One mans left overs is another mans jewels...

SLAB from CIRCULATE on Vimeo.

Just spotted this chunk of "left over" footage on Drift. As they said and I quote

"That’s why I was particularly stoked to get an update from Matt this week with a couple of “leftover” (yeah right!) clips in it. In the first one, two of the best, most stylish Aussie rippers (by our humble assessment) out there, Josh Kerr and Asher Pacey, find shelter at a below sea-level slab. You can tell these guys really only feel at home with a nice thick roof over their heads. Good music+tube time=us chomping at the bit to see this one."

I agree. I will be checking out Way of the Ocean as soon as I can.

Laugh.... I almost wet myself.

I missed the Golden Globes but I just caught this video or Ricky Gervais in his opening. And I pissed myself, not literally, though almost. He has great comedic timing.
His material is exceptional and he is not above some self deprecation. Actually they are the best bits!

Now I wish I had of watched the lot. Thank god for the internet

Love ya work.

Peace

What's in a name?

I have been playing around with a Beta version of an image based web group called the Cargo Collective. It's a whole lot of designers, photographers, artists and other visually interested people. Good fun. Clean too mum!
Well the free ride is over, we can't expect them to do this for love forever, and it has migrated from Beta to the pay version. I have been enjoying making images that have nothing to do with events, logos and such forth, so took the lovely discount offered to us Beta users and have subscribed for a year.

Had this URL, 4to6foot.com parked for the past 6 months or so. Bit of an impulse buy. So I thought I should use it for my art, images, visual ramblings and the fact i love surfing images, old mags, movies and what have yous. Why did I buy it I hear you ask, well if you didn't you will. I brought it when working on the interior of a friends surf store here in Bali. He needed a new name for the retail end of his business and I thought it was a great name and just grabbed it when I was on Godaddy seeing what was and wasn't available. He wasn't totally chuffed with it as he liked the name but wanted to go for all numerals, 426foot wasn't available and so he ended up going with 526foot.com He is not as slack as me and has the whole site up. Check it out.

So mine is now alive. And the beast needs to be fed. I will add to it daily, weekly or monthly. You will have to follow it to know. If you have been liking what has spilled from my mouth onto these virtual pages over the past 4 years, then let it be known that I still tend to write a few words, probably too many, about life's little inspirations and irritations.

Hope you like my visuals.

Peace!

Long time to string a few words together

I think I will hang my Blogger hat up for a while. Nothing to report here. My musings go unnoticed and are washed up in the the plethora of would be triers I think it high time I go back to what I know. So if there are any of you that stumble upon these precocious musings and that they in themselves amuse you then perhaps you would look at some of my digital art.

I have started a visual blog and am trying to add something to it everyday. Don't expect the diatribes that I have here. I am spending my time in other places. Art, Photos and hopefully a sense of humour.
http://cargocollective.com/bluesky

See you there.

Peace

Ano.

PS I may have to come back from time to time to drop some verbal bomb, so watch this space!

Not an important post but a blast from the past.

It's been a week or two of rediscovery for me. Most importantly my kids got back from 6 weeks in Germany with their mum. Other items came in dribs and drabs. An old friend from school on Facebook here then another one there. Became a bit of a flood there for a moment three sisters, Jo, Chris and Michelle, then Karine, Jess and I see Michael there who I will have to catch up with, Edmund who worked for Concept Com and has now moved over to my friends company, Radius. Well he contacted me after about a two years so good to chat to him and hopefully we will get to work together again soon and then I happened upon this.

Like a lot of things from our youth that laid the foundation stones of who we are, how we act and when we laugh. The lesson once taught had been discarded and I had all but lost this skit in the back of my mind. So what joy it was to stumble upon this relic while researching old rugby images for a project next April, I like to get in early.

Hope You laugh, I did.

Enjoy


Peace!

Back to Work

Well the two week holiday to Thailand is over unfortunately. Far too quick! I have a couple of little stories that I am working on from my travel, just to let you know, and I will post them here, sorry about breaking the chronological order, but get over it already!

More pressing is a question I have for you all. Why is it that when you have a holiday, yeah yeah I hear you all saying but you live in Bali, your whole life's a holiday, for the records, it ain't so! Anyway, when you go away for a holiday then things happen. In my case after a couple of months of only dribs and drabs in the work department I go away and two good size, one is big, jobs confirm meaning that upon my return I not only have something to do, I have a heap of it! Murphy is often attributed to this type of phenomenon.
This week I jumped into it. The first few nights burnt the midnight oil getting the first one out the door (Part One of it) only for another to land in my lap. Of course this one was a rush rush as well. Such is my holiday guys. I was up until 2.30 this morning setting a scene up so that it would render while I was asleep. Of course unattended it ran awry and the results were less than satisfactory. It is now under control and I have sent the last files out.

I look at my inbox and the mass of stuff that has gone unchecked for the last week. I sift through it and a couple of gems appear. A friend of ours' Kris-Z, Gab's originally but I have known him for 20 years now so a friend of mine as well has a new album coming out. That is him on the cover, no not the black dude. They are called Brixton Boogie. A fusion of Funk, R&B, and pop. In the words of the immoral Molley Meldrum, Do yourself a favour and check them out. You can listen to them through their Myspace Page, Click Here!

