Robert's Ramblings

How hard can it be? Just play with the sliders until the performance sounds great. Easy, right?

Over the last month and a dozen shows I’ve developed a deep respect for the guy or girl driving the sound desk. Faced with changing shows every day and often several different shows in a single day the sound person has to deal with diverse instrumentation, vocal setups including microphones on stands and headset microphones and often difficult venue acoustics.

Complicate things further with fold-back placement and moving performers with unpredictable feedback risks and that sound engineer is not just technical resource but an active performer in the show.

Despite our strong visually oriented perception of performance it is sound that critically underpins a show. Bad sound distracts and makes us more critical of everything, amazing sound makes us forgiving of even the ugliest performance hiccups.

Dialling in the sound is hard and every sound girl or guy sitting behind those sliders is as much a performer as the artists on the stage and deserve all the credit they hardly ever get!


#performingarts #soundengineering #adlfringe2023 #gluttony #celticsounds #yamaha #yamahaql5 #mixingdesk

I am so proud to be part of ‘Celtic Sounds: Reimaginings’ Adelaide Fringe show this year.

Again, if you are a local and have not yet seen this show then please consider supporting us and coming along so see while you have a chance.


#Celticsounds #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #performingarts

Charmaine Jones and her GOSPO Collective are putting on this amazing show titled ‘Whitney’ at this year’s Adelaide Fringe, a tribute to Whitney Houston and a showcase of the incredible talent of the GOSPO performers.

We experienced the show last night and were blown away by one of the slickest and polished show of the Fringe.

Charmaine to her credit has choreographed and produced an extraordinary showcase of the talent of the GOSPO performers. I only wish there had been a little more Charmaine on here own bringing back the Whitney we all loved and miss.


#Whitneyhouston #CharmaineJones #GOSPOCollective #gospo #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #performingarts

Newry Gals

These young performers from the Newry Studio of Irish Dancing make a spectacular addition to the already wonderful performance of Celtic Sounds: Reimaginings at this year’s (2023) Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Not only do I leave after a performance singing in my head but dancing well into the evening and next day too!


#newrystudio #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #irishdancing #celticsounds #performingarts

‘The Choir of Man’ is a great show. The performers are talented, have amazing voices, stage presence and thoroughly entertained their enthusiastic audience.

Yes I enjoyed the show and of course it’s about men but I really missed the feminine balance. At times I found it just a little too ‘blokey’.

I soon got over my ‘blokey’ thing, let my feminine side fill in the gaps and settled back to enjoy the show for what it was, ‘The Choir of Man’.


#choirofman #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #thejungle #beer #pub #performingarts #blokes

Life on the Fringe

The western parklands are teaming with life; even more so during the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Fruit bats in the sunset sky and possums in the dark of night share Gluttony and the Garden of Earthly Delights with a different kind of wildlife.

Happily they all habitat this space amid the music, the noise, the frivolity and the craic that is the Adelaide Fringe.


#possum #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #animals #wildlife

Tucked away in an out of the way corner of Gluttony is a little door into a the curious world of charismatic creatures, pretentious portents and enchanting entities.

I did not see her at first, this exotic mermaid reclining atop a vintage chaise longue. When I did she emerged fully formed in my mind the way a leafy seadragon emerges from its camouflage of weed and algae.

To my surprise I found her engrossed in a story written more than 200 year ago about a Swiss family bound for Australia only to be marooned on an uninhabited tropical island.

Do mermaids read Wyss? Well this exotic beauty seems as engrossed in the story of us as was Disney’s Little Mermaid with her Prince Eric. I hope she finds happiness in this curious and whimsical place.


#Mermaid #clubcurious #adlfringe #fringe2023 #gluttony #swissfamilyrobinson #JohannDavidWyss

I’ve been privileged this Adelaide Fringe season 2023 to be part of this wonderful group of performers and their show ‘Celtic Sounds: Reimaginings’.

Their talent, commitment and hard work leading up to these shows has been inspiring to witness and rewarding to be involved.

If you are a local and have not yet seen this show then please consider supporting us and coming along so see while you have a chance.

I promise, the music will continue in your head long after the show is over.


#Adelaide #fringe #fringe2023 #celticsounds #gluttony #ireland #dance #irishdance #celtic #performingarts #singing

One of southern Australia's most exotic fishes is the South Blue Devil. Even though they are quite common on along the greater Adelaide coastline I still experience great delight when ever I come across one on a dive.

