SplaTT's Blog

Upper Yarra Museum update 1

Local history is an important part of any community, and since the Upper Yarra Valley is close to my heart, i figure that anything i can do to help preserve and increase the interest in its history is something that i can donate a slice of my time towards...and I'm pretty sure the last 18 years have given me a fair share of the skill-sets required to do those two things.

And so...another side-project is added to my list of things to do.

This time it's for the Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society and it begins with doing some work on the website for the Upper Yarra Museum at www.upperyarramuseum.org.au.

Stage 1 was a simple update to what was already existed and is now complete.

Stage 2 is a complete website re-design and re-build which will start after Kym Ramadge (a friend of mine from years ago...and an award winning designer) who runs Kym Ramadge Design, has done some work on designing a logo...or two...along with a few other things ;)

Stage 3 involves selecting and then setting-up an offline/online cataloguing system for the collection at the museum.

Stage 4...hmmm...there are a few other things on my list of things i think i can do for the historical society, so when something interesting happens i'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

The Paul Grabowsky Quartet

Just got back from the seeing the "Paul Grabowsky Quartet" at the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in Melbourne.

Recently announced as the Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, pianist Paul Grabowsky (wikipedia) brings together some long time collaborators for a series of performances at Bennetts Lane. Featuring Australian Jazz Musician of the Year (2007) and winner of Best Contemporary Jazz CD two years running, Jamie Oehlers (myspace) brings his saxophone and colleagues Sam Anning (myspace) (bass) and Ben Vanderwal (myspace) (drums) who he recently completed an Australian tour with.

The gig was brilliant...these boys can certainly bang out a great jazz tune :)

I haven't been into the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club for a number of years and it seems smaller than i remember but the crowd is certainly as eclectic as it used to be...music students in their late teens right through to elderly jazz lovers. I found a nice spot at the back corner of the bar and settled in for a night of great music...so if you are into jazz, or appreciate listening to great musicians, i recommend catching up with these guys if you get the chance.

Oh yeah...that reminds me...Melbourne Jazz 2008, which is the 10th anniversary of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, starts on the 29th of April and finishes on the 4th of April 2008 :)

Epitaph for a Spy

On Monday night i started reading one of my favourite books and managed to finish it in two sittings...though when i first bought it i couldn't put it down and did manage to read it in one hit ;)

Anyway...back during the 1990's i was going through a huge book collecting phase and managed to put together quite a decent collection of spy and thriller novels (amongst other genres), including some first editions, published between 1930 and 1960, and this particular book is still one of my favourites.

"Epitaph for a Spy" was written in 1938 by the one of the most talented authors of the spy genre, Eric Ambler.

It was his third novel and it followed the story of one Josef Vadassy;

From the back cover...
Josef Vadassy was an ordinary man - ordinary, that is, for a refugee. There had been troubles in his past, and there would undoubtedly be troubles in his future. But nothing he had encountered had prepared him to cope with the charge of espionage being levelled at him by the authorities in the South of France.

To prove his innocence Vadassy, inevitably, was forced to prove someone else's guilt. But with few people eager to believe him, and more than a few seemingly eager to watch him sink quietly into enforced obscurity, he found himself forced to play the game according to rules that could never have been labelled clean.

The book is a classic and not only has a great spy and espionage plot running through it, but it can also be quite humourous...

I was about to argue that the apology, if any was due to Roux, when Mademoiselle Martin, who had been having hysterics in the background, created a diversion by flinging her arms around her lover's neck and exhorting him to kill. She was removed in floods of tears by Frau Vogel and Mary Skelton. By this time, however, Roux had found tongue and was hurling insults at all and sundry.
'Species of monkeys !'
Mosieur Duclos's calm deserted him. He leaped into the breach. 'Species of impotent goat !' he retorted hotly.
Mademoiselle Martin screamed. Roux, incensed, focused his attention once more on his enemy.
'Species of diseased camel !' he bawled.
'Misbegotten cretin!' roared Monsieur Duclos.
Roux licked his lips and swallowed hard. For a moment I thought he was beaten. Then I saw that he was gathering his forces for the coup de grace. His lips worked. He drew a deep breath. There was a fraction of a second's silence. Then, with the full force of his lungs, he hurled the word in Monsieur Duclo's face.
'Communiste !'
Given the appropriate circumstances almost any word denoting a political or religous creed can become a deadly insult. At a conference of Moslem dignitaries the word 'Christian' could no doubt be used to devestating effect. At a gathering of White Russians the word 'Communist' would probably be reckoned a virulent term of abuse. But this was not a gathering of White Russians.
For a moment there was not a sound. Then someone giggled. It was, I think, Mary Skelton. It was enough. We started to laugh.

