(September 2nd) Prelims are over, and our 3U major work is almost complete. To celebrate, another FORTY photos, mostly from the City2Surf and... well, general in-school craziness.
So. You'd like to see some photos?
You're in the right place. Here, I've put on display the last dozen of my favourite photos for you to look at - as new photos are added, old ones are pushed out. Each image is thumbnailed and described so that you have an idea of what you're looking at before you open the full-size version. If there's a photo that you think I've taken and you would like to see it on this page (so that you can save it for yourself too), all you have to do is ask me, and I'll put it up here as soon as I can (usually once a week or so).
Now, a few words before you jump straight in. As I mentioned earlier and you can see below, I've thumbnailed every picture that I upload to the site. To make them all look pretty and fit in with the colour theme of the site, though, I've applied a special filter to each one - it makes everything look more orange (you can see the effect straight away).
(August 9th) After the disaster that was the Bismarck essay, and with the weekend ahead, I've decided to put up some Jedis for you. Five new ones, with my best sabers yet! And another update coming soon, with almost forty new photos!...
(August 7th) If you're here, you can see it. I've just done up the site a little nicer - hopefully I'll continue to do this as the site develops. It's meant to look less dodgy, & more professional.
The full version of each photo, however, is in normal colour - all you need to do is click through on the link that says [ Large Rainbow Version ], and you'll see it in sixteen million colours, as well as the bigger picture. Also worth noting, the thumbnails only show a small part of the image - for example, the face of the subject instead of their whole body - it's just a habit I've developed. So, when you see the thumbnails, realise that what you see there is not the whole photo.
One more thing, on that subject. My camera can take pictures at 1600 by 1200 (that's a size measured in pixels - about two and a half times bigger than most people's desktops), but I don't upload them at that size - most of them are 900 pixels wide instead of 1600. I've found that at this size, images still retain most of their detail, while being a manageable size for you to download and me to upload. If there's any picture you really want the full version of, gimme a whistle (manifold@soon.com) and I'll see what I can do for you.
By the way... since I'm opening up this site a while after I first got my camera, there are some photos that I want to display first before I get to my latest ones. Recent photos will start appearing when I've exhausted my older collection. Thanks for your patience, and enjoy these older gems until then!
Alright then! Bring in the photos!
"Sunrise, En Route" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Mmmm, early mornings. This is one of the times I have gotten up early to go somewhere. The other notable times are the Canberra excursion (just recently), dawn services, cadet bivouacs and picking people up from the airport. At least this time the sun had just risen.
"Numbers" [ Large Rainbow Version ] I didn't think of it, but Jules and Mon insisted that we got to the City2Surf very early. Now I knew why. Here are the lines for the numbered bibs required for participation in the run. My number was very near to the end (#62018).
"Dudes In Yellow" [ Large Rainbow Version ] While ambling around waiting for the event to begin, we saw these Dudes In Yellow. Sadly, I think they were an Asian cult... either that, or they foresaw Yellow Day (this is before we even thought of the idea!).
"Our Shoes" [ Large Rainbow Version ] The Nokia Back of the pack - the last twenty thousand participants, approximately - took a while to get started. It took us twenty minute sto get past the opening straight, and we had to wait for forty thousand people to go first. Oh well: patience is a virtue. While waiting, we took pictures of... our shoes.
"Starting Point" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Here is a very cool building. My guess is that it was part of Old Sydneytown - I love the architecture from that time. Very classical, almost timeless. Anyway, this is the place where we started the City2Surf. (The lines of people you see at the bottom of the photo aren't people lining up for the start of the race - it's too early for that. These lines are for the toilets.)
"Skywriting" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Picture-In-Picture There was skywriting filling the skies throughout the day. I guess the advertising agencies realised they could catch more than sixty thousand people at once. (Don't be alarmed when you see the thumbnail, which says "AG"... the full version says "AGFA". Well, it's meant to.)
"Mascots" Picture-In-Picture [ Large Rainbow Version ] A few metres ahead of Charm, Mon, Jules, Lung and I were these two green dinosaurs, mascots for National Geographic. Unfortunately, we lost track of them as the run progressed; but the camera remembered them.
"Drink Stop One" [ Large Rainbow Version ] There were drink stops every two kilometres. Here is the first one, about fifty metres after the start. Phew, I'm feeling thirsty already.
"Entertainment En Route" [ Large Rainbow Version ] "...the hills are alive..." As the run progressed, we passed a lot of shopfronts, hotels, apartments, houses. On the verandah of one of these, were two people with a band singing an Anastacia song. Jolly good.
"Harbourside" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Somewhere near the middle of the race, we reached a small bay off from the harbour. I hurried down a very steep hill (about 60º) to take photos, only to find there were stairs a little way along the road. Oh well!
