TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Click & Collect is a service offered by many online retailers where you can shop for your items online, and then pick up your order from a participating retailer near you within hours. It sounds all very convenient but is it really? When I shop online, I do so because I want my purchase to be delivered to my front door. I don't want to leave my house. That's convenience. Click and Collect allows me to go to an actual store, that stocks the item I've ordered online, where my purchase will be packed and waiting for me to pick up within a few hours of placing the order. As opposed to me just going to the store near me, buying from that retailer what I would've ordered online, in however long it takes for me to get to the store and back. In certain circumstances Click & Collect is great. There may be times when you don't want something delivered directly to your home. It's particularly appropriate for purchases where the item is physically being shipped to a...

My Profile on the Braille Skateboarding App. Braille Skateboarding launched it's new Skateboarding App worldwide on November 23rd, 2020. About a month prior to that they did a 'soft launch' via email for anyone living in Australia. I'm guessing this was to give the app a final test in the real world before launching it proper. Rather than explain what it is, watch Aaron Kyro, founder of Braille Skateboarding, run you through the app in the launch video below.  In a nutshell the app is virtually everything Braille has to offer accessed right from your phone, from tutorials to the Braille Army Community. The app is free but you can unlock more features if you upgrade to a paid membership. Braille App Trick List. One of the apps unique free features is keeping track of the tricks you've learned and giving you an overall score so you have some way to measure your progression. There is an extensive list of tricks, covering all types of skateboarding, categorized by diff...

The trailer for the Australian movie, Rams , billed the film as a comedy, and it is, but in more tragic and heartfelt way than I expected. I don't know why because rewatching the trailer now doesn't imply it's laugh out loud hilarious. Regardless, it's not a negative by any means. Colin (Sam Neil) and Les (Michael Caton) are estranged brothers living on neighboring sheep farms in rural Western Australia. They haven't spoken to each other in years but regularly compete in the local annual sheep breeders competition. Unfortunately a rare but lethal sheep virus hits the region with the government implementing extreme measures to eradicate the outbreak. However Colin has a plan to save his flock that'll put him at odds with almost everyone. Rams is a reimagining of the Icelandic movie Rams (2015) with the major difference being the location (just based on the trailer for that movie, I have not seen the actual film). Though I would suggest, maybe not watching the I...

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug...  or the most expensive mug  you'll ever buy? I've been subscribed to  Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram. If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject.  Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey. To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses , a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but opt...

Passive Income is that somewhat elusive idea of earning a living even while you're sleeping. Often considered a 'scam' term used by charismatic marketers to sell you a dream of instant riches asterixed with, in very tiny print "results may vary". Passive Income Course for Graphic Designers is a Udemy course by Skybox Creative (a.k.a. designer, Angelina Samadhi) that guides you through the actual work you need to do (a point that is often glossed over by those charismatic marketers) to create a passive income business selling digital art and design products online. Note that I am an Udemy Affiliate and links within this article to the course are affiliate links. You don't have to use them but it does help keep this site free. Having said that, Passive Income for Graphic Designers is a course I have completed in full, not simply to write a review, but to actually learn from Angelina's experience... because I'm definitely not earning a living from affil...

The World's Smallest Manual Pad Upgraded. Having successfully manualed on the world's smallest skateboarding manual pad numerous times I felt it was time for an upgrade. If this is your first time here, the world's smallest manual pad is basically a small sheet of half inch thick marine ply board roughly one and a half feet by three feet laid flat. It may not actually be the world's smallest manual pad in terms of the height but it's definitely a beginner level skate obstacle. To upgrade it I had some lengths of two by four pinewood beams, that could give my manual pad some perfectly respectable height, without being beyond your average beginner skater who's just learned how to ollie onto a curb. I broke out my jigsaw, drill, and other tools. Scrounged together pretty much all the big nails and screws I had and time lapsed the build. Watch the video below. I didn't really get to skate my new, improved manual pad that day but promised I would in my very next...

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Backside 180 Ollie by TET I've been doing backside 180 ollies on my skateboard for almost as long as I've been skateboarding. It's not really that hard a trick to learn, except it is, if you want to do them well. Usually, when I'm practicing my backside 180 ollies on flat, my first attempt will be my best, and then my technique will kind of deteriorate from there. Except for that one jaggy attempt where I successfully land the backside 180 ollie then continue to pivot on my back truck another 180 degrees. Which is only a cool trick if you actually meant to do it. Recently I spent an entire driveway skate session working on my backside 180 ollies. My goal was to get them higher, rotate my body more effectively, and to bend my back leg more (a common problem for most people is not really bending the back leg as you ollie). You can watch my session and decide if I made any progress in the video below. The thing is, I know everything I'm doing wrong with my backside 180...

