Two Short Screams

Black and Gold

2008-08-10T10:56:00.004+10:00

After hearing the excellent Black and Gold song by Sam Sparro, I've bean trying to find out exactly what it means. Here's the answer in a tell-all interview on Rove:

And the excellent video's here

Eureka Season - 3

2008-07-31T21:09:00.003+10:00

It's excellent to see that Eureka S3 has finally started! Good times! :)

Check out the musicallish intro to S3 here:

Sex Drive [Trailer]

2008-07-31T18:14:00.001+10:00

Yet another "coming of age" movie.. but it looks funny! :)

Freedom Escapes - Scam

2008-07-25T18:02:00.004+10:00

Just today I was contacted by Freedom Escapes with a terrific deal on holidays. I am always hesistant when I get calls from Indian operators using "fake" european accents, but the offer seemed good. You pay $199 and you get 14 nights at hotels of your choosing, for 1/2 the price. You can mix and match how many nights you would spend at each hotel etc.

Not wanting to pay for such things over the phone (just paranoid about credit card theft) I requested for their website and they directed me here. They insisted that I give them the transaction number after I pay for it online so they could get some kind of commission. (because I wounldn't need them if I was buying online). Feeling sorry for them, I obliged.

The website looked legit and there were many other "packages" for Family and friends. The operated "insisted" that I pay for the $299 package. He offered me better "deals" such as 4 $40 internet vouches and an mp3 player. When I asked him where I could use the vouchers he said "anywhere... such as ebay etc". Yeah right. That should have had my spider sense tingling.

So I Totally ignored him I went for the $199 offer, but when it came time to pay, it took me to the paypal site, but it resulted in an error. (Probably because they are not registered with paypal and have give you a bum link).

So they trick you into believing they are legit because of their Paypal affiliation -which they don't really have.Then they ask you to directly transfer the money into their accounts because of the "paypal problem". I asked him how he would know it was me if I did pay the money. He came up with some flimsy excuse about the call being recorded etc.... which didn't make much sense, since he could have just tallied it against my name. He mentioned that I would be posted the vouchers. The account details supplied were:

Freedom escapes
Westpack
BSB: 032 040
Account: 171820

I never transfer money directly into anyone's account so I just hung up and did a few google searches and came across these posts. [1] [2]

The short version is this: you get vouchers in the mail. They are useless. When you contact the hotels for your 2-4-1 they don't know anything about it!

I feel pretty lucky not to have been duped - but came really close. Keep an eye out if you get a call from freedom escapes!

Sesame Street

2008-07-18T09:10:00.000+10:00

Dave chapelle does that famous street:

Terminator-4 Trailer

2008-07-17T23:07:00.002+10:00

Looks like the first T4 trailers have hit the internet. Christian Bale is Sean Conner! Ooooh! I can't wait! :)

Oui Chef!

2008-07-15T12:23:00.002+10:00

It was bound to happen sooner than later: A spoof of Gordon Ramsay's F word:

When IPodders Attack (in long waiting lines)

2008-07-14T12:13:00.001+10:00

Supernatural S4 Announced

2008-07-04T17:29:00.002+10:00

After an exciting S3 finale, rumours have it that Supernatural will be back for yet another season! :) Get the details here --> http://community.livejournal.com/dean_sam/4543199.html. Warning! Spoiler alert! :)

Chopper does Airport Security

2008-06-25T17:48:00.001+10:00

Chopper Reid gives us some important information about airport security:

Science and BSG

2008-06-01T11:45:00.002+10:00

I recently came across this post which delves into the "Science of Battlestar Galactica". Some interesting theories within.

Star Wars Rap

2008-04-13T22:20:00.001+10:00

Check out this hilarious Star Wars rap:

BSG Lives!

2008-04-07T23:33:00.003+10:00

Hooray! :) Battlestar Galactica S4 has finally started! Yay!

I watched the first episode today and it is very good! :)

Loads of mythology, the final (4) + 1 and .... is Guyus a god? ;) Godus?

Rodrigo y Gabriela

2008-03-27T21:04:00.003+10:00

I picked a CD of these amazing guys @ the recent Blues Fest in Byron. They are a mix between flamenco and modern rock. Watch and be amazed! :)

Performing on Letterman:

Their rendition of Metallica's Orion:

Valentine Art Auction for AIDS

2008-02-17T13:05:00.003+10:00

The Good News Network sports a story about a Valentine's day art auction for Aids:

"A Valentine's Day art auction conceived by U2 frontman and activist Bono together with British artist Damien Hirst has raised $42.5 million for UN-backed health programs in Africa.

