Washing Machine and Kinect

Alison got a bit of a fright last week when she heard a loud pop accompanied by a blue spark from the washing machine when she started a load. While the power light seemed to indicate that the machine was still somewhat functional, we couldn't get the old thing to actually start filling or spinning. Assuming that this came about due to a combination of age and the unnaturally humid weather, we decided it was best to just get a replacement. The front loader was progressively taking longer to finish cycles and would have been too small to accommodate our growing family anyway.

Expecting a rush of people looking to replace their white goods from the recent flood damage, Alison and I braved the traffic out to Indooroopilly in search of a decent deal on a washing machine. The Good Guys provided just that deal with a 7.5KG Whirlpool top loader for what seemed like a ridiculous price, supposedly over three hundred dollars under RRP and potentially even a little under cost to move stock. The salesman at Harvey Norman that we asked to price match thought so too, but did it anyway in the spirit of competition, so one week later we now have a much bigger beast to handle our laundry.



Being a top loader this of course will use a lot more water than our previous model, but at least we can open the lid whenever we miss a sock now. Amazingly this also finishes a cycle in about 15 minutes which is at least twice as fast as we're used to. Fantastic stuff.

Inspired to continue cleaning out more old bit lying around, I gathered an impressive pile of Gamecube, 360 and PS2/3 games that I had hidden away in back cupboards. Obviously these weren't going to be getting any use from me, heck I don't even know if I still have a Gamecube lying around or if I'd sold it off, so it was time to cart them all to Game Traders for an appraisal. The tally came up to $175 of in store credit, which was conveniently close to another purchase that I'd been considering for a while.



I followed the articles on Project Natal pretty closely before they launched the Kinect and thought it was full of promise. As the release date grew closer however I got a little skeptical about the available titles and decided that I would pass until something compelling came along. Santa must have picked up quite a few units over Christmas as most people at work got a Kinect with a few games and were surprisingly very happy with it. I have no doubt this is nothing more than the second round of the "Wii effect" but with just $15 to make up the difference I too have joined the millions of people forced to rearrange their living room to play this thing.

Working with the sensor is pretty fun and technically I'm reminded of the novelty of the Playstation EyeToy with the polish of the Wii remote. Unlike the EyeToy, the Kinect does a much better job of detecting your movements and the user experience is far more integrated into the Xbox menu system. There is still a noticeable lag when moving the cursor but with practice you soon learn how to move around the screen relative to your body. The facial recognition is particularly impressive and it's refreshing for Alison and I to be able to jump in and out of games without worrying about signing in or swapping controllers. As the marketing catch phrase goes, "You are the controller".

Only expecting an afternoon of entertainment from this we refrained from buying more games aside from Kinect Adventures, which comes free with the sensor. The mini games are pretty fun but I don't think it's going to have a lot of replayability. Great for parties and showing off technology to others but there's not a lot of substance there. One thing it does well to draw you in is automatically saving photos while you're busy making a fool of yourself. An ingenious addition as seeing your friends in stupid poses is a cheap but effective means of endearment.



The disc also came with a few demo titles, including one that has been getting a lot of positive attention in the reviews called Dance Central. It's a rhythm dance game made by Harmonix which already had something going for it in my books, but the execution is a clear indicator that serious, quality games can be made for the Kinect. Unlike any prior dance game, this one actually has you dancing real moves and assesses you on your accuracy. No more stomping feet a la DDR or semaphore mimicry from Para Para Paradise. The Kinect sensor is sensitive enough to identify the most subtle limb movements and with over 600 separate dance moves from shoulder popping to leg grabbing in the game. This is dance simulation with real credibility. Granted, you are limited to a space of around 1.5 metres to pop'n'lock but it's enough. I enjoy getting out on the dance floor whenever I get the chance (not that I consider myself any good mind you) and from what I can see this is a real winner. Will likely even learn a few usable moves for the next party we go to.

The Big Wet

Queensland has made international news this week, though the cause has unfortunately been far from desirable. Our beloved state has been struck with a catastrophic flood on a magnitude that we have not seen since the disaster of 1974, with an affected area larger than the size of Germany and France combined, hitting cities with families and friends all the way through. We have been incredibly fortunate and were spared the heart ache of losing our homes as countless people have, or having anyone we know for that matter overly affected by the flood waters. Alison's grandparents in Toowoomba had a few feet of water in the bottom floor of their house but beyond that we have fared remarkably well and are extremely grateful for that.

