website update

I've created a new front page graphic for my website. I think I'll keep the `three biscuit' logo happening for a bit. I quite like it. I'm now working on some new article content.

FreeWheelsEast

I was walking up Chapel St towards Channel Ten today and I got chatting to two cyclists from the UK who are well into a cycling trip around the world, avoiding air travel (trains and boats are ok, though!). Ben Wylson and Jamie Mackenzie had parked their bikes on the footpath in South Yarra and were `peddling' a booklet detailing their trip so far and chatting about how their journey was going. They have a website running called Free Wheels East.

I just watched the very disturbing film Seoul Train, on SBS, about the underground railroad movement in China, which is concerned with getting refugees from North Korea out to safety in more friendly countries than China (such as Mongolia). The program website provides lots of useful discussion points and contact details of people to write to.

The crane's coming down

I'm really not sure how it's all going to work, but they've started taking down the crane(s) on the very tall Eureka Tower. I was in the area today and luckily had the camera with me. The smaller crane removed the boom from the larger crane, then lifted the boom apart, presumably to lower it part by part.

The smaller crane lifts the boom off the winch base

The boom is laid on the roof to be dis-assembled (view from other side)

The boom is taken apart.

Ship of Fools - 5 years of discussion

The forums (er...fora?) at Ship of Fools went online five years ago yesterday, I'm told. I've been a member for most of that time, and it's been an enriching experience of online community. I was on quite a bit in the early days, when I had a permanent net connection via the college where I was studying at the time. A couple of years of dial-up, moving cities, then on to broadband, leads to where I am now.
The UK-based Ship of Fools has become quite well known, and the front-end `Magazine of Christian Unrest' is but a portal to the bulletin boards within. Discussion of the world and all that is in it, in a place where no topic is taboo and moderation is strict (although there are private boards for some topics). The Ten Commandments of the board are enforced to enable a productive, fun and worthwhile experience for people with many various viewpoints. It has been interesting to reflect on the time I've been involved, and to see which `shipmates' are still there and who has (apparently) dropped off. Last year there were some notable events - including the passing of at least two shipmates.

It seems that there have been many people joining the boards in the last year or so - probably the increase in permanent net connections has helped here as much as media attention and word-of-mouth. I understand there were particular problems in the pre-2001 developments of the boards, but it has been heartening (in the long run!) to see people, who, on joining up, espouse some apparently narrow point of view like it's their god-given truth, then soften their stance in the midst of many people with many stories, going on to become a valued member of the community. Many parts of the Christian tradition are represented, with a notable (and not unsurprising) apparent lack of Pentecostal/Charismatic folk.
The virtual aspect of online communities is open for debate, I believe. We can no longer make a blanket dismissal of `virtual worlds' as being something less than the real thing. On one hand, people can sign up to Ship of Fools with a good degree of anonymity (as long as they have a valid email address), and `outing someone' is frowned upon. In such an environment, I like to think that people can share quite personal stories in relative confidence. On the other side of the deck, real-life Shipmeets are a frequent occurrence, and there is a section of the boards dedicated to organising such gatherings. I think I've met about 50 of the 10,000+ members, in Australia, North America and Britain. Not a lot, but enough to provide a vague idea of who's on board.

So happy birthday to the SOF Boards. I'm very glad you're here.

R.I.P. G4

The PowerPC G4 is now obsolete, with the introduction of the MacBook, which is replacing the iBook and remaining Powerbook model. Looks like a good machine - Intel Duo, 13" widescreen, digital audio i/o , native extended desktop. It does have shared graphics but that will be fine for many people, I'm sure. There is an option of getting a MacBook in black, but it seems that you pay quite a premium for this (the other extras with the black one hardly justify it). I'm glad I've got my black Pismo, and it seems to get on fine with the 12" PB so I think I'll be right for a while.
I was reading in some Mac material that Adobe have put out an update for Photoshop. In the current Mac climate where Adobe is under the hard glare over a MacIntel-ready Creative Suite, `update' can be a powerful rumour. No big deal though - just a regular update with a few bug fixes, it seems.

Malick's latest

I went to see The New World last night. Terrence Malick makes few movies, and they're worth the wait. His last film The Thin Red Line is one of my favourite films, and one that I think I'll enjoy for years to come. This new one is definitely `vintage Malick', if such a term can be used. Sunlight through trees, birds flying, lingering landscape, and grass. Lots of grass. I went to this film with great expectation and it delivered on many levels, but it's not his best. The cinematography is marvellous. John Horner's score works quite well - perhaps a little `forced' and not as free-flowing as Hans Zimmer's work on TTRL.
Terrence Malick seems extra self-indulgent here - especially with his `people' shots. Arms. Hands. Shots from below. The close-up scenes of the key characters dancing in the forest are many, and one is required to suspend most belief, resisting the need to dwell on details and practicalities.

Malick seems to work on a different tune when film-making. A pretentious and cliched "I made this film for me" sentiment is perhaps in effect with much of his work, yet he draws me in deeply. He can linger, and invites us to linger, and be enriched enormously in the process. Whether there is a satisfying conclusion to this lingering is a decision to be made by the audience.

Using a VCR to be finally decriminalised?

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has made a further announcement about proposed changes to copyright laws in Australia. Recording a TV show to watch later and ripping CDs to MP3 and other digital formats to be made legal! Just think...those everyday technological tasks undertaken by the least techy technofreaks like using a VCR for its intended purpose and filling an iPod from your CD collection will actually be permitted in Australia. A fair-use policy. About time. I'm sure many people are not even aware that such things have been illegal in this country. I do wonder what loophole was exploited in the late 70s when VCRs first went on sale.

In other news, those who remember the Church of Fools may be interested that Ship-of-Fools' Simon Jenkins is assembling a new venture - picking up where the other left off, I guess - in the form of St.Pixels. It's in the early stages so far. Keep an eye on it. Cool name.

Well, the guys are finally out of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine. If the media is to be believed the good humour of the trapped miners continued all through. Parallels were already being drawn with the Quecreek mine rescue in the US in 2002, and it seems a reasonable comparison, with the sad note in the Tasmanian case that not everyone made it out.

I caught up today with Ben Whimpey from Orsino Images, and he seems full of ideas of where his video production company could head next. It was also good to get a fix of discussion about Apple, HD cameras and audio! My new Powerbook is now loaded up with RAM and will run AVID Free DV quite happily.


For those webcam fanatics who've had their fill of online eagles, the Mt.St.Helens webcam is always worth bookmarking, even though right now it's a tad dark.