Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Alinta #001
Another day...another shoot. But this is the first in a series of photos of a Brisbane-based model Alinta Krauth. Ironically this is one of the last photos of the day, and even though I've only been through the whole shoot once, this is immediately sticking out as one of my favourites. The reds, blacks, greys and whites all work so well together with Alinta's unique look.
The other thing I think works well with this photo is the lines and the angles...from Alinta's right arm drawing a parallel with the walls either side of her and the rest of her body sitting at 45 or 90 degree angles to everything else.
On top of all this, for the first time today I had a make-up artist help me out with the shoot - the wonderful Andrea Bartlett - who did a stunning job on some very unique colours and designs. They'll be some close-up shots later on.
Comments welcome, either for the photo, for Alinta, for Andrea...or fuck it...even for me. Haha. More Alinta shots can be found on her portfolio at Model Mayhem here.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Change Of Australian Federal Government
Okay so I can't vote. I'm not a citizen yet so I have no capability to decide on who governs the country I live in. Shame really, but it does remind me that I do need to get off my backside and sort out my application to become an Australian.
Anyhow, the point is, against my political principles, which I would have to label as middle/right, I would have voted for Kevin Rudd, the new Australian PM, who is the leader of the Australian Labor party, and distinctly middle/left.
So why would I have opted to change the habit of a lifetime, and compromise my own personal political beliefs, and vote for someone who isn't part of a party that I would normally support?
It's a good question and probably one that a lot of voters this morning are asking of themselves, having overwhelming chose to swing their support to the ALP. Either way, the scaremongering has continued. "Rudd with destroy the country" kind of messages are floating around mediums like Facebook. As far as I can remember when Blair took over from the Tories back in...erm...mid-1990s, the UK didn't suddenly stop walking and fall apart.
Sure there were changes, but in politics and economies, changes are gradual. People have seen the mistakes of trying to introduce radical new policies suddenly - Work Choices, Poll Tax - and the new governement would be foolish to make sweeping changes without some serious thought. Would the Liberal party have been in the mess they are in now if they'd staggered Work Choices into the marketplace?
Rudd has been given the backing to drag Australia kicking and screaming into the future, but myself, like many people, will be watching him carefully. No-one wants to see the return of the Union nutters taking control of the workplace, but we do want people to be given a fair go. - it's a tough thing to balance out. Lets hope he's up to it.
Anyhow, the point is, against my political principles, which I would have to label as middle/right, I would have voted for Kevin Rudd, the new Australian PM, who is the leader of the Australian Labor party, and distinctly middle/left.
So why would I have opted to change the habit of a lifetime, and compromise my own personal political beliefs, and vote for someone who isn't part of a party that I would normally support?
It's a good question and probably one that a lot of voters this morning are asking of themselves, having overwhelming chose to swing their support to the ALP. Either way, the scaremongering has continued. "Rudd with destroy the country" kind of messages are floating around mediums like Facebook. As far as I can remember when Blair took over from the Tories back in...erm...mid-1990s, the UK didn't suddenly stop walking and fall apart.
Sure there were changes, but in politics and economies, changes are gradual. People have seen the mistakes of trying to introduce radical new policies suddenly - Work Choices, Poll Tax - and the new governement would be foolish to make sweeping changes without some serious thought. Would the Liberal party have been in the mess they are in now if they'd staggered Work Choices into the marketplace?
Rudd has been given the backing to drag Australia kicking and screaming into the future, but myself, like many people, will be watching him carefully. No-one wants to see the return of the Union nutters taking control of the workplace, but we do want people to be given a fair go. - it's a tough thing to balance out. Lets hope he's up to it.
therapy
Well worth checking out Rebekka's photostream if you get the chance...over 4 million views!! Makes my 70,000 pail into insignificance!
Monday, November 19, 2007
ISP Woes
I don't moan about much (everyone laughs in the background)...but losing your email, especially your work email, is like having your arm cut off.
This is a list of the reasons why I will, eventually, abandon MD Webhosting.
1. Not once, not twice but THREE times, someone mucked around with something on the server to make my emails come in 12 hours ahead of themselves. I was receiving emails from the next day. It was very weird. Not a major problem, but annoying all the same. On ALL occassions it took THREE phone calls or jobs being logged to get them to fix it.
2. One Monday I'm not getting email. Strange. There should be something coming in. I ring them up. They say they're going to fix it. An hour later....still nothing. So I ring them again. I need my email back, what's going on? Apparently the virus software they're using is clashing with the email programme. They've just noticed it and there's three hours of backed up mails. It's another two hours before mine arrive. Took me to tell them this.
