Tag Archive for 'australia'

Have you Heard about The Heard?

Photo of The Heard from 2006Have you heard the heard? I hadn’t, until Wednesday morning. That is, I didn’t know their name until then. You may recognise them from their antics at the 2006 Australian Open, when they simulated a tennis match within the audience itself. Most definitely their most ambitious stunt ever (including 2007, unfortunately - but I’m sure there’ll be heaps more to come in the coming years).

Anyway, a friend of mine sent me an email on Wednesday, inviting me to a “quiet” day at the tennis - little did I know what I was getting myself in for! Ok, so, maybe I made that bit up - I knew exactly what I was getting myself involved with, and I guess that was the point in going!

I’ve put up a whole bunch of photos I took yesterday on Flickr and my website (only my favourite few made it up to Flickr - unless you’re a friend or family, but you can see all of them on my website). We (The Heard) originally planned on being outside supporting Robert Smeets, but due to the weather, we decided to remain indoors instead. I, however, had borrowed my father’s funky new camera and had brought all the equipment assuming I’d be outdoors, so most of the action shots of the sports didn’t work too well. Oh, and there was also the problem of being told I couldn’t use the long lens I brought (75mm-300mm for any photographers out there), because it was deemed to be a “professional” camera, and due to some arrangement with the official photographers, professional cameras could not be used (except by the professionals, of course). Still, I got a few decent shots - even if they’re not quite as close-up as I hoped for!

Oh, and you might have also seen some photos in “The Age” or other papers of a large group of people in yellow straw hats - unfortunately, The Age thought we were “The Fanatics” (despite the fact that almost everyone there had “The Heard” printed on their T-shirts). Just thought I’d clarify that.

Protect Your Banana

Given the price of bananas in Australia these days, I think we all need to take steps to “protect your banana”. Thankfully, BananaGuard (UK) sells their BananaGuards in packs of 10, and you can even choose your own colours.

They also offer suggestions of other things you can protect with your BananaGuard: Photo by Darwin Bell

  • Grapes & any other small soft fruits
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • 6 Cream Eggs (Useful for posting to Australia)
  • Toothpaste & Toothbrush whilst Trekking

Of course, if you’re thinking of some other “personal” uses of a BananaGuard, make sure you read their BananaGuard FAQ, which states:

Q: “Where do the Batteries go?”
A: The Banana Guard was designed for its intended purpose only as a device to prevent banana trauma during transport. It does have other uses but battery operation is not one of them. No responsibility is accepted for any injury received or inflicted (or self inflicted) owing to the improper use of a Banana Guard.

Consider yourself warned.

Ben Folds and the MSO

Ben Folds and the MSO photos Saturday night, I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Folds playing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - one of his numerous gigs around Australia with our orchestras recently. It all started with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, which got produced as a DVD last year. Anyway, I’m mostly posting this to link to the photos Kel and I took during the concert - we had seats in the 3rd row, nicely situated to take some good close up photos.

Ben also had a guest band in for the night - the Dresden Dolls - they came on and played one of their own songs (”Coin operated boy”), and then helped out with “Stephen’s last night in town”. At the risk of having Ben Folds come round to my house and draw a penis on my bathroom wall, I didn’t quite like the lead singer’s voice. Interesting style of music, but the voice just ruined it. I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and blame the sound guys, cause her voice doesn’t seem AS bad in the songs on the Dresden Dolls website.

Anyway, other than that, it was a great night. If you’re a Ben fan (and you should be), enjoy the photos. If not, well… that’s your loss.