I'm lying here on my bed (no work today due to the storm) listening to Hybrid's latest studio album, "I choose noise", which got released today. In a word, it's fan-friggen-tastic. It's everything I hoped for in an album of this genre (think a symphony having a head-on collision with break beats). Listening to it is like diving into a massive pavlova and finding Tim Tams at the bottom. It's available for download in a "quite unlike iTunes" non-restrictive audio format, called MP3, from their label, distinct'ive records.
Not only that, but BT is also releasing his new album today, "This Binary Universe". I had to order the album the old fashioned way and wait for it to be delivered. I couldn't find a digital download (a.k.a.: torrent) to appease the consumer-whore in me that can't wait for delivery by the postman. The really cool thing about this album - apart from the fact that I know it's going to be cool because BT is the ultimate in his field - is the fact that one of the discs is recorded in full DTS surround sound! It makes me want to fly back to Oz and give it a listen on my old faithful sound system. I wonder if my subwoofer is still doing a decent job back in Adelaide... ahh yes, I can feel it now.
29 August 2006
27 August 2006
26 August 2006
Ultrafest!?!?
It's amazing what one can accomplish when one chooses to not sleep.
Here are some videos from Ultrafest 2006. I've been meaning to put these up for months and months. You'll just love how the little microphone on my camera has no clue what to do with all the bass that's hitting it.
I can't remember the name of this band, but the lead singer kept saying that one of their songs was on iTunes' top 100. Apart from that, he sang a lot about how weed would solve all the world's problems.
Eric Morillo, with cruise ship visible to the right. Ultrafest on a cruise ship would be pretty awesome.
Carl Cox dance tent. I didn't want to put up the actual video of Carl Cox DJing. Anyone who has "Carl Cox" spinning on the display behind them while they DJ won't get any space in my blog. Unless, of course, they have "PK" spinning on the display, then that's cool.
Drum and Bass set.
Pendulum - look out for the dude wearing the flashing glasses, it's sort of surreal as he walks past. I felt like shooting the MC with my mind bullets during the Pendulum set, he was annoying the fcuk out of me. Oh, the reason why I was so far back? My feet were hurting like hell from jumping up and down all day, so I decided to go barefoot for a while. Those of you who have seen people dancing to DnB know that your feet would not be safe even if they're protected by steelcaps! The Prodigy cover that Pendulum ends on in this video leads into...
The real Prodigy! Awesome, awesome, awesome. We couldn't get any closer though, no matter how much we tried. You might see some wafts of smoke in the foreground during this set. That's not any special effect, that's something that causes special effects. I swear I was passively getting high during this set.
Van de Graaff generator. Check out how something wrong starts to happen. I was waiting for it to explode, but you do get to see some little sparks fly off the shaft.
BT. This was such an awesome set, and was by far my favourite of Ultrafest 2006. Fan-bloody-tastic, BT!
Here are some videos from Ultrafest 2006. I've been meaning to put these up for months and months. You'll just love how the little microphone on my camera has no clue what to do with all the bass that's hitting it.
I can't remember the name of this band, but the lead singer kept saying that one of their songs was on iTunes' top 100. Apart from that, he sang a lot about how weed would solve all the world's problems.
Eric Morillo, with cruise ship visible to the right. Ultrafest on a cruise ship would be pretty awesome.
Carl Cox dance tent. I didn't want to put up the actual video of Carl Cox DJing. Anyone who has "Carl Cox" spinning on the display behind them while they DJ won't get any space in my blog. Unless, of course, they have "PK" spinning on the display, then that's cool.
Drum and Bass set.
Pendulum - look out for the dude wearing the flashing glasses, it's sort of surreal as he walks past. I felt like shooting the MC with my mind bullets during the Pendulum set, he was annoying the fcuk out of me. Oh, the reason why I was so far back? My feet were hurting like hell from jumping up and down all day, so I decided to go barefoot for a while. Those of you who have seen people dancing to DnB know that your feet would not be safe even if they're protected by steelcaps! The Prodigy cover that Pendulum ends on in this video leads into...
