Did you all see the big game yesterday? Geelong vs Port Adelaide? Hardly a game that anyone from Adelaide will be telling their grandkids about. I must be THE least sports-mad person I know, but I found it a terrific game to watch. I know some people have complained that it was too one-sided (especially for a Grand Final), and that a margin of 119 points (yep, 20 goals!) makes it all a bit boring. But if you spent your working week sitting beside Marg - the most passionate Cats supporter in the world - you'd have been caught up in her emotional journey too. She's 60+, goes to every single game, knows every stat and - as a single mother herself - has adopted every player as one of "her boys". We were seriously worried about her heart failing during the tense leadup to the finals, especially during the 5 point win to Collingwood last week. So a quick SMS to her at the siren on Saturday - just to check on her welfare - was met with "You beauty - this is the best feeling EVER!!!!". She and her daughter then drove to Geelong after the game, and spent the evening driving around the town tooting their horn and screaming in delight - with tens of thousands of others apparently. When I spoke to her today, she was barely able to speak - her voice almost completely gone from all the cheering. Even though I don't really 'get' sport itself, it's wonderful watching people who are THAT passionate about anything.Sunday, September 30, 2007
Gee-whiz
Did you all see the big game yesterday? Geelong vs Port Adelaide? Hardly a game that anyone from Adelaide will be telling their grandkids about. I must be THE least sports-mad person I know, but I found it a terrific game to watch. I know some people have complained that it was too one-sided (especially for a Grand Final), and that a margin of 119 points (yep, 20 goals!) makes it all a bit boring. But if you spent your working week sitting beside Marg - the most passionate Cats supporter in the world - you'd have been caught up in her emotional journey too. She's 60+, goes to every single game, knows every stat and - as a single mother herself - has adopted every player as one of "her boys". We were seriously worried about her heart failing during the tense leadup to the finals, especially during the 5 point win to Collingwood last week. So a quick SMS to her at the siren on Saturday - just to check on her welfare - was met with "You beauty - this is the best feeling EVER!!!!". She and her daughter then drove to Geelong after the game, and spent the evening driving around the town tooting their horn and screaming in delight - with tens of thousands of others apparently. When I spoke to her today, she was barely able to speak - her voice almost completely gone from all the cheering. Even though I don't really 'get' sport itself, it's wonderful watching people who are THAT passionate about anything.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
One minute's cone of silence
Did you realise that today is the second aniversary of the passing of Don Adams? If you're not already aware (oh the humanity!) Don played - or rather, was - Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. If you're too young to have seen Get Smart after school (as I did), you'll likely still have heard him after school as the voice of Inspector Gadget. He died at age 82 on September 25th, 2005, from a lung infection, after a long battle with bone lymphoma. (Incidentally, that was also the same month that Simon Weisenthal (The Nazi Hunter) & Bob Denver ("Gilligan") passed away). Bet you didn't know that he was also in the U.S. Marines, and that he was the only survivor in his platoon in Guadalcanal (where he contracted malaria)? Or that he was born Donald James Yarmy, to Hungarian & Irish parents? Or that he was married three times and had seven children, and that his youngest child is named "Beige"? Well you do now.
Monday, September 24, 2007
!sdrawkcab...lacipyT
Last Wednesday (the 19th), the guys from MuteMath again performed "Typical" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" - this time in reverse and in a single take...
Sunday, September 16, 2007
3-oh!-3
Ta-da! So now I'm 33.
Of course you know that Jesus was crucified at age 33 (I'll try not to focus on His accomplishments by that age as compared to mine), but did you know that Alexander The Great also died at 33?
He's considered one of the most brilliant military commanders of all time (guess that's why he's not known as "Alexander The Mediocre") and was undefeated in battle prior to his death from a mystery illness. Again, I'll try not to be put off by his accomplishments in a relatively short life: so what if he conquered half the world while I worked at the same place for 17 years?? The Big Show-off. Maybe I'm just a late-bloomer? (although if marrying Mel and having Jessica count as accomplishments - and they do in my book - I can retire happy right now).
33 is also the atomic number of Arsenic and, of course, it is also the largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers (who could forget??). It's also the number worn by NBA basketballers Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Larry Bird & Patrick Ewing, and of the legendary Baseball player, Jose Canseco (i only know of him because of The Simpsons). "Sure", I hear you scoff, "we knew THAT!". Fine then, but did you know that the 'smile for the camera' phrase used in Spain is not "Say Cheese", but "Say Thirty-Three" ("Diga treinta y tres")??? Haha! Didn't think so.
I had a great birthday as always.
Mel made a cake of 6 different cheeses (no, not a cheesecake, but a tower of cheeses with candles stuck on them, garnished with walnuts and grapes), due to the below-mentioned diet. She and Jessica also bought me a Goodies apron, Goodies oven mit (both feature a picture and read "Goodie, Goodie, Yum Yum") and the complete, 5-season, 25-DVD box set of "Get Smart". 
It even comes in a telephone booth box! (we've enjoyed watching the first 9 or 10 episodes in the last couple of days - and I'm pleased to be introducing Mel to the fine comedic genius that brought us "...and loving it", "would you believe...", "the old ____ in the ____ trick", the cone of silence, the shoe phone, and so much more. As an aside, there must be something magical about the year 1965: both Get Smart and Hogan's Heroes piloted in that year, and I love both of the them for the same reasons (does that say more about 1965 or me?) In fact we have been watching the box set of HH just last week! 
