TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

1938, 150th Celebration of European Settlement. President Patten (right) reads resolution, "We, representing the ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA ... on the 150th Anniversary of the whitemen's seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people ... AND WE APPEAL to the Australian Nation of to-day ... for FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY" . ..This image is part of the collections of the State Library of NSW . January 26th is recognized as Australia Day in Australia (obviously). It marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a small bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour. For modern Australia it's a holiday and a day of celebration, with the Federal, State, and even Local Councils, handing out awards for achievement at various events. Quite often citizenship ceremonies for new Aussies are performed too. However, over the last few decades, ...

London Court Mall, Perth WA. Day eight of our trip to Perth, WA, and my partner, Enigma, had made plans to go on a solo mission into the city, on public transport, while I went off to visit my sister for the afternoon. Public Transport Inconveniences (Always Have Change) Turns out buying public transport tickets in Perth is not as straight forward as it is in Adelaide, SA. For buses you need exact change cash fare (drivers don't give change) or a prepaid travel card (similar to SA's metro card). Enigma had used up most of her coins on parking, when we went to the Swan View foreshore, and only had a $20 note. I only had a $5 note. For trains it is possible to use credit/debit cards if you buy a ticket on the platform, so devised a plan to drive Enigma to the nearest train station at Victoria Park.  Perth City Train Station, WA. Since I hadn't planned to go to my sister's until nearly 2:30pm we decided to both catch the train from Victoria Park, I could then head to back ...

Could I be staring in Luc Besson's next Sci-fi epic? T echnically this isn't really Deep Faking but 'Training an AI Model on Yourself' isn't quite as eye catching a headline. Deep faking is the act of replacing one person's face (and sometimes voice) in an image or video with another. It's often done in fantasy casting for films where the face of one or more actors is replaced by another to get an idea of what that actor may have been like in the role. One particularly famous deep fake is  Robert Downey Jr and Tom Holland replacing Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in the school hallway scene in Back to the future. But I digress... Deep Faking yourself into situations that never happened is now one of my new favorite things to do with AI Image Generators. I don't know why I hadn't thought to do this much sooner as it totally feeds into my somewhat suppressed narcissism. EverArt I got to trial EverArt.ai , a new text to image AI generator totally ...

Fremantle: Bike Sculpture. Twin Fin Café behind on the right. S unday morning, day six of my partner, Enigma, and I's trip back to Perth, to visit family, we set out for a shorter walk around the Marina, near our apartment, than the walk we did on day four .  This day truly was a family day, where we spent the afternoon at my brother's house, with my Mum and my Sister. My brother made a 'lasagna like' veggie stack, that was really nice, with a tossed salad and Garlic bread. Part of this visit was to also plan a schedule of outings for the five of us that worked for everyone in terms of what we wanted to go see, and when everyone would be available. Beyond that is was just a nice afternoon in my brother's 'man-cave' catching up and getting family photos for my Mum. Day Seven: Fremantle Whenever we go to Perth, Enigma and I, always make sure we have a 'just us' day in Fremantle - our favorite place to visit. If I could find a way to live in Fremantle I...

The Michael Keaton Batman Trilogy on DVD. Despite its questionable CGI, troubled star, and the turmoil surrounding the DCEU's future when it was released, 2023's, The Flash does give us a new, and probably final, installment in Michael Keaton's run as Bruce Wayne/Batman. With that in mind, this holiday season, I had a real itch to spend a day binge watching what is now The Michael Keaton, Batman Trilogy .  To give you some context, I own every Batman movie (except Pattinson's The Batman ) on DVD, and every DCEU movie up to The Flash. The ones I don't own are only missing because I haven't gotten around to buying them, and they're likely still available on a streaming service I'm subscribed to. I've had Keaton's first two Batman movies in my collection for the best part of two decades but I can count on one hand how many times I've watched each. The last time was more than a decade ago.  Before I watched them recently, if you'd have asked...

Tomato Lake Shelter and Boardwalk over the lake. Tomato Lake , located in Kewdale, is a very special location for my family. Specifically my Dad (before he passed) and his partner, who Enigma and I were meeting at the park café for breakfast on day 5 of our Perth trip. While it's essentially just a nice place that they've been coming to for breakfast for years, my Dad also spread my Auntie's ashes at the lake when she passed a year before he did. The café at the lake has been run by the same Asian family for more than 20 years, is mostly alfresco,  though there is a small undercover area next to the kitchen and ordering area. Obviously it's dog friendly and there is a large playground nearby for the kids. Enigma and I both got full bacon, egg and toast breakfasts. I had a white tea with mine. The café is extremely popular and, while there is plenty of seating it still pays to get there early if you really want a table (otherwise bring a picnic blanket because there...

Ascot Waters Marina Apartments. After our all day outing, with the family, to Wireless Hill on our Perth trip yesterday , day 4 was mostly a rest and relax day. However we did start our day with a bit more exploration of the local walking trails. This time we walked the other way along the Swan River track heading toward Ascot Waters Marina that was less than a five minute walk from our apartment. The Marina itself was quite impressive with all the various boats and the surrounding apartments. It was hard to tell if each of the buildings were just one large home or a series of apartments linked together with common areas.  Moored Boats, Ascot Waters Marina. We couldn't really decide, since anyone living right on the Swan  River, and in a marina, no less, probably has the money for a large home, and would be less likely to settle for a smaller apartment. 'Bellarina  xxvii ' by Len Zuks Inside the Marina we came across an interesting statue of a half naked women who did no...