So that is all I have time for now. May you all have a great weekend, think of me as I have to work on the job I pushed sideways this week to get the rush one out.

Peace.

A matter of taste

From Blogger Pictures

The other night we convened for what is fast becoming one of the
fixtures on the underground Bali social scene, a movie night. Subject matter is always around surfing and the night draws out an eclectic bunch or long boarders, fish riders, single fin aficionados and generally below the radar technicians of the fine sport of surfing.

It was after the movies and when some of the Europeans had bid their leave that someone around the table noticed that none of us were inked. Not a tattoo between the ten or so left sitting around the table. A glance around the table has us all pitted in the age group from 38-46. Sorry Dave & Made, I know you two are the exceptions.

To understand why this is really peculiar you have to look at our social ties. Well there are none. Sure we are all in Bali but that is what has drawn is together here in the now not during those formative years where the application of tattoos is done during the weekend night rituals fueled by a proportionate mix of alcohol and youthful abandon.

Today I sit on a plane flying from Bali to Bangkok and it isn't the case. A small gecko is climbing up in behind the ear of the girl next to me, a lass ahead has her hair parted into pig tails giving vent for a dragonfly on her upper spine, the guys arm in front of her sports tribal markings that do not correspond to the colour of his skin and would upset any self respecting anthropologist. What is with head and
neck tatts on women? Three that I can see. The third, a buxom blond further down the front has a bow tie at the back of her neck, is that tribal? I don't think so! Her man has flames streaming from his left wrist up his arm, which, when mingled with his freckles, kind of creeps across his whole body in little spot fies. Another twenty something couple is branded, he with his full arm in colours so bright that the ink still looks wet and I worry about brushing up next to him and smudging it. She has a little flower popping out where her harem pants do not quite meet her t'shirt. The lone lower looks lost on this side of the line. I wonder briefly about it's root system and smile.

They all have something in common as well. They are all under thirty five. Perhaps younger but I have been known to be wrong. Why is it these younger generations feel compelled to feel the needle? Really I want to know.

Landed - Bangkok is hot and steamy! I know, I'm not telling you something
you don't already know.

Lots of computer work this week...

Well I have been bolted to the computer finishing some renders, playing with the vids from the new camera and making a play list for Paul's 40th at Mano Beachside Cafe this coming Sat night. Ando, as he is otherwise known, is up here for a number of celebrations, one of them his own 40th. The other major one is Pip Leary's wedding to Bruce Lee. Ok That name is no joke but people I heard he is an amazingly genuine and nice guy and I for one wish her and him of course, all the luck in the world to making it in this new partnership. If I have time I might even gatecrash the wedding and party. We shall see. It's on the beach, how hard is it to just wander in...

Can you imagine the conversation it would be like this...
Ano! What are you doing here?
Oh I was just wandering along the beach Pip, gosh you look lovely in that white gown.
Ano how come you are in white linen slacks, ironed shirt, combed hair and goatee and have that lovely Mandarin Tea aftershave from Shanghai Tang on?
You never know who or what you might run into out along the beach Pip...

Yeah right!

So that is my lot. Here is the new video I put together of Maxi and I surfing. Little longer but a whole lot more interesting. Later


peace

The state of play

Well partners there is a new toy on the block and I thought that you all will need to see it. Actually thinking about this, you don't get to see it, it's a camera, I am not going to film it! It's a GoPro Surf camera. Click on the link if you want to see the camera.

All starts with a big plastic patch stuck on the nose of my board with bulletproof 3M tape. Love your work 3M. Anyway, that provides a mount onto which the camera is either able to be faced forward in the direction one is going or back at the rider. Which in this case, would be me, your pilot! A friend called it this morning 'My Coach' because in his view it made me slow down my movements and turns making me surf better. Mind you it also made me prance about a bit more. I call it showing off in front of the camera myself. Bound to happen on day one. Geez, I think you will always see a bit of it. But between, you me and a lamp post, that is not a bad thing if at the end of the day I surf better.

So with no further a due, here is a wave I got this morning. It is a single wave, the ride out at Canggu is long, it's great as it gives you time to think, to turn. I could have gone for another 10-20 seconds if I didn't act as a kook and move to much weight back. Oops slight giveaway there, sorry! Oh well you get that.

Let me know what you think as I am keen to publish some more videos if you all like them. Bugger it I might just publish them regardless.

Now sit back and enjoy the show...


Peace.

Up, up and away

My week is broken into two very distinct sections, actually there are three but I will keep it simple for the sake of the blog. Don't want you readers glazing over while I set the parameters of my little story now do we?

I have the a "without kids" section which is from Sunday arvo to wed arvo. and the "with kids" part that takes the rest. So today, being Friday is a with kids. My surfing is curtailed as I have to do kid run in the morning and afternoon. Editors Note:Please do not get me wrong, I want to. When I say have to, I do not say that I am doing it under pressure, duress or threat of bodily harm. If that were the case, and given where I live, I could quite easily hire a driver or maid to look after the delivery and pick up of my charges. No sir-ey Bob!