Brilliant :)

So...if you like the spy and espionage genre you can't go wrong picking up a few of Eric Ambler's books.

Bebop

You gotta love bebop....

Here is a video of Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Thelonious Monk (piano), Art Blakey (drummer), Kai Winding (trombone), Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone) and Al Mckibbon (double bassist) playing some great jazz...

Brilliant :)

My Akubra International rocks :)

Have i said how much i love my new Akubra International???

The Akubra International is by far the most comfortable hat i have ever had the pleasure of perching on top of my noggin...and I really like the way it looks on me as well :)

It certainly nice to get the odd nodd and complement from complete strangers about it as well...though nothing as cool as this broadside ballad from late 1800's entitled "Where did you get that hat?"...

Where did you get that hat?
Where did you get that tile?
Isn't it a nobby one, and just the proper style?
I should like to have one just the same as that!
Whe'er I go they shout, 'Hello!
Where did you get that hat?'

Having a hat which is this comfortable means that it's going to become something that will become a part of me as much as my R.M Wlliams boots are, so with an everyday wearer hat all i need now is to pick up a new hat brush (to keep it clean with) when City Hatters, the best hat store in Melbourne, get some more in stock.

Oh yeah...the "hat etiquette" thing takes a while to get used to...if i remember it at all that is ;)

2008 Vintage Engine Crank-up draws great crowds

Cross post from www.UpperYarraValley.com.au

The "2008 Vintage Engine Crank-up", run by the Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society, and which was held at the Upper Yarra Museum on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of April drew some great crowds.

The museum, located at the Old Yarra Junction Train Station on the Warburton Highway in Yarra Junction, had a fascinating selection of old steam engines powering water pumps, wood cutters, waterwheels and all sorts of other stuff.

The huge steam roller that was also rolling around the venue, letting of its whistle and puffs of white steam, was a big favourite as well.

The scouts were providing food out of the old caravan and every one seemed to have a great old time and the raffle collected some well needed money which will go towards providing a working radiator for the old car which is being worked on.

Oh yeah...photos are coming soon. And dont forget to add it into your calendar for next year when it should be held during the the 4th and 5th of April 2009 :)

A Fistfull of Rainbows rocked :)

Just got back from seeing comedian Kent Valentine performing his latest solo show, "A Fistful of Rainbows" at the Portland Hotel as part of the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

It was brilliant...well done Kent...it was so funny I was in tears for large parts of the show :)

If you haven't seen him yet...do yourself a favour and go down and see the show before it closes on the 12th of April. If you are in Sydney you can also see the show at The Cracker Comedy Festival (April the 29th till May the 4th), at the Sydney Comedy Store (May the 6th till May the 10th) and at various locations for the Comedy Festival Roadshow (May the 25th till June the 8th).

Check out Kent's Gig Dates page for more details.

Video on Flickr

The Yahoo! owned photo service, Flickr, has just launched the ability to upload videos of upto 150MB in filesize to your Flickr account (if you are a Pro Member)...though only the first 90 seconds will be displayed.

Accepted video formats include; AVI, WMV, MOV, MPEG (1,2 and 4) adn 3gp. Once your videos are uploaded they appear in your normal photo stream and you can also embed the video onto other websites as well.

Below is a video (the original length is 14 minutes and 20 seconds) that i shot back on the 18th of July in 2004 where I drove around Sydney for around one hour and then speed it up so it only took 14 minutes...i called it CarCam v1.0 :)

Interesting to see how the 90 second thing works out...seems a bit short to me.

