The Smirkonian Sightseer

Wednesday TweetSheet

The daily snap of highlights from my twitter feed…

@nadasurf

matthew caws

so psyched our record's out! thank you everybody/anybody for waiting and supporting us and thank you to all the record stores selling it!

Today I used up some of my Amazon store credit and bought Nada Surf's new The Stars are Indifferent To Astronomy CD.

 

@kochie_online

david koch

Stellar earnings report from Apple after Wall St close. Shares +9% in aftermarket. US sales +00%, Europe sales +55%

 

@jsnell

Jason Snell

Here's historical Apple revenues in a chart: cl.ly/3g0f2X0d1N3J2p…

 

@Macworld

Macworld

Apple now has 97.6 billion in cash flow, an increase of 16 billion over Q4 2011. "We're not letting it burn a hole in our pockets," says O.

 

@Macworld

Macworld

Record quarter for Apple Retail: 6.1 billion. Half the Macs sold continue to be to new Mac users.

 

@petapixel

PetaPixel

Steve Jobs was considering Lytro in his quest to reinvent photography: bitly.com/wbanHy

Follow the link through to Lytro and try out the example images.

 

@Quantel

Quantel

Hugo is nominated for best director, art direction, cinematography, film editing and visual effects + 6 more: blog.quantel.eu/2011/12/crafti… #Oscars

 

 

@manfrotto_tweet

Manfrotto Tweets

Behind the Scene OUT OF TUNES goo.gl/fb/A8cHa

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Shit Cyclists Say: youtu.be/GMCkuqL9IcM

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Had the pleasure of voting in Greeka's photo contest. I didn't enter this year but here are the stunning winners: greeka.com/photos-contest…

And here's the winning photograph. Stunning isn't it. Sunset with the Mykonos windmills. The sailing vessel is a regular visitor to the island.

 

@miketomalaris

Michael Tomalaris

No question @GeoffreyRush's iconic Aussie status, but who else united a nation apart from @CadelOfficial?

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Panorama test with my Nikon AW100. This is where I work. @Saintwalks seen here working on the tools for @SXNewsTas flic.kr/p/bihE5v

 

 

Twitbits Monday ~ i'm ranting again

The daily snap of highlights from my twitter feed…

 

@ETittensor

Elliott Tittensor

#Shameless series 9 starts tomorrow. It's been a while, a fix is well over due! Plus it's my last few eps :) big love @QasAkhtar #C-Squad x

I'm currently watching series 8, conveniently downloaded because the knobs who picked up the show in Australia for 2012 have delayed telecast. Give it back to SBS!

 

@DanMacPherson

Daniel MacPherson

Thunderstorm in Sydney. Captured on my phone.... pic.twitter.com/fyHtPC0A

 

@seansmith_au

Sean Smith

a shark has been sighted at a sydney beach, moments after federal opposition leader tony abbott got out of the water.. opportunity lost :-(

 

@WallabyWay

Vincent Rommelaere

My last video for Tourism Australia lnkd.in/f7sQxd

Love the cute but brief shots of theTassie Devils in this.

 

@Wes_Sulzberger

Wesley Sulzberger

NOTICE to friends and followers. Off to Flinders Island Tasmania until friday. I won't have any mobile or internet coverage #EnjoyingsomeR&R

Nice place to unwind and recoup. Bring on TDU.

 

@badger83

bernard sulzberger

All the best tomorrow for the TT @richie_porte @clarkeywilbur come on tassie boys...

Absolutely! (I'm told that word is being over used - too bad vocabulary cops) I'm no expert, but based on his outstanding time at TDF TT, I'm favouring Richie to take the title.

 

@simongerrans

Simon Gerrans

Winners are grinners! What an honour to be crowned Aussie Champ for 2012. Big thanks to all @_GreenEDGE_ crew for fantastic support!

Absolutely! … oh I'm said that already

 

@badger83

bernard sulzberger

Thanks to all for the support and kinds comments. #TdUcantwait

Well done Bernie. Now off to the TDU with UniSA.

 

@miketomalaris

Michael Tomalaris

For those continuously asking, Channel 9 did not buy TV rights for #tdu. They were offered to rival network by SA Events.

So what's the go here… are they crossing to the TDU inbetween overs at the cricket? It'll be interesting to see what develops here.

