cheating (25)

i didn't actually take this photo myself but i did instruct mands in a fair amount of detail (she is reluctant to take photos for me, probably understandably) how i wanted the shot framed and taken (mini tripod, timer, multi-shot) so it kind of counts? mands claims to come from a family of non-photographers, so if i don't request photos of myself then they'd never be taken, and then years from now when i'm gone what evidence would there be that i existed and did things? although to be honest i hope it'd be more than photos as evidence of that.

notching up another capital win (20)

#12 marianna tolo driving into the key and scoring another 2 in what ended up being an easy canberra capitals victory over logan (gold coast) thunder. the caps did go into halftime losing to the thunder (with, ironically, thunder outside) however, and our seats behind the board and close to the caps bench gave us a great view of the some classic carrie graf rage-fuelled coaching. i wouldn't be surprised if carrie got a bill from the AIS to repair the dents caused by her clipboard in the playing surface. another a swift verbal kick in the proverbials delivered the intended result and the caps stepped it up big time in the second half, turning the tables on logan and giving the crowd what they came for - another sneak preview of some stellar home finals action! it's a good life being a caps fan.

me & a (sho)gun

tori amos cranked. clear clean crisp autumn day. solarised effect.

tour de canberra

when i first moved to the nation's capital a decade ago, one of the things canberrans raved about (still do, mind you, and i am now one of them!) and which became quite obvious after living here even a short time, was that bicycling is very popular here and that there are awesome bike paths throughout the spread of the territory. so i quickly bought a bike, but for some reason didn't use it much at first. it was just a few years back that i became a huge fan of the cycling commute. i loved not being beholden to sitting in traffic or using public transport, being green, and arriving at my destination clearheaded from my individual quiet time. not to mention the fastest way for me to get to work from home (all of 4.5km) is on my trusty shogun :)

my type of religion

it's officially called the melbourne cricket ground but in winter it is affectionately known as 'the G', and it is the mecca for the australian football fan. its current full capacity wavers around the 100,000 mark. but even if it's only half or even three quarters full, as it was on the photographed day in question (official crowd count was 73,503 mad screaming blues and tigers fans), and the crowd either witnesses the ball slotting the two biggest posts or senses an umpiring injustice - the mighty fervent roar that echoes around and around in that cauldron is both deafening and thrilling. we worship our football. especially when our side wins. carlton won on the day captured in the above image. so obviously it was a great great day :):) i barrack for carlton blues, and mands for richmond tigers. we try to make it down for one if not both the match-ups between our teams each year. otherwise we hit the ainslie footclub club here in canberra to watch and shout at games on the big screen there with friends. 

sport(wo)manship

a genuine handshake (not an arm wrestle as the pose may suggest) with smiles on both competitors' (amelie mauresmo 4 2 def by victoria azarenka 6 6) faces after a great grand slam match. not to mention some very nice muscle definition on their arms!! 

all in, all out

my mobile camera (sony ericsson cybershot 3.2MP) takes fairly decent photos, and has some funky inbuilt effects settings. one of them is solarize - which overexposes the image, causing the colours to bleed into one another - resulting in blocks of colour and blurred line definition. this image is taken on that setting from the first floor landing overlooking an infamous 'clappers' poker night. i was taking the photo after i did a spectacular fail on an 'all in' bluff with a really crap hand. this is not an unusual occurence on these evenings :)

grand slam thank you ma'am

serena williams won the 2009 australian open women's singles final last night in melbourne. i took the above photo while watching her convincingly win her round 3 match in the rod laver arena last saturday morning. she really is a power player - no wonder, she is built of 100% muscle!