And as an aside #2, in tonight's episode of Get Smart, the password and counter-sign that Max and The Chief had to use were "Apple" and "Macintosh": I wonder if that's where Steve Jobs got the name? As an aside #3, have you seen the new iPod touch and iMac? Beautiful. And did you know (Aside #4), that Pixar, who made Ratatouille which we saw last week, was once owned and run by Steve Jobs as it's CEO, and that he bought the company for $10 million and later sold it to Disney for $7.4 billion, making him Disney's #1 shareholder in the process? But now we're getting off topic, and you know how I hate to ramble :))
Anyway, I was really blessed to recieve so many calls, texts, posts, visits, cards, vouchers and gifts from lots of people: thankyou if you are one of those people!! Thanks very much for the 5 books I've now got to read, the jumper I get to wear, the vouchers I get to spend, and the car simulation I got to drive. I will really try to send an email or call you all, but 'the road to hell' and all that...
I think I might go to bed now. Hope you're well! (and thanks for the posts and emails keeping us in touch: I really appreciate them).
Matt
Of course you know that Jesus was crucified at age 33 (I'll try not to focus on His accomplishments by that age as compared to mine), but did you know that Alexander The Great also died at 33?
He's considered one of the most brilliant military commanders of all time (guess that's why he's not known as "Alexander The Mediocre") and was undefeated in battle prior to his death from a mystery illness. Again, I'll try not to be put off by his accomplishments in a relatively short life: so what if he conquered half the world while I worked at the same place for 17 years?? The Big Show-off. Maybe I'm just a late-bloomer? (although if marrying Mel and having Jessica count as accomplishments - and they do in my book - I can retire happy right now). 
33 is also the atomic number of Arsenic and, of course, it is also the largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers (who could forget??). It's also the number worn by NBA basketballers Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Larry Bird & Patrick Ewing, and of the legendary Baseball player, Jose Canseco (i only know of him because of The Simpsons). "Sure", I hear you scoff, "we knew THAT!". Fine then, but did you know that the 'smile for the camera' phrase used in Spain is not "Say Cheese", but "Say Thirty-Three" ("Diga treinta y tres")??? Haha! Didn't think so.I had a great birthday as always.
Mel made a cake of 6 different cheeses (no, not a cheesecake, but a tower of cheeses with candles stuck on them, garnished with walnuts and grapes), due to the below-mentioned diet. She and Jessica also bought me a Goodies apron, Goodies oven mit (both feature a picture and read "Goodie, Goodie, Yum Yum") and the complete, 5-season, 25-DVD box set of "Get Smart". 
It even comes in a telephone booth box! (we've enjoyed watching the first 9 or 10 episodes in the last couple of days - and I'm pleased to be introducing Mel to the fine comedic genius that brought us "...and loving it", "would you believe...", "the old ____ in the ____ trick", the cone of silence, the shoe phone, and so much more. As an aside, there must be something magical about the year 1965: both Get Smart and Hogan's Heroes piloted in that year, and I love both of the them for the same reasons (does that say more about 1965 or me?) In fact we have been watching the box set of HH just last week! 
And as an aside #2, in tonight's episode of Get Smart, the password and counter-sign that Max and The Chief had to use were "Apple" and "Macintosh": I wonder if that's where Steve Jobs got the name? As an aside #3, have you seen the new iPod touch and iMac? Beautiful. And did you know (Aside #4), that Pixar, who made Ratatouille which we saw last week, was once owned and run by Steve Jobs as it's CEO, and that he bought the company for $10 million and later sold it to Disney for $7.4 billion, making him Disney's #1 shareholder in the process? But now we're getting off topic, and you know how I hate to ramble :))
Anyway, I was really blessed to recieve so many calls, texts, posts, visits, cards, vouchers and gifts from lots of people: thankyou if you are one of those people!! Thanks very much for the 5 books I've now got to read, the jumper I get to wear, the vouchers I get to spend, and the car simulation I got to drive. I will really try to send an email or call you all, but 'the road to hell' and all that...
I think I might go to bed now. Hope you're well! (and thanks for the posts and emails keeping us in touch: I really appreciate them).
Matt
Saturday, September 15, 2007
32.99726027
Well, I've been a bit slack in updating this thing in the last few weeks, and with my ailing, old-timer's memory, if I don't at least write something now I'll soon forget what's happened. So here's a very quick wrap up of the last week or so:
I went to a Switchfoot concert with two of my nieces, attended a Catalyst business breakfast the next morning, had a great time at Bec's 30th birthday party that night, spent most of the weekend in Yarram with Deb & the kids to celebrate two birthdays, spent Monday with my buddy Jessica, worked, went to the gym, watched a movie with M & J (Ratatouille), had Anthony & Christina & the boys over for supper/cake, and went driving around Nurburgring in a Porsche Carrera.
The latter was achieved via a racing simulator, and the experience was a gift from the very thoughtful Christina & Anthony. I can't say that I covered myself in glory, and my best time was 10 minutes 25 seconds. (I was well on my way to beating the 10 minute mark when, on the 2nd last corner, I suddenly found myself embedded in a jungle of trees from which there was no return).
The Switchfoot concert was great, despite a rubbish audio system that made everything sound like it was played underwater, through a speaker stuck inside a mattress. My eldest niece, Susanna, was really looking forward to the concert but came down ill in the few days before it and had to miss out (she promises that she wasn't just trying to avoid being seen out in public with her daggy old uncle).
Susanna's ticket was happily snapped up by Grace, so she and Erin joined me for a great night. We even had an opportunity to meet all 5 members of the band, as they shook hands and signed autographs after the show. The girls were all able to get t-shirts and have them signed by the guys, so Susanna didn't miss out completely. Music aside, the best part was spending some time with my nieces - something I don't get to do often enough. (Special note to you, Dad: Switchfoot are now doing a tour to support your mates at Habitat for Humanity: it's called the Appetite for Construction tour, but I think it's just U.S. dates so you might miss out this time 'round)
The Catalyst breakfast was also really interesting: I think there were 18 guys and 1 woman meeting at a cafe to chat about being in a workplace as a Christian. Anthony (he of the Nurburgring fame above) was asked to speak for a few minutes to get the discussion started, and the topic for the day was personal - and particularly, sexual - integrity. I think the one lady might have felt out of place, and she kept pretty quiet, but it was a good robust discussion for the rest of us.
