It’s been nearly a year since my partner and I moved into our new house which has no television reception. With the TV packed away, it’s been the most productive year of my life.

When we first moved in and found we had no reception, I thought the worst. Missing out on my favourite shows, finding something to fill the hours on my free nights, what was I going to do… Looking back I can’t imagine what I thought I’d be missing out on, I don’t miss it in the slightest.

Without the distraction of TV my blog content has grown rapidly, as well as other projects which had been on my “to-do” list for months. Local and internationally targeted versions of my site are nearly complete, as well as a second logo design blog which will all be good for business.

Things are going great. The sheer amount of things I’ve read and learnt both professionally and personally make the change more than worthwhile.

I’m telling you…

If you ever wanted a way to get more work done, ditching the television is the answer.

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Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, where uncomfortably tight living spaces are the norm. To combat this, architect Gary Cheng designed and built this amazing transforming department.

The apartment itself is essentially a single room just over 30 square meters in total, but through a series on sliding wall sections and concealed facilities it can be transformed into 24 different fully furnished areas. Kitchen, study, laundry, bedroom, home cinema, the lot.

Really clever.

What do you think?

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After seeing that the iPhone had an app for reading MRIs ( that’s an x-ray to you and me ) I thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous. I was wrong.

If you’re bored with diagnosing your own injuries, maybe a new phone is in order. How about this 3.02 million US dollar iPhone Supreme?

10 months in the making , the whole casing was created with 271 grams of 22ct solid gold.

The front bezel houses 136 flawless diamonds colour F ,which total to a massive 68 cts.

The rear logo in solid gold has 53 flawless diamonds amounting to 1ct and the front navigation button is home to a single cut very rare diamond at 7.1 cts.

If that’s not enough bling for you, Craftsman Stuart Hughes also has gold Nintendo’s, Playstation’s, iPod’s Nokia’s and other similarly priced gadgets.

One last thought before I go buy one…

The MRI app… it was advertised along side music players and restaurant guides as if it were an every day tool for your average Joe.

Seriously, what kind of imbecile has an x-ray and says “I can’t stick around Doc, just send the MRI to my iPhone and I’ll fix whatever’s broken when I get home”.

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Tis the season as they say, only 13 sleeps until Christmas. A time of music, even if it is only the same 5 songs played over and over and… eating, singing, dancing and gift giving.

With that in mind, in case you were all wondering what to chip in for and get me for Christmas I put aside some time to create a modest little list for you. Because hey, that’s just the thoughtful kind of guy I am.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Macs to be honest, but with the release of the new 27″ iMac I’m beginning to come around.

The 72 piece Derwent Studio Colour collection. Might as well get the sketching collection while you there, save yourself another trip.

A Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet, while their latest rebrand might be awful it’s hard to find fault with their tablets.

You wouldn’t believe it, but I manage to pick up one of these Pantone Reference Libraries from eBay for about $250, bargain of the year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

But please, just get me 1 of each, I don’t want to impose…

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Sooner or later, later preferably… we’re all destined to be pushing up daisies. Before that time comes however, there are a few things in both my business and personal life I want to see accomplished. Here is my list to date.

Complete a project in each continent of the world.

• Australia.
• Asia.
• North America.
• South America.
• Europe.
• Antarctica, probably can just cross Antarctica off now…

Goals for my work.

• Run a blog, get work through it.
• Have my blog in the top 25,00 websites ranked by Alexa.
• Have my work published in a reputable book/magazine.
• Write / publish my own book.
• Get flown somewhere exotic by a client, anyone in Hong Kong need a designer?
• Design a Google seasonal / anniversary logo.

Personal hopes.

• Restore a classic car. If you happen to have a 67 Shelby GT500 or 69 Ford Charger lying around…
• Build a house.
• Sky Dive, the surgeon who did my hip replacements seems to think this is a bad idea…
• Go to Hong-Kong again…

How about you?

What’s on your list?

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Well today’s the day, my partner and I are leaving Sydney and moving down to Melbourne, exciting. Less exciting is the 10 hour drive to get the car down there, but what can you do.

Obviously this is going to be a busy couple of weeks getting everything sorted out. While I won’t be available for a fortnight or so I’ll be checking messages as best I can so you’re still welcome to get in touch if you have an inquiry.

Off we go!

Until we meet again, au revoir.

Update: We’re here!

We’ll, it’s been over a week of living out of our suitcases while staying at the fabulous Chateau de Friends-Couch ( thanks Claire ) but we’ve now signed the lease to our new house and all is well.

So far Melbourne’s been great, here a quick run down:

Pros:

• Real estate prices ( the reason we moved from Sydney ).
• Traffic? What traffic.
• South Melbourne: everyone loves Century Gothic.
• The James Squire brewery, see you there!

Cons:

• East Melbourne, everyone loves Papyrus…
• Public transport leaves something to be desired I’m told.
• The James Squire brewery, I’ll have to be dragged away.

So here we are.

A few days of unpacking, 2 weeks worth of blogging to catch up on, then it’s back to work.

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What a day… I started this morning in a bit of a daze. Woke up, had breakfast, put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard ( you heard me… ) and set out for the day.

After checking the mail to find a speeding ticket, I climb into the car and manage to drop and smash my GPS.

After salvaging the meeting which I was obviously late too after getting lost, I head to the bank to deposit a cheque, only to find that one I had previously deposited had bounced, sticking me with the penalty fee.

All that’s left is to fall over in the shower tonight and break a hip.

*sigh*

Had one of these days lately?

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Just a bit of fun here if you want to take your obsession with design to the next level, Adobe application pillows to spice up your sofa.

You can check them out over at Design Milk. These would also go good with your Pantone accessories.

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If you love your food and/or live in Sydney you might have heard of the restaurant Tetsuya’s. A few years ago we celebrated my birthday there and thought we might do the same again in a little over a months time.

I expected there to be a wait before a booking was available, Tetsuya’s has won countless awards and is considered one of the best restaurants in Australia, if not anywhere. Hoping for a booking in late March I was told the first available table was in September… a mere 7 month wait. It must still be good…

Tetsuya’s serves a 13 course degustation menu, which changes from night to night. When we dined we received 3 entrees, 6 mains and 5 desserts, and I managed to take a photo of each course. If you love your food or are looking for a special night out in Sydney, read on, hopefully you’ll get to enjoy it as much as I did.

You’ll have to forgive the poor descriptions, they don’t do the courses justice, they’re all I could muster from 5 year old memories. Enjoy.

Entrees

A single oyster in a sweet marinade with chives.

I think the glass on the left was along the lines of bread-pudding with caviar, while the glass on the right was a blood orange dish.

A small selection of treats for the third entree course.

Mains

The first main served was Tetsuya’s signature dish, herb crusted ocean trout.

Lobster ravioli.

Snapper carpaccio.

I think this was a quail.

Beef fillet with spinach and mushroom.

Another beef dish served with eggplant, tomato & watercress.

Desserts

Cheese platter.

Vanilla bean ice cream with figs.

Vanilla panacotta.

A chocolate mousse.

I forget…

A finally an extra dessert for the birthday-boy. A flourless chocolate cake with gelato.

What a night.

If you’re looking for a wonderful dining experience ( in about 7 months time… ) I don’t know of anywhere better than Tetsuya’s.

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Time is a precious commodity, and that fact you’ve decided to spend some of yours here is much appreciated. Your visit and especially your comments are very welcome, they keep this blog going.

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If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts about a particular subject feed free to leave a comment, and if you want to get in touch for a one-on-one you can do so here.

Thanks again!

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