The real Prodigy! Awesome, awesome, awesome. We couldn't get any closer though, no matter how much we tried. You might see some wafts of smoke in the foreground during this set. That's not any special effect, that's something that causes special effects. I swear I was passively getting high during this set.
Van de Graaff generator. Check out how something wrong starts to happen. I was waiting for it to explode, but you do get to see some little sparks fly off the shaft.
BT. This was such an awesome set, and was by far my favourite of Ultrafest 2006. Fan-bloody-tastic, BT!
Volcano Concepcion
This is a video I took of some cloud moving over the top of Volcano Concepcion on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. The speed has been increased by a factor of eight.
25 August 2006
Bad Friday
Today I am just in the worst, most depressed mood ever. I don't even know what to blame it on . . . many things I guess. No, I'll blame it on distance and the fact that work is sucking right now.
But anyway, for some reason I am inspired to take pictures of bugs and maybe a Miami skyline at night. I'll see how I go with that this weekend.
UPDATE: In the last 1/2 hour of my working Friday, everything seemed to fall into place. Ummmm, yay!
But anyway, for some reason I am inspired to take pictures of bugs and maybe a Miami skyline at night. I'll see how I go with that this weekend.
UPDATE: In the last 1/2 hour of my working Friday, everything seemed to fall into place. Ummmm, yay!
18 August 2006
Fatality in South Beach
I was having dinner with friends down at Lincoln Mall in South Beach and couldn't help but notice this...
a fatality. broken. wasted. it not just any broken bottle, it's a broken bottle of Evian water. oh, so SoBe.
a fatality. broken. wasted. it not just any broken bottle, it's a broken bottle of Evian water. oh, so SoBe.
16 August 2006
New blogger: cool
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/08/new-blogger.html
I'm not one of the special people who can do the switch to the new version of blogger yet, but a new funky layout could just be what this site needs. Of course, 'funky' is completely in the eye of the beholder. Some people around here are still convinced that wearing brown belts with white sneakers is totally funky.
(whatever, pk).
I'm not one of the special people who can do the switch to the new version of blogger yet, but a new funky layout could just be what this site needs. Of course, 'funky' is completely in the eye of the beholder. Some people around here are still convinced that wearing brown belts with white sneakers is totally funky.
(whatever, pk).
11 August 2006
Nicaragua: It's beautiful! I love it!
My holiday in Nicaragua was quite simply the most eye-opening, amazing trip I've ever been on. I've never seen such extremes in my life. I went to the upper class club "Hipa Hipa" in Managua and then drank Toña in a bar made of sheet iron on the island of Ometepe. I've never lived in such extremes, from the very nice Holiday Inn in Managua to sleeping at a place that only had a fan and no hot water on Ometepe (when there was water at all). It was just amazing to experience the two extremes.
What was the most amazing thing about Nicaragua? Well, apart from the people, it was that damn Volcano Concepcion on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. It's still active, and every now and then spews out some ash and rumbles. It didn't do any of that while I was on the island, though. It's an amazing sight to behold (it's only half the height of Mt Fuji, however) and you see it everywhere you travel on Ometepe. It arrogantly stands there in stark contrast to the peaceful life of the people living there.
Click on the image below to get to the Flickr set, which I'm still working on. About 1/2 the photos are online.
What was the most amazing thing about Nicaragua? Well, apart from the people, it was that damn Volcano Concepcion on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. It's still active, and every now and then spews out some ash and rumbles. It didn't do any of that while I was on the island, though. It's an amazing sight to behold (it's only half the height of Mt Fuji, however) and you see it everywhere you travel on Ometepe. It arrogantly stands there in stark contrast to the peaceful life of the people living there.
Click on the image below to get to the Flickr set, which I'm still working on. About 1/2 the photos are online.
27 July 2006
Nica, baby!
I was going to complete what happened on the rest of the roadtrip... but screw it. One of the highlights was when a girl I was chatting to at some bar in Asheville, North Carolina, basically proposed to me. If it weren't for the 5 pints of Guinness I'd had already, I might have even considered the offer. I don't even know how that makes sense. All I'm really trying to say is that a fair chunk of the pictures from the trip are online here.
