TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

M odern Australia is not a country that starts wars. We're more than ready to help finish a war but we don't start them. We should not allow ourselves to become involved in unnecessary wars, such as the one Israel, with the assistance of the USA, just started with Iran. Ideally, all wars are unnecessary, but in reality sometimes countries do need to defend themselves from unnecessary attacks born from the poor leadership of opposing countries. Country leaders, that believe they can solve a problem by starting a war, should do so with their own resources. Answer to their own citizens. Don't drag allies into your weak minded drama.  However bad Iran's leadership is (or was, since reports of the death of Iran's Supreme leader are confirmed) starting a war to forcibly remove their leadership is never going to result in smiles all around. Especially in a region of the world that subscribes to 'an eye for an eye' politics (looking at you Israel). It will almost ce...

Cat Amongst the Pigeons by TET 2026-02-22 Original Acrylic Painting on Canvas (15.5" x 12"). I n my previous post, Painting Whimsical Cats (and probably other stuff) Again After Almost a Decade Away From Traditional Art , I, obviously, mentioned I'm painting cats again. It wasn't an empty promise. As you can see I've created my first official, new cat painting - since the previous one was actually a test piece - titled Cat Amongst the Pigeons . This painting features two firsts; the first time I've painted a cat with pigeons, and the first time I've broken the edge of my white border with the image. (In case I'm not explaining that well, the cat's ears extend into the white border that is usually masked off with tape during painting). I just didn't want to clip the cat's ears! WIP Collage of Cat Amongst the Pigeons painting. Images from sketch to finished art. What Does It Mean? While this can mean anything you want it to mean, I was think...

F or those of you that aren't adverse to your superhero content being a little more character driven and a lot less big action set pieces then Marvel's TV series, under the 'Marvel Spotlight' banner, Wonder Man , is a real underrated gem. Wanna-be actor, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a suspected superhero in hiding who believes, he was born to play the title role in a new superhero movie, Wonder Man. A chance meeting with fallen actor, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), formerly known as 'The Mandarin', at an audition, puts them both on a path to success but, everything isn't quite as it seems. While you will certainly relate very quickly to Trevor if you know his past from the movie Iron Man III , or, to a lesser extent, Shang-Chi , neither are essential viewing. You get all you need to know about Trevor as the series unfolds. That said, Ben Kingsley must have jumped at the chance to play Trevor a little less as the comic relief, and a little more ...

This kind of ad may speak to One Nation's existing supporters but it does nothing to  convince me that their policies hold up. Image: One Nation Website . T he proposed new hate speech laws in Australia have been very divisive. They may have passed by now but regardless, that's not the focus of this post. The laws were so divisive they caused the Liberal/National party coalition to split (again), as the National party leadership felt their position wasn't being heard by the Liberal leadership. That's fair enough. I agree with National's Federal Leader, David Littleproud, that the Nationals shouldn't just vote in line with whatever the Liberal party's position is at the time. The problem is, the two parties need each other to successfully challenge the Labor party on election day. (As of writing the two parties appear to be together again). So, of course, with Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party currently recruiting high profile politicians like Barnaby Jo...

D espite being in the middle of Summer, and experiencing some record temperatures across the state, we got a perfect day for the South Aussie leg of Jimmy Barnes' Working Class Man 40th Aniversay Tour. Lightly overcast. Almost no chance of rain. The cloud cover taking all the edge out of the sun, which was still quite fierce during the brief moments when it did break through the clouds for a little while. Guest artists supporting the show included, Jon Rooney, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss, and Ice House.  Unfortunately, while my partner and I had every intention of being at the concert  when the show actually started, so did quite a lot of people. We didn't quite anticipate the traffic getting into the venue, Peter Lehmann Wines, Barossa Valley, and we certainly didn't expect the 5-10 minute hike from the carpark to the concert area itself. Kate Ceberano By the time we found our seats, Kate Ceberano was already part way through her set. Prior to this concert, I certainly knew w...

Blue Sky, Butterfly, and JAC by TET Acrylic on Canvas. WIP of a New Whimsical Cat Painting by TET. O ver the Christmas and New Year holidays I spent a lot of my time reflecting on where I'm at as an artist and content creator, torn between the need to at least make some kind of regular income, and the need to just create art. Possibly controversially, while I am an early adopter of generative image and video AI creations, and would say they are an art form, they're not a very fulfilling art form for myself. A useful tool, yes, but even when used with my own art, they're more interesting than anything I would stand by and say 'that was a satisfying creative journey' I just made. Creating with generative AI is more like being a director of a film, where all the actual art is being done by everyone else, but you get a say in the direction and output. It's still a creative endeavor but it's a very hands off, upper management form of creativity (making a somewh...