Through the week we received a huge number of phone calls, emails and messages from friends and family around the world concerned for our safety. We're touched by the good wishes that you've all sent our way and would like to restate that Alison, the baby and I are perfectly well, as is the house. Minor inconvenience was all we suffered through this week so everyone can stop worrying about us now.

Monday already had Alison and I in shock as we watched the footage of the flash floods that struck Toowoomba and would continue to rush through the Lockyer valley on the way to Brisbane. The already saturated ground could no longer hold any more water and 200mm of rain that fell in an hour started a deluge that ripped through the main streets of Alison's home town. This video on YouTube gives an idea of how quickly conditions changed providing little chance for anyone to do anything to prepare.



Brisbane thankfully had a little more warning and we were advised that the river would start to swell on Tuesday morning. Alison and I were at work and debated the merits of getting home before roads would get cut off by the rising water. By 1pm we decided to chance the rain and wet roads, joining a mass exodus from the CBD of people that were trying to get home to prepare by moving valuables to higher ground or sandbagging their properties in hope of keeping the water at bay. Even though we probably would have been able to wind through back streets to get home later in the day, I'm still glad that we left early while the main roads were still open. They didn't remain that way for long come Wednesday morning.



Wednesday was largely disaster prep for us to last until the waters would subside. Even though we live in one of the high risk suburbs, at no point did we fear for our house as our street is on a pretty high hill. If waters were lapping at our doorstep then most of Brisbane would be completely submerged. Instead we focussed on getting essentials before general panic set in, stocking up on bread, canned goods, fuel and other bits and pieces early in the morning. By 9AM the power was cut in Oxley to minimise any risk to flooded houses which meant that any work I expected to accomplish from home went out the window. We had a brief reprieve at noon which allowed us to heat up our lunch to eat before the power failed yet again an hour later. Now we were worried about the food in our fridge, fully expecting the power to remain off until the waters were due to subside in three days time. By this point all gas canisters, bottled water and packed ice was sold out at the few remaining stores that were still open, so it would have been pretty tight for us to last without resorting to an unhealthy portion of canned goods and packet biscuits. After transferring the majority of our perishables to a friend's place that did have electricity and charging up our emergency flash lights we retired to bed wishing luck to the poor people down the road that have been slaving away to save their possessions for the past 48 hours. Imagine our relief when the power came back on at 11PM.

Water from the flash flood and tides were expected to peak at 4AM on Thursday. Since I could barely sleep I turned on the TV to get an update on the news. Through a mammoth effort by the hydrologists controlling our flood gates at Wivenhoe dam and a blessed day with less rain than forecast on Wednesday, the peak was lower than the 5.45M above the river originally expected and only came up to 4.45M at its highest. Damage to the city was severe and we even lost a portion of the floating walk way in New Farm which could have caused even more chaos were it not for a little tug boat that saved the day.

Walking down the street the next morning it didn't seem like the impact was any less severe, certainly not for houses that have been well under the water for over two days. Household items, food and waste now polluted the body of water that stretched up our main roads from the train station. Already we could detect a scent of the stench that would grow to permeate the area once the waters retreated, leaving behind mud, rubbish and sewage through homes and neighbourhood streets.



Trekking further afield we drove out to see how some of our highways had fared and the result was shocking. The off ramp from Jindalee to the Centenary Highway had become a vast river, adorned with road signs and street lights. We were now truly cut off from getting out by road and the trains were no longer running into the city except to transport emergency personnel. Once again the general advice was to stay home which we did.



Buildings in the CBD were also losing power so my machine at work was turned off, again eliminating any productivity for the day. Thankfully our projects can be delayed a few days, for other people in the company they had to continue to work and service Flight Centre stores across Australia and internationally that were not affected by the flood and would still need to continue operations, perhaps more than ever to accommodate the logistical nightmare of getting emergency workers interstate as necessary. We actually had new centres set up in our disaster recovery sites and staff flown to Sydney to keep working. Pretty intense and inspiring.

By Friday limited services were running again without charge so Alison and I managed to get a train into work. Aside from the water cooler talk about the obvious subject on our minds and occasional exchange of photos, the day went by with a surreal air of normality. The train ride to and from the city highlighted how many areas were still inundated and the extent of the damage where water had receded. The shops suffered blackouts were stark and even those that retained power were bare of essentials that were snapped up in the initial rush.