I have been extremely busy lately with a lot of stuff, most of it work, unfortunately. I've just been damn tired the last week. Not to worry though - tomorrow I head off on another road trip! But it's not going to be in the US. I'm heading off with a friend for 8 days of exploring in Nicaragua. I speak very little Spanish (very, very little). That should not be too much of a problem though, as my friend speaks Spanish quite well and he's actually from Nicaragua. Convenient, no?
Whilst there, we'll be visiting the capital Managua (which, even with a population of over a million, is the only city I know of that has no street names... queue the U2). Also we're visiting the coastal town of San Juan Del Sur, Granada, the volcanic island of Ometepe, Leon, Selva Negra... the list goes on. I'm pretty damn excited about this. My camera trigger finger is going to get RSI.
Peace out,
BK (borracho Kristian).
I have been extremely busy lately with a lot of stuff, most of it work, unfortunately. I've just been damn tired the last week. Not to worry though - tomorrow I head off on another road trip! But it's not going to be in the US. I'm heading off with a friend for 8 days of exploring in Nicaragua. I speak very little Spanish (very, very little). That should not be too much of a problem though, as my friend speaks Spanish quite well and he's actually from Nicaragua. Convenient, no?
Whilst there, we'll be visiting the capital Managua (which, even with a population of over a million, is the only city I know of that has no street names... queue the U2). Also we're visiting the coastal town of San Juan Del Sur, Granada, the volcanic island of Ometepe, Leon, Selva Negra... the list goes on. I'm pretty damn excited about this. My camera trigger finger is going to get RSI.
Peace out,
BK (borracho Kristian).
14 July 2006
12 July 2006
Favourite news story of the year
From http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13825566/?GT1=8307
"Paleontologists say they have found the fossilized remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom.""
The guys here at work are loving this story. Australia must seem like some magical mystery land of killer creatures.
Demon duck of doom. That's awesome.
"Paleontologists say they have found the fossilized remains of a fanged killer kangaroo and what they describe as a "demon duck of doom.""
The guys here at work are loving this story. Australia must seem like some magical mystery land of killer creatures.
Demon duck of doom. That's awesome.
11 July 2006
Worst hotel/motel ever
It almost seemed like we were never going to get on the road the Friday night of the road trip. I had left my camera tripod at Tobacco Road from doing photos the night before, and thinking that I might need to use it (I never did end up using it), I drove all the way to Miami to pick it up after work. Eventually my partner in crime Eddie and I left my place at 9pm ... that's a bloody late when we were intending to make it to Jacksonville that night (about a 6 hour drive, sticking to the speed limit).
Make it to Jacksonville we did, and then some. Eddie played the DS Lite (I love my DS... it kicks arse) quite a bit until he got road sick. I occupied myself by playing Muse over and over and then singing stupid songs in my head. We ended up stopping past Jacksonville at the last exit before Georgia. Here's the map.
This is where I'd like to say a big "Fsuk YOU!" to Days Inn. We were starting to get tired and were looking for some reasonable places to stop at. Someplace where we didn't feel like there was the danger of getting mugged, getting the car stolen, somewhere we could rest comfortably without fear of anything. Unfortunately this was difficult as a lot of the places were booked because of the Daytona 500. Yay for watching cars go round and round till your head falls off from boredom.
We eventually found a place, a Days Inn that was the only accommodation at that particular exit. By that stage we were tired and didn't really care about anything else. We paid $80 for the worst accommodation ever. I swear there was a frog in the room somewhere. Eddie thought it was in the air conditioner and was kicking it during the night to stop its croaking. My bed was like sleeping in a pile of moss. The room stank like ... something I can't even describe.
Thankfully we were both alive in the morning and still had our limbs and body organs. We promptly exited that abomination of a place and gave the Days Inn a big "up yours!!!". This act of affection was to be repeated throughout the road trip.
End of "day 1".
