Jun
30
Sunday is Canada Day so we’re doing a roadtrip over the long weekend to Portland, USA. Since we’re doing an international road trip we decided to leave the dogs with a house sitter, but Candy and Jasmin had other plans…
We started to pack our luggage and we sprung the doggies trying to stowaway in our luggage! We found the two curious doggies sitting comfortably in our suit case…
Better luck next time girls…!
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Jun
29
Today I received a package in the mail from Hong Kong… When I opened it up I was face to face with this tiny green spherical head with a smiley mouth and two dots for eyes. I invited this strange little creature into our house and when I set him free from his box he started doing a little dance.
Ever since seeing my first Nohohon, I fell in love with these little creatures because of their soothing gestures and characteristics. The name Nohohon comes from being part of a group called Nohohon Zoku (Translated meaning nonchalant family.)
A Nohohon is a fist sized bobble head figurine made by the Japanese toy company Tomy. They are distinguished by a large spherical head with smiley mouth and dot eyes. Unlike traditional bobble head dolls that bobble when poked or moved, Nohohon’s are powered by a small solar panel… As light shines on them, they gently sway their heads until the light source is removed. The primary function of the dolls is to relieve stress from its viewer. This makes them especially popular as desk nik-naks and in offices. It’s amazing how something that is 8cm tall is able to put a smile on your face and melt away any stress by soothing subtle movements and a cute design…
I’ve got a few more coming in the mail so soon our apartment will be infested with these cute little guys…
Jun
28
Today I received my new Samsung Blackjack Smart phone in the post… I had finally reached my breaking point with my O2 Xda Mini II so I decided that I was going to get a new phone. Having had the O2 for over 2 years I’ve realised two things… when you go out to buy a phone these days… you hardly just end up with a phone. More often than not the advertising campaigns state “5.0 Megapixel camera, MP3 Player, Download your emails & Chat using instant messenger…” then in the fine print you see “oh and it makes phone calls too…” The next thing I’ve realised is that a touch screen phone is very cool in concept… but not practical at all. When you’re on the move trying to operate the keyboard with a touch screen that requires both of your hands to be free, you’re very limited to when and where you can actually operate the phone.
So there you have it… after spending two years with a Pocket PC style phone, I’ve become quite dependent on the organiser features and the raised entertainment functionality of Windows Mobile based phones, so I couldn’t go back to having “just a mobile phone”.
The Samsung Blackjack is a Windows Mobile 6.0 based smart phone with a full qwerty keyboard. This change of input interface takes some getting used to because I’m so used to pulling out a stylus and tapping away at the screen. The main page navigation is done using the side scroll wheel and the circular joy pad in the middle of the phone. After a few minutes it becomes very easy to navigate through all the menus. The Blackjack has a micro SD card slot as well and I have a 2GB transflash card in there to store movies and music. I can’t believe how TINY these things are. Technology has definitely progressed to the point where its unbelievable how they can manage to fit all these features into such a small device. The memory card is no bigger than your pinky fingernail and is smaller than a penny!!
Anyway, the best part about the Blackjack is the integration of email so you can get it pushed to your phone and also the addition of applications like Live Search. Live Search is the equivalent of google maps and it allows you to find Points of Interest like pizza parlours,post offices, petrol stations etc and you can use it to get directions to and from these places. In addition to this you can get live traffic updates to avoid any delays. I’m yet to find a stand alone GPS solution for Pocket PCs / Smartphones… but for now Live Search works just fine…
I’m definitely a fan of the Samsung Blackjack, especially because of the ability to customize it to be a personal device.
Jun
27
When we sent the doggies over from Australia to join us in Canada, Tash’s main concern was that they would be unsettled and might bark alot and annoy the neighbours. In addition to that, she was worried about them destroying the house. When Candy was young she was notorious for chewing through cables…
Being the gadget enthusiast that I am, I went out and bought a Logitech Orbit Webcam and hooked it up to our Home Theatre PC. This webcam has the ability to pan and tilt, and I installed some software that allows you to create a remote web server where you can securely log in and control the camera and view the house from anywhere in the world. I’ve even set it up so you can stream the sound too in case I want to check to see if they’re barking.
I used to wonder why the dogs were so hyperactive everyday when I came home from work. I just assumed that they were excited to see me, but after installing the camera I realised it was because they sleep all day! It’s pretty cute though. They sleep for a couple of house, and then either Jasmin or Candy will wake up and stretch… go for a little walk around the room and then they would play fight for a few minutes until they get tired and crash and sleep again…
All in all they’re pretty well behaved… occasionally they get hold of something that we forgot to put away like a box of tissues or Candy jumps up on the couch and sleeps (which she’s not allowed to do)… Occasionally I can bust them by calling the home phone and leaving a voice mail. As soon as she hears my voice on the answering machine she panics and jumps off the couch and pretends nothing happened! hehe 
Doggies passed out after ravaging an unsuspecting tissue box
In a world where you have “homeland security” monitoring everything, just remember…
Big Brother is watching…
Jun
18
15 years on and Boyz II Men are still stronger than ever… In a period of time where hip hop is dominating the charts, this soulful RnB group have continued to release album after album and have managed to switch their style up but also remain true to their roots. This was the first Boyz II Men concert for Tash and I, so we were both really excited about it. I’ve always been a fan of theirs since their first album Cooley High Harmony, and it was awesome to hear them sing songs spanning their entire discography.
 
The opening sequence gave me goose bumps as the lights went out, and the 6 foot wide mirror ball dazzled us with streams of light while Shawn hyped up the crowd from behind the drawn curtains… The Curtains flew opened and they exploded onto stage and started singing “Motownphilly”.
 
 
Over the course of the night each of the singers, Shawn, Nathan and Wanya; did their own solo vocalist demonstration and of the three I think my favorite has to be Wanya. These guys can belt out a tune that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck and give you goose bumps because of their vocal range and powerful delivery!
 
What I liked about the concert was the mixture of slow and upbeat tracks. It was a very personal setting, as if it were one on one. Everyone was close to the stage… One minute you’re sitting in your chair as the group is singing a love song and the next minute everyone is on their feet and in the aisles rushing to the stage bouncing to the beat….
 
Coming off a huge world tour spanning from Asia to Australia, Amsterdam to France (and many countries in between)… you can really tell that these guys are doing it for the love of the music. Their success also rides on their truly humble nature which was shown on stage through their personal thanks to the crowd and their playful behavior between (and during) songs…
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This was definitely the best concert that I’ve been to hands down… Be sure to check out their new album dropping at the end of this year…!
Jun
06
Last Friday I received a very upsetting email from my dad saying that our neighbour Steve Boylan had passed away. Steve was a very close friend of ours and he had been battling a cancer in his bile duct for the past 2 years. He was such a strong person who was so caring and was everybody’s mate. Steve has had a big influence on my life and had part in shaping my career and self development. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Lynda, and two kids, Mitch and Gina.
It’s times like this when you hear news like this that makes you stop and take a moment to realise that we all seem too absorbed in our day to day lives that we tend to neglect our loved ones.
We will miss you heaps Steve… but will always remember you…