WWE Smackdown

With interest rates taking a sharp turn north, chat amongst the mortgage belt set regarding buying at the bottom of the j curve, accrued equity and other inanities have been kept to an all time low. At just the right time, a new deity has crept into town and its constituents came out in force in a mass show of faith.

Of course, I am talking about the WWE Smackdown which was held at the Acer Arena on Sunday, June 15. You may almost have believed you had been transported to old testament times - with scenes depicting the idol worship practised by King Solomon(1 King 11:5-8) - such was the reverence which 30,000 of Greater Sydney’s finest proudly displayed for current deities with the unlikely names of Batista, The Great Khali, The Edge and MVP.

The regular methods for religious observance were adhered to, ie: constant chanting of the name of their god or chants denouncing their specific devil; gold replica belts representing the glory of ‘God’; a very specific uniform pledging allegiance; and an uncanny ability to mimic the actions of their leader.

Amazingly, all such actions were played out in perfect synchronicity, thus showing that the finely tuned choreography was not just confined to the action within the ring.

All in all, I was witness to about ten ‘bouts’or performances. I confess I have no idea who won any of them, even the feature bout between Batista and The Edge ( I did leave half way through this bout in an effort to beat the crowd and get out of the car park without too much fuss). For me it mattered not - the most fascinating action was outside the ring and for a keen observer of human nature - this was worth the price of admission alone.

Post by Don Arnold

Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

Wet, grumpy and bleary eyed at having to drive through peak hour traffic in pouring rain to make the appointed 8am media call at the Southee Complex, Olympic Park in Homebush, my disposition was not improved when I was subjected to a mandatory pat down by a police officer with a sniffer dog by his side.- this was a scene that would be repeated in a few days when I would be trying to gain entrance to a long weekend dance party, I thought to myself. The difference, however, was that such measures were put in place to protect his Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama who was speaking to the assembled media on one of his favourite topics-the principles of meditation.

Despite the weather and traffic conspiring against me, I had fulfilled my end of the bargain: I had managed to get to the venue on time. Where was the bloody Dali Lama? Another 20 minutes had elapsed - and still no sign of him!

It was at this point that the representative from a PR firm announced to the media pack: “His Holiness is on his way and won’t be too long,” prompting a colleague to turn to me and ask, “Are you hoping to gain enlightenment from today Don?”

I replied off-handedly that I had experienced all the enlightenment I would ever need when I finalised my divorce twelve months ago. Whilst my glib, off-hand remarks got a bit of a giggle from colleagues (mostly male) in my immediate vicinity, it did get me thinking: Am I really this cynical? My immediate answer was a resounding yes, but I forced myself into a more rigorous internal debate.

Having some Buddhist friends, I am well versed in the rhetoric of his Holiness; indeed, I agree wholeheartedly with many of his ramblings, particularly those centred around the search for truth and compassion, the need for more religious tolerance, the virtues of motherhood and his calls for Tibetan autonomy - issues he touched on whilst standing two metres right in front of me.

My cynicism, moreover, did not involve what he was saying; the issue was rather whether I - your typical inner city living, vain, pretentious, materialistic guy of 35 years - could take something from these teachings and become a better person. Of course not, and I severely doubt whether anybody else in the room could either. Sure, he made us all feel good - in the same way those freaks that lob to Anthony Robbins type seminars hold hands, tell each other they can feel the energy, and thus buy ‘temporary enlightenment’ - are able to feel good.

However, the heart of the Dalai’s mantra revolves around putting away our materialistic instincts, in adopting a ‘being’ mode as apposed to ‘having’ mode. Indeed, he is not the only person who proposed such a theory: Erich Fromm, in his well regarded critique on modern man ‘To Have or to Be’ spruiks a very similar mantra.

The irony with all these guys - Erich, Dalai Lama et al saying similar stuff – is that they are all well regarded, revered and honoured as wise and great men. But society as a whole chooses to merely put them on a pedestal, rather than live their lives according to what they preach, or take from them those values that just legitimize their pre-existing lifestyle. Such is the human condition!

For my part, I was just happy that his holiness is well rehearsed in the art of holding a pose - something that many of Sydney’s current A-List could learn something from.

Post by Don 13th of June 2008

The new Canon 1Ds Mark III

In true camera nerd style, I thought I would jot down my first impressions of our new Canon.

It was with great anticipation that our new Canon 1ds finally arrived this week. After working with the 1ds mark II (a fantastic camera), we were eager to see just what the upgrade to Canon's flagship could bring.

The main and obvious advantage for this camera was the 

upgrade from the 16.7mp sensor to a whopping 

22mp, which in layman's terms 

means you can blow stuff up really, really big. 