So anyway where were we, yes. The surfing part of the weekend therefore doesn't include Thursday or Friday mornings unless I go for a late one. Now I have been very lucky or karma has been smiling on me but up until late I hadn't missed too many of the swells that came through. But that all changed in April. Waves after waves would come through and each would arrive when I was unavailable due to local commitments or when I was out of the country. Why is that?

Today I missed out on surfing. The school drop off, heavy traffic and we arrived laste to school as well. Do not do that of a rule! Also had some errands to run. Gabi needed the car, she had a big drop off for her company, Bali Baby. Check it out it is going great guns! After that I had to go to Andrews to drop off a photo of me and some details, he is off overseas today for a couple of weeks of fun in Bangkok and Vietnam. Half his luck i say. Emily was there buying a painting. This great print of Andrew's nephew with a facemask and snorkle and a paragraph of text lifted from a 70's surf book. Very nice piece. Emily has a blog and that can be seen in my NEW IMROVED links section. She is here from New York and will fly home in a week when her 4 months runs out.

Then it was home to redo a floorplan for a shop. A couple of phone calls. An email or twenty, some work on the shop 3D, that I had to hold off on as I am downloading images from my camera I took of the existing shop yesterday at present so I can use them in the 3D. Gives me a chance to write some dribble here. Soon to pick up the kids.

Just emptied the iPhone as well. So here is a little cross section of images I have taken of late. Again using the great slideshow feature.


Tomorrow, Saturday, we will be back to the beach at dawn. Starters are Maxi and I at present, may be a couple of other candidates have been known to arrive late. Andre, one of Max's friends is a bit of a fixture.

So until then I have to go. Lots to do and never enough time.

Someone more famous said to me yesterday that to get one thing done a day in Bali is and achievement.

Given the above I have done well.

Peace

When it rains, I get wet

This past week has been one of mixed blessings. Computer trouble, big surf, small surf and movie nights. Maybe that depends on whether I can get the disk to burn. It's 5.30 and we kick off in an hour. The burn meter is still only half way across the bar, argh! My afternoon has been spent burning DVD's fast but wrong format on main computer with spiffy new motherboard, switch to laptop and Ano gets the right format but incredibly slow. Why is that?

On Saturday afternoon I took Maxi and his friend Andre on a white knuckle ride to Medewi. I should post some photos, I will but for now go to my Facebook page and look there as they are on the laptop and that is not going to do anything else at present other than finish burning that DVD. I have added the photos in a slideshow ~ Thanks David for showing me that one!


We had a great time there. The ride up took an hour and forty. Which is about standard. You zig zag in and out of this line of trucks and buses on roads that twist and turn through hills and dales. It really doesn't compare to driving in the real world. It's more like those Daytona machines in the amusement arcades that you race your friends on. Speaking of which, Maxi and I had a big session on some Japanese Hi-tech ones on our recent roadtrip through Java. It was in Jogjakarta and we were waiting for the movie to start. But that is a whole other post and a long one at that.

We arrived at 5 ish booked into the room, unpacked grabbed the boards from the roof and made it out into the water. The waves were around 4' but the wind had gotten to it. I sat out the back and the boys sat further inside. We spend the next hour and forty out there. Nice balance to the drive up.

Showers, simple meal at the warung on the beach and half an hour of throwing rocks, the boys not me, at other rocks because they sparked. Funny that! I tired of that and made my way to bed at 8.30 ish. I was asleep before they came in some 30 minutes later, according to them.

Why is is kids do not understand how to either whisper properly, they speak at the same volume as normal just change the tone, nor can they move around quietly without bumping into things which just happen to make the most noise out of all the furniture in the room. It's a skill. Just not sure what for. I was good at that I am sure! So at 5.15 ish they started their cacophony and wandered out into the morning. They returned some 15 minutes later and I inquired what the surf was like. They told me it's too dark to see the waves and proceeded to get ready to go surfing. Ha

So we were in the water at dawn and the funny thing was someone had beaten us out. We surfed until just before 9. Or as I like to put it just before my shoulder seized up. I had a knot the size of a footy under the right shoulder blade made from the drive and exacerbated by the paddling. I was ripe. We went in.

We breakfast not at the warung where we ate dinner but the little kiosk there in the front. It was a little different for Maxi, a lover of all things sweet. He ate mie (noodles) Well done that son of mine. Check out the funky old dude in the slideshow photos. The old girl is even funnier pinching the lads, slapping them lightly and jovially and generally running about creating mayhem. In my humble opinion it would have to be one of the best beaches, for the vibe, in all of Bali. Perhaps Indonesia. Big call I know. Love it though!

It is somewhere in here that the boys went back out for second surf but not before arming me at the little cafe with the camera and a second coffee. They are the shots you see of them. I am conspicuously absent from the shots because boys would never think of sitting out for a session so as to take photos of dad. Heaven forbid!

Andre's mum, Sabine, had tuned us to this guy who sells seafood along the foreshore. Morino or something his name is. Well we found him and orgaqnised for 2 kilos of crabs to be cook at that warung, the bigger one. Not the little one with funky old dude and grand ma!

But before we could partake we had to clear out of the room as it was a twelve check out. I made the two of them shower. Even though I knew full well that they would get a late session after the crab. Sometimes you just have to use soap! And no boys, salt water is not the same as fresh!

