Firestorm

As you may have noticed on the news there has been a large amount of fires around Melbourne over the last few weeks. The lead up to the worst day was indeed a sign of what was to come. For over a week the temperature in Victoria (the state of which Melbourne is the capital) was over 35 C and for the last 3 days it was over 40 C.

These days basically killed and dried everything out. I have some pictures here on the way home from work over the week in which it cooled down. It is easy to be confused and think it was Autumn. Some pics below of this.

Near my house on the way home from work

The grass outside my home

On the day the fires broke out and in some case deliberately lit it was the hottest day ever recorded in Victoria, with the temperature being 46.6 C. I didn't feel hot yet dry. It really was just a dry heat where I felt the sun burning me black when outside. In the afternoon the sky and city had a sepia look as seen below. I was completely oblivious to the fires raging about 100 km North-East of Melbourne.

The sky in Melbourne the day of the fires.

I did catch on later as I read the newspaper. I was a little concerned about where the fires were. I was relieved to find out none where near my Dad's. He was a little oblivious too, and only when the smoke came over at about 6 pm he became very concerned. Although the fires were far from his house and he was safe, it was unsettling. Here are some photos of the smoke clouds coming to Rosedale.

Photos from my Dad in Rosedale








On Friday the 13th I noticed that once again Melbourne still had that smokey feeling, a taste of smoke in the air, and the sepia look as seen above. Yet when I was running, I found myself drawn to looking at the sun, like a sun worshiper. I was in awe of its power to destroy and create energy. The sun was sitting bright in the red sky reminding us all about its power. Too bad the solar industry has been crippled by the coal industry in Australia.

The sun in the sky in Melbourne 6 days after the fires. Reminding us of its power.

I recall once debating with Eric (from LX) about what was worse a cyclone (hurricane/ typhoon) or a tornado and conceded that tornadoes dump all over cyclones in power. After reading some of the stories of survivors from the fires, for example statements like napalm running through the jungles, or an animal trying to trap its prey at breakneck speed, I think the firestorm is more powerful then the tornado. Thankfully, there frequency is less.

Many people I know have been affected by this tragedy. There is some good news. People have been very charitable and have raised around 100 million dollars for the affected people. I hope this will help the people affected to rebuild there lives.

Photos from the newspaper

Near the the town where I attended the wine and salsa night

The station at the town

The fires from the North East of Melbourne at about 8pm of the worst day

The firestorm approaching the Marysville

Marysville after the fire passed.

Smiley in the Sky

My last dance class was on Monday (1st Dec) and as I was making my way home I looked up in the western sky and saw the smiley in the sky. I wished I had of had a camera, yet then I remember my camera is not good enough to shoot in the sky. It was pretty magical to see it. I remember reading earlier in the day that the next time this event will happen is in 5 years. I am glad I did see it, as I did forget.

Melbourne was a little warm and clear which added to the magic. I felt impressed by the way the pattern of the two planets, Jupiter and Venus formed the eyes and the cresent moon made a smile. I had always wondered if I had seen planets and what they looked like and now I discovered that I had seen many planets before. The photo is ok, yet seeing it with my naked eye was breathtaking and a memory I will cherish (until I see it again in 5 years).

Photo from here

The journey to the north

A while back I went to my home town. A road trip with a full car to help my friend settle into a new town. Being there really brought back memories, and unlike being in Melbourne, which is beautiful, cosmopolitan, and bustling, I really felt peaceful, a calmness that I hadn't felt since being in Long Xuyen.

Along the way I managed to shoot some photos and videos. On Sunday, I decided it was time to get cracking on one of my projects I had thought about for a while - Showing the world how different Australia is. And a journey from the bottom to the central eastern coast has a lot of variation. Unfortunately when we got to the mountains it was dark and raining so I didn't get any pictures of this variation in landscape. Just imagine mountains with rain forest and lots of steep winding roads.

This is my first decent project with the Premier Video editing software. I am pretty impressed with the way it turned out, yet couldn't find the Star Wars transitions, although some karaoke regulars might notice some of the karaoke transitions present. I wanted to do the Indiana Jones type maps where the map scrolls in the background over the foreground, yet I didn't have the patience to find out how to do it. I did a quick variation which I think does the job.

I opened the soundbooth program for the first time and found it a bit ordinary. I quickly reverted back to soundforge yet found that I forgot what i was looking to do and went back to the open soundbooth program. After a short look I found an icon which looked like what I wanted to do and by trial and error I got the basic results I was after. I have to say with all the functions in soundforge it was overwhelming, and soundforge still looks more versatile than soundbooth.

Also with this project I have worked out how to encode the final vidoes better and keep the quality a little higher than the first attempt at making a video. Well here it is a video diary of the journey north.

Enjoy!

Melbourne Southbank at Dusk

The view from my office last night.

Fight night round 1

Friday night is amateur night, and I head up to Coburg to support 5 guys from our club. It was mixed affair with karate and Thai boxing along with (traditional western) boxing. First fight was a Thai boxing fight of 3 rounds. It was fast and hard. I distinctly heard at one point in the second round shin pad against shin pad. They sounded very thin as the bone crunching sound echoed around the hall.