The contemporary art auction was part of the (RED) campaign, which, since being launched in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver, has become one of the largest consumer-based fundraising efforts by the private sector in support of international humanitarian issues, specifically The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malari"

Check out the full article here.

Heeee's Back!

2008-02-15T10:26:00.003+10:00

The new Indiana Jones trailer is out! Bring on May 22nd.

Robot Holmes Cruise

2008-02-14T12:33:00.002+10:00

A skit on the Katie Holmes (Cruise) with What the Buck?

Pic: Apple Start em Young

2008-02-13T17:24:00.002+10:00

Check out more cool pix @ Fifty

A Man and His Talking Car

2008-02-11T16:28:00.000+10:00

They're back! :) Knight Rider and KITT are scheduled to thrill (??) our sights and sounds yet again in this "Continuation" of the KR story.

"As the original story resumes, the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) is absolutely the coolest car ever created: its supercomputer capable of hacking almost any system; its weapons systems efficient; and its body -- thanks to its creator's work and nanotechnology -- is capable of actually shifting shape and color. Plus, its artificial intelligence makes it the ideal good cop partner: logical, precise and possessing infinite knowledge. It is the ultimate car -- and someone will be willing to do anything to obtain it.

The three cars featured in the series include the KITT Hero -- a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR that is playing the part of the everyday Hero car with 540 horsepower; the KITT Attack -- a super high-speed version of the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR Hero car that transforms into Attack mode with the help of air-ride technology and specialized body parts -- and a KITT Remote, which is a driverless Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR version of the Hero vehicle.

Sarah Graiman is a 24-year old Ph.D candidate at Stanford University, following in her genius father Charles' (Davison) footsteps. But when men attempt to abduct her, Sarah receives a mysterious call from KITT warning her that he's a creation of Charles, who also invented the first KITT 25 years ago -- and that her father is in serious danger.

Sarah and KITT track down her best friend from childhood, Mike Tracer (Bruening), a 23-year-old ex-Army Ranger, whom Sarah hasn't seen since he left home at 18. Having served in Iraq, Mike is now jaded and lost and initially resistant. Eventually he agrees to help Sarah and the two set out to discover who's behind the attempt to procure KITT and find Charles. Along the way, Carrie Rivai (Poitier) plays the agile yet tough FBI agent who has a long-standing friendship with Charles and Sarah. Due to those ties, she is brought into the mix to help in the search." - NBC

"A carmaker conflict has caused NBC to hire Val Kilmer to replace Will Arnett as the voice of KITT on its “Knight Rider” revival. Arnett (”Arrested Development”) had already completed his part for the pic, which is slated to debut on NBC in less than two weeks. Problem is, Arnett had a contractual conflict of interest. For the better part of a decade, Arnett has done voice-over work for General Motors — as the voice of GMC Trucks. NBC’s new “Knight,” however, is “played” by a Ford Mustang. Not surprisingly, when GM found out about the Ford connection, it asked Arnett to pull out." - The Movie Blog

Hmmm. Sounds like Ford will be taking over this series for the better or worse. Dunno what to feel about it really. Check out the promo:

The Hoff is still getting some action by the looks of it:

Getting Rid of E-Waste

2008-02-08T15:51:00.000+10:00

San Diego's I Love A Clean San Diego recently sponsored an event where people denoted their old electronic equipment such as Tvs, VCRs, Computers, Printers etc to be recycled in a safe manner, beneficial to the environment.

The Protos, Zerg and Terrans are back!

2008-02-08T11:16:00.001+10:00

Startcraft2 is on the horizon (finally!). It looks awesome! :)

Ze Supa Bowl

2008-02-06T11:21:00.001+10:00

Check out these Superbowl 2008 clips:

Pepsi

Bridgestone

FedEx

Bud Light

Audi R8

Coke

Ice Breakers

Dell - Product (RED)

Streaker

Last minutes of the game:

Lost Again

2008-02-05T14:51:00.000+10:00

I finally got around to watching episode 1 of Lost season 4. It was nice to see all the characters again but it seems to be more of the same. Nothing extremely interesting happens, but then again that's customary with Lost, taking a few episodes for things to really ramp up.

Episode one starts with Hurley and his story after he "escapes" the island. It also shows how people deal with Charlie's loss and how the survivors break into 2 groups. One led by Jack who want to be rescued and one by Loch who are suspicious of the rescuers.

