Melbourne Records Coldest April Morning for 56 Years

Melbourne has recorded its chilliest April morning for 56 years.

The celsius in the city plunged to 2.9 degrees at 6.35am, a brisk wake-up call for Melburnians trying to rouse themselves for work.

The cold snap tested records across the city, with some suburbs dropping below freezing, Weather Company meteorologist Brett Dutschke said.

Mr Dutschke said most areas recorded their coldest April morning for decades, with some as much as 10 degrees below the monthly average.

Mount Hotham was the coldest plummeting to minus eight dgrees, 11 degreees below the average and the lowest April temperature ever recorded in Victoria, according to the Bureau of Meterology.

The aptly named Coldstream recorded the greater Melbourne area's lowest temperature, with a frosty -2.7 degrees at 6:30am.

Many other suburbs recorded temperatures of less than 1 degree, with Scoresby managing only 0.3 degrees and Essendon 0.6 degrees.

Over in Melbourne's south-west, Laverton reached 0.4 - its lowest April temperature for 66 years - while Tullamarine struggled to just over a degree.

Mr Dutschke said tomorrow morning would not be as cold due to increasing cloud and a bit more wind, while frosts would only hit east of Melbourne.

The Bureau of Meterology said another cold front was expected to hit the city by mid to late morning tomorrow and said odds were increasing for a wetter than normal winter.

A Bureau of Meterology spokeswoman said Victoria's chilly morning temperatures had been due to a band of cold polar air combined with a high pressure ridge.

She said Melburnians had experienced four consecutive days in a row below 15 degrees for the firs time since 1963.

She said tomorrow's cold front would push west into Victoria this evening and reach Melbourne tomorrow morning bringing isolated showers with it.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/melbourne-records-coldest-april-morning-for-56-years-20090430-anoz.html

Revenge of the Right Brain

I've been trying to upload my refined pattern designs since yesterday and blogger has done nothing more than a swell job screwing it up. Now I'm kinda pissed and have given up on uploading.

Here's an interesting read handed out by my lecturer during tutorial today. Its all about left brain (normal people) vs right brain (artsy people). I think it made sense. Anyhow, you be the judge of that.


Logical and Precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age - ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.

When I was a kid - growing up in a middle-class family, parents dished out a familiar plate of advice to their children: Get good grades, go to college, and pursue a profession that offers a decent standard of living and perhaps a dollop of prestige.

Tax attorneys, radiologists, financial analysts, software engineers - people who get paid for putting to work what one learns in school rather than for their physical strength or mental skill - were distinguished and enabled to reap society's greatest rewards due to their "ability to acquire and to apply theoretical and analytic knowledge." And any of us could join their ranks. All we had to do was study hard and play by the rules of the meritocratic regime. That was the path to professional success and personal fulfillment.

The world is changing. The future no longer belongs to people who can reason with computer-like logic, speed, and precision. it belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind.

Scientists have long known that a neurological Mason-Dixon line cleaves our brains into two regions - the left and right hemispheres. But in the last 10 years, thanks in part to advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers have begun to identify more precisely how the two sides divide responsibilities. The left hemisphere handles sequence, literalness, and analysis. The right hemisphere, meanwhile, takes care of context, emotional expression, and synthesis.

Until recently, the abilities that led to success in school, work, and business were characteristic of the left hemisphere. They were the sorts of linear, logical, analytical talents measured by SATs and deployed by CPAs. Today,those capabilities are still necessary. But they are no longer sufficient. In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialities of the right hemisphere - artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the transcendent.

Beneath the nervous clatter of half-completed decade stirs a slow but seismic shift. The Information Age we all prepared for is ending. Rising in its place is the Conceptual Age, an era in which mastery of abilities that we've often overlooked and undervalued marks the fault line between who gets ahead and who falls behind.

Abstracted from
A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
Daniel H. Pink

Right brainers can start popping the champagne. Left brainers should not despair, afterall, we right brainers have been undermined for far too long. It's time you got yours. Haha! No I still love left brainers, just something we could all read and debate over.

*When the cold wind blows... I wanna go home.

RMIT: The Design Kingpin

David Yeates from RMIT, doing a Bachelor of Communication Design has done his course proud

A big congrats to David Yeates from RMIT University, Melbourne who is crowned the Adobe Pixel Mash National Winner of 2009!