This whole experience has been a stressful affair and in the end we were the lucky ones compared to a lot of people. Friday afternoon marked the start of the long clean up ahead, with mountains of ruined furniture and items piled on the sidewalk in front of dirt encrusted houses. By now the pong was discernibly present even from our house close a kilometer from the water line. While we did not participate in the clean up effort, over 7000 volunteers showed up to lend a helping hand to affected homes. The recovery and repairs for houses, roads and businesses will likely take months but the effect of this event will scar Brisbane and Queensland for many years.

Birthdays, Food and a Chair

Something tells me that 2011 is going to be a pretty interesting year in the Chua household. We were sitting around the table on New Year's Day enumerating all the great things that we have to look forward to and took great pleasure in discovering that our activity calendar has something of note for each month all the way through, with a keenly awaited arrival coming in April. By which I mean the rumoured successor to the iPad of course... with a nod to the birth of our first child. Seems fitting then that we start a year that heralds new birthdays to remember with an old birthday that has been celebrated for the past 29 years.

Alsie suggested that I didn't have to buy her a present as we had pre-booked tickets to see Wicked next week. Being a smart and loving husband I refused to succumb to this gambit and searched for something suitable for my darling wife. Jewellery and books were out of the question this year so I opted for an activity instead, one that would suitably calm my daughter's present domicile and perhaps even enhance our own. Satisfied that I found the ideal gift, I purchased two beginner's classes for us to learn the soothing meditative art of Bonsai.



The beginner's course will take us through a day of preparing our own tree to take home and keep for many years of attendance and appreciation. Unfortunately they don't run them in the month of January due to the weather, which is too hot to allow for the root pruning required when working on a new plant. Thus the two of us are booked in for a Saturday in February so we wait with eager anticipation.

A birthday would not be proper without some immediate celebration however, so it was fortunate that we had plans to have dinner at Aria that night with friends. Admittedly the function was organised as a send off for Nat, who will be starting officer training in Duntroon shortly, but I was happy to claim the occasion for Alison's benefit. The degustation menu certainly seemed promising enough when we sat down and the view of the Brisbane river by night was inspiring.



While the staff and venue were extraordinary I must confess that the quality of the food, while admittedly very good, wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be given the reputation of the place. My favourites were the Iberico ham (which I've been looking to try for some time) and the seared tuna to start. I would have rated the scallops with that divine nero sauce above everything else if the scallops weren't a fraction overcooked. Lacking anything else to soak up that beautiful squid ink reduction I resorted to swiping the plate clean with my finger, not my finest moment but thoroughly satisfying.



The consomme which was supposed to be the signature dish was underwhelming, with far too many salty notes and very little balance. Alison didn't even finish her plate which was completely out of character for either of us. Beef fillet was the other dish that was served with an accompaniment of lavish promises of gastronomic delight from the waiter also failed to deliver to my palate. Medium rare and tasty meat but sadly a far cry from any claims of melting like butter. Alison, who was offered an alternative to rare beef on account of her condition, trumped the table in my book with a very nicely cooked piece of cod. Even with a few disappointments we had a wonderful night with great company and conversation.

John and Sheena stayed down in Brisbane with us over the weekend to see some friends and watch the tennis, so we all went out for breakfast on Saturday to continue Alison's birthday festivities. I uncovered online what I hoped would be a charming cafe in Teneriffe called the London Club. As with most restaurants and apartments in the area, the place was built into a renovated wool store with high windows, period design and a healthy serving of charm. By coincidence, John also realised that the building that housed the London Club was also the same building that his father Jim worked in as a wool valuer years ago. Touching bit of history that we reflected on while waiting to be served. Luckily they also happen to serve a fantastic spread for breakfast and I devoured my corn pancake and haloumi stack in record time.



Before returning home, the four of us stopped by a fabric shop to browse their catalogue in search of a pattern for Alison's nursing chair. While we had identified a comfortable chair in the furniture shop, our choice of fabric there was somewhat limited so we scoured the racks at Warwick hoping to find a textile that communicated that elusive blend of playfulness for the kids and bold funk should we require a future focus piece in the living room. It's hard to visualise until it's upholstered, but I think we found something that just might do. The chair has been ordered and should be delivered in the next few months.



With just four months left on the clock we are now starting to prepare the nursery in earnest. A short trip to Ikea today had us returning with more drawers for impending baby goods so we expect that assembling this and rearranging the back room will be a job for an upcoming weekend. Photos will of course follow once the nursery has been adorned with an appropriate level of "sugar and spice and everything nice" sentiment.