Firstly let me say they are the grumpiest looking fish I know! Juxtaposed with that scowling face is the most amazing iridescent blue and flowing body. Combined it creates a uniqueness uncommon in fishes of South Australia.

Grumpy, gorgeous, exotic and local. I am happy to dive with these guys any time.


#bluedevil #southernbluedevil #paraplesiopsmeleagris #thebarge #night #scuba #diving #underwaterphotography #portrait #glenelg #southaustralia #fish

I grew up to the music of ‘The Police’ and later loved Sting’s solo work. In all the intervening years I’d never seen a live performance of either. This week I was stung at last and finally got to see Gordon Sumner, AKA ‘Sting’, live here in the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Wow! Despite being 70 years old Sting sang with the power and tone of a self half his age. For nearly 2 hours he rocked us with his 1957 Fender Precision bass guitar, wowed us with his musicianship and gave his all to make it a special night for us all.


#Sting #performingarts #adelaide #entertainmentcentre #concert #livemusic #music

Recently I took a little detour on my way home from the ‘day job’. There are a few places I like to go at Outer Harbor giving access to some beautiful seascapes and at times breathtaking bird life.

On this moody evening the wildlife had made itself scarce, probably moving east to the protection of Torrens Island under the threat of a coming storm. There was drama unfolding in the western sky and that’s where I was drawn.

The sun remains hidden behind the brooding clouds, but there is a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in.


#Ocean #seascape #sunrays #storm #clouds #aerial #outerharbor #blackandwhite #sunset #leonardcohen

Fiery sheets of rain fall in the western horizon but none of it reaches the water below while the ocean is calm even as storm clouds loom overhead.

I loved the incongruity of this scene tonight as people played and swam in the warm shallows while small boats lingered out at sea.

What a beautiful night to be out.


#Grange #beach #ocean #sunset #goldenhour #twilight #southaustralia #rain #storm #clouds

Eleven years ago today I originally shared this image, titled ‘The End of Time’.

Back then I did not write or share the story behind the image. I could not. Today I will tell its story.

Growing up this was our family clock which stood proud on the kitchen mantelpiece, struck its gong once on the half hour and rang the full count of hours on the hour. Once a week my dad would wind both springs and adjust the time. I do not recall it ever stopping in his healthy years.

The sound of that clock’s chime is one of my fondest memories of home.

In dad’s last bed ridden days we would visit regularly and I often found the clock had stopped. This both saddened me and made me angry. I would always leave with the clock wound, the time set right, and give an admonished plea to someone to please keep it running.

On this evening, eleven years ago and a day, I captured this image of our family clock as an idea about how little time we had left with dad and that it would soon be over.

He died peacefully the next day, eleven years ago today.

I miss you dad.


#dad #clocks #death #time #mechanicalclocks #memory

There was something lovely about today. The people I work and play with seemed happier and the day had a beautiful lightness about it.

Add to that a gorgeous balmy evening with my girl and nothing could have been lovelier.


#Red #rose #abstract #love #beauty

Watch a Common Gurnard Perch (Neosebastes scorpaenoides) for a while and at some stage it will sneeze a shower of debris. Watch it even longer and you just might see some poor critter vanish in a cloud of debris. The source of the sneeze now obvious.

Gesundheit!


#CommonGurnardPerch #Neosebastesscorpaenoides #gurnard #perch #fish #thebarge #night #scuba #diving #nightdive #southaustralia #glenelg #underwater #photography

This Mosaic Leatherjacket, (Eubalichthys mosaicus) on my ‘Barge’ night dive was another unwitting sleep swimming subject as torches and strobes brought light to the darkness.

The strange thing about lighting up the night time sea floor it that is seems to have minimal impact on the nocturnal state of its inhabitants. Daytime fishes keep on sleeping. Nighttime critters keep on foraging. It’s pretty much business as usual.

Still I can’t help wince that my strobes firing at point blank range don’t trigger some distress. Hopefully nothing that therapy cant
help with when me and my lights have gone.


#MosaicLeatherjacket #Eubalichthysmosaicus #leatherjacket #triggerfish #fish #thebarge #night #scuba #diving #nightdive #southaustralia #glenelg #underwater #photography

Nestled in a clump of rocky reef at 20m this Brownspotted Wrasse (Notolabrus parilus) is doing what all good wrasse do at eleven o’clock, sleeping.

Sleeping fish are an amusing part of night diving. They do not lay there with eyes closed but seem to be in some vacant trace staring out into the ocean. Some nestle under ledges or wedge themselves in crevices. Others lay flat against some vertical surface propped up by the sea floor or other structure. Inside of wrecks where there is no current some fish just simply hang in mid water; asleep.