"Hose" [ Large Rainbow Version ] One thing I wasn't really expecting was this: hoses. There turned out to be quite a few, especially approaching the final kilometres. It was a good thing they were there - it was a very hot day that day, reaching the high-twenties, almost the thirties.
"Sea Of People" [ Large Rainbow Version ] People, people, people... as far as the eye can see, people. This was near the beginning of the race. I figured, if there's more than sixty thousand people, and there are eight hundred people in our school, that's more than eighty James Ruses, all running on Sydney's roads at the same time. Insanity!
"First Leg" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Here is us part way through the first section of the City2Surf, before the second drink stop. The people stayed thick for the entire event, though they were much thicker at the start - there was almost no room to move left, right, forward or back... you just moved with the pack.
"Halfway" [ Large Rainbow Version ] The kind folks at the Sun Herald put up signs each kilometre, giving us a nice idea of how far we had come and how far was left. This is the seven-kilometre mark - somewhat obviously - which was situated on what they call "Heartbreak Hill". For the cadets of you out there, it's quite similar to the vertical section of Six Foot Track, though luckily nowhere near as gruelling. Basically it's a hill that goes around and around and around, so you can't see the end. Lung and I were being brave but stupid - we sprinted almost the entire length of the Hill.
"The Muffin Man" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Didn't expect this either - the Muffin Man. "The Muffin Man?" The Muffin Man. He popped up right outside Baker's Delight... and I could've sworn he smelt of freshly baked bread. So what if it was probably the shop itself... a boy can still dream, can't he?
"Orangetongue" [ Large Rainbow Version ] My house has Bluetongue Lizards who gobble up all the bad insects. But after being given some free orange Gatorade, we had coloured tongues too... though of a different kind. Well, only us five will truly know what it was like, I guess. ;)
"My Cups Overflow" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Oh-ho-ho! A pun of the Biblical phrase 'my cup overflows'... in the couple hundred metres past each drink station, the cups really did overflow. They covered the streets as far as you could see, accompanied with the constant sound of plastic crunching underfoot. You can really see it on the photo. And if it was a Gatorade stop, your shoes would go sticky for a little while too. Fun for the whole family!
"Reaching The Surf" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Multiple Images ...and our journey was drawing to an end. We finally received our first glimpse of the beach, though our walk still had to go all the way around the cove and then to its finish on the beach. Worth the effort, by far.
"Passing Gas" [ Large Rainbow Version ] No comment, other than you really have to open this one up now. You'll regret it if you don't. ;)
"Clumsy Lung" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Multiple Images Lung is like me in quite a few respects. One of these is clumsiness (though I do believe I am the King of Clumsiness... Double PE, 10A, once every Friday thank you very much). Here is Lung running into a couple of things during the course of the day. (Speech captions added for comic value.)
"101" [ Large Rainbow Version ] People dress up as the strangest things. Supposedly the Back of the Pack has a plenty of people raising money by completing the run dressed as something ridiculous. I guess this is a good (?) example...
"Tiger Ladies" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Another bunch of interestingly-costumed Back of the Pack participants. They posed very nicely for us, but while I was taking the shot, a man (also dressed as a tiger) asked me "Where are you from?". Very sheepishly, I replied, "Not very far...". I think he was expecting me to say something like Shanghai or Japan.
"Finish Line" Multiple Images [ Large Rainbow Version ] A welcome sight. As we circumnavigated the beach and swung around to get on the final stretch, we passed through this gate and were given a card... only to be met by another set of gates. We had to hand in our time, with our number stuck on it - after which we would receive our medallion (see inset images). It was almost like completing a maths exam... make sure you fill in all the right sections, and hand it in to the right spot! (Note: the time on my card is measured in minutes... so that meant we finished in about three hours. I think we finished forty-one-thousandth or so.)
"Texting Home" [ Large Rainbow Version ] ET didn't have this in mind when he mentioned his famous phrase: "ET, phone home". But SMS - dubbed texting by some people (never actually physically heard it myself) - is definitely very useful. This is me, texting to my brother at home, with a phone belonging to Lung... to whom I am immeasurably indebted for a great number of reasons. Thanks bro!
"Our Ride Home" [ Large Rainbow Version ] We thought the fight was over... once we crossed the finish line, we thought all would be well. When Lung and I waited twenty minutes in a Macca's line, we thought, "well, it couldn't get much worse". We were wrong: the line for the busses stretched out in front of us, almost as far as we could see. And when we finally got to the head of the line, the bus left without us. Here is the next bus, the one we actually took for part of the way home.
"Resting Legs" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Fourteen thousands metres did not make us tired as we thought it would - we walked and ran the entire thing and pretty much never stopped, without much difficulty at all. But when we finally took our seats on the bus, our legs melted, resting for the first time in three hours flat. A very, very good feeling.