Hat Etiquette

I'm absolutely loving my new Akubra International hat that i purchased at Sydney's Strand Hatters back in the middle of March of this year :)

Though wearing a hat does raise certain issues...like hat etiquette...

From the Wikipedia entry on etiquette;

Etiquette, one aspect of decorum, is a code that governs the expectations of social behavior, according to the contemporary conventional norm within a society, social class, or group.

So..when is it OK to wear a hat inside??? On what occasion do you take your hat off and when are you meant to only lift your hat??? How do you hold a hat correctly when you take it off??? What do you do with your hat if you should happen to visit the opera??? All those questions and more...

Well...a quick search led me to this forum thread over at The Fedora Lounge.

From "Etiquette," Emily Post, Funk & Wagnall's Company, 1922 and 1927.

WHEN A GENTLEMAN TAKES OFF HIS HAT

A gentleman takes off his Hat and holds it in his hand when a lady enters the elevator in which he is a passenger, but he puts it back on again in the corridor. A public corridor is like the street, but an elevator is suggestive of a room, and a gentleman does not keep his Hat on in the presence of ladies in a house.

This is the rule in elevators in hotels, clubs and apartments. In office buildings and stores the elevator is considered as public a place as the corridor. What is more, the elevators in such business structures are usually so crowded that the only room for a man's Hat is on his head.

When a gentleman stops to speak to a lady of his acquaintance in the street, he takes his Hat off with his left hand, leaving his right free to shake hands, or he takes it off with his right and transfers it to his left. If he has a stick, he puts his stick in his left hand, and gives her his right. If they walk ahead together, he puts his Hat on; but while he is standing in the street talking to her, he should remain Hatless. There is no rudeness greater than for him to stand talking to a lady with his Hat on, and a cigar or cigarette in his mouth.

WHEN A GENTLEMAN LIFTS HIS HAT

Lifting the Hat is a conventional gesture of politeness shown to strangers only, not to be confused with bowing, which is a gesture used to acquaintances and friends. In lifting his Hat, a gentleman merely lifts it slightly off his forehead and replaces it; he does not smile or bow, nor does he even look at the object of his courtesy. No gentleman ever subjects a lady to his scrutiny or his apparent observation.

If a lady drops her glove, a gentleman should pick it up, hurry ahead of her and on no account nudge her and offer the glove to her and say: "I think you dropped this!" The lady replies: "Thank you". The gentleman should then lift his Hat and turn away.

If he passes a lady in a narrow space, so that he blocks her way or in any manner obtrudes upon her, he lifts his Hat as he passes.

If he is on a street car which is very crowded, when he wishes to leave it and a lady is directly in his way, he asks: "May I get through, please?" As she makes room for him to pass, he lifts his Hat and says: "Thank you!"

If he is in the company of a lady anywhere in public, he lifts his Hat to a man who offers her a seat, or who picks up something she has dropped or shows her any other civility.

He lifts his Hat if he asks a woman or an old gentleman a question, and always, if, when walking on the street with either a lady or another man, his companion bows to another person.

In other words, a gentleman lifts his Hat whenever he says "Excuse me, Thank you," or speaks to or is spoken to by a lady, or by an older gentleman. And no gentleman ever keeps a pipe, cigar or cigarette in his mouth when he lifts his Hat, takes it off, or bows.

THE INFORMAL BOW

In bowing on the street, a gentleman should never takes his Hat off with a flourish, nor should he sweep it down to his knee; nor is it graceful to bow by pulling the Hat over the face as though examining the lining. The correct bow, when wearing a high Hat, or derby, is to lift it by holding the brim directly in front, take it off merely high enough to escape the head easily, bring it a few inches forward, the back somewhat up, the front down, and put in on again. To a very old lady or gentleman, to show adequate respect, a sweeping bow is sometimes made by a somewhat exaggerated circular motion downward to perhaps the level of the waist, so that the Hat's position is upside down. If a man is wearing a soft Hat he takes it by the crown instead of the brim, lifts it slightly off his head and puts in on again.

