kjp
I had to laugh.
For ages I've been on microsoft's mailing list for "Australian events" or something like that. Needless to say, I've never actually read it - delete straight away. Anyhow, I finally decide to unsubscribe "reply with 'unsubcribe' in the subject". Three times I've tried, and it hangs when starting word as my email editor...
I had breakfast with my housemates this morning. Fat pancakes with icecream, strawberries and way too much chocolate - a shock to the system (usual breakfast is cereal / an apple)... The dogs enjoyed the leftovers...
Because of last weeks orienteering, I've now got a map of the area just east of where I live. Ie: I'll change my jogging route from just in the suburbs to spending about 1.5 kms of it in bushland. Nice.
For the first time I watched an episode of the new series of Doctor Who ("Dalek"). It was pretty cool - heaps updated from what I remember watching as a kid growing up. Good that an explanation for Daleks going up stairs has been given.
Also, Jerry Springer was on Parkinson. He (Jerry) seems like a surprisingly deep / decent / thoughtful guy - somewhat at variance with his show.
Lunch today was with family friends who are up here for a week or two. Was good.
Really looking forward to Sydney / Canberra this coming week.
The other day I got a enrolment form for Semester 2 at the Institute of Modern Languages (where up until this week just past I was doing a basic course in Mandarin). I won't be doing any courses for the rest of this year - I'll be in China for half of the course I would do (the next level of Mandarin). If I enjoy China and want to go back in 2007 (??), then it's a possibility that I'll do another course next year...
It's just 1 week before I'll be in Sydney for a couple of days, then Canberra for the weekend. Yay!
No choir tonight, or next week.
Boo.
Well it turns out that we're playing an arrangement for band of Rossini's Thievish Magpie: sure to get my tongue and fingers moving...
I should have done a lot more study for the Chinese exam tomorrow.
Yikes.
The other day, we signed the lease to the end of January. It was to the end of December, but put it to 7 months (instead of 6). This just makes it easier to move out - I'll probably be down in Canberra at the end of December. Easier to move out end of Jan if I don't want to continue there.
I like the place we're in, just not the location... Don't want to move out this month, or in the coming two months - will be busy doing stuff / organising stuff. For the 6 weeks I'm over there, want to have people I know keeping an eye on my stuff, not people I've only met in the past couple of months.
I will quite possibly move out next January. At some point in the future (i.e.: 2006 / 2007) I think that I'd like to buy a place. I was looking last year, but didn't want buy - wrong time for me. Anyhow, I think that it'd be good for me to live in a few other places before I buy...
So this morning, which was cold, wet, drizzling, overcast, and a bit windy, I gave up my nice warm, sleepy doona to go orienteering around a nearby park / reserve... Crazy, crazy me. But fun - haven't been in a while.
So this weekend, as I'm didn't go back home to see my folks (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm .......................... .............................), I went to "That's All Folk!" a concert by the Queensland Wind Orchestra, playing all sorts of folk music from around the world. They were very good - I was impressed. There was a pair of choir people in it, plus an ex Canberran who I've played with before... It was at the Old Museum Building - which sounded pretty good. It was very cold though - cold air drafted in.
Over the past few weeks I've been going around to several travel agents around the place. Talking about flights, etc. for my China trip. I went to all of them in Chermside, and one in The Valley (where all the camping stores are). I didn't like all but one of the ones in Chermside (the bad ones were either significantly more expensive, or told me they couldn't book the flights I wanted - nice work). The one in the valley (attached to Silk Road), was the cheapest in terms of flights, and the agent seemed to know her stuff.
So, this morning I went in there, to confirm a couple of things (in comparison to the good agent in Chermside). Ended up booking my international flights, and booked (and paid for) my internal flight.
I have to be in Beijing on Monday, September 19th. I've booked a flight that leaves very late (11:50 pm) Friday night, stop over for a couple of hours in Kuala Lumpar, then arrive in Beijing a bit after 3pm on Saturday afternoon. This will give me an extra day (Sunday) of exploring places (as opposed to leaving on Saturday). Coming back to Australia I leave Kunming a bit after 5pm on Saturday 29th October, staying overnight in KL (apparently the airline pays, nice), then getting into Brisbane 7:20 pm on Sunday night. Monday is a RDO for me, so I'll use that to rest / sort out my stuff. These flights are booked, but not paid for yet (there's no risk of loosing the seats, but I may be able to get a better deal if it's paid for later).
