TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

ArtHelper prides itself on being all 'human-made' art. T he idea of an AI, trained specifically on art business marketing, that can not only offer advice on marketing your work, but also assist with creating all the content too, is certainly appealing. Especially to those of us who would rather spend more time creating our art than trying to sell it. ArtHelper does just that whilst attempting to be your 'home' on the internet. A destination for your profile and portfolio, a marketplace for your art, and a directory of artists as well, with one distinction - all the art must be human made. Which, for you AI artists, doesn't count the prompt for AI generated art - because the idea, according to ArtHelper's creators, isn't the art. Which is a fair point, in terms of promoting art 'made by a human', but can get kind of murky when you understand that not all AI art is generated from a single prompt... and 'found object art' isn't actually ...

My partner, Enigma, and I were gifted a voucher at Christmas to The Meat & Wine Co Steakhouse Restaurant Located in the historic Elder House, 39 Currie Street Adelaide CBD. For us, this kind of premium restaurant is not something we'd ever really contemplate going to because the pricing is it bit more 'posh' than we're usually prepared to spend on a meal. Despite that, the Afro-centric inspired theme of the restaurant, while still emanating a premium experience, felt very welcoming and homely. Its wooden table tops, African patterns, and rope stylings (that made me think someone must be very much into giant macrame) made for a very unique setting. Our wait staff were very helpful, friendly and accommodating, answering any questions we had. Not unexpectedly the food was some of the best we've ever eaten. Though we like a good steak we did notice that there is quite a range of vegan options if that's your dietary preference. For entree we had the Garlic Bread...

Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau Chris Guillebeau is probably one of the most unassuming, down to Earth entrepreneurs, authors in the side hustle space. Somehow he manages to give practical advice through his books and Side Hustle School podcast without actually looking like he's trying to sell anything. So how is it I'm now reviewing a fourth book of his that I purchased? He's clearly doing something right. I actually bought Chris' book, Side Hustle , quite some time ago but I've been so busy in my side hustles it's taken me a while to set time aside for reading.  These days if I don't schedule reading time and commit to it each day I just don't read actual books. So that's what I did. Cut down on my YouTube watching at breakfast by 30 minutes so I could read instead of watching videos. Well worth it, without a doubt. If you're like me, aware that you should also set time to work on your business rather than in your business, Chris' book, ...

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug...  or the most expensive mug  you'll ever buy? I've been subscribed to  Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram. If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject.  Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey. To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses , a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but opt...

Passive Income is that somewhat elusive idea of earning a living even while you're sleeping. Often considered a 'scam' term used by charismatic marketers to sell you a dream of instant riches asterixed with, in very tiny print "results may vary". Passive Income Course for Graphic Designers is a Udemy course by Skybox Creative (a.k.a. designer, Angelina Samadhi) that guides you through the actual work you need to do (a point that is often glossed over by those charismatic marketers) to create a passive income business selling digital art and design products online. Note that I am an Udemy Affiliate and links within this article to the course are affiliate links. You don't have to use them but it does help keep this site free. Having said that, Passive Income for Graphic Designers is a course I have completed in full, not simply to write a review, but to actually learn from Angelina's experience... because I'm definitely not earning a living from affil...

Populele 2 Ukulele I've wanted to learn to play an instrument for many years. Specifically the guitar but have never really done anything about it beyond buying one book (literally years ago), complete with DVD, teaching the electric guitar, that I've never opened. In October of 2019 I happened upon the  Populele 2 Ukulele  through an email promotion from shopping site Gearbest (#notsponsored but links to the Populele 2 and Udemy are my affiliate links). I can't say I've ever wanted to learn the Ukulele, because it seemed like a dinky little instrument, and not particularly thought of as 'cool'. However, the Populele 2 Ukulele has a fairly unique, eye catching design, in two colors (black or white) that doesn't immediately scream 'UKULELE'. That aside what really caught my attention is the ability to link the ukulele to a dedicate phone app that teaches you to play using fun games and lights on the ukulele's fretboard showing where to p...