Microsoft and Dell go (RED)

2008-02-04T20:17:00.000+10:00

"Dell and Microsoft Corp. will offer customers a simple way to make a difference in the fight against AIDS in Africa through the purchase of unique (PRODUCT) RED branded personal computers and a printer. Adding to the premium experience, all Dell (PRODUCT) RED PCs are powered by Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED. Dell is the exclusive partner for PCs and peripherals for (PRODUCT) RED"

Check out the good news here.

Cool As Buck

2008-02-04T08:36:00.000+10:00

I accidentally stumbled across WHAT THE BUCK today! :) It's a hilarious pisstake on celebrity life. Here's a synopsis from the youtube site:

"Michael Buckley is the host and writer of WHAT THE BUCK, the popular celebrity news program. Hate typical celebrity news? He does too!
Whether accusing David Beckham of playing with Tom Cruise's balls or warning Jennifer Hudson that Beyonce wants to kill her, Mr. Buckley is not afraid to tell stars to go Buck themselves! Buck covers all the hot topics of the week and will simply make stuff up if the real news sucked that week! You can also watch Buck on FoxNews and hear him on Leeza Gibbons radio show Hollywood Confidential."

Here's a sample, check it out! :)

How to Make Someone Else's Day

2008-02-03T22:49:00.000+10:00

I came across this excellent "10 ways to" article on how to make someone else's day :) It helps us realize that there are other people on this planet who deserve a kind word or deed. Check out the full list here.

It all started with a chair...

2008-02-03T11:04:00.000+10:00

We saw the very-funny Juno this weekend! :) If you have any reservations about seeing this move, stop. Get over them and go and see it :) It stars the very funny Ellen Page who stared in X-Men3 and in the excellent Canadian tv series Regenesis.

Although the story has been told many times before (one of teenage pregnancy) it's done in a very charming and humourous way, so it won't disappoint! :)

Rating: 4.5/5

Sneak peek:

Non-commercial:

Mandatory quote: "Next time I see that Bleeker kid I'm going to punch him in the wiener."

Obama Promises (not really!)

2008-01-29T12:09:00.000+10:00

A skit on Obama's election promises on Letterman:

The Wildcats Bite the Bullet(s)

2008-01-28T11:23:00.000+10:00

We went to see some ozi basket ball for the first time last Friday. What we saw was a mixture of the pageantry of WWF, the commentary of Boxing and the entertainment of the Ekka!

One of the neatest things about the game was that (hip hop) music was played all through out! :) The commentary was funny and deriding at times. Between each quarter there was a slew of entertainment from youth dance groups. Fans also got a chance to sink a ball to win prizes such as plane tickets etc.

The game itself was kind of a let down. The Brisbane Bullets were the supposed "favourites", yet they were quite sloppy and lost the match to the Perth Wildcats 95-105. I guess I've been spoiled by watching NBA playoffs (on TV) and movies like White Men Can't Jump and Tv Series such as One Tree Hill. I guess I was expecting a lot from a professional team. Maybe too much.

That said it was a very entertaining night which was reasonably priced at around $30. (or less if you have Entertainment book vouchers or if your kids use the ABC Learning Centres) A guaranteed fun night out! :)

The Sarah Connor Chronicles

2008-01-18T19:11:00.000+10:00

"At the end of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” Sarah vanquished the liquid metal Terminator sent from the future to kill her teenage son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future, and the present, could attack at any moment.

THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES reveals what happens when SARAH stops running and goes on the offensive against an ever-evolving technological enemy bent on destroying her life, and perhaps the world. Her son, 15-year-old JOHN CONNOR, knows that he may be the future savior of mankind, but is not yet ready to take on the mantle of leadership that he’s told is his destiny. John finds himself inextricably drawn to CAMERON, an enigmatic and otherworldly student at his high school, who soon proves to be much more than his confidante – she assumes the role of Sarah and John’s fearless protector. On their trail are not only threats from the future, but an intelligent and tough FBI agent, JAMES ELLISON, who soon becomes a powerful ally.

Directed by David Nutter and produced by Warner Bros. Television and C-2 Pictures, THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES represents an exciting reinvention of the “Terminator” franchise, in which the strong and intrepid Sarah discovers that protecting her son and stopping the rise of the machines is more difficult than she had ever imagined." - fox

I've seen two episodes so far and it looks excellent! :)

Jump to Conclusions

2008-01-17T20:08:00.000+10:00

Priceless

2008-01-16T19:22:00.000+10:00

A spin on the master card ads:

priceless! :)

What a Moron!

