Paying for Graduate School without Going Broke

Wish I'd bought this before I underwent the whole MBA experience ;-)

Ten hours in make-up

While in Singapore over the weekend, I was lucky enough to catch the Lord of the Rings Exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre. With a fairly steep entry fee of S$20 (roughly A$16), I had high expectations, but in typical LOTR style, the event delivered.

Besides the myriad of short videos to watch (most of which are probably on the extended editions of the DVDs for each movie), there was also a wide variety of costumes and weapons from the three movies. Every major character had its own individual display, and a great detail of attention was paid to explaining the background of each character and how that influenced their costume and interaction with other characters.

There was also a range of displays that provided a detailed description of the make-up, digital effects and models in the movies. Some interesting/amusing little facts that I picked up . . . did you know that? ...

• the actor that played the Uruk-Hai Lurtz had to spend over ten hours in make-up before each day of shooting. The make-up and prosthetic artists would start on him at 10:00pm and work on him overnight while he tried to sleep in the make-up chair.


• in the scene where the Fellowship run across the bridge in the Mines of Moria while being chased by the Balrog, all of the characters were completely digital. The filmmakers created digital versions of each character, complete with individual movement behaviour.


• the four main hobbit character wore a new pair of prosthetic feet every days during filiming. Two thousand sets of hobbit feet were created, and each set was shredded after filming, so as to prevent a black market for hobbit feet.

Anyway, if you do get a chance, go and check it our for yourself.

LOTR - The Exhibition is in Singapore until June 4th.

Dr MBA - Time to get a move on!

In a parallel universe, I was a dentist. I grew up in Melbourne, and then moved to London in my mid-twenties to escape the life of the AFL-crazed city I call home. The expat thing was fine, but I realised I had a greater calling. And so, I planned to return home at start my MBA at Melbourne Business School.

Actually, the life I'm describing is the real life of Dr MBA, an Aussie dentist who's in the early stages of the MBA application process. The GMAT. The full-time v's part-time decision. The 'What Should I Do With My Life?' decisions. Check it out in his new blog at drmba.blogspot.com.

Improv

Well here's some surprising news. Tomorrow I'm off to Singapore for an extended weekend, and then on to Indonesia (Jakarta and Bali) for some time out with the folks, and some (remote) job hunting. Spur of the moment decision - only booked my ticket yesterday!

Deadbeat @ Echo Club in Bern, Switzerland

(background photography courtesy of yours truly)





Power to the Blogging culture!

An extended collection of my Montreal photographs recently served as backdrop when techno act Deadbeat appeared at Echo Club, a club night organised by the Institute for Contemporary Urban Encounters (CUE) in Bern, Switzerland.

"Echo Club is a clubconcept, in which the visual appearance is as important as the music. This reflects in the flyers and posters aswell as in the visuals at the nights as such. The visuals reflect the mood of the music and vice-versa the music to a certain extent is a spontanious score composition to the projected images. "

Thanks to Kev for setting this up, and for sending me some photos of the event.

2004 Gambling Update

07/03/04: Bet $20 @ $1.50 on Melb F1 GP Winner - Michael Schumacher; returned $30

07/03/04: Bet $5 @ $7 on Melb F1 GP Top 3 - Mark Webber; returned $0

07/03/04: Bet $5 @ $5 on Melb F1 GP Fastest Lap - Rubens Barrichello; returned $0

Net position for 2004: up $6 (it's been an all red weekend)

Segway

Good lord! I just saw someone riding a Segway HT on a back street in Bondi Junction. I didn't think they were available in Australia yet.

League of MBA Bloggers

Amusing to see that I'm listed in the League of MBA Bloggers under the North America category rather than the Asia category. Seems that my time at Columbia Business School provided much more valuable content for the world than my time at Melbourne Business School.

Domestic Airline Price Wars

The challenge: flying Sydney to Melbourne and return for the AFL Grand Final on Sat Sept 25th (first flight out, last flight home), six months in advance, no major sales/promotions in progress

Qantas: Outbound $86 @ 8:30am, Inbound $92 @ 8:30pm

Jetstar: Outbound $59 @ 6:00am (+$2 credit card surchage), Inbound $59 @ 9:05pm (+$2 credit card surcharge)

Virgin Blue: Outbound $89 @ 6:15am, Inbound $89 @ 9:15pm

The verdict: Jetstar to Avalon cheapest by approx $60 overall. Qantas and Virgin Blue flights to Tullamarine basically equivalent in price if booked directly. Similar pricing when booked indirectly via Webjet.

Of course, while it is true that I'm planning on going to the AFL Grand Final this year (enjoying the benefits of full MCC membership), I don't know what my plans for work in September at this stage, so there's no way I can actually book these low price airfares so far in advance. I love the economics of airline pricing ... maybe I should look into pursuing it as a career...

2004 Gambling Update

06/03/04: Bet $20 @ $1.55 on Melb F1 GP Pole Position - Michael Schumacher; returned $31

06/03/04: Bet $5 @ $15 on Melb F1 GP Pole Position - Kimi Räikkönen; returned $0

Net position for 2004: up $6 (one step closer to paying off my MBA)

btw - Congrats Mark Webber on qualifying in sixth place for the big race in Melbourne tomorrow