a year in review

Well, we're properly into 2007 already. I've noticed most bloggers do a round up of the year's highlights. I can't really be arsed to write a full-on retrospective but from the mudane to the extra special, alot has happened in the last 12 months.

I formed a band.
I got a full-time job.
We bought a house.
Tracey passed her driving test.
Markie came to visit.
I had my first taste of South Island snowboarding.
Niels and Debs bought a new house.
We said goodbye to Ken (who moved to Wellington)

Its been an exhilarating and surprisingly 2006. We count our blessings for being so lucky to live here in Aotearoa and enjoy the lifestyle we so longed for in London. We give thanks that our family are well, that some very good friends came to visit and that our beautiful little house isnt built on some ancient burial ground like in Poltergeist

Raise a glass and toast. To good life, well led.

foodies

Well the christmas period has come and gone. I didn't gorge myself stupid but we enjoyed a few fine meals. I got Tracey an authentic italian cookbook for xmas. Its excellent, not only does it have recipes but its also the jottings of 3 people who travelled through Italy (2 restaurateurs and a chef) with photos and anecdotes.

We both read it avidly and within days out came Tracey's pasta maker which has been in the box for 4 years. Inspired, we also made our first trip to the Matakana Farmers Market where we picked up some excellent fresh produce: red wine vinegar, smoked garlic, mozzerella, pecorino, peppers and fresh bread.

Our basket bursting we returned home where we promptly set up about preparing our dishes. Tracey selected "Pasta in the style of the coalminer" and I went for the "Roasted peppers under oil". Watching the pasta come together from flour and eggs was great, then T passed it through the rollers, left it to dry then after passed it through cutters to make fettucine.

While she was busy with this I roasted the peppers. Using some smoked garlic, some scorched rosemary and olive oil I diligently followed the recipe and set it aside.

The hour came when dinner was served. Tracey dished up the pasta. The moment of truth! It was, to say the least, an amazing meal. We ate far more than we should have as it was so good.

Relunctantly, I served the peppers. "I can't possibly follow that", I thought. But I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be just as delicious.

So 2 recipes down and many more to go.

google images

It never ceases to amaze me how many people think that images on the web are a suitable quality for print. Here's a heads-up: NO! NO! NO! Just cos you used a PC all your sad office life and you can copy and paste (the shittest) clipart into a Word document, then blow it up to A4 and get passable image quality on-screen - doesnt, I repeat, does not mean you know what the fuck you are doing. OKAY?

Consider this an education. FACT: Required resolution for web, 72dpi. Required resolution for print, 300dpi. And I mean proper print through a printing press, not your gay inkjet.

With this in mind, it brings me to an interesting turnaround. The web is no good for hi-res images and those that do reside online exist only because the website's creator (often an amateur who downloaded a free application) has not reduced its resolution for web-use. However more and more hi-res images are becoming available.

When I first arrived in New Zealand, Fonz, one of the designers I worked with suggested Google images to find an image to fill a space in the magazine. My response, though I didn't say it quite like this aloud was:
"What the FUCK? What kind of amateur outfit is this? We can't use images off the web they'll be far too low res."
"You'd be surprised", said Fonz "ole Google images has got me out of some pretty sticky situations."

And he was right. While working on that magazine Google saved me many times, hell, most of the CD and DVD review pages and all of the Games reviews images were sourced from there. Waiting for supplied images from contributors was the correct process but in reality they never arrived.

After I left, I freelanced for a year in many ad agencies and it was obvious that it was a bit of a well-know secret amongst Creative Directors how many times they'd bailed themselves out of sticky situation with good ole Google. One even confessed that certain live campaigns existed with content obtained via Google Images. "Sometimes you can find higher resolution images out there than ones the client supplied", he whispered slyly.

after party

Things to do at an Afterparty with heaps of free booze and bursting with celebs when you are not drinking (because you're driving) and aren't with a huge possé of mates:

1. Look awkward


2. Get bored...very quickly


3. Go home

The new Cirque du Soleil offering Varekai was very good. The female lead, Irina Naumenko was quite sexy for an anthelete/acrobat. Usually, we see skinny 15 year old russian girls that are built like 13 year old russian boys spinning, flipping and generally bending around corners. This girl was very curvy and bendy, I'm not going to say it but Gentlemen should take a moment to gather their thoughts.



The "exclusive after-party" wasn't as exclusive as was billed with approximately two-thirds of those attending the Auckland premiere invited. A bit of gay dancing: buff brazilian boys in day-glo hotpants and girls that were all bums and feathers and some mini cup cakes weren't enough to hold my attention.