Shaun's expression is one of 'are you really sure you want to read this?' Shaun Micallef is one of Australia's premier comedian, actor, writer, and media personalities responsible for numerous comedy TV shows, and generally leaning towards surrealist humor that often gives him a more unique perspective on finding what's funny in any given situation. He's actually one of my favorite humorists working in entertainment, hence I was looking forward to reading his book, The Uncollected Plays of Shaun Micallef . You would think a man who writes a lot of contemporary, biting satire would be a sure thing, laugh a minute writer of short plays but unfortunately, this book was disappointing. I found it extremely challenging to read, and was constantly looking to see how many pages were left to endure of the various plays as I read them. Part of the problem is the majority of the plays are based on historical themes that were not only before my time, but also bef...

Identity Crisis by Ben Elton. I'm a fan of Ben Elton's work, particularly his ability to tell a story that taps into an aspect of the zeitgeist of the day. In Identity Crisis Ben weaves a story around social media outrage and its influence on shaping almost everything from the mainstream media and celebrity down to individual everyday people. The book also explores the minefield of gender identity as modern inclusiveness clashes with traditional thinking. In the story, Mick Matlock is an old school Scotland Yard detective, investigating a murder with no clues, when he inadvertently becomes the focus of social media outrage for victim blaming. As his investigation continues the body count increases with each new victim seemingly a casualty of social media outrage. Mick begins to suspect much more is going on. Initially I found this book a little difficult to stay hooked into. Whilst I use social media I'm not as hooked into it as people who live on their phones ...

Tinkering / A Pleasure to Be Here. by John Clarke John Clarke is one of the rare famous New Zealanders who Australia hasn't claimed as their own. Probably because he got too well known for being a New Zealander before he did what many New Zealanders do, move to Australia. Though I think he may have made a side trip to the UK for a few years before that. As a comedic writer/performer clearly Australia was a bigger joke for John Clarke than New Zealand, or at least a bigger coal face to mine humor from when it comes to political nonsense and a general fascination with unnecessary levels of administration and form filling. A Pleasure to Be Here (2017) I can't remember when John Clarke first came upon my radar but through the nineteen eighties I was much more intrigued by Australian politics than I am today. It's likely John got my attention as that comedian who did a short interview style satire at the end of the week on the TV News show, A Current Affair , and th...

The SEO Bootcamp For Beginners 2019 Udemy course by GlitchyBot As an online business owner Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something you know you should learn but just wish you could learn like Neo learns Kung Fu in The Matrix. The knowledge is downloaded into his brain almost instantaneously, and then he just knows it. Recently I wanted to know why a page I thought I'd optimised well, and was getting number one placement on Google for the search terms I focussed on, wasn't performing well at all. Udemy is my go to site for online learning (I am an affiliate). I searched their course catalogue for something that would run me through the basics of SEO quickly - as close to Neo learning Kung Fu as possible. I came across The SEO Bootcamp For Beginners 2019  by GlitchyBot, a one hour course that runs you through the basics of SEO, no side tracking, no exercises to complete, just a headlong rush through mostly short videos, giving you all the information you need. I p...

Super Sonica PVC 1/7 Figurine . I was not familiar with the Anime character  Super Sonico  created by Tsuji Santa of the Japanese computer and video game software company, Nitroplus , as the mascot for Nitroplus' annual live music festival event "Nitro Super Sonico". I was actually looking through the GearBest website for another Anime character and liked the look of this particular display figure enough to add it to my cart. (It also helped that the figure was on sale at a significant email only discount at the time). This particular version of the character features Sonico dressed in her Santa Cape and Swim Suit  complete with holiday trimmings. The hood/cape can also be removed and replaced with Sonico's headphone wire and trademark, long pink hair. When my purchase arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and detail. Having since discovered the Anime character (and also TV series) the figure is based upon I can say it's a fairly faithful dep...