2008-01-16T00:45:00.000+10:00

For those of you who have missed this insane story about Corey Worthington:

"Steve and Jo Delaney cut short their Gold Coast holiday after a party at their house attracted up to 500 alcohol-charged youths — who damaged police cars with bottles and had to be dispersed with the help of a police helicopter. ... It could get worse for Corey with Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon saying the police were considering billing him up to $20,000 for the intervention. Neighbours called police after the number of teenagers, attracted via text messages, the internet and email, swelled to 500. Ms Nixon said if Corey did not pay, the community in effect would pay for his irresponsibility. Up to 30 police attended the party in Galloway Drive along with dog squads, transit police, divisional vans and a critical incident response team."

The only thing more immature than the story above is the interview below:

Corey Unworthington perhaps?

He is Legend

2008-01-13T16:14:00.000+10:00

We finally saw I Am Legend last night we thought it was pretty good. It seems to be a clone of the zombie genre (which has been done to death - no pun intended) and competes with the likes of 28 Days Later and Resident Evil.

I didn't know much about the story except that Robert Neville (Will Smith's character) was the "last man on earth". The story has a few good scares along the way. There a few gaps in the story line which could have been explained better. For instance, Neville was considered "the saviour of the human race" and the only mention you see of this is on a newspaper cutting on his fridge. Why I ask you... Why?

I had mixed feelings about the ending. On the one-hand it was a good ending, on the other hand, certain events seemed quite unnecessary. I would have actually welcomed a sequel in this instance - which says something about the movie.

In summary, a story that has been told many times and in many ways before about a man-made disease/cure gone horribly wrong turning humans into zombies/the infected. The story unfolds in an very eerie way and Will Smith does an excellent job making the story credible. Highly recommended - you won't be disappointed.

Rating : 4/5

Goodbye Bill

2008-01-13T03:28:00.000+10:00

Bill Gates does a skit on himself on his last day:

Letterman does the "real last day":

Fake Steve Ballmer

2008-01-05T15:55:00.000+10:00

I stumbled across the Fake Steve Ballmer site today . It has many hilarious Microsoft-related parodies. Here's one about how Microsoft would redesign iPod packaging:

Battlestar: The Final Season

2007-12-22T09:30:00.001+10:00

The actors and writers talk about the final season of the excellent Battlestar Galactica.

Lost: The Return

2007-12-22T09:21:00.000+10:00

It looks like Lost Season 4 is almost upon us :) This trailer looks excellent!

Plates: Oonst

2007-12-20T19:04:00.001+10:00

What's next? Duf duf?

Plates: Jessica

2007-12-20T19:02:00.001+10:00

Jessica or Gessica?

Plates: Foibles

2007-12-20T19:01:00.001+10:00

Zeroes

2007-12-19T18:45:00.001+10:00

A hilarious piss-take on Hereos:

Horton Hears a Who!

2007-12-19T18:17:00.000+10:00

Check out this trailer for a very funny "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who". It's from the makers of Ice Age and looks just as (if not more) funny! :)

Trailers

It opens on the 20th of March 2008, down under! :)

Holy Cuteness

2007-12-11T00:13:00.001+10:00

I had a comment on one of my posts (thank god!) from a blogger from Holy Cuteness. It's an interesting blog about animals in cute poses. There is an excellent video on Knut's first b'day as well. Check it out! :)

Lionel Richie - I Call it Love

2007-12-08T10:15:00.000+10:00

Lionel Richie releases a new song after ages and ages! :) It stars his daughter Nicole.

The Dolphin Hotel Welcomes You...

2007-12-08T09:42:00.000+10:00

We saw the movie 1408 last night. I was expecting great things after seeing the trailer a couple of months ago. It stars John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson. John Cusack plays Michael Enslin, a cynical writer who is trying to make sense of his daughters death and does so by staying in supposedly haunted hotels around the country and writing reviews on them. He is disappointed although, because he never really sees anything paranormal in all his visits.

Then he gets a postcard from the Dolphin Hotel asking him not to enter room 1408. After much hassling from the proprietor (Sam Jackson) he manages to get the key to the infamous to room. The movie kicks off from there with the room retaliating against Enslin in one way or another. There are plenty of jumpy moments during the movie which initially starts out very eerie and somewhat scary. Unfortunately throughout the movie this formula becomes quite boring, with nothing new happening from then on. Also a good plot twist is ruined for anyone who watched the trailer. Enslin in my opinion wimps out rather easily for such a badass disbeliever of the paranormal. In under 10 minutes in the room he's pleading to be let out. Not really the reaction I was expecting! Hmm.

A rather less-than-satisfying horror. I'd give it a 3/5.

Pic: Emergency Exit

2007-12-05T22:59:00.000+10:00

This is probably the last exit I would take in an emergency. The scariest exit in Brisbane maybe?