You can come right up to them, fire strobes, pull faces and they will not budge. However just one touch and they instantly react, usually swimming strait into something else before they have regains their full faculties.

It was an amazing night out on the ocean last night. The sea was millpond calm, the stars were bright and the late rising moon just stunning over the water. The dive on ‘The Barge’ out from Glenelg was worth the late night effort.

At least some got some sleep last night but not me.


#BrownspottedWrasse #Notolabrusparilus #wrasse #fish #thebarge #night #scuba #diving #nightdive #southaustralia #glenelg #underwater #photography

If you have a taste in music that extends even a little beyond mainstream popular music and you have never heard of Jacob Collier then I suggest you explore his work and see where it takes you.

If you are a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for musical theory I might just continue this conversation to include words like ‘rocks’ and other ‘planets’.

Regardless, fire up YouTube or your favourite media platform and spend some time with Jacob and you might never listen to music in the same way ever again.


#2022 #adelaide #concert #djesse #Jacobcollier #jazz #musician #performingarts #thebartontheatre #harmony #jacob #collier #music #performer #prodigy

Every body seems to make a fuss when ever we experience a ‘Super Moon’, that full moon in which the perigee of its elliptic orbit brings it closest to the Earth and hence larger in the sky.

Nobody pays any attention when the moon is at its apogee, when it’s 15% smaller, colder, lonely and waiting to come near to the earth again!

Stop me anthropomorphising now! The moon’s temperature does not change and the rest is just nonsense. Still nobody ever says, ‘Wow! There’s a ‘Micro Moon’ moon tonight!’.

So, … meet Mini Moon! Last night’s tiniest moon of the year.


#Moon #astrophotography #celestial #luna #fullmoon #micromoon

Over the last few months something quite extraordinary has crept into our kitchen.

At first it began as a single green tendril feeling its way skyward from its broad leafy hideaway.
It soon bifurcated into two, then four, then eight before tiny little buds began to form on the viney green structure. The buds grew and then swelled into purple egg-like forms before finally bursting into wings and taking flight.

Our kitchen is now graced with six of these beautiful alien angels perched on their broad leafy home.

I now get why people love growing orchids.


#Orchid #macro #abstract #bird #alien

When I was around 10 years old and on holidays my dad took us fishing the incoming tide of Port Parham. Our daily ritual involved hunting for bait at low tide, digging for worms, muscles and cockles.

Cockle were always our prize and were the bait of choice needed to target the whiting that would hopefully grace the evening’s table.

Funny how I never thought of cockles as food for people until so much later in my life. I was in my mid twenties when I first noticed cockles on a menu and have never looked back.

So glad I’ve added cockles to my idea of C food.


#Pipi #cockle #shellfish #seafood #food #markets

A few weeks back while exploring the Victorian Pyrenees we stumbled upon what is probably one of Country Victoria’s best kept secrets.

Looking for a bit of lunch we found ourselves in the sleepy town of Avoca. A bakery was our wish and boy did we find a bakery we will never forget. We knew we were somewhere special when we walked in the door and started reading the pies on offer.

Crocodile in Malaysian satay, camel in honey soy, venison in black bean, Moroccan kangaroo, barbecue emu, buffalo in napolitana, seafood marinara, scallop in lemon and salmon with lemon and potato were just the start!

I settled for the kangaroo, Jennifer went for the cauliflower cheese and both of us agreed these were some of the most amazing pies we have ever had. Clearly we were not alone in our culinary admiration as half the town flocked in behind us for their lunchtime break.

We have to come back to try the rest. And soon!


#Pies #bakery #pyrenees #avoca #pyreneespies #goldfields #victoria #country

You were a mentor, a role model, a peer and a friend.

During the years we have known each other you taught me so much about this craft we love.
You encouraged my critical eye, you never tolerated mediocrity, and you always spoke your mind.

A week ago you said goodbye for the last time.

Thank you for everything, we all will miss you dearly.


#blackandwhite #silhouette #twilight #sunset #monochrome

I love night photography, its challenges and the reward of capturing the feel of urban lighting.

With the iconic Glenelg Town Hall clock tower, beachfront Friday nightlife and the ferris wheel in full motion the scene was set for a great photo opportunity. Set up the tripod, plan a set of HDR exposures and capture some images. What could be easier?