This big plate with 7 big blue swimmers was brought out. As kids we would measure a crab with a coke can across the top of its shell to know whether it was size or not. These were all well over size. Plates of nasi putih ( white rice) were placed in front of each of us and a dark red sauce in a bowl was added to the table. I gave the boys there first lesson in how to take a crab shell apart. Gave myself a couple of nasty cuts in the process. Furtive glances from other tables indicated that we were not only the centre of attention but also a certain amount of envy. 30 minutes later we headed out for the third and final session in the surf leaving only a pile of crunched shell in our wake. One great idea they had was to use a big flat river stone, which makes up the entire Medewi Beach, and lay a claw on it bringing another smaller river stone down to crack the thick shell of the crabs. Clever simple and easy to maintain. I will be getting a set of stones for home.

The afternoon session was once again corrupted by the wind and compounded by our aching bodies. There is only so much surfing one can do. But there are ways to save some labour. For instance we would paddle out into the lineup from the keyhole on the point going deep outside. Wait for one of the biggies to come rolling through, catching that for 100-150 metres or so. There you could just paddle to the side and catch another wave a further 100 metres and finally a little wave right to in front of the the boats that sit above the high tide line along the beach. There you stumble out and walk back around to the point to do it all again. Beats the hell out of paddling let me tell you.

We called it a day. we showered, packed the boards high on the roof of the car. I drank the first Coke (without alcohol) I have drunk in ten years as I figured I needed the rush to get me home in one piece. Belted up and entered the chaotic stream of vehicles heading back to Denpasar.

The trip was great the drive crap. Next time we go for two nights to make it worth it me thinks.

Peace.

When is a play on a world stage but the men aren’t acting?

When it’s the Hong Kong Sevens of course. Once a year teams from 24 countries come to Hong Kong to do 15-minute battles of endurance and speed, not to mention knock the be-jesus out of each other, in this stripped back version of Rugby.


Me I go there to hang out, take photos, shop and where possible drink some beer. Oh, and to work of course! Lets not lose sight of that now!

For the past 5 or 6 years I have designed corporate suites for a couple of companies. Over time the companies have changed but I still have the two suites to mould and make my own.


But we are ahead of ourselves. The place, people and games are but a vague blur from the starting point. They are important; they are the carrot for me. They are the main reason to apply myself all that time ago in front of my computer.


Briefly the process, I come up with a couple of different graphic approaches for each of the suites and send them off to get feedback, critique, abuse (rarely though it has been known to happen) direction and/or style tips. We short list them between our selves, or even lock in one approach but extrapolate it across the various areas and items that will be branded. Some work, others less well. Refine, design, submit. Finally the resulting art is satisfactory and the design is sent through to the client with a rational. A flurry of emails follow in its wake.


Slowly bits are designed and sent off for production other new bits are added to the list of things to produce and changes are a daily event all the while we watch the calendar, waiting for the day where we get to jet off to see our handy work. To fly there to immerse into Hong Kong, and of course, to drink some beers at the Sevens!


The big news is Cold Play were on my flight from Singapore to Hong Kong, sorry I know, I should have mentioned it before but I am now watered and fed and a lot more subdued. Sort of slipped my mind to this point. They travel with a lot of people. Oh and lots of stuff. Nothing else about them, didn’t chat, didn’t stop only realised when I was standing at the carousel waiting for my bag and LCD TV to come out. I saw them there with a huge entourage and about two tonne of bags some of which bore logos for the tour. I need a visual prompt sometimes. Cant always be quick.


Bugger, jackhammer! Urgh! I am in this room for 6 days and I have a jackhammer that starts at 8am. Hong Kong it truly the armpit of Asia, from a sensory perspective. The overload of smells, sights and even the tactile bits.


I had the morning to tour about. I looked in shops, went to H&M brought some new boxers and two jumpers because it is cold here, went to Shanghai Tang (one of my favourite stores here in HK) tried on some expensive jackets, sprayed myself with expensive after shave and exited to wander about some more, wished I HAD OF BROUGHT MY CAMERA, EVEN MY LITTLE HANDY ONE(oops cap lock).

There was this wild lady taxi driver, she had stuff all through her cab, above the speedo there would have been 5 or 6 phones, not sure why, books, animals, flowers, it looked like a lounge room in there. No one would get in, Hell, I didn’t either. I know I should have, but she really was weird and I was most worried about her ability to navigate the cab safely without being distracted by the myriad of shiny things in front of her. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling. Across the road were signs in Chinese and English calling Citibank to give compensation for losing peoples life savings, the cold hard light of the economic downturn. Is very evident here in Hong Kong. Have to get some technology while in Hong Kong. It is a prerequisite. No trip here can be concluded with out new Tech Gadgets and a foot massage.


Went to the box in the afternoon and finished off the graphics, ordered a couple of oversights and changes and padded about the place which in a few days would have 50 000 people wandering about through it. For now, there were just other teams of workers finishing off their own bits and pieces.