Thou Shall Not...

2007-11-26T21:37:00.000+10:00

Check out this hilarious song/rant by dan le sac VS scroobius pip (Thou Shalt always Kill) :)

When I say "Hey" thou shall not say "ho"!

Pic: Hard at Work

2007-11-25T23:06:00.000+10:00

I captured this guy working himself to death on his laptop at Roma Street Parklands. It was much too nice a day to be working anyways....

Phone Fingers

2007-11-21T19:00:00.000+10:00

Tired of smudging your ipod touch, screen? Sick of making your PDA look like a crime scene? Phone Fingers are latex gloves which you roll onto your fingers when using your ipod, PDA or other device with a touch screen.

"This is probably the funniest accessory for touch screen enabled devices available!

Our Phone Fingers are made to prevent smudges and fingerprints. With Phone Fingers you won't have to clean your touch screen all the time and it's an eye catcher too."

Phone Fingers sell for around EUR 6.90 for 25 pieces (5 bags) of varying size.

Roldy and Kuuuuuumar

2007-11-19T19:33:00.000+10:00

Harold and Kumar make a come back in Harold and Kumar -2. It looks hilarious! :)

Demonoid Exorcised?

2007-11-19T19:14:00.000+10:00

I recently visited Demonoid and was greeted with this somewhat disturbing message:

"The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding.

We have brought online a forum in order to help the community stay together. This forum is not file sharing related in any way, it's just a mean to help the community stay together - please read the forum rules before posting.

You can visit the forum by clicking here"

What's the world coming to? What's next? Actually buying software and movies?! :P

Chuck Norris - Top 10 Facts

2007-11-14T23:39:00.000+10:00

I recently stumbled upon an old favourite - Chuck Norris facts! I've listed my top 10 CN facts:

1. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
2. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
3. Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill.
4. Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
5. Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.
6. Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.
7. Chuck Norris gave Mona Lisa that smile.
8. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
9. Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost.
10. Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills People.

Chuck Norris reading his top 10 facts about himself :

Google gets some chuck action:

1. Open a new browser and go to www.google.com
2. Type in find chuck norris
3. Click I'm Feeling Lucky

Grappino Restaurant

2007-11-14T00:27:00.000+10:00

Grappino in Paddington, is fast-becoming one of our favourite restaurants. A review can be found here.

Marvan Atapattu - Muppets

2007-11-13T07:14:00.000+10:00

Atapattu's take on why the Sri Lankan team to Oz is just so so bad:

While this take on Sri Lankan cricket may sound extreme, it unfortunately is more plausable than you think. Corruption is rife in Sri Lanka and the selection of the cricket team is a heavily political process. Hopefully this will stir things up for the better for the Sri Lankan team in future.

BSG: Razor

2007-11-06T08:11:00.000+10:00

"In the crucible of war, A soldier must let hesitation and doubts burn away, until all that remains is the honed edge of a living human weapon — what Colonial veterans call "a razor." But an edge so fine cuts in more than one direction. It can cleave an enemy to pieces … or it can carve away a person's soul." - scifi.com

The special two-hour episode "Razor", kicks off somewhere between seasons 2 and 3. It focuses on Lee Adama's first mission as the commander of the battlestar Peagasus, with flash backs on how Admiral Helena Cain and the crew of the Peagasus carried out many brutalities to stay alive. The episode has a dark brooding feel to it as it themes on the casualties of war and sacrifices made for the greater good.

There are cameos from the Cylons of the original BSG (which is cheesy goodness) as well as details on the creation of the original Cylon-Human hybrid. It also delves into why there is a tortured number 6 ("Caprica") in the brig. There are plenty of dog fights and emotive moments and Starbuck also makes a comeback so it is all good! :)

Oh yes.... and there is a prophecy thrown in for good measure as well! Woohoo!

All in all, a worthwhile watch for any BSG fan! :)

Teaser:

Pushing Daisies

2007-11-01T20:27:00.001+10:00

Annie and I have started watching Pushing Daisies, staring Chi McBride (who's funny as!), Lee Pace and Anna Friel. It's a somewhat gothic comedy about a Ned, a pie maker (who works @ the Pie Hole - I told you it was funny!), who can bring back the dead by simply touching them. There are a few disclaimers though: If he ever touches someone he has resurrected they will die again, but this time he won't be able to bring them back. Also if the resurrected person lives for more than a minute, someone else in the vicinity takes his place and promptly drops dead.

As with any gift the protagonist uses his gift to make himself some dough. He teams up with a detective to solve crimes by bringing back to life any deceased victims and asking them what happened! They then simply collect the reward and go on with their merry lives.

