I’m a fan of doomsday scenarios, and please note that we’re talking scenarios and not real world occurence. However, for some of the scenarios out there, plausible or not, there’s nothing you can do about them.
Radar Online has a rundown end of the world scenarios, including peak bee colony collapse, super volcanoes, genetic engineering disasters, bird flu and drought.
Remember the buzz about killer bees? So do we, fondly. Because it turns out bees are really important, but since late 2006 they’ve been disappearing for reasons nobody can quite explain. And it’s not just honey supplies that will suffer if the bees bite it. You can also kiss your fruits and veggies good-bye. “You could have the perfect field, soil, and sun, and if the pollinator was not there you’d have a vine and no fruit,” says Dr. Jeff Pettis, head USDA bee researcher. With honeybees pollinating more than a quarter of the world’s food supply, that’s a lot of empty vines (and stomachs). The financial impact of a bee-free season would be US$75 billion. Perhaps Albert Einstein put it best: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man will have no more than four years to live.”
How to Survive: Become part of the solution—starter hives are selling for $215 on betterbee.com
Continuing on this concept - honey bees are of great value to Australian horticulture and agriculture. Their pollination services to the 35 most important honeybee dependent crops were estimated to be valued at AUS$1.7 billion in 2000.
Colony Collapse Disorder, has the potential to destroy the majority of our fruit and vegetable crops. “Vanishing of the Bees”
It’s nose to the grindstone again as everyone gets back in the oh-eight swing of things. I’ve been been back since the 3rd and the 12 days off is a distant memory.
Plenty to recap, with a few more lists to close out 2007 coming shortly - including the top tunes of 2007, plus a swag of photos and details of a few gigs over the past fortnight including:
No new years resolutions here. No thousand-and-one lists. It’s just the usual.
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