Make it to Jacksonville we did, and then some. Eddie played the DS Lite (I love my DS... it kicks arse) quite a bit until he got road sick. I occupied myself by playing Muse over and over and then singing stupid songs in my head. We ended up stopping past Jacksonville at the last exit before Georgia. Here's the map.
This is where I'd like to say a big "Fsuk YOU!" to Days Inn. We were starting to get tired and were looking for some reasonable places to stop at. Someplace where we didn't feel like there was the danger of getting mugged, getting the car stolen, somewhere we could rest comfortably without fear of anything. Unfortunately this was difficult as a lot of the places were booked because of the Daytona 500. Yay for watching cars go round and round till your head falls off from boredom.
We eventually found a place, a Days Inn that was the only accommodation at that particular exit. By that stage we were tired and didn't really care about anything else. We paid $80 for the worst accommodation ever. I swear there was a frog in the room somewhere. Eddie thought it was in the air conditioner and was kicking it during the night to stop its croaking. My bed was like sleeping in a pile of moss. The room stank like ... something I can't even describe.
Thankfully we were both alive in the morning and still had our limbs and body organs. We promptly exited that abomination of a place and gave the Days Inn a big "up yours!!!". This act of affection was to be repeated throughout the road trip.
End of "day 1".
09 July 2006
Still alive
Believe it or not, I'm still alive. The last couple of weeks have been especially hectic, with me finishing up part of a music course and work being insane. Oh, and fit a supermassive road trip up through South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia in with all that on the past July 4 weekend. I've again been updating Flickr with pics from the trip so if you click on the badge to the right you'll get to them. I have some weird arse stories to share from that trip...
But aside from all that, today's surreal moment had to belong to the France vs Italy world cup final. I'm sitting there watching with a bunch of friends, Corona in hand, and then all of a sudden I see Zidane, who I always thought was cool, calm and collected, head-butt one of the Italian players. WTF?
But aside from all that, today's surreal moment had to belong to the France vs Italy world cup final. I'm sitting there watching with a bunch of friends, Corona in hand, and then all of a sudden I see Zidane, who I always thought was cool, calm and collected, head-butt one of the Italian players. WTF?
24 June 2006
Black Holes and Revelations
So, my favourite music group just has to be Muse. I think it used to be Coldplay or Hybrid, but that sort of changed when I rediscovered them during hurricane Wilma last year.
I've got a copy of their latest album, "Black Holes and Revelations". My pre-order using iTunes doesn't come through until next month . . . I couldn't wait that long but when it is able to be downloaded I also get some bonues videos. Cool.
This album is cool. Way cool. More glam-rock than before, and one thing I can't get over is how much they remind me of ELO in some songs. Take the chorus in "Super Massive Black Hole", for example. I friggen love ELO and I just think that rocks.
Other initial favourites on the album include "City of Delusion" which has a flamenco-crossed-with-Arabic style, and "Knights of Cydonia".
UPDATE: After some more listening, other favourites include the rest of the album.
I've got a copy of their latest album, "Black Holes and Revelations". My pre-order using iTunes doesn't come through until next month . . . I couldn't wait that long but when it is able to be downloaded I also get some bonues videos. Cool.
This album is cool. Way cool. More glam-rock than before, and one thing I can't get over is how much they remind me of ELO in some songs. Take the chorus in "Super Massive Black Hole", for example. I friggen love ELO and I just think that rocks.
Other initial favourites on the album include "City of Delusion" which has a flamenco-crossed-with-Arabic style, and "Knights of Cydonia".
UPDATE: After some more listening, other favourites include the rest of the album.
Santos Renuentes v2.0
This past Wednesday I took photographs for my favourite Spanish-rock band "Santos Renuentes". I've written about this group a lot before. They underwent a change recently where the drummer, lead guitarist and singer were replaced. Yeah, that's a pretty major sort of change. It was only a practice warm-up friends-invited-only session, but what's resulted from all the changes is a band with very different group dynamics and, in my opinion, a much better sound. It was just amazing to hear and *see* the difference in the band.
21 June 2006
GO HEAT - AGAIN!!!