Bec's 30th birthday party was a very stylish affair, with the house decorated beautifully with a gold theme, and everyone dressed as their favourite literary character. Everyone except the three of us, that is! As Mel & I were on unofficial video/photo "duty", we were let off lightly for having failed to find an outfit. And Jessica was let off because, well, she's Jessica and she's gorgeous. Everyone had a great time, and the food was amazing!! I'm on a very strict low-carb, high-protein diet at the moment, but do you think that stopped me having a little chocolate mousse? Not likely! I did manage to hold back from the Biscotten Torte & Birthday Cake, so that's perhaps something. I'd love to post some photos from the night, but since they feature other people and other people's kids, I'm not too sure that I have permission! (What's the protocol there? Hmm? I think I'd best err on the side of caution, and just post a picture of some of the cakes!). So another great night, Mum & Becky - thankyou!
Well, I have one day left at age 32 - 99.7% of that year having been used up already. It's amazing (and a little frustrating, unsettling, daunting) to see how fast time is going these days; there's so much I want to do and seemingly no time to do it. Maybe 33 will be the year that I get serious and make sure that at least some of those things happen...
Cheers,
Matt
I went to a Switchfoot concert with two of my nieces, attended a Catalyst business breakfast the next morning, had a great time at Bec's 30th birthday party that night, spent most of the weekend in Yarram with Deb & the kids to celebrate two birthdays, spent Monday with my buddy Jessica, worked, went to the gym, watched a movie with M & J (Ratatouille), had Anthony & Christina & the boys over for supper/cake, and went driving around Nurburgring in a Porsche Carrera.
The latter was achieved via a racing simulator, and the experience was a gift from the very thoughtful Christina & Anthony. I can't say that I covered myself in glory, and my best time was 10 minutes 25 seconds. (I was well on my way to beating the 10 minute mark when, on the 2nd last corner, I suddenly found myself embedded in a jungle of trees from which there was no return).The Switchfoot concert was great, despite a rubbish audio system that made everything sound like it was played underwater, through a speaker stuck inside a mattress. My eldest niece, Susanna, was really looking forward to the concert but came down ill in the few days before it and had to miss out (she promises that she wasn't just trying to avoid being seen out in public with her daggy old uncle).
Susanna's ticket was happily snapped up by Grace, so she and Erin joined me for a great night. We even had an opportunity to meet all 5 members of the band, as they shook hands and signed autographs after the show. The girls were all able to get t-shirts and have them signed by the guys, so Susanna didn't miss out completely. Music aside, the best part was spending some time with my nieces - something I don't get to do often enough. (Special note to you, Dad: Switchfoot are now doing a tour to support your mates at Habitat for Humanity: it's called the Appetite for Construction tour, but I think it's just U.S. dates so you might miss out this time 'round)The Catalyst breakfast was also really interesting: I think there were 18 guys and 1 woman meeting at a cafe to chat about being in a workplace as a Christian. Anthony (he of the Nurburgring fame above) was asked to speak for a few minutes to get the discussion started, and the topic for the day was personal - and particularly, sexual - integrity. I think the one lady might have felt out of place, and she kept pretty quiet, but it was a good robust discussion for the rest of us.
Bec's 30th birthday party was a very stylish affair, with the house decorated beautifully with a gold theme, and everyone dressed as their favourite literary character. Everyone except the three of us, that is! As Mel & I were on unofficial video/photo "duty", we were let off lightly for having failed to find an outfit. And Jessica was let off because, well, she's Jessica and she's gorgeous. Everyone had a great time, and the food was amazing!! I'm on a very strict low-carb, high-protein diet at the moment, but do you think that stopped me having a little chocolate mousse? Not likely! I did manage to hold back from the Biscotten Torte & Birthday Cake, so that's perhaps something. I'd love to post some photos from the night, but since they feature other people and other people's kids, I'm not too sure that I have permission! (What's the protocol there? Hmm? I think I'd best err on the side of caution, and just post a picture of some of the cakes!). So another great night, Mum & Becky - thankyou!Well, I have one day left at age 32 - 99.7% of that year having been used up already. It's amazing (and a little frustrating, unsettling, daunting) to see how fast time is going these days; there's so much I want to do and seemingly no time to do it. Maybe 33 will be the year that I get serious and make sure that at least some of those things happen...
Cheers,
Matt
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Blessed
A hand-painted and glazed "Daddy" mug. A hand-painted watercolour on canvas. A "Why I Love My Daddy" book (with a photo of Jessica & I inserted in the last page). A new Ravi book. A selection of delicious cheeses. A brekky fry-up of bacon, eggs and sausages. And lots of lovely hugs and kisses. I could get used to days like today. (Thankyou Jessica & Thankyou Melly!)
We were also able to spend our afternoon at Jeff & Keren's (thanks again!) for a delicious lunch to celebrate Sammy & Eliza's birthday's. Jessica came down a little ill, but rallied enough with some mediine to still have a lot of fun with her cousins, Uncle, Aunts & her Granny (that's her pulling the go-kart). In fact we all had a great time.
Mel is hard at work at the computer tonight - a big deadline and meeting tomorrow in the City - and that follows her getting to bed at 5:00am today after an all-nighter on this same project. I hope she gets to bed before 12 tonight, but something tells me she won't. So all I can do is ply her with nice warm cuppas. And maybe some yummy cheese. I'll go and get her next cuppa now, but will include a few photos taken this week.