AT THE OPERA, THE THEATER AND OTHER PUBLIC GATHERINGS

In walking about in the foyer of the opera house, a gentleman leaves his coat in the box or in his orchestra chair but he always wears his high Hat. The "collapsible" Hat is for use in the seats rather than in the boxes, but it can be worn perfectly well by a guest in the latter if he hasn't a silk one.

As wikipedia says, it does come down to the "expectations of social behavior, according to the contemporary conventional norm", but we haven't become that uncouth as a society as to not follow, or believe in certain gentleman-like behaviour have we?? Then again...unfortunatley maybe we have :(

Now...if more men wore more (proper) hats more frequently...

:)

Widgetbox

While looking for a Flickr map widget the other day, i ran across a great site called Widgetbox.

Widgetbox has number of widgets that you can use, and usually modify to suit your needs, and you can also create some great widgets from your blog (called blidgets) which you can then embed in close to 20 different sites/formats and even create a Facebook or Beebo app out of it...nice...

Below are some widgets for my main three sites at the moment.

       

Oh yeah...the Flickr mapwidget i found is really cool and exactly what i was looking for.

:)

14th Annual AIMIA Award Photos

The photos from the 14th Annual AIMIA Awards are now up on the AIMIA website.

The photos cover the "Red carpet arrival and pre-ceremony", the "awards ceremony" itself and the "after party".

Here is one of the shots which shows Kat, Jaime and myself on the redcarpet.

Enjoy :)

2008 Vintage Engine Crank-up

Cross post from www.UpperYarraValley.com.au

The annual "Vintage Engine Crank-up" is on again this year and is being held at the Upper Yarra Museum this weekend, the 5th and 6th of April.

Home of the Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society (which i just joined), the Upper Yarra Museum is located at the Old Yarra Junction Train Station on the Warburton Highway in Yarra Junction and houses some really interesting items.

The crank-up has been running for a number of years now and always gathers a good crowd...so pop on into Yarra Junction, check out some classic machinary and support a great, and important, local organisation.

note: The Upper Yarra Museum website is not exactly upto date (the crank-up image is from last year), and is on my list of things todo ;)

SplaTT Technologies circa 1996

While archiving folders, i found this blast from my past...

The funky image above is the logo I used in 1996 for "SplaTT Technologies", which was my Virtual Reality / Multimedia / Internet business between 1990 and 1997.

From the 1996 website:

"Formed in 1995 by its Managing Director, Miroslav Stanic, Splatt Technologies grew out of the well documented need to provide a variety of innovative services and functions to the ever increasing field of Virtual Reality for the Australasian market.

With its well thought out business plan, inventive developer partners and its attitude to new Technologies, it is well positioned to be providing ground breaking and exciting services well into the next century."

(Note: Miroslav Stanic is the actual name on my birth certificate, and I go through periods when i use it instead of Mick...though i think 1997 was the last time i went through that phase)

For more info check out this blog post from the past which gives a quick explanation of what SplaTT Technologies did. For a frightening journey into the technology of the past, you can grab a PDF (5MB) of a document that we created as a leave behind for a VR / Multi-media presentation tour of Australian Army and Air Force bases that we we did in 1996 with our sister company at the time, Caged Productions.

While the idea behind SplaTT Technologies was a bit ahead of its time, and it didn't end up "providing ground breaking and exciting services well into the next century", it certainly did set the tone for my all of my endeavours after 1997...and who knows, SplaTT Technologies may well again appear one day...as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeysuckle Creek Pty Ltd ;)

Indiana Jones

Cross post from www.ExpeditionOz.com

Just in case you needed some more of the man in the Fedora hat, Indiana Jones, here are all of the movie trailers in one spot :)

Note: All the links in this post are to Wikipedia entries, so here is a link to the official Indiana Jones site

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - (Released in 1981)

YouTube link

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - (Released in 1984)

YouTube link

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - (Released in 1989)

YouTube link

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - (2008 Release)

YouTube link

And don't forget that on the 22nd of May 2008, the newest Indiana Jones film is being released...Inidiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull :)

Virtual Earth Appliance

If your organisation is a big user of online mapping services then the Vexel Virtual Earth Appliance might be just what you are looking for.