Went for dinner at American Peking for Tija’s birthday. I drank a lot of beer, more than I have drunk in a long time. Luckily it isn’t overly strong or my head would hurt more than it does. We even found the Kebab shop in Wan Chai on the way home. Every city has its kebab shop. Of course as one does in these fine establishments, we ran into an old friend from previous years Rugby. A Texan from Europe. I know it’s a great sentence, very visual isn’t it. Like us he too had had a couple of drinks and was partaking in the absorbing qualities that is this collection of chicken smothered with garlic sauce, laying in a bed of lettuce and tomatoes all wound up in a pita roll. I wonder if they taste any good in the daytime? Best not check!

Woke late, didn’t hear the Jack Hammer start this morning though it was there when I came too at 9.25am. Welcome to another wet and cold day in Hong Kong, well it’s not overly wet, showers, overcast at present. I hope the rain stays off for the rugby. Doesn’t help if it is raining. But first breakfast. Omelette, Canadian bacon, coffee, juice, ahhhhh.


Now I am stretching and getting ready to go to work. Will leave here just after 10. Have to be at the hotel before 11 to set up for the lunch then from there I have to go to the stadium and set up the AV in the suite. Stay there for 3 hours on my own and then everyone will arrive at around 4pm. Tonight I will finish at around 9pm. Urgh! For my amusement this afternoon I have several episodes of Flight of the Conchords to watch so I am not worried about being bored at the suite. My job is to just make sure it is already for when the client arrives with all of the guests. I also have a 32 LCD with me to play them on, everyone should travel with such a monitor, so I will be big screen entertained.

Just spent the last 15 minutes looking at iPhones, they want HK$4850 for one, is that good? I don’t know. Should I? Do I need it? Another toy, hmmm. I will think about it.

They came, they drank and ate and then left. We served them beers and wine. I took photos and chatted. Tired, but the really good thing is I’m not drunk, which is usually the scenario at 11.30pm on the 7’s Friday in HK . Bad news is I have put on about 2 kilos from eating and drinking this week; Well it’s Hong Kong for god sake and I would have done more damage had I been drinking!

Saturday is the real first day of the Sevens though the first 12 games are played on Friday afternoon.

Walked to the stadium, the good thing about staying in Causeway Bay. Sulked in the sprinkling rain up the hill. Actually walking around the city on the way from the hotel to the stadium is great, its a procession of weirdly dressed people all making their way up the hill, all trying to get there early enough to secure a spot, a good spot in the famous South Stand, it’s not every day that you see a collection of Smurfs, vicars, prostitutes (Usually boys dressed as girls), sheriffs, Indians (both sorts), the Gendarme about 20 of them too, some guys in fat suits, cowgirls, about 50 Steve Irwins, Hulks, hedonists, Cops, Generals, Mao’s and more.. That is the real Sevens. We are living a more sanitised version up in this corporate suite with free booze, though I am serving it not consuming it, free food and lots of great giveaways, hats, shirts, bags etc…


Come 6.30pm Sunday arvo and the Sevens had ground to a halt for another year. Fiji cemented their dominance by beating South Africa in a nail biting final. We cleaned up. I packed my 32” Hi Def LCD, looks great now in my lounge and headed back to the hotel. A quick clean up and then we went out and had pizza for dinner, Scott, Tija and myself. Quiet evening followed by an earlyish night. The morning came quickly to find myself standing at my window watching my little corner of Hong Kong waking. The view of the apartment block, across from my room, is slowly illuminating square by square, like a game show when you get the questions right. The sky is grey and promises another overcast and somewhat bleak final day for me. Bed is out of the question so I shower and disappear to the restaurant for breakfast. An omelet later finds me back in my room, I pack, I brush teeth, I spray aftershave on and then I peer yet again at the apartment building across the square. Before it was the tell tale signs of it coming alive, now the whole building has signs of life. I glance at the digital clock beside my bed. I have 8 minutes before the jack hammer starts and I can hear what city sound there are; cars and trucks and a general city din are the morning sounds that are reaching up the 14 floors to my room. I drift. It will be nice to get home to the frogs, birds and the 100 cc motorbikes again. I have had my hit of the city. I am ready for Bali. Oops out of time. Jack hammer has signaled this post must go.

And before I go, that iPhone. The Ayes have it. Boy gets new toy.

Peace.

Mad House Down at the Beach

This was some stuff I wrote on Nyepi Eve. I then went off to Hong Kong for the Sevens, expect an entry soon came home for two days and drove to Java with Maxi for two weeks. Expect another entry when I write it. This one is a day in the life. Shouldn't be too bad a read! Enjoy!

This morning was a mad house down at the beach.


It took 30 minutes to drive in; normally a 3 minute drive. You should have seen it.There were trucks full of people, cars, and families shoe horned onto the world’s smallest motorbikes. A cacophony of sounds, smells and sights. People, sirens, gamelan music, hawkers selling everything from plastic toys and food to Red Bull and watermelon, the odd chook and a sorry rooster was also to be heard letting fly with it’s announcement of morning. Smoke from small fires hung about the carpark- not sure if it was from the fires or if all the men had fired up their Garam Garams (clove ciggies) at the same time.


There were waves of people. They arrived as a village enmass descending on the area in and around the temple and overran it for their allotted time. Then they packed up- clambered aboard the various modes of transport and skedaddled just in time for the next wave of attendees. The event was like a finely tuned machine.