My internal flight is booked and paid for (you can't book now, pay later, for some reason). It was a bit of a toss up between going from Kashgar to either Chengdu or Kunming, but ended up Chengdu in the end. It had better connections, slightly cheaper, and it would be cool to get to Sichuan (although it may mean that getting to Gaungxi may be a bit harder... ). One potential (but unlikely) problem is the fact that China Southern (who the flight is booked with) is in receivership. Apparently this is not too uncommon in the airline industry, but I have to book / pay - as they are the only airline that goes on that route....
Anyhow, some progress on my trip planning (at last...) has been made.
On the southern grape vine, apparently some of the camping / travel stores are havnig members discount days / sales coming up. I was looking a bit around at stuff, but it was all too much of a pain, so I ditched the idea of knowing what I wanted to get. If possible I'll try and get there next weekend. No (well, not much) (travelling) clothes yet.
Having a 40 GB hard drive (split into 3 partitions) with less than 400 MB left free is not a good idea...
So: I'm purging a whole lot of my old junk.
Goodbye.
I've been having trouble finding a music player that fits my specs.... a bit annoying.
Anyhow, I think that my requirements on the flash based mp3 player are:
* 1 GB of flash memory
* Plays WMA and MP3
* Powered by one AA or AAA removable, rechargeable battery
* has a few equaliser settings, plus one customisable
* USB (prefer USB2) connection. USB plug directly into computer (prefer to avoid carrying around a cable)
* drag and drop files. Be able to store any type of file format (i.e.: use it as mass storage).
* No music manager programs. Work without drivers on any reasonably recent computer.
* plays all music of a CD, artist or genre. Randomisable.
* supports ID3 tags
* record audio from a built in microphone
* decent recording ability (and able to change from a few recording qualities / bit rates / compression ratios)
Preferably:
* Plays OGG
* Plays Audible book format?.
* Line in for recording.
* Radio
* Record radio
* Records to mp3 not to WAV (using less space)
* Bought from a shop in Brisbane (easy to return if it dies, etc). This is a bit of an issue - there doesn't see to be too much of range available in the stores I've looked at so far.
At the moment I'm looking at one of the Creative Muvo players... Will check out jb tomorrow to see if they have these....
OK, so I've been listening to heaps of concert / military band music recently. Just in that mood, I suppose. Amoungst it all was the first of The Lord of The Rings (Meij?) - Gandalf - The Wizard (which I played ages ago). This got me thinking. The band that I currently play in isn't as musically challenging as I'd like. The problem is, if I wanted to join a band of a higher standard it would mean:
a) heaps of practice (I don't do much at all at the moment)
b) heaps of time for that practice (which I don't have much of at the moment).
But it would be fantastic to be a part of great music...
Maybe after China I'll see what standard I can get myself up to (maybe get lessons...?) / what I can find, and then by the new years try out for a harder group....
There was a grand total of 7 people at choir tonight. Not that that's bad, just different. The balance was reasonable - 1, 2, 2, 2. Anyhow, we sung "My Love's an Albatross". The "And time's jealous finger dim your young charms Machree" clashes with the alto part- need to practice and be confident with that. That and the high G. hmmm. I need to work on my pronunciation and a couple of syncopations on the second page of the weird Italian piece. And the final piece - Crucifixion - just needs a good practice and note bashing from me.
With the imminent end of Mandarin classes, hopefully I'll be able to get at least semi-regular singing lessons again.
Also, a "good and funky" top that was a present a while back was worn for the first (oops) time. Initially, I was slightly iffy, but like it after having it on for a few hours. Nice.