 

@miketomalaris

Michael Tomalaris

SBS will have a strong presence at #tdu with extensive coverage on @CyclingCentral and @SBSNews. Two dedicated camera crews on location.

 

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

The conversation in studio control, @SmirksTas, paivi are you on twitter?! @Sim_sat_cyclist yes, no, maybe puts phone down. Y or n? Ok yes.

 

@HurricanesBBL

Hobart Hurricanes

The official #purplearmy is 13,713 tonight in at #hurricanehouse. Super effort! Amazing atmosphere out there tonight!

Unfortunately it wasn't to be a winning night for the Hurricanes, losing to Melbourne Stars coming up 19 runs short.

Twitbits Sunday

The daily snap of highlights from my twitter feed…

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Beach Boys announce 50th anniversary reunion tour - BYO mobility scooter news.yahoo.com/beach-boys-ann…

 

- And there goes the little old lady from Pasadena

 

 

@petatodd

Peta Todd

If you missed the #SKY mini-doc on Mr @MarkCavendish the other day, here is the link on the tube of you. youtube.com/watch?v=y72sn9…

 

@cyclingtips

CyclingTips

Classy win by @simongerrans at SKCC crit.Made the bunch kick look easy against field of sprinters.Makes you appreciate how good these guys r

 

@tomke636

Tom Sawyer

@trentdann nice story man, @richie_porte is looking God like!

 

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

@Saintwalks @trentdann having a dance, we do work, I swear we really do. yfrog.com/o032808996z

This is how we work. TD used to be a cage dancer on Oxford Street!

 

 

@nbcnewscrew

Dwaine Scott

RT: @NBCNews: RT @richardengelnbc: The gate to #iraq is closed. Soldier just told me, 'that's it, the war is over' yfrog.com/o0216mhj

- Nuff said.

 

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

Just gave @SmirksTas some life savers fruit pastilles because sharing is caring, you need them in graphics you know.

- And I must add, that new iMac is great. I'm getting finish 15 minutes earlier now! (as for the lifesavers, Paivi tells me that if you caress the vending machine in the right way it dispenses two for the price of one.)

 

 

Twitbits Sunday

The daily snap of highlights from my twitter feed…

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Life In A Day bit.ly/t29n9I

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

A Media Buffet geekculture.com/joyoftech/joya…

 

@petatodd

Peta Todd

Since when did wearing neon become fancy dress?

- After Tron came out in 1982.

 

@joeyldotcom

Joey L.

Interview with me & @LaraJade_ on the @framedshow Count how many times I say "like" framedshow.com/archives/2934

- Spent nearly an hour watching this. Great insight from two inspiring photogs.

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

#YearInReview: Who Joined Twitter in 2011? blog.twitter.com/2011/12/yearin… I did!

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Sleeping Positions bit.ly/sEAW34 #rubberneck

 

 

@SMWebberTasChlg

SwisseMWebberTasChlg

Off to a running start, Adventure Runners at Swisse #MarkWebberChallenge #Tasmania with @aussiegrit @discovertas ow.ly/i/mGTk

- So they do have a twitter acc after all. (I bagged out on them a few days ago)

 

@Wes_Sulzberger

Wesley Sulzberger

Solid one today at the @_GreenEDGE_ camp. #225km5hrs30mins.

 

@NathanPeterHaas

Nathan Haas

Definition of irony! My prize for getting third in the corporate teams time trial: greenedge kit!Great weekend with @richie_porte @cjsutton2

- That'll go down well at argyle central. Wear it with contract breaking pride!

 

@SophieSmith86

Sophie Smith

SBS One CC TV ... Turn it on, now!

- Nice package tonight on the Launceston Crit.

 

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

Perfect parking! pic.twitter.com/7ioBvoOt

- Bags and Goody need parking lessons. Lucky the LFB didn't to turn up for a fire.

 

@swegen31

Alex Johnston

Interestingly, a search for @DeanWinter4 in the @SXNewsTas archives brings up Torvill & Dean from 84. #politas

- Because boolean searches don't understand twitter account names?

 

@SenatorBobBrown

Bob Brown

Gillard Labor 2011: Wedding cake? Conscience required. Yellowcake? No conscience required.

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

Production assistant, Graphics training with @SmirksTas what a team! and then studio, what a day!

- If ever there was an example of the blind leading the blind, this was it.