Take care,
M
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Work, Wiggles, Wickham & Watoto
Hey,
I should be off getting my bag packed for work, so of course I'm writing a quick post instead. An early start awaits tomorrow (3am-ish) as I'm off to Sydney for the next couple of days, and our company likes to make sure we don't waste a minute by insisting that all flights are booked for 6am. I say 3-ish because, although I would normally leave the house by 4:00am, tomorrow I have to drop in at my local office to collect something on the way to the airport. Yay! I'm also heading back to Brisbane for the next couple of weeks, so not really looking forward to that. We've thought about trying to bring Mel & Jessica up with me, and even trying to get out to Wiggles World (it's part of Dreamworld I think), but it may prove just a little too difficult - particularly as they have me working night shift while I'm up there (10pm starts I believe).
Getting off the topic of Work as quickly as I can (which is not nearly soon enough), have you heard of Phil Wickham yet? If not, I'm pretty sure you will soon. We picked up his self-titled CD last week, after hearing just a snippet of "Grace" on the radio, and have to say that it is a wonderful album. If you go to his website (http://www.philwickham.com), you can hear some of the songs yourself. I think "Grace" is still my favourite (wonderful lyrics, passionate delivery), but it's a CD filled with some very unique & memorable tracks. Beautiful stuff.
Speaking of music, we ventured out on Sunday morning to see/hear/experience the Watoto Childrens Choir peforming at Berwick COC. I hadn't seen them before, but Mel had unexpectedly caught a preview show at the shopping centre in Fountain Gate on Saturday. If you haven't seen 21 Ugandan orphans beaming with delight as they dance and sing about being rescued (Watoto is a Christian outreach and purpose-built 'village' that provides family, housing, health, education and leadership traing to Ugandan orphans), then you're missing out. I think they are still going to be touring in Victoria for awhile, so if you get a chance to see them, I heartily recommend it. Here's their website: http://www.watoto.com/
Must go and pack! Good night.
M
I should be off getting my bag packed for work, so of course I'm writing a quick post instead. An early start awaits tomorrow (3am-ish) as I'm off to Sydney for the next couple of days, and our company likes to make sure we don't waste a minute by insisting that all flights are booked for 6am. I say 3-ish because, although I would normally leave the house by 4:00am, tomorrow I have to drop in at my local office to collect something on the way to the airport. Yay! I'm also heading back to Brisbane for the next couple of weeks, so not really looking forward to that. We've thought about trying to bring Mel & Jessica up with me, and even trying to get out to Wiggles World (it's part of Dreamworld I think), but it may prove just a little too difficult - particularly as they have me working night shift while I'm up there (10pm starts I believe).
Getting off the topic of Work as quickly as I can (which is not nearly soon enough), have you heard of Phil Wickham yet? If not, I'm pretty sure you will soon. We picked up his self-titled CD last week, after hearing just a snippet of "Grace" on the radio, and have to say that it is a wonderful album. If you go to his website (http://www.philwickham.com), you can hear some of the songs yourself. I think "Grace" is still my favourite (wonderful lyrics, passionate delivery), but it's a CD filled with some very unique & memorable tracks. Beautiful stuff.
Speaking of music, we ventured out on Sunday morning to see/hear/experience the Watoto Childrens Choir peforming at Berwick COC. I hadn't seen them before, but Mel had unexpectedly caught a preview show at the shopping centre in Fountain Gate on Saturday. If you haven't seen 21 Ugandan orphans beaming with delight as they dance and sing about being rescued (Watoto is a Christian outreach and purpose-built 'village' that provides family, housing, health, education and leadership traing to Ugandan orphans), then you're missing out. I think they are still going to be touring in Victoria for awhile, so if you get a chance to see them, I heartily recommend it. Here's their website: http://www.watoto.com/
Must go and pack! Good night.
M
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
More than meets the eye...
Seen any good movies lately? I've only seen a couple in about 6 months: Shrek 3 a few weeks ago (really disappointing, IMHO) and Transformers last weekend after work. It's such a guilty pleasure, but I really enjoyed Transformers: it's big and stupid as far as dialogue and story goes, but for anyone interested in digital effects and compositing, or sound design, it is simply a work of art. The first half was definitely better than the second half (the latter was mostly one loooonnnngg battle, whereas the first half actually introduced characters and began a few parallel plotlines - it was even pretty funny). Don't go for the intricacies of the plot, or the sparkling dialogue (it gets especially cheesy when the machines start talking - why can't they just shutup??), but the effects are outstanding. I have no problem enjoying a dumb film that knows it's a dumb film: it's films that think they're clever but which really are dumb that I can't stand! Transformers is a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay production - the same two people responsible for The Rock - and when I list my Top 10 favourite films, I do have to concede that The Rock is certainly near the top of that list (it's very, very low-brow to say that, but hey, it's true). Another reason for seeing Transformers was that MuteMath (my MuteMath) are featured on the soundtrack! (they have recorded a version of the old Transformers theme). I can't say I heard it anywhere in the movie though, so that's a shame. But they're still on the soundtrack CD, so that's gotta help them along: they deserve to be much bigger than they are, and I'm sure they will be soon. (speaking of bands that I like that seem to be getting some traction, Mat Kearney has been playing on Fox and MMM quite a few times recently. I even hear Brooke Fraser's "ShadowFeet" being used on the ads for 9's "Sea Patrol" or somesuch at the moment).