Microsoft Surface Duo Picture: Microsoft Ten plus years ago I used to be a lot more interested in gadgets and hardware, specifically the mythical world of tablet computing (yes, tablets weren't a thing back then but they were on the horizon). Microsoft recently released its new Surface Duo Foldable Phone and I immediately thought this looks incredibly familiar... Back in 2009 Gizmodo uncovered a super secret Microsoft project, the Courier Booklet , a foldable tablet computer that looks remarkably similar in size and appearance (almost down to the hinge even) to the Surface Duo. The Microsoft Courier Booklet (2009). Keep in mind that back in 2009, no one, not even Apple, had released any kind of consumer tablet device. Below is a demonstration video that is kind of a case study as to how a designer might have used the Courier Booklet. As a device for creatives, that seemed to have a pretty accurate stylus, I was very excited about it (as you can read in my article from the time)....

TET Heelflip attempt. Winter has pretty much kept my skateboarding sessions to the driveway where I have a little bit of cover from the wind and rain. I don't really like skating on cold days. I'm not a person who like being in the cold at all. But I don't like going for too long without skating either because it's frustrating to have to relearn how to do tricks I've only just relearned. Anyway, when I have been out in the driveway I've been working on my kickflips and heelflips amongst other things. Below are two driveway session that aren't particularly remarkable but, if you have been following my skateboarding journey, you can see where I'm at with heelflips and kickflips. The videos really speak for themselves. Both sessions were really just running through various tricks I've been trying to see if I could progress with them at all. As Spring rolls around I'm hoping to get out of my driveway a little more often with some street skating adven...

TET with a brand new Pizza Monkey Lifeline Skateboard from BoardPusher. The day finally arrived where I could unbox my Pizza Monkey Lifeline, Square Nose, Skateboard deck from BoardPusher.  If you're new to TET.Life , this skateboard deck features my reworked #DesignALifeline Competition entry that I submitted to Revive Skateboards. While it didn't win their competition I still love the design, which makes even more sense as a Pizza Lifeline (we've all needed one of those at one time or another) than a Revive Lifeline. Pizza Monkey Lifeline , Square Nose, BoardPusher Skateboard Deck The Pizza Monkey Lifeline is currently available to buy in my etouristSkateboards BoardPusher store on several different board shapes including your standard popsicle, longboards, cruisers, and the all new square nose shape. In the video below you can watch me unbox and set up my new deck, going through the details of the various components and why I chose them. I also talk a little bit about ...

Christopher Nolan's film, Tenet , I wanted to see because Nolan's films are always interesting, regardless of how you feel about them after viewing, and because the trailer pitched it as a time travel movie with an angle on that theme I don't think I've seen before. Beyond that I didn't really have much of a clue on what the movie was about, and an early review I read said you should expect to be confused for at least the first hour, before the plot starts to fit together in a way you'll understand. To give you the basic outline I'm just going to give you the IMDB version because I don't really know how to expand on that in any meaningful way: Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. At two and a half hours I was concerned this film might drag a little because Chris does like hi...

The Polly Woodside Tall Ship, Melbourne. The Queen Elizabeth Cruise Ship arrived back in Melbourne sometime in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, February 2. One of the few benefits of being in 'riff-raff' class is that we'd be among the last to disembark at 9:30am, allowing us to relax for one final time with an unhurried breakfast in the Britannia Restaurant. If this is your first time (or first post) reading about the cruise my partner, Enigma, and I took on the Queen Elizabeth at the end of January, beginning of February 2020 you may like to go back and start from the beginning by clicking this link (posts will be listed in reverse order). It may be your last glimpse into the world of cruise ship holidays pre pandemic 2020. It was 10am by the time we were actually leaving the boat and collecting our bags from the terminal. We were asked to wait in the upper level of the Britannia restaurant while they double checked that all final guests still on the boat were p...

TET Rock'n'Roll attempt on a driveway quarter pipe. Whenever we have a fine sunny day during Winter in Australia I always try to take advantage of it by getting in some skateboarding, even if it's only in the driveway (not that I really skate anywhere else at the moment). In this driveway skateboard session video I didn't really have a plan for what I wanted to try so I started out by revisiting manuals on the world's smallest manual pad. From there I felt like skating my small quarter pipe, which I don't skate often on account of not being able to do anything on it beyond drop-ins and BS 50-50 stalls. However I do kind of feel Rock'n'Rolls are the trick I'm most likely to relearn next so today was the day to give them a real go. As I explain in the video I don't like people who half ass Rock'n'rolls by tapping the middle of the deck on the coping and turning back in. The trick looks super cool when done right with the back trucks pushed ...

Out 'poshing' posh afternoon tea. Me, enjoying an after dinner tea - full pinky!. Photo: Enigma Cruises are very much different experiences for different people. If you want a quiet relaxing time, you can pick and choose what activities you get involved with that match your tastes. If this is your first post in my series, documenting my partner, Enigma, and I's week long cruise on the Queen Elizabeth that we took at the end of January, start of February 2020, just a month prior to the world going into lockdown thanks to Coronavirus, you may like to go back and read all the available posts in this series (in reverse order) click here . As you read about our experience keep in mind my Partner and I tend to keep to ourselves. We're polite and talk to people who we happen to cross paths with, but we really like the quiet relaxing side of cruises. If you're more adventurous, looking to meet new people and get involved in more physical activities like sports or dancing, m...