My Twitshit for Saturday

 

@MarkCavendish

Mark Cavendish

Wicked photo by @baybutt in @cyclesportmag this month. Thanks to @lioneljbernie for some nice words too. bit.ly/uYKqLR

- Just as absurd as yesterdays photo. Apart from circus clowns, who rides a bike like that? Anyway, here's the magazine link...

- Just discovered I can get this single issue on Zinio. It's actually a great read. See my previous blog post for the transfer map I spotted in it.

 

@CovertAffairs

Covert Affairs

Go behind the scenes around the world w/@Chris_Gorham with the new #CovertAffairs Globe Tracker! bit.ly/GlbTrk

- Spent a bit of time on this site today. The next series looks fantastic.

 

@Joshua_Freeman

Joshua Freeman™

Our new baby budgie just said something. I have no idea what he said but it was definitely human mimicry of some sort. Well done Flick.

- Flick will have its own Twitter account next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now to something I hope never happens where I work. (we use the same brand of gear)

 

@sunriseon7

Sunrise

We apologise but due to technical errors we are unable to bring you Weekend Sunrise at 7am. We are hopeful we can return to air by 8. #Sun7

~

@subs0nics

subsonic

Massive channel 7 fail this morning. Sunrise is cancelled. Why can't this happen during Today Tonight instead. #sun7

~

@rickeyre

Rick Eyre

What, you mean Weekend @SunriseOn7 doesn't have a three-hour Prue MacSween highlights reel on standby? #sun7

~

@AdamBoland7

Adam Boland

Maybe we should do a twitter only show. #sun7

~

@randallgill

Randall Gillespie

Note to the Sunrise crew: This morning's server meltdown isn't anything on the meltdown David Leckie's gonna have on Monday morning. #sun7

~

@sunriseon7

Sunrise

Our overseas servers crashed; we had no vision, no crosses, nothing. Up and running by tomorrow. Again, our apologies. #Sun7

~

@AdamBoland7

Adam Boland

For those asking: it was a complete server meltdown. We haven't seen anything like it before. Techs in London on the line. #sun7

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adventure Racing World Championships continue in Tasmania. So it's, what are we on now… day 4? Here's day 2 pictures just released. Little wonder there's next to no local tv news coverage of the event!

@1iXViro

Erik Nachtrieb

Tasmania: Race Day 2! fb.me/1eJgGH9aa

 

@halfadams

Patrick J. Adams

I cut my hair for the play I'm doing. People are pissed about it. Promise to have it back in time for 2nd season.

-Suit man cropped.

 

@halfadams

Patrick J. Adams

Photo: Gorham Vs. Adams tmblr.co/Z3oZaxBVLO0_

- Hey I didn't know they were buddies. I feel a Cover Affairs-Suits crossover episode coming.

 

@HomerJSimpson

Homer J. Simpson

To guy in red shirt. I’m walking behind you for “Follow Friday.” Hey, nice house. Is this the bedroom? Why is your wife screaming? #FF

 

@Joshua_Freeman

Joshua Freeman™

I wish this town had a comic-book store.

- Yes, we'd know where to find you every Wednesday night.

 

@CyclingCentral

CyclingCentral

Haas, Sulzberger win NRS crowns ow.ly/7jCHQ #cycling #nrs

- Local girl takes NRS title. Congratulations Grace.

 

@AliciaMuling

Alicia Muling

After spending the day in beautiful Evandale for the National Penny Farthing Champs, I'm really going to miss this gorgeous state!

- It's too late to get mushy now, girlie!

 

@Sim_sat_cyclist

Paivi sims

Haha got love when the producer asks who is the mr t of this weekend @SmirksTas would be :P

- Yes, I'm still working on that mohawk. Gold chains no problem.

 

@swegen31

Alex Johnston

Golf's shit. #nwbcc

- ?

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

Pro-cycling transfer map... bit.ly/stpE25

- Reminds me of a synoptic weather map with a strong north-easterly front. High pressure centered around GreenEDGE.

 

 

Twitterscraps Wednesday

 

Here's what landed on the floor of my bird cage …

 

@louisvirtel

Louis Virtel

Twitter is for people who want to seem cooler than Garfield while sounding exactly like Garfield.

 

@AP

The Associated Press

NBC axes 1960s drama 'The Playboy Club' after three episodes; it's the first cancellation of the fall TV season: apne.ws/pX2MeZ

- Replaced by Brian Williams 'Rock Center'. More news?