Adobe Pixel Mash is a live digital design tournament that pits participants from selected colleges across New South Wales and Victoria against each other. In each round, competitors will be given an image/object/word as impetus. Using their own ideas and unique styles, they will have 15 minutes to cook up an original design!

David was winner of the RMIT round competing against 7 other Communication Design students, and in so doing won a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium and the opportunity to represent RMIT at the grand final event at Adobe headquarters in Sydney.

He was flown to Sydney for the grand final playoff against 11 other students from: Qantm College, COFA, RMIT TAFE, Swinburne Uni, UTS, Raffles College, AAD, Enmore TAFE, CATC, Holmesglen TAFE, and I.D.E.A.

What does this prove? RMIT is indeed a premium design college and can stand against the world. I don't need NTU. HA!

Patterns Rough Pt 1

Ok no time to lose.
Tattoos and Patterns are due next week so very quickly, your comments and critiques please.

Patterns project brief shall be uploaded asap.
Basically required to come up with patterns that represent a movie genre.
Constrains are:

1. no black or white to be used
2. no strokes

Patterns are defined as a singular motif that replicates itself.
My chosen movie genres are crime, war, and documentary. Should be self-explanatory.

Personally think the documentary one could be explored much further.

Ok fire away.

Tattoo Roughs Pt 1

Alrighty, here are my roughs for Project 2.0: Tattoo.

This project demands that we research ourselves and pick out qualities that we would like to highlight in our personality through the means of a tattoo.

Here's my rationale. Do note that I have only done up a draft rationale for one of the designs. The final rationale depends largely on general feedback of the designs and which one I pick in the end.

This tattoo embodies several design qualities that represent myself. These are
1. Libra (Western Zodiac)
2. Tiger (Chinese Zodiac)
3. Love and compassion (Qualities of Librans)
4. Cross (Catholism)
5. Tribal art (Signifying family heritage and belonging)
6. Asymmetry (Uniqueness)

The symbol for Libra is used as a centerpiece as it is the sign that embodies most of my qualities and hence the object I most relate to.

The heart sits above the symbol for love and compassion are the strongest qualities of a Libran.

The heart is also fashioned after a tiger because love and compassion are the common traits between my Western and Chinese astrological signs.

The entire tattoo is shaped in a cross as a tribute to my religion, and what I believe in.

Tribal art is used as many tribes tattoo themselves to signify unity and belonging. The tribal design is significant of the strong family influence and heritage that is inherent in me.

The tattoo is asymmetrical as a symbol of uniqueness and individualism. The want to be different and not to be a conformist.

Once again, these designs are open for critique. Lots of comments NOW!

Meanwhile, I shall be working on my Studio C project: Patterns. More as we move along yeah?

It's freezing cold in Melbourne right now...

Making Shrewd Investments

I've been telling Yang this could be turned into a case study for Marketing students in the future.
Good investments vs bad investments.

Here's the story.

Yang went down to Queen Victoria Markets one day to do some grocery shopping when he stumbled upon a fruit store selling strawberries at an obscenely cheap price.
"$0.50 a box!" said the grocer, "or $3 for a tray of 10 boxes".
The grocer went on to warn of the $3 strawberries, that there may be some that are already moldy, but you could still pick out the good ones.

Yang's dilemma now was whether to get a good box of strawberries for $0.50, or a tray of 10 boxes for $3, even though the $3 ones MAY have some moldy strawberries.

Students, present your case.

* For those interested, the plastic bag of strawberries on the RIGHT (yes, the one with significantly MORE strawberries) are the ones that were MOLDY. Now, would you rather go for $0.50 or $3?

The Ills of Photo Booth

Camwhoring at its worst.

City Of Angels Part II

I've redone the City of Angels.
Hopefully you guys would find this more appealing.
For the uninitiated, Los Angeles is the City of Angels. And this is a metephorical depiction of it.
Open to critique - fire away.

*Blogger's being a bitch about uploads so my picture is awkwardly in portrait. Save and rotate on your com ;)

Looking forward to Project 2.0 for studio A.
TATTOOS!

English

Ok apologies for the unannounced sabbatical.
Shawn had to take a break from wrecking his brains for a publishable read.

I've been wondering for quite some time, how it is that the English language is so fixed, yet so beautifully fluid. Before you go wondering why Shawn's going wax philosophical on the subject of English, sit back and reflect on the times where you have thought a finite amount of synonyms are assigned to an adjective, only to discover that one more that you have previously so blatantly overlooked.