The camera feels a little different in your hand, but still maintains that familiar well balanced 1Ds feel that one becomes accustomed to after shooting with 1's for some time. Now a little lighter with the addition of the Lithium Ion battery, nice to see canon finally doing away with the older battery technology. The button layout has changed around a bit with the new 3" screen squishing the buttons off left hand side, but to be honest it actually seems more logical and better laid out then the original. 

I took the new camera out for a test run while I was visiting canberra this weekend, using our new 85mm 1.2L lens I snapped a couple of my kids in the freezing winter fun by the shores of lake Burly Griffin.

The Camera is remarkable, with the the noise (grain) at high iso very low, and colour representation (even in auto) superb. These pictures shown,  are straight out of the camera with no processing. Although it's not the fastest camera that Canon make, the 1D mark III holds that title, I had no problems capturing my fast and erratically moving children. This camera is best suited to studio work.

The only down side (if you can call it that) is that I am going to have to invest in a bigger hard drive with a raw file being anywhere between 22 and 30 MB per picture!

BATISTA

My sardonic smile barely registered on my upturned lips, yet was written all over my pale blue eyes.
“Here we go again” I said to myself, as Jeff Fenech and his colourful entourage entered the hotel lobby.
Before we go on, it need be said, that Jeff was an outright champion in a very tough sport, but I have always struggled for conversation when our paths have crossed. On top of this, I was given a very small window to shoot Dave Batista , and time was at a premium.

For the uninitiated, Dave Batista, or simply Batista as he is known to his legion of mostly American fans, is a WWF Wrestler ( I do not know what WWF stands for I confess-World Wrestling Federation I suppose), and he is at the top of this very lucrative game. Long gone are the likes of Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan – Batista is the current king, and everyone wants a piece of him. Hence, my limited time with this huge and popular figure.

Jeff and Batista posed for a few pics together, and then became engrossed in a lengthy discussion on the current Rudd governments use of fiscal policy (just joking) - I was out of earshot and more concerned with the fast disappearing cumuli nimbus clouds – when I intonated that we should make use of this ‘beautiful light’, Jeff turned around and gave me a blank nod, one that suggested beautiful light was of no concern to him.

When the exchange of formalities had finished between these two, I was able to take Batista to a grassed area on top of the Park Hyatt- where a 360 degree sweep would include the opera house, the Sydney cbd and the Harbour bridge. Batista is an enormous man, a very impressive physical specimen-6 foot 5 and 130 kgs of sinewy, hugely striated muscle. Secretly, my initial plans to challenge him in an arm wrestle were blown out the window. If pecs are your thing, and I really hope they are, Batista is a god. In fact, his pectoralis major makes Anna Nicole Smith look like a skinny twelve year old. An easy going and compliant figure in person, Batista initially acquiesced to my demands to take of his singlet off, but was stopped from doing so by his minder. A shame, but the shoot went on and his perfectly sculptured body was appropriately captured against a myriad of iconic Sydney landmarks. I hope you like the photos and we will re-visit this blog as we cover the WWF bout featuring Batista at Acer Arena in Sydney on June 15.

Post by Don Arnold

Leo Sayer's 60th

A short curly haired dude celebrated his 6oth birthday and Smartset was on hand to capture all the fun as official photographers. And when that dude is Leo Sayer, fun is the operative word, as is sexy, sophisticated, stylish and sassy. Long time friends Jono Coleman, Barry Crocker , Jack Thompson and Ross Wilson mingled with sexy twenty and thirty somethings at Justin Hemmes new baby The Ivy in George Street Sydney on May 26 in a bash that would have satisfied the most bleary eyed 70’s rockers.

Posh Belgian beers, fancy champagne and an array of canapés were dished up in abundance, but the most delicious course was definitely the amazing array of sexy outfits worn by the female guests displaying plenty of square inches of thoroughly tanned flesh- admittedly, not surprising when well known Sydney celebs Bessie Bardot, Michelle Walsh and Kelly Smythe are amongst the well wishers. Of course, seasoned party goers such as Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Paula Duncan also displayed their usual sartorial elegance- as well as a level of stamina that many half their age would be envious of.

The star of the show, however, was Leo- his lust for life, generosity of spirit and boundless energy is not a secret, but one could not resist a smirk of admiration as he was able to work the room from beginning to end, his ebulliance at being able to catch up with old friends was matched only by his generosity when meeting obvious star seeking blow ins he had never met. Even my constant demands for poncy set up shots were met by a warm smile and ‘sure no problem’.

Other highlights of the night included a touching speech by Jono Coleman, which recounted their times together in London, and Leo’s lamentable efforts when blowing out the candles on his elaborately decorated birthday cake- the end result being the cake ending up splat on the floor. Of course, Leo took it all in his stride.

Check out the full gallery of photos here

Post written by Don Arnold