Each episode it narrated (by a narrator?!?) and has a somewhat Tim Burtonesque feel to it. If I had to compare it to something I would say it was a combination of 6 Feet Under and Sleepy Hollow - dark, yet funny in places while taking a rather interesting look at life and death.

I know. Sounds a bit macabre and I guess it is somewhat... but it's also very funny, if you like dark comedies!

Have a look @ some snippets below:

comic-con interview with an interesting twist:

Russell Peters: Sri Lankans in London

2007-10-31T07:42:00.000+10:00

In the standup below, Russell Peters does some standup about Sri Lankans in London. I've got a few standup shows of RP and he is funny as hell. His comedy is about racial stereotypes and he goes from Blacks, to whites to Asians, to Jamaicans.. and now Sri Lankans!

This portion of the standup mainly focusses on Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority that rocked up from India (so they are basically Indian's anyway). It's partly accurate since they only make up about 20% of the population! Shame on you Russell, do your home work the next time you decide to take the piss! :P

J 2Da T

2007-10-30T23:44:00.001+10:00

Yes, we went and saw Justin Timberlake in concert. There. I said it. Everytime we visit the BEC I swear it can't get any busier and everytime it gets busier! What thaa? We arrived 1 hour before the concert and we were in a parking queue over a mile long. Jeez man! I thought rocking up early would be the way to go but I guess everyone else had the same brain wave...only they arrived even earlier.

After wasting away in the pre-concert parking carousel for about 20 mins I noticed an unused parking area, Parking Area 4, directly ahead. Unfortunately a traffic guard stood between us and a park and a way out of this madness. When we drove up to the traffic guard I inquired if we could park in parking area 4 (as no one seemed to be allowed to park there and hence it was vacant). The following conversation similar to an Austin Powers skit ensued:

me: Can we park in Parking Area 4?
traffic guard: what?
me: Can we park in Parking Area 4?
traffic guard: what?
me: (thinking I was talking gibberish) Can we park in Parking Area 4?
traffic guard : (damn! 3 times!) go for it!

So he sends us (and only us I might add) from a sea of about 200 cars to parking area 4! The beauty of this was that there was no "charge" for parking there and, and, it was directly in front of the concert hall!! I mean what thaa? How good can this get? :)

Once inside we were ready to be disappointed by usual horrible food for sale. The BEC have definitely got to get some better food going on.

The concert itself was setup in a different format to the usual. It was a "Arena" concert. (see pic below) allowing for even more people to pour into the same space! Aha! So this is how they crammed more people in there!

The opening act was a chick from Melbourne with beautiful voice but who's music bore no resemblance to that of JT. It was a bit of a mismatch to say the least. Anyhoo after about 4 songs she was off and everyone was getting excited for the arrival of JT.

Since this was an "Arena" concert, the singer would be facing in one of 4 directions at a time there were translucent screens which projected his image onto the other 3 directions.

I must say I was quite impressed with JT mainly because he played 3 instruments, danced for about 2 hours, gave away Au$100,000 to Steve Irwin's "Wild Life Warriors" on stage and started the show with tequila shots with the band!

I was also impressed by a full live band supporting JT and the rockified version of "Cry me a River". The light show was amazing, probably the best we have ever seen @ the BEC. Good on ya JT! :)

Damn Spotty!

2007-10-29T21:26:00.000+10:00

Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard”, is the name of the newest release of the Mac OS X operating system for Apple Macs - the successor to Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger". What's with all the wildlife references? Speaking of references, isn't a Tiger more ferocious than a Leopard? What's next? Mac OS X 10.6 "Mier Cat"?

Leopard was released on October 26, 2007, and since its release Mac users have been behaving (even more) strangely than before. Firstly they seemed to have lost all artistic skills, many being reduced to primary schoolesque caricatures of real world objects (an example is shown below):

Secondly the "I just won the lottery" syndrome of users who pre-ordered the little sucker. If only you had thought ahead, you could be as happy as I am right now! You fools! Hmmm.

And finally the unstoppable need to take dodgy pictures of the Leopard "packaging" which is "way cool".