"Arrival = Departure" [ Large Rainbow Version ] This train's arrival at Town hall signalled the end for our city adventure. Funnily enough, we bumped into Mr. Boddy at the station and Mr. Demos on the train, who proceeded to give us a very big fright by almost crushing Lung when he pretended to fall over on us. Small world!
"Train Ticket Fun" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Here we are on the train back tp Epping (Cheltenham in Lung's case). All I can say is... fatigue makes you do funny things. Yeah, that's it... fatigue, and fire drills.
"Death By Photocopier" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Well, be careful the next time you use a photocopier. Who knows? Dennis thought everything was okay... Dennis put his money in the slot... Dennis put his paper on the copier... Dennis pushed the button. You could be next.
"Farmer Lee & Farmer Lee" [ Large Rainbow Version ] It seems to be the ubiquitous name, but it's actually not all that common... well, maybe not. Here are two of the Lees I am in frequent fellowship with, Jimbo (ie. Smebo... ask me for the maths if you want to know why) and Ming-Chak. We're visiting the farm for the first time in way too long, to check out 'soil structure'. Yes, soil structure... a very exciting topic.
"Girls With Lambs" Multiple Images [ Large Rainbow Version ] Lucky girls! Here are Becky and Susie with their newly-caught lambs. I got other photos of them all trying to get the lambs out from underneath the little shed that they have near the cattle crush, but they look kinda silly and you can't see much. After much running around, this was the final result.
"Lamb Eating Hand" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Exactly what it says... it's a lamb, eating a hand (Wayne's, I think). Well, it turns out that this lamb didn't eat this hand, but hey, it looks like it could have been, doesn't it?
"The School Ram" Multiple Images [ Large Rainbow Version ] Well, well, well... if it isn't the School Ram. Here's our resident ram, all alone in his pen, craving some less-dry-looking grass (have you seen his paddock? He must be hungry). We fed him some, and he paid us back by posing for these very nice photos. I can't account for the sky changing colour within the space of a few seconds, though... must have been the camera's white balance (ask me).
"Passport Photo" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Here is a photo of my terrible set of passport photos. I had to take them for my HSC entry form. Naturally, I think I could have taken a better picture of myself by myself (was the grammar right? I think so), but alas, I don't own a colour printer. Maybe later.
"Diorama" [ Large Rainbow Version ] I forgot to include this photo in the last gallery... it's from the Australian War Memorial. It's one of the many dioramas they had there, depicting various battlefield conditions. It was simply amazing, looking at what the 'battlefields' were like before - lush green rolling hills; and what they had become - a muddy landscape filled with casualties. (The continual pounding of artillery and trench warfare completely devastated the landscape.) Major kudos to the artists... but a very sad scene indeed.
"Engraving" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Dentistry has its perks. One of them is free access to high-quality engraving tools. My sister did my name on the camera for me - you can see it over there on the left of the image. If you've never had a close look at my camera before, here's one... larger than life. PS. The image is washed red because of the light I used... an incandescent lamp on my otherwise unlit table.
"Joel's Costume" [ Large Rainbow Version ] From the same day as The Helmet Crew (see below), it's Joel in his own costume. I said I was going to make this into a Jedi Academy photo, but it looks kinda funny on its own. I'll Jedi-ify (Jedify?) it later.
"Library Fun - Not Destroyed" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Multiple Images Redemption for the library staff. Here is Mrs. Romanov (a descendant from the Russian throne, no less), happening upon our boisterous match of Pass The Buck. She was very kind and let us carry on, albeit with a small warning.
Someone: "Oh, we're studying very hard on... umm... agriculture!"
Mrs. R: "What, do I look like I was born yesterday?"
Harry: "Why, yes, you look quite youthful in fact!" (laughter)
(Way too easy.)
"Mr. Harry Mohan" [ Large Rainbow Version ] Whoo, don't we feel big and responsible! This is Harry up in the library, filling in the details on the Daffodil Day merchandise order form. As many of you will know, most of the merchandise didn't arrive, since the Cancer Council had run out; but thanks to the great efforts of the entire Prefect team (especially you, Aaron!), we managed to make the day a great success. More on this later, when I release all the photos from the day itself.
"The Helmet Crew" [ Large Rainbow Version ] We get up to a lot of things in Drama that seem perfectly ordinary to us, but strange to anyone who has never done Drama before. When we think something is strange, you know that it's exceptionally weird. Case in point: The Helmet Crew.
"Psychology Redux" [ Large Rainbow Version ] And they say it's worth a whole two units! This is one of our drama periods, spent exiled from the Drama room and near the Music room. We're playing Psychology - this time Andrew's in the middle. He didn't know how to play (mainly since he wasn't at The Big Party™), and so he was the best choice for being the... umm... Psycho? I'm not sure if there's a name for the person in the middle, but there you go, I just made one up (didn't take much thought at all). To his credit, he actually figured it out at the end. Very well done.