As a segue, I listen to the MuteMath CD every time I go to the gym - the first 5 tracks are great for the 10 minute run and 10 minute cycle that I always have to start with. I've managed to consistently go to the gym 3 times per week since I started 6 weeks ago - it's still not easy, but it is getting marginally easier. Haven't noticed much of a physical change yet, aside from the fact that I can get through the routines with less of a struggle and have steadily increased the weights on each of the machines: I guess that must mean that some invisible good is being accomplished. I've actually noticed a very fundamntal thing about myself in the last couple of years: I have no respect for small increments. Whether in financial terms or in weight loss/gain, or in most anything else, I have an unhealthy attitude toward small increments. For instance, intellectually I know that saving $5 per week would eventually lead to a worthwhile amount of money if I had the discipline to keep at it, but I don't have the patience for it. I know that losing 500g per week would eventually result in a really positive overall weight loss, but if I don't see at least 1kg being lost each week I lose all momentum and interest. Conversely, if I know that I'm not eating right, and see that I'm putting on a few hundred grams each week or so, I'm not likely to change anything until a few weeks later when I realise that I'm 5 kilos heavier than I was "yesterday". It's weird I know, and it's a personality flaw that I'd like to work on for myself and in turn, be mindful of when setting an example for Jessica. Money boxes will feature heavily!
Jessica is pretty well now, but we calculate that she hasn't been well for a full week in at least 2 months. It seems that she just gets over something, starts to perk up for a day or two, and then comes down with something else entirely. Hopefully she's just getting all of her sicknesses out of the way in one convenient block, and then she'll be a picture of health for the next 3 years straight. She's doing a lot of dancing these days - some of it we have managed to catch on film, but most of the time you can't get to the camera so you just get to sit and enjoy it while it last (LOTS of ballerina twirling). She's also stringing two or three words together ("There's my Daddy! Where's my Mummy? There she is! Cup please? Ta!"), and has become really proficient at recognising colours, people, objects in her books etc ("Where's Anthony? Can you see RED? Where's the boat? etc"). She often does things now which cause Mel & I to look at each other and say "she's too smart for us!" (we walked in to the lounge last night and she had inverted a heap of coloured, plastic cups and placed them in a row across her other toys - and the cups were all sorted into colour sequence!). She also loves watching herself on TV or on the computer (video clips we've made of her) and she'll giggle away at all the funny things that onscreen Jessica does - no matter how many times we replay it.
Mel is flat-out at the moment - getting to bed after midnight, getting up at 5am, working whenever she can find a moment during the day (eg. when J goes down to sleep). Her major client is very high maintenance, very volatile in terms of mood and expectation, and pretty unreliable when it comes to completing tasks that Mel depends upon to complete her own role. So after being told one week to cut her hours back (for the clients financial needs), they turn around overnight and demand weeks worth of new analysis to be completed and sent back to them almost immediately. It's very taxing on her when it happens (which is not every day or even every week, thankfully) and makes every aspect of her life very difficult. On top of that, they are getting her services for a fraction of what they would need to pay anyone else (and they know that she does a brilliant job), so hopefully the next time they try to push her around she'll not only say "sorry, that's an unreasonable expectation - I'll have it for you next week instead" but she'll also add, "and my fees have gone up by 150% too!".
Speaking of Mel, it is her birthday next Friday (August 3rd). Every year, I spend at least June & July contemplating the perfect gift for her, and yet I always reach the last week as confused and as anxious as ever. I've never managed the 'perfect' gift, and on a few occasions what I have carefully planned out as being a brilliant set of gifts, matched perfectly to her interests and passions (or so I thought), has fallen pretty flat. Most of the time I think I hit somewhere in the middle to upper-middle range. I have a list of about 15 things this year, though recent conversations have helped me rule out about half of those too. This may be the year that I ask Mel to pick something that she'd like: it sounds incredibly unromantic and even thoughtless (hence I haven't done it before), but if it leads to her 'perfect' present, maybe the end justifies the means? I don't know. It seems like such a phone-in. I think I'll persist with my self-directed endeavours, and hope for the best (it is still the thought that counts, right???)
Well I must go and get my things ready for work tomorrow. I was told today that I need to fly to Brisbane tomorrow, investigate a perceived problem, then fly back tomorrow night. I'm up at 3:15 to leave the house by 4:15 (my flight is at 6am), get into Brisbane at 8:30, to my destination at 9:30, investigate this so called problem (which really needs a week to properly investigate), then back to the airport at 6:30pm, onto a plane at 7:50pm which gets into Melbourne at 10:15pm, so I'll be home by about 11:30pm: that's a long day! But on top of that, I'm told that I have to submit the full report on my findings (with photos and powerpoint slides) no later than 10am on Friday, as they'll form the basis of an 11am meeting. Since I cant start that report until I leave Brisbane, I can't see that I'll be going to be tomorrow night! On the bright side, it sounds like Mel will be up most of the night working on her projects, so we'll at least give each other company. On that note, since it's 10:22pm and she's busily tapping away on her laptop in the study, I should go and get her a cup of coffee.
Goodnight,
Matt
As a segue, I listen to the MuteMath CD every time I go to the gym - the first 5 tracks are great for the 10 minute run and 10 minute cycle that I always have to start with. I've managed to consistently go to the gym 3 times per week since I started 6 weeks ago - it's still not easy, but it is getting marginally easier. Haven't noticed much of a physical change yet, aside from the fact that I can get through the routines with less of a struggle and have steadily increased the weights on each of the machines: I guess that must mean that some invisible good is being accomplished. I've actually noticed a very fundamntal thing about myself in the last couple of years: I have no respect for small increments. Whether in financial terms or in weight loss/gain, or in most anything else, I have an unhealthy attitude toward small increments. For instance, intellectually I know that saving $5 per week would eventually lead to a worthwhile amount of money if I had the discipline to keep at it, but I don't have the patience for it. I know that losing 500g per week would eventually result in a really positive overall weight loss, but if I don't see at least 1kg being lost each week I lose all momentum and interest. Conversely, if I know that I'm not eating right, and see that I'm putting on a few hundred grams each week or so, I'm not likely to change anything until a few weeks later when I realise that I'm 5 kilos heavier than I was "yesterday". It's weird I know, and it's a personality flaw that I'd like to work on for myself and in turn, be mindful of when setting an example for Jessica. Money boxes will feature heavily!