The following will (probably) be the text of my upcoming Mandarin oral presentation. Enjoy:
你好。我姓P，我叫凯文。我是澳大利亚人。我会说英语和一点点儿汉语。我家有五个人。我姐姐叫温迪，是护士。我妹妹叫卡罗，是大学生。我今年二十五岁。不幸的是, 我还没有结婚。我的工作是电子工程师。我九月到十月会到中国旅行。我会坐飞机从Brisbane到北京。然后坐火车到西安和新疆喀什。我会再坐飞机到云南昆明，最后在中国南方旅行和观光三个星期。
In case it doesn't display properly:
I probably should point out that it is not quite correct when I describe what some people do...
I'm trying to figure how much data storage I'll need for my China trip. My camera (that I'll take over there) is 3.2 megapixels. Pictures range in size from 1 MB to 2 MB. Average is probably 1.6 MB or so. Assume 1.7 MB per picture. Assuming 42 days (6 weeks) (slight overestimate), and 30 pictures kept a day (i.e.: I'll be more careful with what I take pictures of / delete duplicates once I've finished taking photos for the day), then this is a total of 2.1 GB.
I currently have a 256 MB and a 32 MB Compact Flash cards for my camera.
So that means I'm about 2 GB short...
I'm thinking of getting one 1 GB compact flash card, and one 1 GB flash drive / mp3 player. The flash USB drive will be very handy for transferring files around the place back in Oz, as well. I spent a fair bit of yesterday looking at different options (mostly mini harddrive based mp3 players though) - more on this later. The compact flash card I can get later. I'll probably get the USB flash drive sooner rather than later... This relies on being able to copy images from the compact flash card (from the camera) to the USB flash drive. I.e.: requires a computer (internet cafe)... hmmmm. A safe bet, I think.
The other thing is that in most internet cafes I've been in / seen (admittedly in Australia), they've all had CD burning services. I.e.: you give them a compact flash card or two, and they'll copy and burn a CD of that data for you (pardon the accidental rhyme). Hopefully this is do-able over in China. The other thing that may be possible is just emailing photos to my gmail account... (although this probably takes longer? / dependant on a not always fast internet connection...)
Gustav Holst - who composed a euphonium to play Swansea Town in a suite for military band - is fantastic. Love it.
For some time now, I have been described as a "noodle" by my housemates. What's more, I had noodles for dinner.
Interesting huh?.
PS: yes, you guessed it, this post was just a very poor excuse to keep the food theme in the post titles going.
Top job, I say.
Well I've just had a Mas Bar. And I feel ill because of it. Nothing wrong with it, just waaaaaayyyyyyyyy too much sugar / sweetness, and I'm not used to it. We got two of them on the Mt Mtchell bushwalk, ate one then, and had the same result.
I knew I was going to feel this way, so I ate a preventitive mandarin, and there'll be an apple following soon...
Too sweet. Yuck.
Yesterday evening was at "The Norman" (aka - Brisbane's Worst Vegetarian Restaurant), as a farewell do for a guy in choir (who is going to, surprise surprise, England for a while (year or maybe more)). He's the fourth "good guy" I know to leave Brisbane this year .............................................................................................................................................................. go figure.
Anyhow, I enjoyed last night heaps. The people in choir are a ridiculously good group of people. Good to get to know a few of them a bit better. Very easy to hang out with. A couple of them are particularly hilarious. Anyhow, a good night. Makes me want to go to choir. Oh yeah, I like singing too... :)
A few things about the Norman (last night was my first time there) -
- it's a pretty cool place
- the food is good
- parking is a pain (I had to park a fair way up a really narrow backstreet)
- it's easy to get drinks (people come around), but getting food required a decent wait - big queue
- it's pretty big
For the first time in ages I had bacon for breakfast.
Yummy!
On my last trip to Canberra, I picked up Celebrity Skin (Hole - 1998). I've wanted to listen to about 5 of the songs from the album since then (off and on) - there are some pretty good tracks on it, even though it's a bit poppy in places...
It's pretty crazy how a CD 7 years old can cost more than a recently released CD.... More than $30 is too much to pay for an old CD, methinks...... A $10 (33%) price difference between stores is indicative of a rip off in action.....
Well there's just a couple of days left for until the Fooies new album comes out. Looking forward to it...
