Silver & Crystal Pendant

My nan's husband does silversmithing as a hobby, and I recently received this lovely pendant as a random gift.

Kitchen Gig

On Friday we were treated to a private gig by Killbot Kindergarten at our friend Anna's housewarming party. She designed their kick-ass CD cover. Make sure to check out their very cool electro tunes.

Train Graffiti

I took these photos probably about 3 years ago on a reccie to find a location for a shoot. We didn't end up shooting there until a couple of seasons after, but it was a really great location. I recently came across these files in a random folder at work, so I thought I'd share.

I was very relieved

to find out today that both of the girls from Mitani Sensei's Dojo have won Japanese and international karate competitions, and have both been training for 10 years. This makes me feel a lot better about getting beaten by a 14yo girl..
They both did some kata for us tonight as well, and it was very impressive! We definitely all have a gold standard to reach for now.

Update on my seedling

I've neglected my poor little plant outside a little lately, so I didn't notice until this weekend that another two blossoms have flowered. I just love the colour on these - so bright and cheery.

Getting school by a teenager, again

This is a special week for our Dojo as we have are hosting Mitani Kazuya Sensei of Seitokukai, his wife and two of his students this week. We had our first training session with them today and did mostly sparring. At this juncture I should point out that the two students are diminutive 14-year old girls. The one I sparred is a good head shorter than I am, but she is fast as lighting. I only managed to score on her once; I lost the match 1-3. It was very interesting to watch them spar each other, they have a slightly different style of sparring to what most of the members of our Dojo do. They're very light on their feet, don't balk much, and are in and out in a flash. I hope to spar the other student on Thursday to see if I have learnt anything from my observations.

Our new fitness obsession

Photograph from Flickr, by cyrusmekon, shot in Melbourne

Last Saturday was our third foray into our new hobby - Parkour. Ton has been wanting to try it for a while now, and by chance one of our fellow karateka had given it a go and put us onto the local parkour group. They are part of the Australian Parkour Association who put on classes and workshops throughout Australia. In the First Timers class participants are taught general parkour philosophy, basic rolls and jumps and quadrapedals (this is fairly easy for the first 5 meters, then it's hell!).
The 2 basics classes we have attended so far couldn't have been more different, with the first one focusing more on games and the second dominated by drills. At this point I should note that most of the participants are about half Ton's age and a good 10 years younger than me, so it's pretty hard to keep up with these youngsters. It's also proved to be a bit of a sausage fest, so I would like to encourage all the girls out there to give this a go!
Although I seem to have turned into a grumpy old woman in the last few years and have grown to dislike teenagers more and more, parkour has actually made me re-asses my feelings towards teenagers - all these kids are pretty alright.
Parkour is also putting some other things into perspective for me:
1. I need to get way fitter. I am so sore today that I have tried to avoid laughing because my abs hurt so much. Sneezing has also proven extremely painful.
2. I have gotten so cautious in my old age. As a teen I used to go rollerblading down some crazy hills; ski black slopes without a care; and generally seemed to have no fear. It's quite confronting to see how much my mind can get in the way of me doing a physical feat that I probably could accomplish, but don't because of a mental bloc. Must work on this, too.

I can't wait to get back to our next session this Saturday. I couldn't recommend Parkour and the lovely and very skilled instructors at Brisbane Parkour more. Go forth and try this!

Turtle Cake

A shout-out to my sis-in-law for baking this awesome turtle cake for her son's (my nephew) 2nd birthday party today. How cute!

Bad lighting = so much post-production!

Anyone with a semi-decent DSLR surely knows the 'joy' of somehow being anointed 'official photographer' by a family member or friend, even if one is a rank amateur, who sometimes, somehow, manages to put out some decent photographs. Our sensei recently asked us to "bring the camera along" to training to take some snap shots (possibly for the website??), despite the fact that the lighting is terrible in the dojo (particularly at night when training is on) and we have no external lights, just a detachable flash.
Two of the shots turned out ok, but I had to do an enormous amount of post-production on both of them to get them to this standard. I REALLY can't wait until I get my new 50mm (1.4f) lens, which will allow so much more light into the camera and hopefully solve this horrendous noise problem. (Lucky for you, the images are rather small, so many of the imperfections are hidden!) Without further ado:

Blogger App Trial

Just trying out how this Blogger app works. This was in a Frankie mag, I really liked the look of the fabric-covered lids.

Blog Love: Hair Romance

Had to share this blog with you that I stumbled upon via Twitter yesterday (productivity at work gone).
Hair Romance, as the name suggests, is all about hair - product reviews, how-tos for all kinds of hairstyles, tips & tricks for managing hair, and inspirational images. This was perfect timing since I am attempting to grow my hair out and trying to stay strong and away from any drastic haircuts. (I am very glad the Pixie/Michelle Williams post was followed with a long hair/Blake Lively post, otherwise... snip snip..)
Check it out! You can also follow Hair Romance on Twitter.

When in Noosa you must stop by here

Apparently the locals would like to keep this place to themselves, but I cannot, in good conscience, deny anyone the pleasure of dining here, so I must divulge. If you find yourself in or near Noosa Heads, you must take one night out to dine at HUMiD. Sadly my phone camera isn't great, but here's a little peak at our lovely dinner.

Some more Noosa pics

The seedling has finally flowered

Noosa Heads Panorama

We spent last weekend at Noosa Heads for a relaxing weekend. I did a quick stitch on this panorama, will put up some more images this weekend.

Red White & Blue - Sailing on Australia Day