But first...some history.

In May of 2006, Microsoft acquired Vexel (a worldwide leader in photogrammetry, imagery and remote sensing technologies) for an undisclosed sum and a number of their services and products have been used in advancing the capabilities and information/content/data inside of the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform (which also drives Windows Live Maps).

The Virtual Earth Appliance allows you to utilise allof the Virtual Earth capabilities but behind your firewall, on your private.classified network or in a moble/portable scenario...nice...

From the press release:

Vexcel Announces the Virtual Earth Appliance

Virtual Earth data content and functionality now available offline

BOULDER, COLORADO—Mar. 4, 2008 — Vexcel Corp., a Microsoft company, today announced the availability of the Virtual Earth Appliance. The Virtual Earth Appliance is designed to bring all the rich data and functionality of the Microsoft Virtual Earth Internet service to the offline customer. The Microsoft Virtual Earth platform is an integrated set of powerful online mapping and search services that delivers imagery, 2-D and 3-D geospatial data, and analysis through a Web browser. These same browser-based capabilities are now available behind a customer’s firewall, on private or classified networks, and on portable platforms.

The Virtual Earth Appliance is available as an enterprise version, with rackable servers that scale with required storage and the number of users, or as a laptop version with portable, external storage for field or vehicle use. Systems can be configured to support data from a single city, state or region, or to include the entire Virtual Earth global coverage.

Because the Virtual Earth Appliance has the same API and tiling structure as Virtual Earth, customers can integrate their own data, build custom applications or take advantage of the capabilities of Microsoft Corp.’s network of partner companies. As Microsoft’s geospatial subsidiary, Vexcel provides Virtual Earth Appliance support and updates, and works with customers to design the optimal solution based on enterprise size, amount of data, mobility requirements, content update frequency and performance requirements.

“We are pleased to announce the Virtual Earth Appliance,” said Gary Salisbury, president of Vexcel. “This capability has long been awaited by government and private organizations that want the powerful capabilities of Virtual Earth but have sensitive data or requirements to operate on their own secure networks. The Virtual Earth Appliance gives them the best of both worlds.”

SplaTT's Blog is 5

SplaTTs Blog is having its 5th birthday today :)

Way back on the 23rd of March 2003, when i did my first post on SplaTT's Blog, i certainly wasn't sure if i would still be blogging here five years later...and i nearly wasn't due to a nearly catastrophic database error just over five months ago.

But here i am looking back at not only an amazing five years but also at a pretty hectic 12 months as well...here are some highlights from my posts during the last year:

• April 16th 2007 - Google buys Doubleclick and Microsoft Silverlight is released.
• April 23rd 2007 - Two of my photos get used in Wikipedia :)
• April 30th 2007 - The 1000th Blog Post at SplaTT's Blog is made :)
• May 31st 2007 - Singo sells out
• June 27th 2007 - ReMIX 07 rocked!
• August 9th 2007 - Nine loses electronic program guide case :)
• August 30th 2007 - I try to peddle my bike half way up a mountain in The Half Donna - attempt 1
• Septmeber 19th 2007 - I launch the Upper Yarra Valley dot com dot au web site
• October 3rd 2007 - I remember the 20th anninversary of the Foreign Language gig in 1987
• October 4th 2007 - The database running SplaTT's Blog goes down :(
• February 26th 2008 - I got my blog back after nearly five months of down time :)
• Febraury 27th 2008 - I explain whats happened since October 2007, including the re-launch of ExpeditionOz
• March 1st 2008 - I succesfully test broadband Internet connectivity at the country property :)
• March 5th 2008 - RIP Gary Gygax :(
• March 14th 2008 - The 14th Annual AIMIA Awards winners are announced

It's certainly been an interesting year and i'm sure it will get more interesting as 2008 rolls on.

So...to the important stuff...here are some top line stats from over the past five years...

