Ironman goes shopping?

Ironman browsing at Kings Comics, Sydney. Shoplifters beware!






Ironman: the new security guard at at Kings Comics?

"Ironman 2", coming to DVD near you soon!

365: The runners-up

Inspired by TV celebrity Andrew Günsberg's 365 self portraits exhibition, I've been printing out my favourite shots from my own 365 Photos project. I started with my 13 of the Best but, remembering how hard it was to choose those thirteen in the first place, I've now picked out thirteen more, the "runners-up":


Day 20, MAY 2009


Day 31, JUNE 2009


Day 68, JULY 2009


Day 111, AUGUST 2009


Day 125, SEPTEMBER 2009


Day 158, OCTOBER 2009


Day 185, NOVEMBER 2009


Day 228, DECEMBER 2009


Day 265, JANUARY 2010


Day 293, FEBRUARY 2010


Day 311, MARCH 2010


Day 336, APRIL 2010


Day 361, MAY 2010

Clicking on each photo will take you to its Flickr page and a caption or, if you'd like to live through a year of my life in 365 rapid fire images, try this Flickr slideshow.

"We feel very pretty."

The Queen Victoria statue outside the QVB (Queen Victoria Building)
in Sydney's CBD yesterday.

She's been decorated as part of the Sydney Statues: Project!, part of Art & About Sydney 2010. Her temporary robes were designed by Rachael Cassar and Liane Rossler with Michelle McCosker.

Usually, the good Queen Vic looks like this:


17 July 2009, during my "365 Photos" project.

Other Sydney statues dressed up for the occasion include:

The other Queen Victoria statue - Queens Square - Designed by Linda Jackson
Prince Albert - Macquarie Street - Designed by Jonathan James as inspired by Jenny Kee and Peter Tulley
Captain James Cook - Hyde Park South - Designed by Ken Done, Bronwyn Bancroft and Eloise Rapp with Michelle McCosker
Il Porcellino - Sydney Hospital, Macquarie Street - Zoe Mahony
William Shakespeare Memorial - Shakespeare Place - Susie Rugg with Spoke & Spool
King Edward VII - Macquarie & Bridge Streets - Bronwyn Bancroft with Michelle McCosker
William Bede Dalley - Hyde Park North - Bianca Faye with Michelle McCosker.

Worth another trip into the city!

Ian and Andrew - Gee!

Some days it really is like I've stumbled into the Twilight Zone, and an alternate universe Ian is lucky enough to have an whirlwind adventure or celebrity encounter that seems totally surreal when compared to my usual life.

I was heading into the city today, simply because I'd had to forfeit my usual comic-buying jaunt on Thursday night to attend Night #2 the annual Year 6 musical. Suddenly, a Twitter message came through, reminding me that TV celebrity Andrew Günsberg's "365: A Year of Self Portraits" exhibition was coming to a close... today! I had intended trying to get to this, not really realising that I'd totally run out of days! Had I not already been on a train, I probably would have just admitted defeat.

My trusty iPhone helped me triangulate on the location of MART Gallery in Surry Hills - and off I went. A cheery Andrew G greeted us warmly as each browser entered the gallery. Many new arrivals seemed to be old acquaintances. Typically, Andrew was setting up his beloved, overworked camera to take a new self portrait!

Although he and I have a mutual friend (in Andrew Mercado), I'd never had the chance to meet Andrew G before. His long-running hosting stint on "Australian Idol" makes it seem like he's a part of everyone's furniture (esp. that flickering, rectangular piece in the corner!) I'd been closely following his progress on his "365 Days" photographic project on Flickr, as I'd started my own version (not self portraits, though) just a few weeks before his.

The exhibition was great! Compared to the demanding work involved in Andrew's year of self-portraits (lugging a huge camera, lenses and two lights all over the world), my own "365 Photos" project now feels like a bit of a cheat. I simply snapped off a pic a day on my trusty iPhone. (I was thrilled with the result, and it's fun looking back at a year of memories. Good self discipline, too.) But it was great meeting Andrew at the exhibition today.



I was excited that the very first photo I'd seen of his on the Internet - Day 91, of Andrew encountering an ancient television camera at the ABC studios - was still available for sale. Yeeha! I ended up selecting two smaller prints as well: Day 29 (a casually-dressed Andrew leaping into the air) and Day 120, working with musician James Morrison on an episode of "Australian Idol".