Triple j are playing a live at the wireless set (their Syd. gig) on monday night.... one to catch.
This has been hanging around for ages. When I got my new phone I opened up my old one (curious me, of course). I started figuring out a fair bit of the circuitry components. But then gave up - I'm too busy. Anyhow, here is the **very** high level overview of the bits that make up my old phone (in case it wasn't already pretty obvious). Pretty useless, if you ask me, but hey, this is my website.
A - Battery. This is the same width / height as my new phone.
B - The main base plate for the phone.
C - Covering / shielding for the circuity, SIM card holder
D - Circuit board. On the front side there are the contact points for the keys (when pressing a key bridge is made between the inner and outer contacts). Rear side has all the circuitry.
E - Key contact bridge, LCD screen contact
F - LCD screen and buttons
G - Front cover plate.
The front side of each of the components:
The rear side of each of the components:
Last Saturday I went (work do) to Mt Mitchell. It's one of the mountains that are either side of Cunningham's Gap - on the road heading South West out of Brisbane (heading to the Darling Downs).
It was a pretty good day. The walk to the top of Mt Mitchell is fairly easy - just 5 km or so, with a fairly gentle incline, work up along the northern edge of the two peaks, then up to the eastern peak from the southern side of it. Anyhow, at the top you don't want to slip - there's steep falls just either side of you.
Anyhow, these picies have been added to the photos bit of this place.
Looking across Cunningham's Gap to the hill on the eastern side of the road - Mt Cordeaux:
Looking west across the western peak of Mt Mitchell:
Looking easterly over the Cunningham Highway:
OK, so I'll be staying up here (Brisbane) this (long) weekend.
It looks like everyone in Sydney is going well. Everyone is happy, pretty stress-free / relaxed, and handling things (yesterday's trip to the hospital) pretty well. I was thinking about going down this weekend (i.e.: going down after work tomorrow, back Monday), put it seems that me being there won't add much. Crowded house already, everyone's ok. Unsurprisingly, I've been fairly unsure whether to go. But this is the right choice.
Next weekend (ie: going to Canberra) is another matter - it's still up in the air. Whether I go down then depends on (a) how well people are going, in particular getting back home, (b) whether they are coping, and (c) how much in need of a hug I am. :) I'll decide on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I've got flights booked, planned for the fortnight after - two days Sydney, then the weekend in Canberra; and I was there at the end of May. hmm... But going down next weekend will mean missing a group that I want to listen to. hmmmmmm......
In a way not going down this weekend is good, as I'll be able to catch up with some choir people on Sat, do the heap of Mandarin homework that is required (test is Monday week - yikes), and try to sort out China stuff (yeah right: like that's going to happen.).
Anyhow, so I sent off for my passport today. Just a tip: not all Australia Post outlets can process them. The one that I went has certain times that you're supposed to book for an appointment... None of which include weekday lunch hours.... Anyhow. There's a possible issue - there was a bit of reflection from the flash in my glasses - apparently this could be an issue - hopefully I don't get a call from the dfat...
Useless trivia: you're able to keep your old passport - as they just cut off the bottom bit of the front cover - the bit that has all the numbers and stuff. It's slightly weird looking at old photos of myself... Quick, someone make a stupid comment about "just slightly?" or "it's weird looking at photos of you". Hardy har har...
So, coming home after work this afternoon I dropped by the shops to get some food, etc (I occasionally want to eat, so buying some food helps). Going past the toilet paper I got a call from a chappie (J) in Sydney. Apparently the operation has been brought forward - from later in June to tomorrow - so it can be done by a different dude...
Hmmmm, I won't be going down tomorrow. May go down there on the Friday / weekend (Monday is a holiday...). Will find out what I should be doing probably not tomorrow (still doped up / ICU at that time), but probably Thursday(?). What is it with getting news from down South on Tuesday afternoons / evenings? Anyhow, I was happier at choir than last week, which was good.
Positive thoughts / karma / prayers / whatever to family in Sydney tomorrow afternoon.
So I was a bit late to choir earlier tonight - had to talk to several of the family who where in Sydney today - and apparently a few more days...