I've always loved the language and the ambiguity that comes with it. The ability to mold and form sentences. The power of the written word. How the pen is sharper than the sword. How a play of words can steer a topic in a completely different direction. How words can be deliciously minced, but hated nonetheless. How the emphasis on certain syllables could spell the difference between sincerity and sarcasm.

Some idioms make no linguistic sense, but how we love them nevertheless.
Expect the unexpected, doesn't that contradict itself?
Misconceptions and misunderstandings, led on to becoming the norm because everyone is equally confused.
Irregardless (if there's such a word) - does it not negate itself?

The dictionary is full of amazing words that are hardly used. And the beauty of those words will be lost soon if they are not used more. The dictionary is expanding with each passing year. Words such as internet, cyber, and WYSIWYG have found their way into the hallowed pages. Yet seldom used words such as ubique, ecbatic, and salacious are being lost to the influx of new words.

I have an abstract from 1980s British sitcom Blackadder that demonstrates the importance of knowing our words so as not to be lost should the word arise. This is taken from the episode "Ink and Incapability" and is a conversation between Edmund Blackadder, Prince George, and Dr Johnson, who has just finished compiling the first ever dictionary.

E denotes Edmund Blackadder
G denotes Prince George
J denotes Dr Johnson

J: (places two manuscripts on the table, but picks up the top one)
Here it is, sir: the very cornerstone of English scholarship. This book,
sir, contains every word in our beloved language.

G: Hmm.

E: Every single one, sir?

J: (confidently) Every single word, sir!

E: (to Prince) Oh, well, in that case, sir, I hope you will not object if
I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafribblarities.

J: What?

E: `Contrafribblarites', sir? It is a common word down our way.

J: Damn! (writes in the book)

E: Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm anus-peptic, phrasmotic, even compunctious to have
caused you such pericombobulation.

J: What? What? WHAT?

G: What are you on about, Blackadder? This is all beginning to sound a bit
like dago talk to me.

E: I'm sorry, sir. I merely wished to congratulate the Doctor on not having
left out a single word. (J sneers) Shall I fetch the tea, Your Highness?

G: Yes, yes -- and get that damned fire up here, will you?

E: Certainly, sir. I shall return interphrastically. (exits) (J writes some
more)

Let me end by stating that people might see language as a "dead" subject, but if you explore it deeply enough, there are much more possibilities to unfold.

*Apologies for the extremely microscopic font size used for the script abstract. Squint if you must, but the rewards are no doubt immense! LOL!

To Lead, To Excel, To Overcome

I am an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces

My Duty is to lead, to excel, and to overcome.

I lead my men by example
I answer for their training, morale, and discipline

I must excel in everything I do
I serve with pride, honour, and integrity

I will overcome adversity with
Courage, fortitude, and determination

I dedicate my life to Singapore

I can't help but relate the significance of this creed to the way we lead our lives.
The day I was first introduced to this creed, up to the day I proudly recited it during my commissioning parade. Even now, I recall the words of this creed with a sense of pride and reverence. Apart from the patriotic start and end, the body pretty much embodies the core values of our lives.

I will overcome adversity with COURAGE, FORTITUDE, and DETERMINATION.

Does the Officer's Creed parallel your own?
I think it does mine.

Life is Beautiful

Holiday season just swept Melbourne city with a vengeance!
We're talking Easter here, and apparently the Aussies take it very seriously.

Easter marks the end of a long period of Lent and the rising of Jesus. Here, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday are observed religiously. Good luck finding any shops open during Easter season. Intended to go shopping yesterday but DAMN all the shops were close! And you know what? The only shops that were open were manned by chinese.. talk about spoiling the market eh? LOL!

Great Ocean Road coming up! I'm thoroughly looking forward to it and even finished my holiday assignments waaaaaaaaay before deadline (that's gotta be a first!).

I'm heading off for touch soon. Damn it's cold as shit... I need to shop for winter sports wear bad!

Wrestlemania 25

Heh, what rubbish. Most of my predictions were wrong. Damn... A couple of months off TV and you don't catch the storylines as well.

"Santina" Santino Marella won the Diva's battle royal. That'll be interesting to follow. I love Santino, he's a comedy genius. Him performing in drag was hilarious too. How stupid do you think the fans can get? Is there no quality control over wrestlers that "Santina" (apparently Santino's twin sister) is allowed into a battle royal just like that? Anyhow, it's really funny.