Woohoo!
This is insane. Miami Heat. NBA champions.
People are going insane around here. Cars everywhere honking horns.
And just announced - Dwyane Wade - MVP.
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
Gotta go now, gotta go party.
This is insane. Miami Heat. NBA champions.
People are going insane around here. Cars everywhere honking horns.
And just announced - Dwyane Wade - MVP.
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
Gotta go now, gotta go party.
19 June 2006
GO HEAT!
Wow. What a game of basketball with a final scoreline of 101-100 in favour of Miami. This is the second time today I haven't been able to sit down to watch a sports game, the first being for the loss of the Socceroos against the Brazilians in the World Cup. I swear I need new feet from all the pacing that I've done in front of the TV. I definitely need a good strong liquor right now.
Dwyane Wade is just an amazing player. I can't believe the shots he made, he's just incredible to watch. One of my friends has likened him to Jordan, minus Jordan's attitude. Wade is just such a humble and smart basketball player, and if it's just one reason I've started to take notice of basketball more, he is it.
So now Miami play the next games of the finals series on Dallas' turf. Hopefully they can pull it off, and with a player like Wade everything and anything is possible. I can't remember a time when I was this enthusiastic about a basketball team. Freaking awesome, folks. Freaking awesome.
GO HEAT!
PS It seems there is a GO [insert sports team here] theme going on with this site recently, I've just noticed!
Dwyane Wade is just an amazing player. I can't believe the shots he made, he's just incredible to watch. One of my friends has likened him to Jordan, minus Jordan's attitude. Wade is just such a humble and smart basketball player, and if it's just one reason I've started to take notice of basketball more, he is it.
So now Miami play the next games of the finals series on Dallas' turf. Hopefully they can pull it off, and with a player like Wade everything and anything is possible. I can't remember a time when I was this enthusiastic about a basketball team. Freaking awesome, folks. Freaking awesome.
GO HEAT!
PS It seems there is a GO [insert sports team here] theme going on with this site recently, I've just noticed!
14 June 2006
GO GERMANY!!!
So I'm sitting in my cube, watching in disbelief the matchcast of the Germany vs Poland match. I took this screenshot because I didn't believe that Germany could have so many shots on goal and not get anything:
And then I saw it. Such a beautiful thing. In the last moments of the last minute my screen updates beautifully to show this:
Go Germany. After Australia, this is my favourite team. Ich liebe Deutschland (und Australien!)
And then I saw it. Such a beautiful thing. In the last moments of the last minute my screen updates beautifully to show this:
Go Germany. After Australia, this is my favourite team. Ich liebe Deutschland (und Australien!)
12 June 2006
They start 'em young in Oz
From this link
"The 10-year-old and his brother, 6, decided to take the family car for a 100km spin to visit their grandfather in Moree, in the NSW northwest, about 12.30pm on Sunday."
This reminds me of my cousin Levi, who is quite adept at driving a car as well (click on pic for details)
"The 10-year-old and his brother, 6, decided to take the family car for a 100km spin to visit their grandfather in Moree, in the NSW northwest, about 12.30pm on Sunday."
This reminds me of my cousin Levi, who is quite adept at driving a car as well (click on pic for details)
GO SOCCEROOS!
Woohoo!
I'm sitting here in my very grey cubicle at work looking at the final score between Australia and Japan, and it's all good baby! I've got my green shirt on today and combining that with the face colour of my watch and maybe a few post-it notes, it's green and gold all the way. Pity I couldn't watch a live telecast as I had to be at my desk, so I ended up refreshing the main page of the Fifa website over and over again to get match updates.
Awesome stuff Australia, just bloody awesome.
I'm sitting here in my very grey cubicle at work looking at the final score between Australia and Japan, and it's all good baby! I've got my green shirt on today and combining that with the face colour of my watch and maybe a few post-it notes, it's green and gold all the way. Pity I couldn't watch a live telecast as I had to be at my desk, so I ended up refreshing the main page of the Fifa website over and over again to get match updates.
Awesome stuff Australia, just bloody awesome.
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