Last night was an extraordinary night with the temperature around 30 degrees all night so I suggested to the family we head out for an evening on the water and maybe I’d bring my camera along just in case.

Here a half a kilometre off Glenelg beach rocking about in a little boat there was no stable platform for a tripod and no opportunity for a set of HDR exposures but the view was so lovely I needed to at least try. This single hand held (in a rocking boat) shot at 1/80s was the best I could do.

Regardless it was a fun evening with my family so a bit of photography was simply a bonus.


#Glenelg #ferriswheel #nightlife #night #nightphotography #boating #beach #southaustralia

It’s late and the choppy seas are just a lingering tell of the heady afternoon sea breeze now gone.

No point in having sail up anymore, it will just slow us down.

It’s motoring from here, and another diesel homecoming.


#Yacht #boats #marinorocks #sunset #twilight #ocean #aerial

Friday’s commute home was a real treat with an unplanned exploration of the Port River and the little spit of land adjacent to Section Bank.

I don’t know what this little island is called but there is always some waterfowl action going on here. On this occasion I discovered this social gathering. With no sign of nesting here I guess it’s a full on pelican party!

Yet another untouched wild place on my doorstep.

#Pelicans #beach #aerial #sectionbank #portriver #outerharbour

The problem with capturing birds in flight is that; well they’re in flight! Unless of course they can hover under joystick control. Jokes aside it took me a while before I was convinced that this bird was worth capturing.

It will never compete with a full size DSLR hanging under a five figure professional drone, nevertheless it does an incredible job for what it is. Even that gimmicky telephoto second camera has made possible some shots I’d not have been able to capture any other way.

Drone photography creates opportunities for unique vantages and perspectives. Often it’s not even about height, but attaining an otherwise impossible vantage point.

Obviously it will never compete with a DSLR for image quality but might just be the most fun camera I will ever use!


#drone #mavic3 #dji #bokeh #dof #flight #wildlife #portrait

It might look like the Gotham City fictional superhero’s ride but rest assured this stealthy piece of French hardware would have the batmobile for dinner and spit out the bones.

The Ligier JS P320 is a Le Mans Prototype class (LM) racing car that – believe it or not – is pitched at ‘entry level’ drivers! Clearly we are not talking graduates from the local driving instructor. Anyone even thinking about getting into the cockpit of this bombshell is already in a completely different league to the average road car driver.

Despite having only 460 brake horsepower from a Nissan 5.6 litre V8, there are people on my street who claim to have more grunt under their own bonnets, it’s how you use those horses that counts.

I’d rather this French beauty than the local street muscle any day but sadly there’s no chance for a ride here as it’s a single seater.

For now I’m just happy to watch!


#Ligier #lmp3 #motorsports #thebend #cars #Onroak
#Batmobile #nissan #jsp320

I’m not referring to the baby shark in the foreground. That’s a Port Jackson Shark of course and there are plenty of them around at the moment. Recent reports from divers at Port Noarlunga often cite up to 10 of these beautiful creatures either resting on the sand or nestled under ledges of the reef.

Lurking in the background, a silhouette of diver holds something that almost looks like a speargun. No need to be concerned for the fish or the sharks. That’s a Minelab Manticore metal detector.


#Scuba #diving #metaldetector #minelab #manticore #portnoarlunga #detectoring #portjackson #shark #silhouette

A few weeks ago I was asked to do some waterproof testing on a new product about to be released, Minelab’s new coin and relic metal detector called Manticore.

The brief was simple, stay down at depth for an ‘extended’ amount of time and work the detector hard. Twist it, flex it, shove it hard into the sand and generally use it with the enthusiasm of a ‘detectorist’. So a grabbed my work colleague Saxon and we took Manticore on a treasure hunting dive adventure.

Many beach goers will be familiar with detectorists as they comb the sand searching for coins, rings, watches and other jewellery that may have become estranged from their owners. Often you will see them in the beach surf where it’s almost a lost cause trying to find anything you may have lost.

Manticore is a detector that can leave the surf behind and go scuba diving giving access to sites of a more archaeological significance such wrecks and long abandoned marine structures. In other parts of the world rivers and lakes hide relics of old civil and national conflict. Even though South Australia is not known for historic conflict or pirates with treasure, any detecorist will tell you, ‘you never now what you might find’.

Though Manticore performed flawlessly we didn’t find any buried treasure, just lost fishing tackle, but we’ll be back and next time it will be for the gold!


#Scuba #diving #metaldetector #minelab #manticore #portnoarlunga #treasure #coin #relic #detectoring