Guildford, Victoria, Australia

The Big Tree

The main reason for visiting this town is 'The Big Tree' at the intersection of Fryers St and Ballaarat St (it is suitably signposted off the highway). This truly remarkable and beautifully preserved red gum is thought to be the largest of its species in Victoria. The girth at the base is 12.8 metres and the height is 25.9 metres.

A plaque suggests that Burke and Wills camped beneath its generous umbrage on their journey from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although this is apocraphyl Burke may well have been acquainted with the tree as he was superintendent of police in the Castlemaine district from 1858 to 1860 and would have been familiar with the terrain.

Text from The Age Australia

New year, new gear

Last year I wrote a little summary of what had happened that year, and what should I achieve the next year. Now's the time to check how I managed to achieve last year's goals and what are my new years resolutions.

In the year 2011 I will:
1) move into that flat (DONE! though the flat still isn't quite finished yet)
2) develop my programming skills (DONE! www.wannabeballerinas.com was launched)
3) keep those hobbies instead of starting new ones (FAIL! I got a skateboard)
4) Perform at some greater stage than Tavastia (DONE! Yupp, Flow festival, Sweden etc. quite a year)
5) Travel to another continent never visited before (FAIL! Went to Australia, and I've been there before)

In the year 2012 I will:
1) Learn something new
2) Still develop my programming skills
3) Become a better ballerina
4) Win something
5) Enjoy my life instead of complaining all the time

Chains

I'm writing this post only to keep my "write to blog" Chain unbreakable. Not really. I've been planning to write about Chains for a while. So here it is. Chains is a simple little motivational tool to keep you motivated on doing daily stuff. My best kept chains are "come to work" and "drink beer". Hmmm. My friend Sauli who invented it became an independent entrepreneur few months ago. His company Siirre Transplants will be the next big thing, I assume. At least we have so many consulting meetings during this autumn. Usually in a bar. Their other innovation is Stems, is a tool with which music makers can make new versions of each others' songs and those in turn can be remixed by others. And since I'm the unofficial CFO of Siirre, you can consider this as a paid commercial. Just kidding.

Utö

Utö is the furthest crowded island at the Finnish archipelago. There are 40-50 inhabitants living in Utö all year round. Area of the island is about 1km2 and it's totally surrounded by sea. anywhere you look you see the sea. I visited Utö last weekend and heard amazing stories what had happened around there and how the people of the island with so little natural resources have lived the past decades. Amazing place and amazing people.

I wear my sunglasses at night

Yeah, it's November and I bought sunglasses.

Virtual Sistine Chapel

Cool site to show Sistine Chapel in Vatican virtually. No need to go and queue there anymore. Nice job with the paintings Michelangelo!

When I am bored I bake

Näh I was just hungry and didn't have any food. I'm trying the blogger app for the first time, let's see how this works.