3. One Friday the sites aren't there. Hmmm. Strange. I go and check. No notes on their RSS feed. I ring up and find out that apparently my server is down and they're just going to reboot it. Once again, they find out because I ring them.
4. This morning major hardwear failure that also includes the fact that something called a 'RAID' isn't configured properly...so it's going to take even longer to get eveeything back and running than it should. I lose email and sites at 8.30am...get it back at 9.45pm.
So whaddya do? I have so much stuff with them...do I move it? new host? leave it and hope they sort themselves out?
This is a list of the reasons why I will, eventually, abandon MD Webhosting.
1. Not once, not twice but THREE times, someone mucked around with something on the server to make my emails come in 12 hours ahead of themselves. I was receiving emails from the next day. It was very weird. Not a major problem, but annoying all the same. On ALL occassions it took THREE phone calls or jobs being logged to get them to fix it.
2. One Monday I'm not getting email. Strange. There should be something coming in. I ring them up. They say they're going to fix it. An hour later....still nothing. So I ring them again. I need my email back, what's going on? Apparently the virus software they're using is clashing with the email programme. They've just noticed it and there's three hours of backed up mails. It's another two hours before mine arrive. Took me to tell them this.
3. One Friday the sites aren't there. Hmmm. Strange. I go and check. No notes on their RSS feed. I ring up and find out that apparently my server is down and they're just going to reboot it. Once again, they find out because I ring them.
4. This morning major hardwear failure that also includes the fact that something called a 'RAID' isn't configured properly...so it's going to take even longer to get eveeything back and running than it should. I lose email and sites at 8.30am...get it back at 9.45pm.
So whaddya do? I have so much stuff with them...do I move it? new host? leave it and hope they sort themselves out?
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A Question Of Morality
I suppose, given the amount of time I spend on Flickr, that sooner or later I would find something I thought was distasteful. I remember being added as a contact (and I think I still am) for a guy who used Photoshop to create pictures of women with more or less than their natural amount of limbs. It was a very disturbing portfolio and one I haven't gone back to look at since.
But yesterday I was made a contact by a used on Flickr who had a group of even more nauseating photos. When I receive a contact email on Flickr, I normally check out the photos of the person adding me. If their portfolio is genuine, interesting or even if its just full of family shots, I'll add them back. If there's no pictures in there, then I won't.
This contact request came from a guy whose profile identified him as American, divorced and 32 years of age. As usual I took a look at his pictures.
There's no doubt in my mind that when faced with child pornography, my reaction would be one of utter disgust. And that's not far off what I felt when hitting the first page of these photos. These pictures weren't nude or sexual active photos, but there were of young female girls, aged around their early teens in what could be described as provocative positions and outfits.
So just to repeat, no nudity, no sexual activity, but with a clear message behind the pictures.
So what do you do?
Flickr is an open-deposit for millions and millions of photos from around the world. Anywhere between 2000 and 3000 photos are uploaded every minute. There is no way that the administration of the site can monitor every photo uploaded, so the public using Flickr has to become self-policing.
Which is the option I chose, and wrote to Flickr alerting them of the account in question, blocked his contact and made sure he couldn't contact me. Flickr sent me a note this morning thanking me for alerting them, but it was a standard email so I wouldn't know whether they have done anything about his account, and I certainly don't want to go back and check.
But yesterday I was made a contact by a used on Flickr who had a group of even more nauseating photos. When I receive a contact email on Flickr, I normally check out the photos of the person adding me. If their portfolio is genuine, interesting or even if its just full of family shots, I'll add them back. If there's no pictures in there, then I won't.
This contact request came from a guy whose profile identified him as American, divorced and 32 years of age. As usual I took a look at his pictures.
There's no doubt in my mind that when faced with child pornography, my reaction would be one of utter disgust. And that's not far off what I felt when hitting the first page of these photos. These pictures weren't nude or sexual active photos, but there were of young female girls, aged around their early teens in what could be described as provocative positions and outfits.
So just to repeat, no nudity, no sexual activity, but with a clear message behind the pictures.
So what do you do?
Flickr is an open-deposit for millions and millions of photos from around the world. Anywhere between 2000 and 3000 photos are uploaded every minute. There is no way that the administration of the site can monitor every photo uploaded, so the public using Flickr has to become self-policing.
Which is the option I chose, and wrote to Flickr alerting them of the account in question, blocked his contact and made sure he couldn't contact me. Flickr sent me a note this morning thanking me for alerting them, but it was a standard email so I wouldn't know whether they have done anything about his account, and I certainly don't want to go back and check.
Friday, November 2, 2007
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
I went to see a preview of this film on Monday and forgot to write the review then, so given that its out yesterday/today, I'll just do a potted version.