Primo and Carlito unified the tag belts. They're talented 2nd generation superstars and all due respect to them. Read that their match had some high spots. All the more incentive to buy the DVD.

Rey Mysterio defeated JBL for the Intercontinental Championship in 21 seconds! The first Intercontinental Championship bout at Wrestlemania in years and it ends in 21 seconds, don't bode too well for the championship does it? I don't believe it was a fitting end to JBL's career. 21 seconds won't cut it. Rey Mysterio did have a sweet costume (he always does for Wrestlemania) resembling Heath Ledger's Joker. MAN I LOVE THAT COSTUME!

CM Punk won MITB for the second year in a row! That's a first. Will be really interesting to see where this goes from here. CM Punk is a tremendous athlete and winning this match can only add to his credentials. Who would he go after next? My guess is whoever the heel champion is. With both champs being faces right now (John Cena and HHH), Punk would have to cash in much later.

Chris Jericho beat the WWE Legends. Personally, I felt that although it was good for the legends, it wasn't necessarily good for Jericho. Him being on the weak end after being punched out by Mickey Rouke wouldn't help with his character. I think Jericho is still grossly underated and talent like him deserve far, far more exposure.

Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy in this brother vs brother soap opera. It was interesting to see a change in ring attire for Matt, an attempt to distance himself from Jeff/Hardys connection. I thought it was ok, they should have one more match, max. No more on this brother vs brother thing, it won't go anywhere.

John Cena became the new World Heavyweight Champion in his triple threat match against Edge and Big Show. I don't want to comment much, wasn't very interested in this match anyway.

Triple H retained his WWE Championship against Randy Orton. Surprise here, but I suppose they wanted to end Wrestlemania on a high. A heel winning could mean a drop in viewership. But I was seriously rooting for an Orton win after all the build up.

Undertaker goes up 17-0 at Wrestlemania against Shawn Michaels. 2 of the WWE's greatest put on a wrestling clinic described by many as a classic. NOW I WANNA WATCH IT SO MUCH MORE!!! Always count on Shawn Michaels to steal the show. He's my favourite wrestler (and we share the same name!) and he brought the house down even in defeat.

When's the DVD coming out WHEN WHEN WHEN!?
I want to watch the Hall of Fame as well. Stone Cold being inducted this year would make it all the more worthwhile.

Simile/Metamorphosis

Welcome to Los Angelos City of Angels

This is a prelude to Project 2.0 - Tattoo.
For those confused, this exercise required us to create something with a primary and secondary meaning. Start criticizing please.

Wrestlemania Predictions

I've done this every year so this year's no exception.
It may seem a total waste of time but I enjoy doing it. Haha!
Wrestlemania 25 predictions by Shawn Heng!
I'm going to list the matches in my order of importance. And of course, which match I would like to have closing the show will be last.

25 Diva Battle Royal
This one's basically sex appeal milked to its fullest. I've heard talks of this becoming an annual event, much akin to the "money in the bank" concept. Firstly, WWE does not have a roster big enough roster of divas, so this being an annual event is seriously not feasible. Are we going to see the same old 25 Divas battle it out every year? Just for arguement's sake, Gail Kim wins and heads into a feud with Diva's Champion Maryse.
Winner: Gail Kim

WWE Tag Champs vs World Tag Champs (Tag Team Title Unification)
Carlito & Primo vs Miz & Morrison
Lumberjack Match
It'll be interesting to see how WWE takes the tag scene from here. With the tag belts unified, tag champions might be working a much heavier schedule, possibly appearing on Raw, Smackdown, and ECW. Personally, I'm not very into this match. Miz & Morrison wins and thus continue their heel run whilst elevating their status in the WWE Hierarchy.
Winners: Miz & Morrison

Intercontinental Championship
JBL (C) vs Rey Mysterio
The word going around is JBL having his Wrestlemania moment in this match. I believe his active wrestling days are winding down. Rey Mysterio would make a more interesting Intercontinental Champion. Mysterio wins via 619, West Coast Pop, and pinfall.
Winner: Rey Mysterio