Anyhow, there was a trio of new songs given out. One was The Drunken Sailor (as in: "what shall we do with the drunken sailor", etc), yes that "sea shanty" that all B grade shipping / pirate movies have in them at some point or another. Some of the sounds sung aren't really words... funny, sort of.
Anyhow, this leads me onto September 19 - International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Yarr. Alas, I'll be in Beijing at that time, so this may put a dampner on things.... so I'll probably only get a quiet "yarr" to myself...
Allegedly some ning-nong called Kevin forgot his work ID / access card when leaving the house in the morning, only realising 1/2 way to work. An hour in the car. Top job.
In other news the oral component of the upcoming Mandarin test will be a self introduction... This is handy because I was going to write down a whole bunch of stuff about me anyway for conversation over in China...
In a vain attempt to keep this place up to date: about 2 months ago I got Wires by the The Art Of Fighting (Wires being their first album) and Garbage - Bleed Like Me (Garbage's latest) from ye olde music shoppe. Both are pretty good albums in their own different ways - fit in nicely with my collection. Yay.
Friday night after work I went to the Conservatorium to check out (firstly) a couple of their jazz groups playing in the courtyard. Afterwards, I went to a gig by the Conservatorium Wind Orchestra. Hadn't heard them before - they were very good - was impressed.
They played 3 Hultgren pieces (Bright Sunlit Morning and the last two pieces of the evening - My Sister's Tears (a premiere) and Masda which were my favorites for the night) and Chester (William Schuman) and Ticheli Symphony 2 and Paul Hindemith - March from Symphonic Metamorphosis. Nice music.
Their group was fairly large - 55 or so people. They also included a pair of Double Basses - an instrument I didn't realise was usually in a Wind orchestra. Bass strengthening I suppose.
So we saw Star Wars 3 - Revenge of the Sith. I was pretty impressed: better than 1 and 2. A good film, although unfortunately there were a few bits of dodgy "acting".
It seemed to fit everything together - ie: tying episode 2 to the original episode 4. It's good to occasionally watch a movie knowing where things must end and just find out how the story gets there.
Looking across the Cunningham Highway (Easterly).
Looking West towards the Western peak of Mt Mitchell (taken from the Eastern peak)
Mt Cordeaux, looking across Cunningham's Gap from the eastern peak of Mt Mitchell.
What a great title. Descriptive huh?. So, bits from this week and for the next few days:
Last Sunday's concert was pretty good - I played pretty well. Unfortunately my embouchure wasn't the best for Lustpiel - especially as I had the Solo clari part.... Hanging around high f and g is quite...well high, for me.... The other pieces went off pretty well.
Sunday night was interesting, I suppose you could say. I went to the Zoo to see monthly jazz gig. It was a bit... different / wasn't really my thing, perhaps too much percussion..... Anyhow, I'll (probably) be going tomorrow afternoon / night to the Con to check out one of their jazz groups (hopefully a bit more "typical" jazz), followed by their concert band - who are playing one more favourite pieces - one of good old Holst's Suites for military band. Anyhow, that's tomorrow night.
Saturday is a bush walk in the Main Range. Dunno where this is - I'll be finding out on the day (it's a work organised do). On Monday got a pair of pants that I'll be wearing - light, warmish and coolish (will breathe, etc). Will be very useful for China (that and bushwalking is what they were bought for) - fast drying, etc, etc. Also have been wearing my boots around the place tonight - they're a lot lighter than my work boots / brown shoes that I seem to be wearing a lot recently.
Monday and Wednesday's Mandarin classes were pretty good. I've got some study to do....
Tuesday was good and bad. After work got a not very nice summary of things down in Canberra... Anyhow, choir immediately after distracted me / made me concentrate on other things. It was pretty cool. There were the usual singing, plus some laughs (alternate song titles of My Love's an Platypus (can't remember it was something like that) - which has several high notes for the tenors, and Banks of DOOM). A well dressed chappie provided a nice supper. Nice.
One of the things I hate doing is telling people that I'm ok when I'm not (bad email from CBR): it's that sometimes now is a bad time to talk about it - things need to settle in my head for a bit before I can talk to people...