Bringing "sexy back":

Here's an overview of what's new:

Resident Evil - 3

2007-10-26T00:07:00.001+10:00

I saw Resident Evil - 3 a couple of weeks ago at the cinema. I know lots of people were turned off by the 2nd movie (surprisingly I was not!). I really liked part 3, but then I like any movie with super human zombie-killing hybrids in it - call me easy to please! :)

If you liked parts 1 & 2 you'll definitely enjoy part 3. Check out a sample trailer below:

30 Days of Night

2007-10-26T00:01:00.000+10:00

A decent-looking horror movie on the horizons @ long last! 30 Days of Night seems to be the goods and is doing very well @ the US box office currently. Check out the trailer below:

Whole Lotta Love

2007-10-25T07:38:00.000+10:00

We've all heard "Do it with Madonna" but not much else from the Androids. I saw them live @ Pink's concert a few months ago and they rocked the place even though they were only a support act. They mentioned an upcoming album which is yet to be released. What's going on guys? Check out the video for "Whole Lotta Love" from their new album:

Funny Foster's Add

2007-10-24T08:08:00.001+10:00

BSG Season - 4

2007-10-24T08:02:00.000+10:00

I was pleased to learn there will be a 4th (and final) season to BSG! Yay! The 3rd season did end with a huge cliff hanger, so it would be good to find out how everything wraps up. Enjoy this promo for the new season starting 2008:

iPod Touch

2007-10-24T07:49:00.000+10:00

Macworld does an unwrapping and first look @ the new ipod touch:

Linkin Park

2007-10-23T23:56:00.000+10:00

Annie and I went to the Linkin Park concert this Monday night. I have yet to see the BEC as busy and as jammed-packed as I did on the night. We had to stand in line for a good 20 minutes just to buy memorabilia - something that has never happened to us before! Who knew LP was so famous down under.

Chris Cornell opened for LP and totally rocked the place with songs such as Black Hole Sun, Spoon Man and a heap of other faves from Audioslave and Soundgarden.

The guys from LP received what I've seen to be the loudest welcome ever @ the BEC (surpassing Pink and Aussie lads Powerfinger!) Every song was fully loaded delivering 100% everytime! The concert was concluded with Chester Bennington singing the last song on the shoulders of mosh pitters - a truly aswesom finale! :)

We then spent a lovely 45 minutes waiting to get out of the car park! Woohoo!!

Dodgy phone pix follow:

Iron Man

2007-10-18T23:41:00.000+10:00

Every other super hero has his own movie so why not Iron man? The trailer looks very cool!

Hitman

2007-10-18T23:27:00.000+10:00

Hitman is yet another PC game turned movie. It looks semi-decent. Check out the trailer:

What is (Red)?

2007-10-14T09:46:00.000+10:00

What is (Red)? (Red) is a business model used by businesses to allow consumers like you and I to determine how our money is put to use in helping others in need - in this case helping those with AIDS in Africa. Part of the profits from (Red) products and services is donated so that medication for AIDS can be purchased and given to those that desperately need it in Africa.

The products themselves are very well designed (clothing, mobile phones, ipods, credit cards etc) and are offered by many well-known companies such as Gap, Motorolla, Apple, American Express etc. As such your fashion sense will not take a hit when buying any of these products! The only qualm I have is that we can't buy these products in Australia at the moment. I think that would be a move in the right direction as I know many people who would like to buy these products and help this cause/business model in Australia.

Many Artists such a Common, Joss Stone, Elle McPherson and Bono have also made statements publicly supporting (Red) either through their work or on their own.

Below is the (Red) manifesto:

Have a look at the (Red) website here and become part of the solution.

Bono on joining (Red) for world Aids day:

Bono on making helping Africa "sexy":

Common and Joss Stone speak about (Red):

Hallmark (Red) Ad:

Chris Rock, "Use (Red), nobody's dead" :

Tell Me What Were Gonna Do Now

2007-10-13T21:53:00.000+10:00

Annie put me onto this cool new song by Joss Stone ft Common (there he is again!) called "Tell Me What Were Gonna Do Now". Check out the video below:

Jumper

2007-10-13T02:38:00.000+10:00

Finally, and interesting scifi movie on the horizon staring Samuel L Jackson and Hayden Christensen: check out the trailer here:

Supernatural Season 3

2007-10-10T23:52:00.000+10:00

Yay! Supernatural Season 3 is finally here! Saw episode one a few days ago and it rocked. Check out the promo below:

Living Darfur

2007-10-10T23:45:00.001+10:00

A cool song by Mettafix about the distaster in Dafur.

Fact or fiction?

2007-10-06T10:26:00.000+10:00

Friends put me on to Derren Brown. Is it real or just trickery? Have a look for yourself.

Backstreet's back a'ait!

2007-10-06T10:21:00.000+10:00

The backstreet boys are back with their new single, Inconsolable. Enjoy! :)

Drivin' Me Wild

2007-10-06T10:06:00.000+10:00

Enjoy the video to this catchy song by Common (Ft. Lily Allen). Enjoy! :)

Kanye West - I wouldn't Trust the Media!