YEAR	UNIQUE VISITORS	# OF VISITS	# OF PAGES	BANDWIDTH
2003	3,091	3,899	6,607	41.11 MB
2004	29,819	94,682	344,446	5 GB
2005	177,811	499,722	1,213,084	27.19 GB
2006	285,635	959,556	3,957,943	66.03 GB
2007	393,562	972,933	4,138,815	72.2 GB
2008	52,167	113,455	440,878	15.61 GB
TOTAL	942,085	2,644,247	10,101,773	186.44 GB

NOTE: Obviously, 2003 only had data from the 23rd of March 2003 till the end of the year, 2007 only had posts (and pings) made between the 1st of January 2007 and the 4th of October and 2008 only has posts (and pings) from the 26th of Febraury 2008 till today (23rd of March 2007)

WOW...in the last five years my pesonal blog has served over 10,000,000 pages and this year, 2008, will be the year that i welcome the 1,000,000th unique visitor to SplaTT's Blog :)

To quote last years birthday post..."Anyway...enough self indulgence...thanks to everyone for staying subscribed and listening to my random ramblings :)"...so stick around as i reckon there are a few more years of random rambling left in me yet ;)

Kent Valentine and A Fistfull of Rainbows

Who amongst us doesn't enjoy a good laugh?

For those of you that do...if you are in Melbourne between the 20th of March and the 12th of April 2008, don't miss the opportunity to see one of the best stand-up comics around, Kent Valentine, performing his latest solo show, "A Fistful of Rainbows" at the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

From the Comedy Festival website...

An epic adventure about change and diffracting light that spans the globe and features napalm, witches and vikings. It’s more ‘dark side of the moon’ than ‘rainbow connection’. Two hemispheres, two languages, too many jokes (for this blurb).

A Fistful of Rainbows is Kent Valentine’s third solo Melbourne Comedy Festival show. His first two shows Be My (Kent) Valentine and What Would Batman Do? were both critically acclaimed and featured in The Age’s top festival picks in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Kent is one of the most prolific gigging comics on the Australian circuit. Still relatively young blood in the world of comedy, Kent is fast on the rise, earning the respect of peers and fans alike.

"Rapid-fire, quick-witted...an undeniably funny hour ****"
Adelaide Advertiser

"The laughs get louder and easier, until they're legitimate ab workouts"
Beat

I've been a big fan of Kents since i gave him his first job at Singelton OgilvyInteractive and had a minor sonsorship involvement with his 2006 show at the festival, "Be my (Kent) Velentine", so buy some tickets and go along to the Portland Hotel and have a great laugh :)

My new Akubra hat :)

Cross post from www.ExpeditionOz.com

There aren't many things in life better than a good comfortable hat (well...there are...but not that many), and while I was up in Sydney I had the opportunity, in-between doing other things, to drop into one of my two favourite hat shops in Australia...Strand Hatters (who are owned by Akubra). The other favourite hat shop is City Hatters in Melbourne...they have no web site.

Lets rewind before I continue...

I got my first Akubra hat sometime in the mid 1980's...it was a classic Akubra Snowy River hat which I managed to keep in my possession until around 1991 while touring around Australia with all sorts of bands. I'm pretty sure that it got really badly damaged during a huge storm up in Northern Queensland when it got squashed by a huge roadcase :(

Akubra link / Strand Hatters link

After heading up to Sydney in early 1992 I bought a black Akubra Fedora (with a blue feather) from Strand Hatters which I wore pretty much every day both in Australia and during a huge 12 country trip I did to Europe (photos). It was a brilliant and hardy hat and on my trip to Europe, it safely took me into an only recently unified Berlin, protected my head from the sun at an altitude of 3,000 meters on the Matterhorn and managed to survive nearly two weeks in an amazing Istanbul...that is until some shmuck stole it from my train carriage while I was chatting to two nice female Australian backpackers in the compartment next to mine on the train between Turkey and Greece...I really missed that hat, especially since I could never find one again :(

Akubra link

Since that time my "obsession" with Akubra hats has continued and over the last eight years have picked up a few more hats. Lets be honest...hats are one of those things where you can really have one for every occasion :)

In 2002 I wandered into Strand Hatters and picked up an Akubra Coober Pedy for my trip out to the desert country of NSW, SA and the NT (photos). It’s a nice wide brimmed hat which has served me well as my main off-roading hat and which I also just wore again during the trip out to the Blue Mountains and the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness while in Sydney recently.

