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Showing posts from July, 2007

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

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The Sydney Conservatorium of Music , (re-)designed by Chris Johnson and the architectural practice of Daryl Jackson, Robin Dyke and Robert Tanner, completed in 2001. I like the castle / palm juxtaposition - nicely incongruous.

Canon IXUS 950 IS

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There are many things to like about this camera - the fast shutter speed, the balance between control and overloading functions, the general small size (although if you put it in your pocket, it's noticeably a bit heavier than, say, the Olympus mju 780, which I was also considering). Beyond the great picture quality, the coolest part I have to say is that when viewing photos, the LCD screen rotates its image to match how you're orienting the camera. That and the fact that the face-detect auto-focus can actually track faces, say if your subject is moving her head.

Back in Sydney

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The last time I was in Sydney was post-JC, way back in December 1996: a gawky kid, 14 kg lighter. It was my first taste of independent travel - sure, I'd been overseas without my parents before, but even then others had helped set the itinerary. Sydney 1996 was the first time I ever planned a trip, decided where to go. So it was with pleasure that I re-walked the streets of the Rocks today, and re-visited the Museum of Contemporary Art. (Last time I was at the MCA, a brilliant Keith Haring show was going on. This time around, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that there was an exhibit of Matthew Ngui , the Singaporean/Australian artist whose work I've seen at the National Museum and at Potong Pasir MRT. Very inspiring.) And this time round I got to going onto the Harbour Bridge, from which vantage point this shot - captured by my new Canon IXUS 950 IS - was taken.

Like a Sturgeon

Jumpin' sturgeons . Somehow this reminded me of those scenes in Asterix comics where fish fights broke out...

Alan Johnston Freed

Wow, great news . Just last night I was listening to an old BBC podcast where Johnston's parents were wishing him a happy birthday to him in captivity, and it was pretty heart-wrenching.

The Stadium

Was at the National Stadium area, too, on the last day of that grand old dame. Sure, it was definitely showing its age, but I'll have fond memories of watching Malaysia Cup games there (the Abbas Saad -Alistair Edwards days, or even the T Pathmanathan days). And I'll remember the two National Day Parades I was conscripted into helping out with in that area.

The joy of text

Man, it's been a blistering few days - in between work and "last chance at a 5% sales tax" moments there's been close to zero blogging time. But I did get caught up on iPhone hype news (and read the David Pogue / Walt Mossberg reviews). Still waiting for a review from someone who texts on a regular basis to see how the text input works - somehow, watching Pogue's podcasts and reading the Mossberg profile in the New Yorker, I don't see them as regular SMS users, though I could be wrong.