The boxing matches were a little more civilised. The first two fights involved our club and they were victories. Next was a first timer. He really didn’t look fit yet he seemed eager enough to go. The match started and it quickly became apparent that he was outclassed. His opponent was able to tag him from everywhere. He lost in a unanimous points decision. The last fight was best described by someone we met on the way home.

@$#*! Look at that guy. If I was to fight him I would be scared. He is huge, and rippling with his muscles shining with oil, he looks like Iron Mike Tyson, a vicious bulldog. His bicep is as big as a watermelon. The fight starts and the crowd hushes as the bell rings. The fight has been going for a minute yet no one has thrown a punch. It is a Mexican standoff, both waiting for the others. Oh no, counter punchers. Finally it is like someone pushes them together and a flurry of punches by our guy sees two connections, a body and head hook. Then some more standoffs then the end of the round.

Now the last two rounds were just as good. The big guy thought it was gridiron, and went on tackling our guy. After two rounds the judges had no idea how to score this match so they just called it a draw.

Anyway, yesterday I went to the club to do my usual training, and I had a reality check. I knew I wasn’t really ready to go the distance in any competitive way. The guy who lost I had a spar with and felt it. If it was real I think I would have been taken to hospital pretty quickly. There is a big difference between the guys I had been sparring previously. Also I feel so unfit; the injury really has taken a toll. Well I am just happy I found out that I still need more time in the gym.

The rematch of the 1991 classic is on tonight (24 June 2008)

Energy and food

There seems to be a lot about the relationship between energy and food being talked about in certain parts of the world. I wish I could get invited to sit around and do nothing for a few days in Rome, since this is the topic I am pursuing for my PhD. I didn’t mean nothing as I would be posing to act like I am doing something*.

Well since I wasn’t invited to that party, I decided to make my own. To ensure that I have food security, well bread security, I got myself a breadmaker. Just a few blocks from my house there is a factory shop for Breville electronics and a range of discount clothes outlets. Searching for the NIKE shop I found the electronics shop and wandered inside. I saw that the breadmakers were quite cheap compared to those at full retail price and impulse grabbed me as I remembered how good fresh bread tastes.

The new toy

That night I cranked it up and all went well. The first loaf I baked I put too much water, however that did not affect the taste. I think I will start to put on a tonne of weight over the coming months as I enjoy the fresh bread.

The first loaf

On the lighter side, my friend showed me this clip today which seems to cement the relationship between food and energy and solve the issue of high oil prices.

The new bread machine does have a jam/jelly setting so I am set to become the (John D) Rockefeller of the 21^st century.

* note my cynicism of such things arises on meeting a few experts from these types of organisations whom really are just interested in self promotion and travel, using the excuse of trying to help people without a specific cultural/ social understanding of the situation.

Tự Nhiên

I have heard of this place called Footscray, a place where Vietnamese congregate in great numbers to eat shop and do other normal things. I had been to Richmond, near my house, Springvale for food yet not here. Richmond is small, while Springvale is a mixture of Mekong peoples. Footscray is big!

I arrived in Footscray via an intricate maze of streets lined with factories which suddenly just opened up into suburbia. Yet one block in the familiar sound of Vietnamese rang through the air, the smell of fruit and vegetable markets lingered, all the while seeing signs printed in two or three languages.

The first stop was for fo. Sorry been living in Oz too long, I meant Phở. Just like in Vietnam the choice I like was number 1. I also settled for the coffee. This was the first time I had gone out to eat Vietnamese food since I arrived back. I always had planned to eat, however I just never got around to it. Something always got in the way.

After that I walked around just soaking up the atmosphere. It is different from that of Richmond or Springvale as it partially closed off to traffic so people tend to walk. It really is just like a big market. After walking around I saw “the sign” and had no idea that was where I was headed.

The sign

Once inside, it was chaos, like any market I had been to previously. The difference between the markets in LX and here was the yelling. For some reason they just yelled. At one point I went to talk to my friend and the next I was picking my eardrum up off the floor and shoving it back in the ear it was blasted out of. There was one thing which still I am yet to do, buy a whole fish and fillet it. Something just doesn’t sit right in this day and age with me for this process. Remembering doing this as a kid, I am willing to pay more for my fish (fillets) so as I don’t have to involve myself in this messy process.

After leaving I recalled the market adventures I had in Vn and think about how much easier shopping has become.

Footscray from outside the phở shop

Censorship is pointless

I have been overwhelmed by a particular TV channel continuously advertising a new underworld drama – something like an Australian version of The Sopranos, based on the criminal underworld in Melbourne. As appealing as it sounds to watch, it did one day come a little to close to home. While I was living in Melbourne in 2004, about four blocks from my house a gangster was shot. I remember walking past that restaurant all the time. The restaurant looked like a little family affair with the oversized wine glasses on tables dressed in white cloths, and the aroma of pizza filling the air. A Chinese restaurant resides in the building now which seems out of place in the Italian quarter.

It looks like the show won’t be shown in Melbourne due to outstanding court cases. Yet, I have no concern as I can download it from the web within 1 hour of it screening in Sydney.