Money in the Bank
CM Punk vs Mark Henry vs Kane vs Shelton Benjamin vs Christian vs Kofi Kingston vs MVP vs Finlay
This traditional high flying match is low on high flyers this year. With Jeff and Matt out doing their sibling rivalry angle, Mysterio in a match with JBL, high flyers here are limited to Punk, Kofi and Shelton. This year's line-up is surprisingly heavy duty. Mark Henry and Kane don't suit ladder matches. I would love to see Mark Henry falling off a ladder. Shelton Benjamin has taken part in EVERY single MITB match but has never won. Not that he will this year. I can't envision Mark Henry in a remotely interesting storyline. Kane is a high mid-carder but has decreased in value in recent years after loosing his mask (and creative direction). Kofi is still unestablished. MVP is unlikely to win and Finlay is good doing his comedy act with Hornswoggle. My pick is Christian, who will go on to challenge the Champion of Smackdown. Seriously, Jack Swagger isn't even worth it.
Winner: Christian

Chris Jericho vs WWE Legends (Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat & Jimmy Snuka)
This could go both ways. I could see it ending with the legends winning but Jericho administering a beat down post match to establish his dominance as number 1 heel. Legends overpower Jericho 5 - 1 (Ric Flair in their corner and Mickey Rouke at ringside). Legends win.
Winner: WWE Legends

Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy
Extreme Rules Match
The battle of team Xtreme. This could go both ways as well. Honestly, I'd like to see Jeff win, and move on to bigger things, like the world championship. This feud won't go anywhere, and it won't help either brother with their current standings. They are better off in their own worlds fighting their own battles. Jeff to win.
Winner: Jeff Hardy

World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena vs Edge (C) vs Big Show
This match is of little interest to me. It being a championship match warrents it to be one of the main events. I don't see this storyline going anywhere either. The love triangle thing has played its course. Let Egde move on to better greener pastures. Him hiding behind Vickie Guerrero is sick. Bring back the old Edge. Edge to win.
Winner: Edge

WWE Championship
Triple H vs Randy Orton
This match is highly personal. It will be intriging to see how WWE decides to steer this match. I would like to see Randy go over after the long buildup of IED and Legacy. Randy is immensely talented and a win would definitely benefit him. Orton wins.
Winner: Randy Orton

Undefeated Streak
Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels
The 2 icons in the business today. Undertaker is 16-0 at Wrestlemania and it seems Shawn Michaels is the only opponent by far to pose a real threat on that streak. Shawn Michaels is already an established superstar and future hall of famer, as is the Undertaker. His career is already made and I cannot see Undertaker losing his streak unless it helps push talent. Taker goes up to 17-0. Should be the match of the night though, and the match to watch!
Winner: Undertaker

R4K 2009

Ran for the kids today and boy was it a blast.
What a tremendous atmosphere! Australians really turn out in full force to support a worthy course. They really dress up as well! We saw runners dressed as pilots (complete with aeroplanes to fly in), The Flash, Spiderman, and even an entire family dressed as the cast of Flintstones! Boy was it hilarious, and it really added to the fun atmosphere surrounding the event.

The run itself was awesome. Think I did a personal best today, hitting 49:10 for 10km. Was pretty happy with my overall timing of 1:11:00 (unofficial), was actually aiming for a 1:20:00 finish but I guess I outdone myself. Don't happen very often though. LOL!

They have freaking huge pancakes at Queen Victoria Market!!!

Really looking forward to Easter break. Going on a road trip down the Great Ocean Road and Ballarat. Lots of photos promised. Kevin, you can start criticizing once I upload. Oh yeah please start commenting on my work cos I could really use the constructive criticism. Note - CONSTRUCTIVE is the key.

Mommy I went to church and got a beautiful palm for my room!!!

I have definitely hit my cap cos the internet is so freaking slow now! Mytelecom internet sucks. They're reshaping their internet package to 5gb (0.5gb peak, 4.5 off peak). Who the hell can survive on that? That is the most ridiculous internet package I've ever seen! I'm definitely going for Three mobile broadband.

It's getting really cold in Melbourne.

Accomplished

I'm finally done with my fate + prediction cards.
Nearly flipped when I realised most of my projects weren't due THAT soon. So I actually finished way ahead of time, which is a good thing I suppose, although I will never be satisfied with the end product anyways.

You know how designers are all perfectionists? Whether they like it or not, it is embedded in them. They will work and work on the product till the last possible minute. If they were to be satisfied with the product before deadline they're probably not much of a designer at all.

How many of you would agree on that?

Eh knn stupid blogger spoiled my ipod image... its supposed to be blue!!!
Start criticising now!