Yukino Yukinoshita Figurine from GearBest. I must admit I was not familiar with the Anime character  Yukino Yukinoshita , from the Japanese book and TV series My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU . I bought this figure because I was browsing for one that looked similar to an Anime avatar my partner used for a time on social media. Click to View on GearBest.com What actually sealed the deal for me to purchase, aside from how similar the character looked, was the little panda (Pan-san) with the black star eye, which I felt gave the whole figurine set a bit of an edgy look. When my purchase arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and detail. Having since discovered the Anime TV series the figure is based upon I can say it's a fairly faithful depiction of Yukino. Standing (or is that sitting?) at 14.00 x 15.00 x 14.00 cm / 5.51 x 5.91 x 5.51 inches the figure is an ideal size for displaying on a desk or bookshelf without taking up too much room. The 1/8 scale al...

BEILEXING Brick Motorcycle Kit The first time I saw the Beilexing Brick Motorcycle Kit I thought it was nothing short of stunning. I'm not even a fan of motorcycles in general but the detail of this set and how much it captured the spirit of a real world motorcycle really impressed me. Then I saw the set cost considerably less than a similar sized kit from the Lego Technic range I just couldn't pass it up. When the kit arrived it did not disappoint. Made from ABS plastic the bricks are fully compatible with, and are of comparable quality to, official Lego bricks. I did notice that the tires and chain links seemed a little less sturdy than their Lego equivalents but beyond that you'd be hard pressed to say the quality of the parts wasn't almost as good. The model is 35.00 x 10.00 x 6.00 cm / 13.78 x 3.94 x 2.36 inches in size and should be no trouble for intermediate to advanced builders to construct with a clear, and easy to follow instruction manual. A she...

TET with $20.00 Mambo, Department Store Skateboard. In my previous post and video titled Can You Learn the Basics on a Cheap Skateboard? I began an experiment to see if basic, department store skateboards are at least good enough for beginners to get their first taste of skateboarding without spending a lot of money. (Spoiler - they are). Grrr Dog Popsicle  Skateboard See more deck shapes Just to reinforce my point I decided to film a follow up video a few weeks later showing that my cheap skateboard is still holding up to learning the basics. Admittedly I'm not the most hardcore of learner skaters when it comes to hours spent on the board. On average I manage around thirty minutes to an hour, five days a week. The point is that the board is still holding up to the tricks I've been learning despite my weight being about 16 kilos heavier than the maximum weight recommended for the board (50 kilos). Unlike those Youtube skaters that almost seem like their...

$20, Mambo 31" x 8", Department Store Skateboard. Over the years I've watched many high profile YouTube skateboarders repeatedly create videos where they purchase a cheap, department store skateboard, ride it like they would their regular professional skateboard, until it breaks (usually within an hour or so), and claim that as a reason for steering clear of these products. ​Inadvertently what they're doing is creating less demand for cheap skateboards, meaning it's less likely department stores will stock them, resulting in no easy way for first time skaters to 'test the waters' to see if skating is really for them. Even worse, parents looking to get their children into a new sport, may not even see skateboarding as an option as they browse through the department store sports section. At the time of writing, Australian department stores have shelves filled with many different brands of scooters, alongside a small shelf or two of skateboards (and...

Flitt Selfie Camera Drone. Ollie by TET. The Flitt folds up to easily fit in your pocket or bag. The latest trend in drones is what's known as the 'selfie' drone. These drones aren't designed to fly extremely high or long distance, capturing panoramic views. Their purpose is, as the name suggests, to photograph or film the person controlling the drone itself. There's a few reasons you might want to do this including but not limited to: Hands free camera operation. More dynamic shots. Wider environment shot framing. Higher camera placement. I've already written about the Pink Elfie Drone that I bought, which is just an awful drone for selfie work based on my own experience with it. For Christmas my partner bought me a Flitt Selfie Camera Drone , which, like the Elfie, uses an app on your phone as a controller, and is designed to be carried in your pocket. It's slightly more expensive but if you're looking for a great first drone I...