1. This film is long - 160 minutes. And to its credit, it doesn't abandon the story at James's death but continues to show the decline and breakdown of Robert Ford post-assassination.
2. Brad Pitt's performance is brilliant, although sometimes just a little un-nerving and a little lost in direction. His version of Jesse James almost becomes TOO eccentric.
3. Casey Affleck - genius performance, anyone who says otherwise should be shot in the back.
4. Also great performances from Sam Rockwell (as Charley Ford, Robert's brother and in a MUCH better position to benefit his career than as Zaphod Beeblebrox) and Paul Schneider (as Dick Liddle), a relative new-comer in acting.
5. Cinematography was fantastic...the most stunning shots throughout the film.
There. That's all I have for this. Go and see it, but be prepared to pay attention and not drift off. Save half your bag of M&Ms for later in the film.
1. This film is long - 160 minutes. And to its credit, it doesn't abandon the story at James's death but continues to show the decline and breakdown of Robert Ford post-assassination.
2. Brad Pitt's performance is brilliant, although sometimes just a little un-nerving and a little lost in direction. His version of Jesse James almost becomes TOO eccentric.
3. Casey Affleck - genius performance, anyone who says otherwise should be shot in the back.
4. Also great performances from Sam Rockwell (as Charley Ford, Robert's brother and in a MUCH better position to benefit his career than as Zaphod Beeblebrox) and Paul Schneider (as Dick Liddle), a relative new-comer in acting.
5. Cinematography was fantastic...the most stunning shots throughout the film.
There. That's all I have for this. Go and see it, but be prepared to pay attention and not drift off. Save half your bag of M&Ms for later in the film.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Lonsdale Clothing
I always liked Lonsdale clothing. Okay, so I never owned any - well, I might have owned a t-shirt somewhere along the line - but never anything that I've loved like a member of my family. Not like my old Duffer sweatshirt.
The problem I find with Lonsdale, and their new advertising campaign, is I'm sitting looking at images of models in t-shirts and vests and I'm thinking 'so what'?
For my part if I want to engage a clothing brand I want to know what they stand for. What is it that I'm saying to people by wearing their t-shirts? The Lonsdale brand says too much that I have no real concept of style; that I'm a 'me-too' brand copying someone else. I want individuality in my clothing brands, or at least, if I'm going to buy into a mass-produced brand (say, like Abercrombie) then I bloody well want them to be cool enough to warrant myself and 100 other people on the high-street wearing them.
Lonsdale used to be the urban, boxing wear, typically London, in a very similar way to Everlast was to the same sport in New York. It's ironic that Everlast suffer from a similar problem in trying to reposition themselves as a younger fashion brand, they've lose any essence of what made they what they were in the first place.
It's a hard ask as to wear to go with these brands. Glossy full-page spreads in FHM and clean living models, female ones with big boobs, are probably not the answers - unless Lonsdale are sitting on the brand to eek money out of it by flogging it through Myer and K-Mart to bogans who know no better.
The consequence of this will most likely be decline, or very slow growth. Whilst it can be hard to go back to the original roots of the brand, something that you may not want to do anyway, its worth remembering that these brands were born out of sub-cultures, and that without the support of a sub-culture, they will have no oxygen to survive.
The problem I find with Lonsdale, and their new advertising campaign, is I'm sitting looking at images of models in t-shirts and vests and I'm thinking 'so what'?
For my part if I want to engage a clothing brand I want to know what they stand for. What is it that I'm saying to people by wearing their t-shirts? The Lonsdale brand says too much that I have no real concept of style; that I'm a 'me-too' brand copying someone else. I want individuality in my clothing brands, or at least, if I'm going to buy into a mass-produced brand (say, like Abercrombie) then I bloody well want them to be cool enough to warrant myself and 100 other people on the high-street wearing them.
Lonsdale used to be the urban, boxing wear, typically London, in a very similar way to Everlast was to the same sport in New York. It's ironic that Everlast suffer from a similar problem in trying to reposition themselves as a younger fashion brand, they've lose any essence of what made they what they were in the first place. It's a hard ask as to wear to go with these brands. Glossy full-page spreads in FHM and clean living models, female ones with big boobs, are probably not the answers - unless Lonsdale are sitting on the brand to eek money out of it by flogging it through Myer and K-Mart to bogans who know no better.
The consequence of this will most likely be decline, or very slow growth. Whilst it can be hard to go back to the original roots of the brand, something that you may not want to do anyway, its worth remembering that these brands were born out of sub-cultures, and that without the support of a sub-culture, they will have no oxygen to survive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