 

@NelsonAspen

Nelson Aspen

THE SIMPSONS facing cancellation. hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-simps…

- NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

 

@AP

The Associated Press

Don't have a cow, 'Simpsons' fans, but the iconic Fox series is on the ropes: apne.ws/pNAw7r

- Stop it! This is painful.

 

@mindrelic

Josh Owens

Sunset in Joshua tree with @drkanab @KesslerCrane twitpic.com/6v5tk0

- Crane? That's not even a jib rig. Nice sunset though.

 

@500px_choice

500px: Choice

Wizards says "lay down" by Marcin Nawrocki bit.ly/o7Tw1B on http://500px.com

 

 

@wilw

Wil Wheaton

Siri, what do the tears of angry Apple cultists taste like?

- Sad when the Apple strudel, um I mean faithful, cry foul over a model number.

 

@tw1tt3rart

TW1TT3Rart

#OneOfTheseDays #Love will rule

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

┏━┓╭━━━┳━┓┏┳━━┓

┃┈┃┃┈╭╮┃┈┃┃┃┈┏┛

┃┈┗┻┓╰╯┃┈┗╯┃┈┏┛

┗━━━┻━━┻━━━┻━━┛

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ #TwitterArt

- Oh I'm all for a love-in!

 

@cuntoftheday

Cunt of the Day

S.Africa's govt. is Cunt of the Day for refusing the Dalai Lama a visa - not, apparently, under pressure from China. bit.ly/cFK35R

 

@Pro_Cycling

VeloNation News Feed

Cavendish to miss Paris-Bourges, could ride Giro di Lombardia goo.gl/fb/Nnj24 #cycling

- Come on Cav, get your act together. This non-sense is giving the coveted rainbow jersey a bad rap.

 

@CadburyAU

Cadbury Australia

First 10 tweeps to RT that @LaurenPhillips_ is the #BubblyInsider will #WIN 1 of 10 Cadbury Bubbly bar prize packs! Go! cadbury.com.au/About-Cadbury/…

- Hmmm. Found this one 10mins after it was posted and there were 92 others already before me.

 

@AngryBieber

Justin

8 months on Twitter so far and I havent had ONE retweet. Fuck this website.

- (as retweeted by @chrisroww)

 

@jade_burley

Jade Burley

If you are planning a trip to "Festivale" in Launceston next February and you love your craft beer, you will be very disappointed indeed.

- Bugger!

 

@DiscoverTas

Discover Tasmania

Discover the beauty of Freycinet National Park blog.discovertasmania.com/tassie-adventu…

- Best place in the world

 

@Wes_Sulzberger

Wesley Sulzberger

Pretty Flashy kickstarter.com/projects/revol…

 

@parabola

Cameron Gray

Scientists Reconstruct Video Clips From Brain Activity - gizmodo.com.au/2011/09/scient…

- Cam, it looks like some of your art work.

 

@swegen31

Alex Johnston

No, sorry, I won't change my script to include the sponsor's name.

- Ah finally, a journalist that has a code of ethics.

 

@MerlinOfficial

Merlin Official

Exciting news for Australian fans. Merlin s4 will be coming to Ten very soon...

- For those who aren't torrent pirates.

 

@SmirksTas

Andrew Shepherd

I'm crapping myself for no reason. There's a bird outside that sounds like a #Quantel drive failure @SXNewsTas

- Alarm phobia

 

@SmirksTas - Following 155 - Followers 45

p.s. yes I do know it was a Kessler dolly-slider

Filling in The Hours...

Back in July, when I started working casual (after my redundancy from full time), I was being rostered about 25 to 30 hours a week. Gradually this has come done... last week I only worked 4 days totalling 16 hours (4 hour shifts). This week I'm back up to 20 hours.

Looking on the positive side, I'm treating it was a kind of semi-retirement. I have more time to myself, I'm getting all those 'rainy day' jobs out of the way and, if you're like me and start projects you never get finished, I'm actually getting a few of those projects accomplished... finally!

One of those projects was scanning all my old transparency photos and restoring some of the once-thought-ruined under and over-exposed images to new life.

Here are various versions of one I worked on yesterday. It was taken on September of 1986 in the Canadian Rockies.

The original...

The Adobe Lightroom 2 restoration...

The Photomatix restoration...

