Short Piano Thumping Recordings

Over the past few days, I've been having a bit of fun randomly thumping the upright piano we've got lying around gathering dust. Since no-one really plays it much nowadays, it has a few dodgy keys (i.e. broken dampers (f'') + occasionally-unresponsive-hammer (c,)), and some notes are jarringly off-kilter (having not been tuned for years - i.e. a).  That said, none of that really matters, since I'm just randomly thumping it in whatever way feels fun to do, and which makes interesting sounds.

Disclaimer 1: Untrained pianist fumblings abound ahead...
Disclaimer 2: No pianos were (intentionally) harmed in the process of recording these snippets ;)

21 August





16 August

Hagley Park - Sunny Afternoon Walk

Last Sunday, the weather was really nice and sunny here in Christchurch - perfect for a walk around Hagley Park. As usual, parking was a bit of a hassle, but we got there in the end, parking in the Rolleston Ave carpark. Here are some highlights of that walkabout...

Video Link - Robert Hodgin at Eyeo 2014

This evening, I came across an entertaining talk by Robert Hodgin at the Eyeo Festival this year, about his work on flocking simulations. "Creative coding" (i.e. interactive/dynamic scenes) definitely sounds like some fun stuff to play around with sometime...


Eyeo 2014 - Robert Hodgin from Eyeo Festival // INST-INT on Vimeo.

Silvereyes - Bread Feeding Frenzy

Last night's sunset

Despite a cold change and predicted rain during the afternoon, last night's sunset was still somewhat decent (though obviously not as impressive as the one that I'd missed on Wednesday). It was however bitterly cold - within a minute of being out there, I was like an ice block, despite wearing a jacket and gloves!

Tail-End of Sunset - 20 August

Here's are some shots of the tail end of the sunset this evening, which I almost missed completely. Annoyingly though, when I did see it, it was really quite a sight - but my camera was over 1km away, and not where I wanted it most. Grr!

Here are some consolatory shots I managed to snap as soon as I got home, though by that stage, the southern sky had darkened ~1 stop, the lovely red glow on the horizon was getting blocked by all the houses in the way, and the fleeting twilight "green-glow" I'd seen along the way had started to fade again.

Collection of Batteries

Over the weekend, we cleared out our stash of old/dead batteries, which we'd been storing up to dump in one go, since IIRC there are various restrictions on where/how you can dispose of them.

RIP Robin Williams

By now, you've probably heard the sad news, probably more than once, that Robin Williams passed away today. Besides shock that this happened, there's also sadness that the world has lost one of its most talented stars. This is perhaps particularly so for our generation, who grew up with watching a considerable number of his films.

It's kind of surprising in retrospect how many of the iconic films I can think of from that period he starred in, and how these have shaped our lives/childhood memories. In particular, I particularly remember him in Mrs Doubtfire, Patch Adams, Jack, Flubber, Jumanji, Dead Poet's Society, and Bicentennial Man (*1).

Happy Birthday to Me

I had a great day off today, enjoying some great food (including dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, and a new favourite), a nice walk, and topped off with the biggest supermoon of the year. Not bad for "me" day - one of the few "sacred" days each year when I resolve to tell work, deadlines, and all other crap like that to bugger off... hehehe! :)

Canon 7D Tricks I just learned of...

After close to four years of using my Canon 7D (I got it in early September 2010, about 1-2 days before the first quake - I still hadn't properly unboxed my macro lens when the 7.1 struck, which sent that lens-still-securely-boxed-up flying into the trash can into a soft bed of crumpled tissues), today I suddenly came across some features I hadn't known existed. One thing led to another, and now I've just picked up a bunch of new features which look interesting enough that I'll need to spend some time playing with them for sure...

Silvereyes and Blossom

This morning, the forecast "sleety-showers" never eventuated, and we were instead greeted with a bright sunny day. So, I went for a walk in Jellie Park, and came across a pair of silvereyes enjoying a blossom tree.

Sensitive Plant Macros - Pre-Bloom Flower Head

This morning, I noticed that our sensitive plant (i.e. Mimosa pudica) had developed a flower bud. So, without further ado, I set about trying to get some shots of it!

Silvereyes Feasting on Bread

Yesterday afternoon, I left out two pieces of bread for the birds: one on the lawn, and the other on a bush near the windows. This morning, I was greeted by the sight of a flock of silvereyes merrily feasting away, on the piece of bread closest to the windows!

These shots are actually screenshots from some video footage I shot of them. I'll have these up later today or tomorrow once I get back to the office (since the internet is faster there).