Tonight a group of friends from uni and I went to Vivid Sydney and had a fantastic time. Vivid Sydney is on every night for the next week and a bit at Circular Quay and The Rocks and it is well worthwhile checking out. But don’t take my words for it, instead let my photos below convince you.
Tag Archives: Events
Commercials in the Domain
Last night was the annual Carols in the Domain in Sydney. I was going to go in person but ended up watching the TV broadcast from home because this weekend I seem to have become a nigel-no-mates as everyone has gone out of town for the holiday.
The carols, the show, the broadcast, etc was really well done and ran without a glitch. However, the one comment that everyone was making on twitter, and driving me nuts, was the over the top product placement.
These days you expect ads and sponsorship at events. However, what I don’t expect is Jack Black singing an altered version of Little Drummer Boy with lyrics advertising his latest movie flop, or a group of children emailing Santa via a Samsung Galaxy Tab through Telstra which the kids informing us Telstra gives us a little more giftness.
These two examples were probably the worst of it, but every time one of the MCs spoke they name dropped a sponsor be it Woolworths, MLC, NSW Government, etc.
Maybe my blogging and moaning about it the following day shows that the advertising worked, I remember the names and I have been no so subliminally informed about them. But once upon a time Christmas wasn’t just all about commercialism, especially carols!
Then again the modern revival of Santa Claus was sparked by Coca Cola so maybe advertising really is the reason for the season.
On a lighter note the start of the show right on sunset shows the size of the crowd and parts of the beautiful city I live in:
Photos from U2 in Auckland
Gosh it has been a while since I last blogged. Been rather busy with university work and then on a short holiday in NZ.
These are shots from the U2 concert in Auckland tonight that I attended with my dad. As always click on an image for a bigger version.
Red Bull Flugtag Sydney
Today was a stunning day in Sydney which is nice after a week of rain and the forecast of another week of rain. The perfect weather made for the perfect conditions for the running of the Red Bull Flugtag on Sydney Harbour. The effort the teams went to for 15 seconds of wet fame was extremely impressive.
Sydney Biennale
Today I went to the 17th Biennale of Sydney. I had planned to go when it opened but I kept on putting it off when I got to the weekend as I was lazy, or the weather was bad or I was busy with other events. But this morning I woke up and instead of being lazy I forced myself down to Circular Quay and onto the ferry to Cockatoo Island.
Arriving at Cockatoo Island on an overcast day brings with it an even greater feeling of mystery. In the past Cockatoo Island has been used as a prison and as a naval shipyard. It is said to have ghosts on it and that is something you can certainly feel in the air as you step onto the land. The exhibitions of the Biennale have been set up within the hundred or so buildings scattered about the island. There is a map in the guidebook of where each piece of art is but there is no set route around the island you are left to your own devices to explore both the art work and the Island.
A lot of the art is audio/visual consisting of short (and some long) films or a combination of sculpture and projected video. The best installation of this type was a circular room with video projected in 360 degrees. In addition to these installations there was also your more traditional modern art consisting of sculpture and a combination of post-modern objects mixed with everyday life.
In addition to Cockatoo Island there are a number of other galleries around the city with installations as part of the Biennale. I got off the ferry back into the city at Shed 2/3 and after that I walked through to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Sometime before the event ends I will need to head through the Opera House and the rest of galleries to see the rest of exhibition.
Vivid Sydney
Last night on the way to watch the All Whites game at Darling Harbour I detoured through the Opera House to see the sails of the building be lit up as part of the Vivid Sydney festival of light.
The different patterns and shapes projected onto the opera house are awesome and poor photos from my cellphone simply don’t do it justice. If you are in Sydney go and check it out.
Sydney Chinese New Year Parade Highlights
The video was automatically cut together by my movie making software so it is a little bit random in places.