Jessica is pretty well now, but we calculate that she hasn't been well for a full week in at least 2 months. It seems that she just gets over something, starts to perk up for a day or two, and then comes down with something else entirely. Hopefully she's just getting all of her sicknesses out of the way in one convenient block, and then she'll be a picture of health for the next 3 years straight. She's doing a lot of dancing these days - some of it we have managed to catch on film, but most of the time you can't get to the camera so you just get to sit and enjoy it while it last (LOTS of ballerina twirling). She's also stringing two or three words together ("There's my Daddy! Where's my Mummy? There she is! Cup please? Ta!"), and has become really proficient at recognising colours, people, objects in her books etc ("Where's Anthony? Can you see RED? Where's the boat? etc"). She often does things now which cause Mel & I to look at each other and say "she's too smart for us!" (we walked in to the lounge last night and she had inverted a heap of coloured, plastic cups and placed them in a row across her other toys - and the cups were all sorted into colour sequence!). She also loves watching herself on TV or on the computer (video clips we've made of her) and she'll giggle away at all the funny things that onscreen Jessica does - no matter how many times we replay it.
Mel is flat-out at the moment - getting to bed after midnight, getting up at 5am, working whenever she can find a moment during the day (eg. when J goes down to sleep). Her major client is very high maintenance, very volatile in terms of mood and expectation, and pretty unreliable when it comes to completing tasks that Mel depends upon to complete her own role. So after being told one week to cut her hours back (for the clients financial needs), they turn around overnight and demand weeks worth of new analysis to be completed and sent back to them almost immediately. It's very taxing on her when it happens (which is not every day or even every week, thankfully) and makes every aspect of her life very difficult. On top of that, they are getting her services for a fraction of what they would need to pay anyone else (and they know that she does a brilliant job), so hopefully the next time they try to push her around she'll not only say "sorry, that's an unreasonable expectation - I'll have it for you next week instead" but she'll also add, "and my fees have gone up by 150% too!".
Speaking of Mel, it is her birthday next Friday (August 3rd). Every year, I spend at least June & July contemplating the perfect gift for her, and yet I always reach the last week as confused and as anxious as ever. I've never managed the 'perfect' gift, and on a few occasions what I have carefully planned out as being a brilliant set of gifts, matched perfectly to her interests and passions (or so I thought), has fallen pretty flat. Most of the time I think I hit somewhere in the middle to upper-middle range. I have a list of about 15 things this year, though recent conversations have helped me rule out about half of those too. This may be the year that I ask Mel to pick something that she'd like: it sounds incredibly unromantic and even thoughtless (hence I haven't done it before), but if it leads to her 'perfect' present, maybe the end justifies the means? I don't know. It seems like such a phone-in. I think I'll persist with my self-directed endeavours, and hope for the best (it is still the thought that counts, right???)
Well I must go and get my things ready for work tomorrow. I was told today that I need to fly to Brisbane tomorrow, investigate a perceived problem, then fly back tomorrow night. I'm up at 3:15 to leave the house by 4:15 (my flight is at 6am), get into Brisbane at 8:30, to my destination at 9:30, investigate this so called problem (which really needs a week to properly investigate), then back to the airport at 6:30pm, onto a plane at 7:50pm which gets into Melbourne at 10:15pm, so I'll be home by about 11:30pm: that's a long day! But on top of that, I'm told that I have to submit the full report on my findings (with photos and powerpoint slides) no later than 10am on Friday, as they'll form the basis of an 11am meeting. Since I cant start that report until I leave Brisbane, I can't see that I'll be going to be tomorrow night! On the bright side, it sounds like Mel will be up most of the night working on her projects, so we'll at least give each other company. On that note, since it's 10:22pm and she's busily tapping away on her laptop in the study, I should go and get her a cup of coffee.
Goodnight,
Matt
Monday, July 23, 2007
iMatt
So I never did get around to that appraisal/review of our new computer, and I know that there is at least (at most?) one person in the world interested in our findings (thanks for your interest, Jon - you're personally responsible for the next few paragraphs). To recap, we were ready to replace our 5 year old PC recently and decided - for the very first time - to depart from the Windows World and into the Macosphere. We had looked longingly at the 24" iMac's for several months, drawn by their stylish simplicity (Mel HATES cables, and on the iMac the pretty HD screen is the entire computer - there's no separate CPU tower, and only a power cord and the lead running to the keyboard and mouse), the great interface, the promise of a host of creative applications, and the fact that it provided a non-Vista future (I'm not willing to "upgrade" to an operating system that requires 1GB of RAM just for itself). It also helped that the PC-based software I use for video editing has been discontinued as of this release (ie. there won't be a version 9), so there was very little to tie us to the Windows format. The only other stumbling block for moving to a Mac - that your existing software library becomes redundant overnight - is no longer an issue due to programs like BootCamp and Parallels, which let you run Windows software on the Mac too. On top of that, my employer had a staff discount night and we were able to get 20% off Apple's price, so it became a no-brainer.
