INQ Mini... Cont'd

So, you guys know how much I love my music.. Well, I've borked my iPod charger (And she who must be obeyed has flogged my other!) and as such am currently without music on the way into work.

As you ALSO know if you follow me on Twitter, I've picked up one of the cute little INQ Mini 3G social mobiles! Well, I thought, I know, I'll get me a bit of extra memory, whack a few tunes on it and listen away - BUT OF COURSE, I've forgotten my headphones (The ones that come with the device) and I can't use any others... You know why? Because the headphones that come with the INQ Mini have a Mini USB connector.... I understand why INQ took that decision, but seriously... The good will generated by fitting in a 3.5mm stereo jack... VAST! What about incorporation a 3.5mm stereo jack within the USB plug? Or Vice Versa.. Odd, I know...Hey - I could be onto something there!

Anyway, I went searching for alternatives... and it turns out that there are many!

So, we have The T-Mobile Version Then there's Duragadget's Offering or Duragadget's Gold Plated Offering and last, but not least... and the Proporta version.

So yes, many options to turn USB into 3.5mm but not HERE on my desk!

Do you have a device with a non standard audio plug on it? How does that make you feel?

Artist Showcase : Carrie Haber

I've seen this amazing woman perform many times, each time I'm blown away by her sheer power, her beautiful smile and her sparkly nature. This is Carrie's recently released video, "Me Oh My"

You can find more about Carrie on her MySpace and download more of her music HERE

Artist Profile : James Hetfield | Metallica

James Alan Hetfield, born August 3, 1963 in Downey, LA County to a trucker father, Virgil,  and an opera singing mother, Cynthia - His parent strong "Christian Science" believers brought James up in the same way, being strong believers in their faith, one that abhorred the use of conventional medicine, saw James' mother die of Cancer. James was nine when he began learning the piano and fourteen when he finally picked up a guitar, but only after he had started having a crack at playing his brother's drums. Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child, and has said that they were the reason why he wanted to play guitar. Other bands such as Motörhead, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Diamond Head, Johnny Cash, Kiss, Rush, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Queen, Waylon Jennings, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Blue Öyster Cult, Venom, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy also had a major influence on his musical tastes.

I was looking through some images from a recent festival shoot and came across this shot of James, which is what made me have a bit of a read about him. I've been a Metallica fan admittedly only since the Black Album, but then since that have become a fan of pretty much everything they've done. I was 17 when I first heard Metallica, I purchased it as my first cassette on the train trip from Coffs Harbour down to Melbourne when I "left the nest" I shelled out for it and a purple Sony Walkman with the last $80 dollars that I had spare - the train trip from Sydney to Melbourne was amazing.. Me, Metallica my dads old guitar and a bag of clothes... I was living!

I think my fave Metallica album would have to be Ride the Lightning

Now I'm sleeping! Night!

Sime

Blog Action Day | Black&White

Blog Action Day in Black & White I was sitting thinking "How does Blog Action Day" translate into my world... Sure, I could go down the turn your PC off route, but no, not today... I was thinking of what it means in relation to me, and how climate change, global warming and etc are related to power consumption and the way we use the planet. What does that all have to do with me as a concert photographer? What is the first thing you think of when you go to a big concert (no, after the music.. no, not the hot dogs outside... no, not the cute security guards...) that's right, well done, the lights... the seven MILLION watt lights that are trying to set the band on fire (Unless you're shooting / visiting Scala in London where the lights would be bettered if a candle were lit and placed in the middle of the stage!!) and the transport, yep.. and what about the fans and their transport? all costs our planet a lot more than we probably think about...

Did you know that it takes U2 a convoy of about 50 trucks carrying stage components, lighting, TV screens and sound equipment to get from gig to gig?

Did you know that Radiohead on their last tour encouraged car pooling, chose urban venues with strong transport links that were easy to get to on public transport, used low emission LED lighting, chose a tour itinerary that kept air freight to a minimum, recycled all food and drink packaging.

So, I've popped together a collection of black and white images that show "Light use" at some of the concerts I have photographed in the last couple of years... Maybe we need to find a more responsible way to light / power these rolling monoliths... and don't forget, there are the concerts with the lights and the power and the noise, but think about all the things related to those concerts?... transport, venues heating or cooling all the way down to the power taken to print the tickets... why not give everyone a secret number! quote the number, get a pass! :: Yep, 2:09am and I'm in need of sleep, so without further ado, here's a set of images that in my opinion spell "entertainment wastage"except for Alice in Chains, they only used ONE light... grrrr (Didn't matter, I was singing baby!) :: Hope you've enjoyed my take on Blog Action Day as it applies to me.

MORE IMAGES AFTER THE JUMP...

Do you Songkick?

Tonight is the first in hopefully many Songkick meet-ups. I'm going along to meet the people at Songkick and see what "all the fuss" is about. How would I describe Songkick? I'd call it "The amazing music diary" or "The musical timeline of my life" or something equally as corny (You know me...) - What they say about it... "Songkick allows you to organize and track your favorite bands and track concerts and dates. Get instant tour dates from your music library" And it's true... And it's brilliant! Let me give you an example... Take a gig that you've been to, for example - My first gig that I recall was on Saturday 15 November 1980, It was Kiss at VFL Park Stadium! I wore facepaint and I had a glowing worm thing - It was for my sixth birthday treat from my dad - Oh yes, I was ROCK back then too! - So, you go to SongKick and search for that gig, then you can "track" an artist and see when and where they're playing next. You can befriend people, post images, videos etc... It's like the perfect mix of Faceache, MySpaz and it intergrates with Twitter as well...

I'm telling you all this because I think it's something a few of my twitter followers need to be part of...

Find out more here!

then...

Sign up to Songkick here!

then...

Follow Songkick on Twitter here

Join up, Rock out!

Sime