The trucks were used to transport the family relatives, dead and living. Each huge extended family stand in the back and get driven from one ceremony to another. Their ancestors are carried about in paladin-like structures with these little rooves, gold and finely carved. Truly lovely.


As for the Gods throwing water at the believers it was there in all of its glory. Just as I predicted but even better as the tide came in. Most of the time they sat in an orderly fashion along the shore but eventually they wandered down to make their offerings. There was people dodging in and out of the shore dump as it snatched at their feet seeming to want to drag them into the sea. Mocking, teasing.

Some people climbed on top of a rock right in the middle of this shore dump. It seemed as if Neptune was playing with the climbers making it more difficult for them to negotiate the sharp outcrops on their way up and down.


I shot this panoramic view that needed to be stitched together, not a bad job if I say so myself: I stood in the carpark and spun. Lovely pirouette it was too. You will see praying, trucks, hawkers and people. I chose a lull to shoot it as I didn’t want to upset anyone. What do you think?

In a moment not long after I took these photos I made my escape. Only took 10 minutes to get back to the main road. At one point I had to slow down as I met another wave of revelers head on, pulling over to let their parade pass.


So that was my morning, oh the waves were not as big as the hype but I did get some lovely ones. Had a bad hold down where I was inside and the white water sort of landed right on top of me but instead of pushing me forward in it’s wake, like they normally do this one pushed me down and pinned me to the reef. I fought it and just before my air expired it released me. I scrambled to the surface and gasped for air. My arms and legs fatigued form the fight and lack of oxygen. I paddled hard to the channel so I wouldn’t be caught by the next one. It’s times like that that I wonder why I surf. The feeling doesn’t last though and the rush you get falling down the face of the next wave neatly erases the thought from your memory.

Didn’t wear a sarong this morning, I felt very disheveled, but in true Aussie style I wrapped a towel around my waist and wet boardies to somehow emulate these immaculately dressed people around me.

Peace.

The swells roll in and me with it...

I'm Back! Typing stuff to FB seems to take a lot of any free time. Time that I might have to add my ramblings here. Big Col told me last week that he missed my little stories and so it is with that spirit that I plunge back in.

The work year will be somewhat slower than the last couple for me. All the big corporates have curtailed spending in the event and exhibit areas and I am left somewhat high and dry. Not to worry as i am sure things will come my way, always have so i can not see why they would stop now.

What is interesting is that I am diversifying. I laid out the interior of a shop for a mate. Designed a villa for another friend and I am doing a lot of Graphic design, especially PhotoShop work. It's good to get back on the tools, as it were, and ply my craft.

Off to Hong Kong next week for the Sevens. The yearly bash. I have designed the fitout for two corporate suites and have to make sure they hang the graphics in the right spot. For the skeptics there is some work involved here. It isn't all beer and balls. For the rest of you, your right it will be a bludge and I will be having the weekend off and attending the rugby with VIP passes.
Someone has to do it! May as well be me.

Life in Bali is good. I have set up home in Kerobokan and Gabi has the older place in Seminyak. The kids Spend half their time a each. Here is a description of the arrangements that a friend said summed it up well.

"Complicated refers to the lack of interesting options FB gives you to label your relationship. When you have (as I do) kids from Wed arvo to Friday evening, give one back after dinner keep the other so you can go surfing Sat morning then drive him to his acting classes in North Denpasar, grab him (as) he stays again Sat night and then we go surfing Sunday morning early followed, by breaky at Kudeta where we meet as a family. Then all return to our separate corners, complicated was the only option that added enough weight to the situation. It's not hard. I like it. I have all this 'me' time and then I have all this 'them' time. The balance works nicely"

I just realised that I do not have any photos of my house up here. Actually a friend, same one who said I summed up my complicated (FaceBook Term) situation quite well, said I had a lovely house. I do, but the piccies you saw are from Gabi's house in Seminyak. Here are some from Kerobokan. As each one says 1000 words I will leave you with them.

Oh and my puppy is called Sputnik, often referred to as Muttnik when she drags my shoes around the house...

Peace.

I'm Back!

After 8 months I think it is about time that I write once more about life here in Bali. Just to put it out there. I do not think that this is a good place to go back over why there has been an absence, those who know me know already. I thought it better to actually start the dialogue about life in Bali for an ex-pat Australian. Trials tribulations and best place to get a Nasi Goreng. So that is what I will endeavor to do. Perhaps people who read this will add their comments and it can morph to a point where it is a communal process rather than this dictatorial diatribe which so denotes blogs these days. Though if you want a narrator, I can do that as well.

Peace!

Licking my wounds

I thought that i should pen a few words here at some stage or another. That is until i saw my stars in this fortnights Bali Advertiser.

SCORPIO : Conceding defeat, is no easy task. Moving on, release and letting go, all a part of the process that follows. Usually, a sense of sadness and loss is inevitable. Feeling failure, is a waste of time. Count your blessings now, and move towards the future. Dwelling on the past will, only serve to lengthen the process and there is no time to be wasted on that. Forge ahead, and allow new inspiration to illuminate your path. What has transpired was a necessary part of your life process. It is over now.<

That has literally lifted the scabs on a couple of wounds let me tell you.

I will stay indoors for the next few days licking them.