Where do I start? In short, this is a wonderful machine to use. It is so unlike the PC's that I've been using since the early 90's. I know I'll sound just like the "I'm a Mac" guy on those Apple ads, but you really do get the feeling that there is absolutely no contest between the two formats: they're like chalk and cheese. The HD screen (which again, IS the computer) looks beautiful. The machine starts up and is ready to use in a matter of seconds (maybe 10?). I plugged in the Airport wireless network adapter on the first night and both the Mac and Mel's Windows-based laptop instantly found the network and connected to broadband automatically - no laborious setup required (the iMac has built-in wireless networking). There's a built-in camera and microphone above the screen, hidden speakers below, and the Apple logo - the only branding anywhere - doubles as the receiver for the included Apple Remote. The Remote lets you control your iTunes library, watch movies, watch/listen to podcasts, play a DVD, view online movie trailers or watch a slideshow of any of your photo libraries (complete with auto pan-and-zoom and music). The problem for us is that we don't want to leave the Mac in the study, since it's so much fun as an entertainment centre. Thankfully it's so portable (just pick up the screen, keyboard and mouse) that you can move it about as required: we've had it set up in our bedroom and even downstairs in the kitchen (that's where I'm typing this from actually - and I can keep an eye on Jessica as I type).
The included software is fantastic: Garage Band is a full featured music creation program that lets you create complex, layered music tracks in minutes; it even lets you create Podcasts or a score for your home movie. Things like Comic Life (used below), iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie HD and PhotoBooth are a lot of fun whilst also being pretty powerful. The Mac even has a feature called VoiceOver: if I hit the Esc key while I say (yes, SAY) "Open Browser", the internet browser starts up. If I say "Stew & Dumplings" or "Deb's Mutterings", it navigates to those blog pages instantly. If i say "Check Mail", it will start up the Mail application and download any new emails. You can even have it read blocks of text (web pages, emails etc) aloud to you in a choice of voices. If you say "Quit This Application", it'll do that too. In fact, if you ask "What Time Is It?", it'll tell you that aswell. Pretty neat. What else? Icons for your applications sit in a Dock area at the bottom of the screen (like the Windows Taskbar) and will jump up and down if they have something to alert you to (eg. new mail). If you click a mouse button, every open application is instantly arranged in a tiled manner across your desktop, so you can keep track of things. Press another mouse button and a second desktop is overlayed across your existing one, this time showing all sorts of customisable widgets such as weather, calculators, world time, dictionaries, flight trackers etc: press it again and it just fades away. All the ports and connectors are tucked away behind the screen (and there are lots of them - including Firewire 800 and Optical digital out) and DVD's slot into the right hand side of the screen. Tired of a boring static desktop wallpaper? The Mac lets you have all of your photos cycling through as your wallpaper. Finished with the remote? It magnetically sticks to the side of the iMac for safekeeping. The list goes on - it just feels like Apple have thought of almost everything to make this a pleasurable experience.
In some ways it's completely unfair to compare this computer to our last PC: the PC is a single-core 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and a 19" CRT monitor, whereas the iMac has a 2.33MHz Core 2 Duo with 1GB RAM and a 24" LCD screen. But even with allowances for the PC's older, slower, smaller feature-set, and you compare to what's on offer with current PC's, the Mac experience is so much more enjoyable. It's been a joy to use so far, and there has only been one occasion where it became unresonsive (I think I was possibly trying to do too many things at once - loading a DVD, playing a movie in iTunes, surfing the web etc) - so that's a good start. I know I sound like such an Apple Tragic, but the experience so far - for both Mel & I - has genuinely been fantastic. Amazing to think that - as well as being the most heavily featured computer we have purchased - this is also the cheapest computer we've ever purchased. Based on our early experiences with it, I'd recommend a Mac to anyone looking for their next computer. Mel has already decided that, when she replaces her business laptop later this year (a Toshiba), it'll be replaced by an Apple MacBookPro: and by then Apple will have replaced their current operating system ("Tiger") with a new OS ("Leopard") which is tipped to include a truckload of added functionality. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/
The one drawback of moving to Mac is that I have to relearn a lot of things (keystrokes, folder behaviours, file types etc are quite different): thankfully there seems to be a lot of help both online and built in to the OS and it's applications. It can be frustrating being out of your depth for a while (especially when you were reasonably proficient within the Windows environment), but hopefully the learning process doesn't take too long: I can see that there is so much potential to unlock.
So there you go - these are my first impressions of life on 'the other side'. I may sound over zealous and uncritical, but it's an accurate reflection of our experience so far (which I appreciate could change). Those Mac ads - which I happen to think are terrifically funny but which I know many people find infuriating/belittling/misleading - might oversell the idea that Mac owners have discovered Utopia, but it's only a mild exaggeration. :)
Matt
(BTW, moving to Apple also means that I can someday in the future move up to the industry-leading video editing software, which is Mac-only. "Final Cut Pro" (part of the "Final Cut Studio" suite) is used to make Emmy-winning TV Shows and a number of feature films, and is one of the two editors that you would need to learn if you ever wanted to move into the industry full time (the other being "Avid"). FCStudio has just been upgraded and includes 6 pro applications, for colour manipulation, 3D design, soundtrack development etc, and is a seriously powerful suite. It's not cheap, and I'll be saving for a little while longer before I can afford it, but I found out this week that my YMCA gym membership entitles me to certain discounts at the Apple store, and I can save 18% on - you guessed it - Final Cut Studio! That saving alone would pay gym membership for 6 months, so it's a pretty terrific bonus that they've made available.