2007-10-02T21:22:00.000+10:00

Here's a Kanye skit on himself! Hilarious! :)

"Oh! Hell No!"

Van Tramp

2007-10-02T21:11:00.000+10:00

I recently received a link, to a song from band I'd never heard of before, named Van Tramp. The song is called "Hope & Pray". They sound like a cross between Train and Maroon 5 and I'm looking forward to hunting for their album at HMV.

Check out the video, it's pretty sweet:

Heroes Season - 2

2007-10-01T20:56:00.000+10:00

I saw episode 1 of the new season last night and it's very good! Yay! A few new players and an interesting twist @ the end! :) Check out this teaser in the meantime:

Matchbox 20 - Exile on Mainstream

2007-10-01T20:24:00.000+10:00

Matchbox 20 recently released their Exile on Mainstream album. Quite to my surprise the album was released in Oz before the states (Well, actually before Amazon, so I could be wrong!). You can get it for around $22 at HMV. The biggest let down is that it is not a full length album (although there are 2 discs). There are 6 new songs and 11 "oldies but goodies". This why I haven't purchased the album....yet. I'm sure I will in the coming weeks though! ;) Here's the current track listing:

Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. How Far We've Come
2. I'll Believe You When
3. All Your Reasons
4. These Hard Times
5. If I Fall
6. I Can't Let You Go

Disc: 2
1. Long Day
2. Push
3. Real World
4. 3am
5. Back 2 Good
6. Bent
7. If You're Gone
8. Mad Season
9. Disease
10. Unwell
11. Bright Lights

I recently heard a Rob Thomas/MB20 song I had never heard before. The song was unfortunately not on the new album. I later found out that the song was named "Little Wonders" and was off the "Meet the Robinsons" soundtrack.

Zen Habits

2007-09-28T18:33:00.000+10:00

I recently came across Zen Habits It's a web site that focuses on habits and practices that make our lifes more fulfilling and enjoyable. I found the articles very helpful and insightful. Give it a go and see what you think.

What the Hadoop is going on?

2007-09-26T23:13:00.000+10:00

I recently started researching Hadoop, which is a framework for running applications with very large data sets and/or high computational requirements across large numbers of commodity hardware. Large data sets in this case range from TeraBytes to PetaBytes and large numbers of commodity hardware range in the thousands! :) If you are wondering how you could get over a 1000 pcs in one location have a peek at the pic below:

Commodity hardware implies your average pc and related hardware made for consumers. So basically these types of frameworks give you massive processing capabilities by networking heaps of regular PCs.

Hadoop is an implementation of MapReduce. MapReduce is a technique which facilitates the fragmentation of very large processing into smaller fragments (Maps) which can be executed in parallel across the large number of machines. The intermediate results of this processing are further simplified - the reduce.

Hadoop is based on Google's MapReduce implementation. Google's MapReduce further runs over GFS (Google File System) which is a distributed file system. Hadoop has its own MapReduce implementation and HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) which it runs over. The distributed file systems are needed for scalability, performance and fault tolerance.

If you want to give Hadoop a go there is an excellent tutorial on how to set up single node and multinode Hadoop clusters on Ubuntu.

Will Anderson - Wil of God

2007-09-26T23:08:00.000+10:00

I'm gathering a group together to go and see Will Anderson at the Powerhouse this November (6th-18th). If you are interested in coming along drop me an email. I will probably buy tickets by next week. A description of the gig can be found here.

Oktoberfest hits Brisbane

2007-09-25T21:34:00.000+10:00

This year the Oktoberfest Brisbane will run from Friday the 5th of October at 2pm to Sunday the 14th of October at the new Musgrave Park venue. Details can be found here. If anyone is interested in going let me know.

Something for Kate

2007-09-24T20:49:00.000+10:00

We went to see Something for Kate @ the Zoo over the weekend. They sounded excellent live and there were heaps of SFKers getting into it. One in particular, who seemed to think he was at a rave...must have been the recreationals he was on!

I must say I like the Zoo a whole lot better than the Arena and BEC. We'll be going for more gigs there I suspect. All I have to show for it is this dodgy pic taken with my mobile phone! :) (and a fantastic time ofcourse!)

An excellent "Last Lecture"

2007-09-24T01:27:00.000+10:00

Here is a small video of a last lecture given by a professor at Carnegie Mellon University which is pretty awesome:

"If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you" :)

Genesis

2007-09-21T20:28:00.000+10:00

Hello, and welcome to my blog! :)

Stay tuned for craziness and some insights! :)