TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Fremantle: High Street view from the Round House. Every trip to Perth, my partner, Enigma, and I try to plan at least a day in Fremantle together as our 'just us' part of the holiday. The port city is the one place we'd both choose to live if there was no other factors to consider about where we call home. I personally like it for it's historic architecture and history but more so, it's proximity to great beaches and the fact it's still a working port. Container and holiday ships are always coming and going and serves as a constant reminder that there's a bigger world out there. Not that I particularly want to explore that bigger world, it's more a metaphor for always thinking about the bigger picture. Looking beyond just your point of view. That kind of thing. Anyhow, the purpose of this post is not to get all philosophical. This is all about how we spent our day in Fremantle. Fremantle Tram Tours Fremantle Tram. Enigma had read about ...

I was going to write individual posts about the various highlights of my trip to Perth back in April but, as time goes on, it's becoming evident that I'm not going to get around to it. So here it is. The bumper post of trip highlights in pictures. This first part is most of the sights we saw with various family members. Part two will focus on Enigma and I's day trip to Fremantle. South Perth Foreshore South Perth Foreshore. Enigma and I spent our first morning wandering along the South Perth foreshore. The foreshore is well kept parkland with cycle and walk paths, playgrounds and more with great views of the central Perth skyline. We were lucky enough to be walking on a fairly cloudy day but I'd recommend a hat and sunscreen because there are long stretches of path with no shade. Kelly's Cafe and Restaurant Kelly's Cafe. Kelly's Cafe and Restaurant is actually in the middle of a garden centre known as All Palms Garden Centre located ...

Iron Man 3 has divided audiences some what. Many fans of Iron Man in the comics feel let down whilst main stream fans of the Iron Man films, for the most part, have really embraced the third installment. This is not a review of Iron Man 3. If you have not seen the movie and don't want it to be spoiled, stop reading now. I mean it. Once you know one of the biggest plot points of the film, you can't un-know it. Knowing it will spoil the whole film for you because you will see certain characters in a different light. You have been warned! Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin Before Iron Man 3 arrived n theaters it promised a formidable foe in the Mandarin, supposedly Tony Stark's number one enemy in the comics. Ben Kingsley's take on the character seemed very imposing and a real interesting interpretation. It's worth looking at the trailer just to remind you on how awesome the Mandarin was. For about the first two thirds of the movie everything is leading up t...

This face piece, along with the goggles (see image below) are clearly not part of Iron Man's helmet but they can give you super powers like targeted audio and enhanced vision. My only disappointment is that, clearly, these two objects are designed to be worn together but no one actually tries either out at the same time in the video below. Seems like the budget ran out for creating something to hold both onto your head at the same time. This concept has the potential for a real Iron Man like helmet that perhaps could be used to enhance a soldiers abilities in the field. Which is what the Iron Man suit was really intended to do. Eidos - Sensory augmentation equipment (full version) from TJB on Vimeo . Description by the video creators... We are used to controlling the world around us, to find the settings that suit us best. What if we had the same control over our senses? If we could adjust them in real time, what new experiences could this make possible? Eido...

View over the wing on the plane flight home from Perth, Western Australia. I'm one of those people who enjoys flying on commercial airliners. The fact that I only fly economy really doesn't bother me. Especially if I have a window seat. As a fan of Science Fiction I look out the window and think, this is probably the closest thing to commercial space travel that I'll experience in my life time. Currently Sir Richard Branson with Virgin Galactic is probably the closest to making commercial space flight a reality but after eight years of trying his company has only just had its first powered spacecraft flight (see the video below). Whilst in the video you can hear Richard briefly outline his vision of the new frontier of commercial space travel we're a long way off from any kind of commercial travel to the moon and even further for other planets. Whilst there are a number of projects attempting to send people to Mars including the Inspiration Mars Foundati...

I feel like someone needs to slap almost every movie reviewer/film critic who has reviewed Oblivion and said it's 'derivative' and therefore somehow a lesser film because of it. Yes, Oblivion is derivative but you can say that about almost every movie - even some of the best. They're all derivative of something - especially science fiction films. Oblivion is set in a post nuclear war Earth where the planet has been decimated. Never seen that in any sci-fi film ever right? The Earth was attacked by Aliens and destroyed. Haven't seen that before either, right? If I were to keep listing how Oblivion is derivative I'd eventually destroy the plot for you, if you've yet to see it. Especially towards the end where you may even think that final solution to the alien threat was so derivative you're struggling to choose which movie you haven't seen that in. My point is, that being derivative doesn't matter all that much. What counts is does the fi...