Take care in the real world people.

peace

Mojito's away!

Most here would know of my love of the Cuban drink of choice, The Mojito. Hemingway drank them what more info do you want. I started the FaceBook Group... The Mojito Appreciation Society. For about 3-4 years it has been the drink we have when on tour doing events around Asia. I think the best is in HCM at the Park Hyatt. Served by a guy called Anthony. Genius!

I came across this ad for Bacardi while on Google, I even forgot what I originally was looking for. Go figure. Perhaps I need to get over there and have a look. That could be a lot of fun!

Peace.

More than a mouthful. BigMac!

I thought that 2 things are needed here. Firstly a post about something other than the rock in the ocean we call our home, but something that is reasonably near and dear to me and mine. The second thing was i wanted to show friends and family that although I may live in a tourist resort I have not hung the back in 5 minutes shingle on the door to my brain.

Entrance MacHEADS the movie. I have happened across the site the other day and was blown away. Friends who know me know of my long standing relationship with the Mac. I had a classic, a Duo, Gosh, I am designer, they were ours. I have argued with friend's about their importance, arguing about their superiority (with that certain smugness that only a MacHEAD has) and I am now realizing that I have been standing up for the Apple brand for over 15 years. Just a note here to any Apple employees. Long service gift?? Do you have my address?? Phone me??

Funny how I have been part of of Brand culture and I wasn't even aware of it when the whole time I have been using them, my miriad of Mac computers, to shore up and emphasis other companies brands using the my Mac and the software within. Nice irony..

On a local note, there is this one coffee shop, the Tuck Shop, over here that wont let you in (I am kidding but it looks that way) if you bring out a PC. Mac has now become the status symbol of the traveler, the world weary. I doubt if it's because the ubiquitous little 13" screens match so nicely with the white laminate tops of the tables, or the porcelain mugs of steaming Latte's, machiato's and ginger tea. No the interesting thing is they have become cool. Once the bastion of geeks and designers Mac has made design theirs and is offering you the rub off if you buy in. But where does that leave us "power users"? the ones that use them because once upon a time you had to and since then it was just too hard to learn how PC's work.

MacHEADS trailer

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So the point of this whole Blog today is to introduce this movie and to take a look at the trailer. I am now with baited breathe waiting for when i can see the thing in it's entirety.

But enough of me and my mac. I have to get back to designing an event for Microsoft....

Peace.

Cock-a- doodle-do I see you!

We had the house blessed a few weeks back and I started writing to tell you all about it. Not to mention to whack some stuff on the Blog and keep that ill-tempered brother of mine at bay. Just kidding Barry! So today I am finishing those words.

Let’s face it people, I suffer from the myriad of keyboard allergies that are out there or is it that there are so many other things that need to be done at any given point in time that trying to keep up any sort of communication network with friends bows and finally snaps under the weight of the worldly burdens we are meant to bear. Add to that the countless hours that I toil away in front of this electronic alter and I think I have a solid enough case against writing. Or perhaps it is because I am too lazy to write. I will have to ponder these...

Deep enough for you? Wade on in, the waters fine!!!!!

Enough!! Here is something to read which I hope you will enjoy. A brief window in to a world slightly left from our own. Again I have to emphasis that this is chronically out of order and I have taken the liberty of writing the finish in a present tense so it reads as if I wrote it on the day, which I did do for most of it!

Life here is getting pretty standard. I am listening to the cockerels in the lane cockedoodeldooing. The priest who owns all this land owns them. His wife (she would have to be the ex as they can’t keep them once they cross the path to priesthood) and/or sister are setting up at present for the house blessing of this our new home. Tomorrow is Galungan a major Hindu festival; our staff will have two days off. One for the festival and Thursday is apparently the day to visit relatives; last night & tonight is full moon. All in all it is a very good day to have ones house blessed. We don’t want those pesky evil spirits hanging around do we?

Quiet Chucky!! Between the dog barking at the old ladies setting up for the ceremony and the aforesaid roosters the only other noise is the hum of the fans in my Mac. Although we are only a hundred metres from the main road we might as well be a world away. Nothing seems to penetrate. How good is that!

The new house is full of our things and more like a home than next door ever was. We are making our mark, perhaps we are also over the tire kicking phase of our time here making a commitment to live here and immersing in it rather than floating on top akin to a sun pinkened holiday bloated body adrift in the Black Sea. For all the European readers out there, a little eastern block anecdote to make you feel right at home.

Here we cringe when we come across the archetypal Aussie family. Dad and son have Bintang T’shirts or singlets, the wife and daughter have platted hair, painted nails, perhaps they all have fake tattoos. One or more sport a burn from a scooters exhaust pipe. They are all over weight. They are my kinsmen. The great unwashed. To them a trip to Bali is going overseas. Gosh, just writing this makes me proud and humble all at the same time.

Time to pause here and photograph the proceedings outside. More later. 9:50am

Well a couple of photos and much chatter, from the two women who were the advance ceremony team, later we still await the arrival of the priest. He only lives next door. Perhaps he is busy off doing other ceremonies. Special days mean they are in high demand. Waiting is something that the Balinese do very well. They wait for things to happen on an hourly basis not just daily. Explains the whole concept of rubber time, which I read yesterday, is a direct translation of ‘jam karet’, meaning that things in life are supposed to happen in a very relaxed fashion. I suppose that is why to this ‘time is money’ bule (foreigner) the Balinese just seem to cruise along in the day-to-day lives.