And the "Arty" Photomatix shamozzle...

Redundant...

Four days after returning from my holiday in Macau, my department head informed me I was being made redundant and my services as a news editor were no longer required. Actually that's not quite correct, the services I do for the company are required, it's just that the work load is being redistributed among the remaining newsroom and production staff. 

Here's the email that went out to staff, just sixty seconds (a little insensitive, don't you think?) after I was told ...

From: ***** ******
Sent: Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:36
To: TAS All Staff - Launceston
Subject: Sad Day
 
Hi everyone,
 
It is my sad duty to inform you that Andrew ‘Smirks’ Shepherd’s role as news ENG editor has been made redundant effective the 30^th of June 2009.
 
It is especially sad given his exemplary record and commitment to the station, in particular the news department but also that this has had to occur in the year he achieved 25 years of service.  
 
This redundancy is not related to the economic situation but rather the company’s requirement that our new non liner editing equipment has a pay back period and associated with the new efficiency of operation gained once implemented.
 
Should you have any questions or concerns please come and see me or discuss with your department head.
 
Regards
 
***** ******

The mysterious third paragraph has everyone dumb struck - well according everyone I've spoken to, particularly the words 'pay back period'. To me it sounds like someone made a monumental cock up when ordering the equipment.

Anyway, I'll curb anymore comment on this as I'm hoping to keep my foot in the door for future work.

To busy to blog...

My life has been in a spin for about a month now, and I haven't blogged a word about it yet. I just haven't had the time.

So just quickly, he's a brief rundown of what's happened....

*Tony and I spent about 10 days in Macau visiting my old friend and mate Michael. 

*I have hundreds of holiday snaps and a few rather lovely, well composed photos from the trip I want to post to my Flickr page.

*On the fourth day of returning to work I received the news I was being made redundant, after 25 years service.

*Tony this evening revealed to me he has his own blog.

Hopefully in the next few days, I'll get around to posting more details about my holiday and my redundancy.

Mouthing off...

For the next time you have a mouth full of shit:

To be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in somebody else. Rather than speaking badly about people and in ways that will produce only friction and unrest in their lives, we should practice a purer perception of them, and when we speak of others, speak of their good qualities. If you find yourself slandering anybody, first imagine that your mouth is filled with excrement. It will break you of the habit quickly enough. The Dalai Lama, Insight from the Dalai Lama

I am a "rock"...

Each month at my work, staff can nominate someone for their hard work and outstanding achievements. It's not the first time I've received the Employee of the Month award from Southern Cross Television, but it's been a long time since the last one, back in the late 80's. When they first introduced this award, we all called it the "brown nose award", however over the years we've come to learn that winning the EOTM has a few benefits. Anyway, I was selected as the "brown nose" for May.

Here's what my nominator had to say...

Andrew "Smirks" Shepherd is an essential part of the news group who completes his tasks in a professional and diligent manner. Andrew is not just a video editor getting the Launceston and North West coast stories cut for the 6 o'clock bulletin, he also maintains the library and keeps an ever vigilant eye on network transfers.

This year has been an extrodinary new year in Tasmania and, in particular, the north of the state. The biggest news of course was the Beaconsfield Mine story, which placed a great deal of pressure on everyone in the department. The situation meant that we not only had to look after our own responsibilities but help both 7 and 10 Networks. Andrew was a rock who cut for networks, compiled the hours of vision, and volunteered to come in on his days off to help get the job done.

Life at the wheel

Usually Good Friday is a low key affair but this year I invited Tony to Beauty Point to see the start of the Three Peaks Yacht Race. It was a rather colourful spinnaker start.
 

Saturday Tony ventured over to my place and brought over his PS2 to try out on my plasma screen. And it was freakin' wonderful! Played Gran Turismo 4 .... and spent most of the time over correcting the steering so we ended up more off the track than on it. So we set off for the nearest Harvey Norman store and bought ourselves a Logitech Wheel controller each. Then we were in PlayStation bliss.

Later we watched Bourne Supremacy. It's one of a few movies that deserves to have a sequel.

Sunday (today) is was back to work unfortunately. However, I do have 2 weeks off at the end of this week. I feel another Hobart trip coming on.

Training

I just sat through 8 hours of innovation training and I'm still trying to figure out what I actually learnt from it all. I can't figure out if I loved it or hated it. Is it possible to enjoy boredom?