Akubra link / Strand Hatters link

In late 2004 I needed something a bit more formal for city wear, so it was back into Strand Hatters where I purchased a black Akubra Hampton. This is bit closer to a Fedora styled hat but has a very very short brim. It's not uncomfortable and don't mind its very English design, but it just don't feel right so it tends to spend a lot of time on the shelf :(

Akubra link / Strand Hatters link

After returning to Melbourne (in late 2005), I picked up one of my old favourites in 2006, an Akubra Snowy River, from a Horseworld Saddlery store in Lilydale. I find the Snowy River to be a really comfortable hat ( I have pretty much had one non-stop since the mid 1980's) with a classic look. It's very easy to spot and was used widely in The Man from Snowy River movies.

Akubra link / Strand Hatters link

In early 2007, I wandered into City Hatters in Melbourne looking for a Fedora, and realised that they are only made to order now..so the closest that I could get that felt comfortable was the classic Akubra Stylemaster. The black Stylemaster that I got is a great looking traditional style hat with a design which really comes from the 1940's and 1950's...definitely a more formal hat than a Fedora though, and would go really well with a suit...if i ever had to wear one ;)

Akubra link / Strand Hatters link

Fast forward to March 2008, and i walk out of Strand Hatters with what I think has got to be one of the most comfortable hats that I have ever worn, an Akubra International. It’s a similar shape to a Fedora and the one I picked up is black and has a blue feather just like my old Fedora :)

Akubra link

The International is part of the Akubra Lifestyle Collection, which is designed so that you can store it flat in a bag and when you take it out it re-forms back to its original shape. Now i'm not one for squishing hats in a bag, but if i ever have to do it, i'll make sure and post the results. This is defiantly a less formal hat which suits itself to everyday wear...so if you see someone walking around Melbourne, hanging out in the Upper Yarra Valley, exploring in the bush, standing on top of a mountain or sitting behind the steering wheel of Land Rover Discovery wearing a black hat that looks like the one above but with a blue feather on the left hand side (if you were wearing it)...it’s probably me ;)

So...to end...the Akubra brand has been around since 1912 (the hat making business that became Akubra, actually started in Hobart in 1874) and they have been making hats non-stop since that time and even though I only bought my first Akubra a little over 23 years ago, the thought has never crossed my mind about buying a "real" hat from another brand (for either outdoor expedition or urban adventure use) and I can be pretty sure in saying that any hats that I purchase in the future will no doubt be made by Akubra :)

So the next time you feel like buying a hat, support some great local Australian businesses and buy and Akubra made hat from either Strand Hatters in Sydney or City Hatters in Melbourne.

Note: Strand Hatters are located in the Strand Arcade at 412 George Street, Sydney and City Hatters are located next to the main entrance to Flinders Street Station at 211 Flinders St, Melbourne. Check out this link for a map of both locations.

Cross posts

Because my personal life and my work life crosses over often and i generally have a diverse bunch of subscribers and readers, I used to occasionally cross post between SplaTT's Blog and my Principius blog. I never had any complaints about it so i figured no one really cared...so with my recent launch of the ExpeditionOz website i'll be occasionally doing the cross-posting thing again (but not to often)...like the one about to appear about hats.

If you have had the luck to have known me for a number of years, you probably know that my other obsession aside from technology, exploring remote regions of Australia's wilderness (especially the mountains) and RM Williams boots is my love of Akubra hats...as you will see ;)

14th AIMIA Awards Winners

The 14th Annual AIMIA Awards held on Friday last week at the NIDA Theatre in Sydney was (as to be expected) a great night. This page over at the AIMIA website has a list of all the winners

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists on doing some fantastic work, thanks to the judges that took part in the voting process and thanks to those of you that supported your industry body and purchased tickets for the event making it a great night. I'll also post a link to the photos as soon as they go up.

Without out a doubt, the 15th AIMIA Awards (we haven't selected a location yet) will be even better :)