Star Gazing

Things are forever washing up on beaches
They are depositories of surprises
Walk the same sands day after day and you'll never know what comes tomorrow.
Sometimes things get blown onto the beach too.
One day the stars blew onto the beach....and what a sight it was.

The Waveform Monitor

I'm fascinated by waves.
The only consistent physical manifestation of energy that we can touch, feel and see.
I find surf beaches mesmerising.  I watch them, ride them and swim them too.
The Rhythm, the sound, the smell but really it's the visual.
The sight of of approaching swell, corduroy!
A wave forming, building, peaking and breaking.
Being witness to this is nourishment for the soul. Being amongst it is Heaven.
And the wave is non less perfect than with a stiff offshore wind
and a handsome groundswell to match.

It is with this that I present to you
Day 7, 2013 King George Beach S.A. 35° 37' 16" S x 137° 12' 34" E

 

 

And at the end of the day

 

Videos that are a Gas #10

Have a look at this most epic of life adventures

Go to the site and see all the rest Janapar - a true story

Who Rides That Bike #4

Electric Fluro Green!!!! I just gotta meet this hipster.

Tokyo FILMEX 2012

Okay, so now I wanna go to Japan!

A wee bit late, may have missed the boat but still could fly there.

What a program, What a festival. Tokyo FILMEX 2012

The creme de la creme of Asian Cinema but only nine films in competition?

Ahha but 14 films in special screenings!

Here's a little run down on some of the South Korean & Japanese gems

Hong Sang soo's In Another Country is the opening film and he was a there for a Q&A. This is an extraordinarily witty film with the addition of English dialogue from Isabelle Huppert presence making for some fantastic cross conversations and quite awkward situations. For me it was evidence of evolution of filmmaker and thus I see it totally as fitting to be an opening film for a good look'n festival.

Moon Sori, Hong Sangsoo, French actress Isabelle Huppert,  Yu Jun Sang                                                                             and Youn Yuh-jung arrive for the screening of "In Another Country." at Canne 2012

Also in Japan.
Hong Sang soo has four films touring the country, described as a 'roadshow'. Sounds like the surf movie exhibition route of traveling the coast of Australia during summer? Hahaha, Like You Know It All, Oki‘s Movie and The Day He Arrives. The roadshow started at Cinemart Shinjuku, Tokyo on November 18th. After 6 weeks in Tokyo, the roadshow will move to Osaka and continue for 3 weeks. Then it will progress to other cities including Nagoya, Kyoto and Fukuoka.

But back to Filmex, here's a bit of a coup, Sion Sono's Bad Film is getting it's premier.
Shot in 1995 on Hi8 it was never finished! That is until this year, 17 years later and apparently sourced from 150hrs of footage, this is one that I would love to see.
Stunning, awe-inspiring, masterwork are some of the adjectives used to describe this film.

161min of pure experimental Sion Sono

I'm excited. It's political, it's activism, it's about China and Japan. It stars Tokyo GAGAGA
It's a good year when they release Bad Film.

Ok and now back to Korea, the one that roared at Venice this year, with some controversy but hell I still wanna see it that's for sure.
Kim Ki Duk's - Pieta
The first South Korean film to win the ol' Golden Lion. It's a film about mum and son but that's really under selling it.

Two of his other films are on my to see list. The auto biographical doco Arirang and one I almost saw at KOFFIA this year Spring Summer Autumn  Winter...and Spring

 

No doubt I've missed some beauties in this years line up but hey if you just saw these three in a week it'd be a pretty darn good one. eh? just another good reason to visit Japan. but hurry!

Feel the Need for Tweed?

Lordy do da, it was on again this weekend.
Tweeds Rule!
Yes, the first Tweed ride post winter. And wow Nice Day, Nice Turn Out
The Melbourne Tweed Ride November 2012.
The first time I encountered this crew was last Feb, that was a gentle cruise along the bay from St Kilda to Port Melbourne.
This time it was a bit more central and a little less hot.

 

Starting at the State Library, it was a gentle trundle down Swanston Walk then onto the Yarra and along before crossing the river and winding back past the Botanical Gardens and ending at the Kings Domain, just near Govt House and the Shrine.

 

There were frocks aplenty, looking radiant in the sunshine. The grass was green and the hampers were lavish, what a fine day for a picnic with lashings of ginger beer

And after a bite to eat the only formalities was a celebration of the finery. A passing parade to select best couple, best dressed male and female and best Mo? Well that's because of an affiliation with this years Movember fund raiser for Prostate Cancer research

 The Gentlemen also cut a fine look, oh so dashing and most verily dapper indeed!
Suits, Jackets, Vests, Caps, Slacks, Bow Ties, Knickerbokers, Gloves and Braces.
 It certainly was a testament to days of old and such a celebration of the sauve.

Oh hang on, the bikes, The Bikes, THE BIKES.
All this would be nothing without the bikes. And what a selection there was too.
Penny Farthings x two, taking the high ride. There was a tandem but you sat side by side. A number of very odd designs that I had never seen before and then there were the classics.
Such beautiful workmanship, such delightful engineering, such an amazing sight to behold.
So many good look'n oldies all in a row.
 

Stay tuned for Movember Tweed - the video

Suit Up and Ride

Well having arrived to shoot this event a week early last Friday ("if you don't arrive early then you have to be late"...Max Gaffney) I was certainly in good stead to shoot it today. I knew the lay of the land and I knew where to park and I even knew where the toilets were located and where I could get a good coffee!

This is the 2nd year running for this whacky event held at the Docklands (used to be my home away from home)
Suit Up and Ride is a bike race to raise money for charity!
It's a team time trial race. 6 riders per team 1 lap per team and your time stops when the last rider is over the finish line.
What's the big deal I hear you ask?
The twist is that your riders are in their work attire, mainly but not exclusively suits and the bikes you are racing on are fom the Melbourne Bike Share scheme. Ah Ha!

Over $156,000 was raised for Orygen Youth Health last year.
for research projects in the area of suicide prevention, vocational and social recovery, trauma, e-youth mental health initiatives and programs such as the Family Peer Support Program, a program that helps families with a newly diagnosed son or daughter with a mental illness by offering advice and mentoring to help them through these difficult times. www.suitupandride.com.au

There are prizes for the fastest team and the best dressed team and Cadel Evans was there....again!
And he goes for a spin too! Not quite the Tour de Dockland but hey nice to have your support and company Cadel. He was racing against Dutch rider Koen de Kort from Team Argos Shimano.

Cadel Evans, 2011 Tour de France winner and 2nd time supporter of Suit Up & Ride

 Some of the teams were fair dinkum and serious whilst others were in it for a Fri arvo after work, social activity.
For the Docklands it was quite a perfect afternoon, sun was out and breeze weren't too bad and as they kept banging on over the PA, Mark Seymour is going to play at the end of the race.

 So teams were allocated into groups and the fastest team of the group moved on to the next round. So there were quaters and semis and then the biggie, you know the score.
A very very fun way to raise money for a cause that could certainly do with it

So the big winner on the day was Orygen Youth Health and really all the rest was here nor there. A few riders crashed but there were no injuries bar bruised egos. And I think that maybe one or two people went on their maiden bike ride too! Nice way to start out.
Ohh and did I mention Mark Seymour played at the end of the race. Yes he was in the Hunters and Collectors back in the eighties and yes they were good.

The Hunter & Collector himself, Mark Seymour playd at the end of the race!