Saying my farewells to Andrew, Mel and little Pippet (the Gallery's resident canine, who loved the smell of Jack on my trouser hems), I wandered off to have a late lunch, and to wait until the exhibition closed and I could collect my purchases straight off the wall. While munching on my sandwich, I began to wonder if I should have asked to take my own photo of Andrew, or with Andrew - or whether taking pictures in a gallery of photos was simply not the done thing. Just then, I happened to notice that Andrew had sent an image to his Twitter account, via his Blackberry, and when I opened the shot... I was right in the middle of it!


Click on this thumbnail to see the larger Twitpic.

Certainly not my most flattering angle. Had I known the photo was being taken, I'd have surely sucked in my gut!

But the fun was not over! As I was preparing to upload this blog entry, Andrew posted to his own blog the self-portrait that he was taking as I entered the gallery today. Lo and behold, I'm in that one, too, just over gallery owner Mel's shoulder!


Pippet, Andrew Günsberg and Mel (and I!) at the Mart Gallery.

FLASHBACK:


Day 125 of my own "365 Photos" project - 12 September 2009.

Omigosh! I only just found out that Andrew G's wife, Israeli model/actress Noa Tishby, was MACO Corporal Amanda Cole in "Star Trek: Enterprise"!

A Sassy Saturday!

Emma Quay, Ian McLean and Lisa Shanahan at the 2010 Sassy Awards last night!


Selwa Anthony greets everyone; Ian Parry-Okden announces the Sassy Awards.


Tara Moss accepts the Lynne Wilding Commemorative Sassy Award.


Wayne Scott Kermond entertains; Selwa says her thank yous!


Athlete Matt Shervington is auctioned off for charity!

Thank you once again, Selwa, for another wonderful literary seminar. See you next year, hopefully with a manuscript in train.

Book trailer for "Night of the Living Trekkies"!

I picked up my copy of "Night of the Living Trekkies" today! And realised it already has a great book trailer for it on Youtube!


"Night of the Living Trekkies"
by Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall

And, while on the subject of Youtube, I also love this German television promo for their SciFi channel:

Great "School Magazine" podcast!

Art: Tohby Riddle.
Therin of Andor

The "School Magazine" is Australia's oldest literary magazine, in fact the oldest literary magazine for children anywhere in the world. Commencing in 1916 as a free publication for NSW primary school students, with the aim of presenting Australian writers for Australian children. I remember using the magazine as a student myself in the 60s, as a beginning teacher in the early 80s, and as a teacher-librarian and literacy teacher today!

Radio National ran a wonderful program yesterday, called "An older kind of magic: a history of the School Magazine", and presented some great anecdotes about its 94-year history. Included as interviewees were my friends and former colleagues, Jonathan Shaw and Cassandra Golds.

If you missed yesterday's broadcast, it is now available as a downloadable podcast here! A very worthwhile experience!

Thanks to writer, Geoffrey McSkimming, and artist, Tohby Riddle, I once featured in a "School Magazine" play ("Touchdown", Vol 87, No 10, Nov 2002, pp 341-346). The character of "Ian, the lost librarian", a Tarzan memorabilia fanatic (instead of "Star Trek", of course), appears in "Mr A at the Floor of Heaven, or, Not Quite Yeti".

"The misguided librarians are lost in the snow,
Dewey's their system, but snowy they go..."

Ian the librarian wears a spotted loincloth over his snow-pants, of course. He was joined by my real life SCIS workmates of the day, Anne (aka "Mrs Dowling"), Wendy and Deirdre.

BER - the second tour!

Yesterday, the whole staff was given a walk-through of our school's almost-completed new BER double-classroom and new BER school library. These are some comparison photos with the ones from my sneak preview of the library a few weeks ago:

























Down the other end of the school, a matching building, comprising a modern double classroom, with wet areas, storerooms and a glassed-in, shared withdrawal teaching space, is almost complete! On the floor is stored some of the shelving and furnishings for the library!





Mmmm, back at the library. Mind that last step: it's a doozy!:


As a colourblind man, I must trust my colleagues as to the colour of this door. But it's hard to miss, whatever colour it is!

I can't wait to get all the books and other resources out of storage. There was no time to cull books before packing (done by professional removalists, supervised by me), so I anticipate a massive and essential cull during the first few weeks of set-up. Thanks Kevin and Julia!