Where do I start? In short, this is a wonderful machine to use. It is so unlike the PC's that I've been using since the early 90's. I know I'll sound just like the "I'm a Mac" guy on those Apple ads, but you really do get the feeling that there is absolutely no contest between the two formats: they're like chalk and cheese. The HD screen (which again, IS the computer) looks beautiful. The machine starts up and is ready to use in a matter of seconds (maybe 10?). I plugged in the Airport wireless network adapter on the first night and both the Mac and Mel's Windows-based laptop instantly found the network and connected to broadband automatically - no laborious setup required (the iMac has built-in wireless networking). There's a built-in camera and microphone above the screen, hidden speakers below, and the Apple logo - the only branding anywhere - doubles as the receiver for the included Apple Remote. The Remote lets you control your iTunes library, watch movies, watch/listen to podcasts, play a DVD, view online movie trailers or watch a slideshow of any of your photo libraries (complete with auto pan-and-zoom and music). The problem for us is that we don't want to leave the Mac in the study, since it's so much fun as an entertainment centre. Thankfully it's so portable (just pick up the screen, keyboard and mouse) that you can move it about as required: we've had it set up in our bedroom and even downstairs in the kitchen (that's where I'm typing this from actually - and I can keep an eye on Jessica as I type).
The included software is fantastic: Garage Band is a full featured music creation program that lets you create complex, layered music tracks in minutes; it even lets you create Podcasts or a score for your home movie. Things like Comic Life (used below), iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie HD and PhotoBooth are a lot of fun whilst also being pretty powerful. The Mac even has a feature called VoiceOver: if I hit the Esc key while I say (yes, SAY) "Open Browser", the internet browser starts up. If I say "Stew & Dumplings" or "Deb's Mutterings", it navigates to those blog pages instantly. If i say "Check Mail", it will start up the Mail application and download any new emails. You can even have it read blocks of text (web pages, emails etc) aloud to you in a choice of voices. If you say "Quit This Application", it'll do that too. In fact, if you ask "What Time Is It?", it'll tell you that aswell. Pretty neat. What else? Icons for your applications sit in a Dock area at the bottom of the screen (like the Windows Taskbar) and will jump up and down if they have something to alert you to (eg. new mail). If you click a mouse button, every open application is instantly arranged in a tiled manner across your desktop, so you can keep track of things. Press another mouse button and a second desktop is overlayed across your existing one, this time showing all sorts of customisable widgets such as weather, calculators, world time, dictionaries, flight trackers etc: press it again and it just fades away. All the ports and connectors are tucked away behind the screen (and there are lots of them - including Firewire 800 and Optical digital out) and DVD's slot into the right hand side of the screen. Tired of a boring static desktop wallpaper? The Mac lets you have all of your photos cycling through as your wallpaper. Finished with the remote? It magnetically sticks to the side of the iMac for safekeeping. The list goes on - it just feels like Apple have thought of almost everything to make this a pleasurable experience.
In some ways it's completely unfair to compare this computer to our last PC: the PC is a single-core 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and a 19" CRT monitor, whereas the iMac has a 2.33MHz Core 2 Duo with 1GB RAM and a 24" LCD screen. But even with allowances for the PC's older, slower, smaller feature-set, and you compare to what's on offer with current PC's, the Mac experience is so much more enjoyable. It's been a joy to use so far, and there has only been one occasion where it became unresonsive (I think I was possibly trying to do too many things at once - loading a DVD, playing a movie in iTunes, surfing the web etc) - so that's a good start. I know I sound like such an Apple Tragic, but the experience so far - for both Mel & I - has genuinely been fantastic. Amazing to think that - as well as being the most heavily featured computer we have purchased - this is also the cheapest computer we've ever purchased. Based on our early experiences with it, I'd recommend a Mac to anyone looking for their next computer. Mel has already decided that, when she replaces her business laptop later this year (a Toshiba), it'll be replaced by an Apple MacBookPro: and by then Apple will have replaced their current operating system ("Tiger") with a new OS ("Leopard") which is tipped to include a truckload of added functionality. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/
The one drawback of moving to Mac is that I have to relearn a lot of things (keystrokes, folder behaviours, file types etc are quite different): thankfully there seems to be a lot of help both online and built in to the OS and it's applications. It can be frustrating being out of your depth for a while (especially when you were reasonably proficient within the Windows environment), but hopefully the learning process doesn't take too long: I can see that there is so much potential to unlock.
So there you go - these are my first impressions of life on 'the other side'. I may sound over zealous and uncritical, but it's an accurate reflection of our experience so far (which I appreciate could change). Those Mac ads - which I happen to think are terrifically funny but which I know many people find infuriating/belittling/misleading - might oversell the idea that Mac owners have discovered Utopia, but it's only a mild exaggeration. :)
Matt
(BTW, moving to Apple also means that I can someday in the future move up to the industry-leading video editing software, which is Mac-only. "Final Cut Pro" (part of the "Final Cut Studio" suite) is used to make Emmy-winning TV Shows and a number of feature films, and is one of the two editors that you would need to learn if you ever wanted to move into the industry full time (the other being "Avid"). FCStudio has just been upgraded and includes 6 pro applications, for colour manipulation, 3D design, soundtrack development etc, and is a seriously powerful suite. It's not cheap, and I'll be saving for a little while longer before I can afford it, but I found out this week that my YMCA gym membership entitles me to certain discounts at the Apple store, and I can save 18% on - you guessed it - Final Cut Studio! That saving alone would pay gym membership for 6 months, so it's a pretty terrific bonus that they've made available.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
I promised to follow that last Wiggles post with some photos, so here they are (a few weeks late - but who's counting?). Not sure how this will work, but I decided to try out an application called ComicLife which comes preloaded on the iMac, and which lets you quickly arrange photos in a comicbook layout with speech balloons and thought bubbles etc. It may not work very well for posting in a blog, but here goes...(if you click on each individual page in turn - there are 8 - a larger version should appear)...
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