I also read that the Indonesians rank as one of the most relaxed countries in the world with regard to time. Second only to Mexico. I know which I prefer to live in at this point though! I must wonder how that correlates to number of heart attacks. I will once again see what is happening on the ceremony front. 10:23am

11:14am well it’s over. Some flowers rice and water. I think there was vinegar in there as well. Still wearing my sarong, it’s comfortable on a warm day like today... Sorry too much information I know. The house is awash with petals and water. Mixed in are scuffmarks from the ladies grubby feet as they went around blessing the various rooms of the house with splashes of water and petals. The down side of walking around bare foot is they do not remain pristine during the day. It was a moving experience. Though again we played the waiting game.

The Priest, Pak Nuymen, who lives next door and is the son of the landlord, Pak Made, came in with his dish full of tools. Two women prior to his arrival set everything up; a third joined them mid ceremony. He took up position and started chanting in a low murmur. The women for their part didn’t let up on the nattering that they had started when they first arrived. There was no quiet reverence. It was a tad weird. On he chanted and on they nattered with our pembantu, Komang, joining in. Made made a little fire in the yard from two bricks and some bamboo. It was this little fire that would transport the evil spirits away after the cleansing. The smoke caught the rays of sunlight penetrating the thick foliage we have on that side of the house and I could almost see them being dragged off. For our part we really weren’t quite sure what to do or even where to sit. Taking signals from Made, our gardener, we waited for the ritual of kowtowing that was the climax of the ceremony. We each drank, ate rice and stuck some to our foreheads. I even got a nice flower behind my ear. And then he was gone. I could almost hear him say, “I came, I prayed, I kicked the spirits butts!” As I said, almost.

So there you have it. Try that at home! Life here is definitely tinged (Ok liberal dash) with the exotic though I have a sneaking suspicion that too much exposure will undoubtedly dilute this and make it the norm. For now I have work that has gathered in my inbox that needs attending to.



I will leave you of some shots of the new home, our Teak bed that rides on these antique feet from an old house, an Ano design of course and complicated as all hell and the refurbished bathrooms that are swimming in terrazzo.

Peace!

Long time no write.

Salamat hari raya. Today is the last day of Galungan. It is called Kuningan. It is a magical time in Bali. The Balinese seem to wear their traditional dress almost every day and the streets are lined with these amazing bamboo poles with offerings and little woven alters. I will see if I can’t get a photo in here to show you.

The power is off. I was working on a couple of jobs, one for the Hong Kong Sevens, I do a couple of corporate boxes there and my design for one of them came back telling me they wanted something a little ‘lighter’ & ‘more pleasant’, I mean it is Rugby people! But they are the clients and the other is for Amway China. They have an event in Melbourne later in the year. So the outage has forced me to take a break, coupled with the hounding by my brother Michael to get some additions to the blog I will generate some words about what has happened of late.

Gosh, it has been a while. Merry festive season people. May 2008 be more than you want it to be. The first month is already finished. Speaking of months. The fore sworn brother his wife Fluff and their 3 sons, Larry Curly and John were here for a month over the New Year. We took their house in Perth for 10 days of it. We got 40+ degree days and they got tropical rain and hot humid days. Fair swap me thinks. When we got back we drove first up to Ubud for a night, we ate at Naughty Nuri’s. Fantastic. The racks of ribs were unreal, and the cocktails, first class. Very weird sitting in a place no bigger than a warung having one of the worlds best frozen margaritas, next day we drove up to Lovina, Lovely sunsets, Fluff and Maxi swam with dolphins. Maxi thought the dolphin, was it Jack? Or John? Never mind, anyway he asked the guy in the water with him how many fins a dolphin had? He thought he had 4. In fact he had his keel extended. Anyway, both of them got a tad excited with Maxi.

From Lovina we drove east along the coast to Amed. We stayed at new bungalows owned by some Dutch parents from the boy’s school. It was nice and we snorkelled in the afternoon. Not my cup of tea but if you are a diver apparently it is the bees knees.

Started going out to Canggu again in the mornings. The wind blows in from the west during the wet, which is onshore out there. That wind has now started to swing. It also doesn’t blow as early. The swells are the next thing to change. We will see them building from now into April. Also I have to rid myself of the spare tire I built over the festive season and all the beer I drank. Michael, geeze he is getting a good plug here isn’t he? He has put me onto this soup diet, so I am at day 5 of just eating soup. Today I get to eat a piece of chicken, yippee! Looking forward to that. Not sure how much weight is going as we do not have scales but I feel alright. So a couple more days and then I will swing over to a Low GI (Which is the same thing just I get more variation) eating plan. But It is great to get up at 6 and ride the bike out to Canggu every day. So peaceful at that time of the morning. A lot of locals are about but they are going to work or home from work. Good thing about the low GI is I can have a glass of wine. It is also a week without a drink, which for me is a long time. I would have one a night at least. More over the break but I had it back to one since getting back from Thailand.

So the power is up and I think I had better get into it.