Masculine, Power, Beauty ... and nice guys too!

Ok, as always I confess I'm a Cirque fan. However those of you who have known me a while would also know that a number of years ago I studied a photography course on-line and was blown away by the episodes featuring international photographer Greg Gorman and the stars of the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai, Andrew and Kevin Atherton - also known as the Atherton Twins. The images that Greg and the lads created during their photo session are absolutely amazing! Greg is one of my all-time favourite portrait photographers and the lads and him have a created powerful imagery of masculine power and beauty. If anyone wants to get me a signed print of these for a birthday or Xmas pressie I wouldn't say no!

Anyway the guys and the show.... The guys are absolutely spectacular in the Varekai show... mind blowing. Their strength, agility, style and grace are impressive. Costuming is spectacular and enhances their act. Well done guys!

Again I encourage those who have not seen the show to go.

Also I was very fortunate to catch up with Andi and Kev for a coffee - and can let you all know that these guys are great. They are really nice, humble, dedicated to their craft and ... well they are great guys, and it was a pleasure to send some time with them over a coffee.

Oh and I think that is Andi on top, Kev on the bottom, in the show program shot above... tho I will have to check.

The Cirque Du Soleil is in town!


Woohoo! Yes, I'm excited. For those who dont know - and there wont be many of you - but we are both huge fans of Cirque Du Soleil. The lastest show for Australia has been on tour for a while and is in Perth. For those who have not seen it - YOU MUST GO!


The show is Varekai - in the Romany Language it means "Wherever".


The 14th show of the Cirque du Soleil team is spectacular. And dont forget for an extra special treat do yourself a favour and do the Tapis Rogue!


back home...

Finally back home after a month away. A nice break. Some lovely places visited, some great times with friends and family, and some good relaxing. All-in-all, well with Kos fading into the dark recesses of my mind at least, this had been one of the better breaks we have had.

Now to save up for the next one! In the mean time I will keep the blog going on the little adventures and major news in between...

Oh, and by the way, did you know there are a heap of watch shops in Singapore...maybe someone (not me) was a little naughty and bought themselves an early 50th birthday pressie for themselves... now I am neither confirming or denying that rumour (rumour being a watch purchase or someones 50th this year!)....

:D

So where in Singa's does one stay...




Well, we were a little spoilt... for the last couple of nights I wanted to take the lad some where nice - so it was the Ritz Carlton Singapore.
We were looked after very well there, and even got an upgrade to a Club Suite (means very nice)! Here is also a snap from the room, over looking preparations on a newly built floating stage where they are going to put on the celebrations for there National Day celebrations and concert.


next Singapore




Had a very brief stay in Singapore, just enough to do a little damage to the credit card. Oh whilst we were there we just happen to find a 8-storey electronics mall... how about that! Just happened to come across it... just walking around!!!
Anyway, at the mall they had an international super-geek computer competion on at the time we were wandering around. The guys were super cooling their computers down to about -70C to be able to overclock them (make them go a lot faster than the specifications). The problem is that you have to have a very special rig to do that and liquid nitrogen! But I got a few ideas for the next lot of computers Chad!!!
The photo is of the Australian competitor and his rig.

Leaving Koh Samui






Well after a lovely week of lounging around and relaxing in the blamy warm weather, it was off to Singapore. But first we had to go through Koh Samui International Airport... jeez I hate to think what the domestic airport is like!

A couple of mates




Whilst we were at the resort we meet some lovely guys, Phillip and Matthew from New York. Here they are at the airport.

Some in-room dining - Four Seasons style...



Yumm, well after a hard day at the pool, we decided one night we would try the in-room dining, that way we could stay in our shorts and not worry about getting dressed for dinner. Well, the food was VERY impressive, very tasty and flavoursome, and I even surprised our waiters with the amount of chilli I was eating! Oh, also we had numerous visitors at the villa - gheckko's. He's one of the little chaps who drop by whilst we where having dinner.

More Thailand






Random shots of the resort... oh and a big thank you to the crew who look after us at the Four Season's. Alex, you have a fine crew, special thanks to: Dodo, Kid, Toon, A, Sumet, Chai, Guy, Babe, Chunata, Wuttchai, the villa crew and in-room dining team. Thank you for making our stay very special.

a week of relaxing...










after three weeks of running around all over the place, we organised a week at the Four Season's in Koh Samui. It was a great place. Very topical, very warm, very relaxing. The resort has only been open for five months, but it is very pretty, set in an old coconut plantation on the side of a mountain, on the beach cove. Didn't take many pictures... too busy relaxing!

a change of theme... something modern...



Well on the way back to the airport we came across these two things... first ofcourse reminded me of Brett and Niven and the new addition to the family... the girls (two Dachshund puppies), and the other was some t-shirts in the window... I have pics of the other ones, but they are very 'adult themes'!!

another Greek god!


Anyone who has been over to our place and been up in the study will have definately see the next picture, though we a red background (which I think looks better). The statue is of Antonious, who was Hadrian's favourite chap, look back to Emperor Hadrian and his Villa. Antonious was gorgeous as you can see. Unfortunately he died young, downed. Now rumour has it*, that Antonious was more than a favourite mate of Hadrian, if you know what I mean.

* from Gary - I recon you where right Gary

... back in Athens...






So what does one do for a 10 hour lay-over in Athens. Well, you check-in at the lounge and grab a bit of breakfast then head into town and check out the amazing Archeological Museum. Very impressive art works.
Heavens knows what that little brown statue is all about... it send my head into a spin - yeah I know .... typical :D




Home of Hippocrates






One of the interesting things about Kos is that its the home of Hippocrates... This tree is the site that he supposedly gave lessons - the famous tree. The second shot is from the site of his school, looking down over Kos. Yes, it is a long way up. I cycled up there with another conference widow - Andrew (pictured), who liked my camera and especially my zoom lens... can you guess which shot Andrew took? :D

Kitties


And what would a series of photos from Greece be with out a pussy. Taken at Hippocrates school.

and thermal springs


The Greek island are still geoglogically active. On Kos, on the other side of the island is a thermal spring with people come to sit in hot, smelly water, as it flows into a rock pool in the ocean.
Now again Andrew and I cycled all the way there, and you can see a bit of the cliff height, strangely enough though, on another scorcher of a day 45C+, we didnt want to sit in a hot thermal spring! Into the cool ocean instead.

Kos - June 26 Oh boy





Well you've read what I thought of Kos earlier... a bit of a reminder... and two pics from the place we got moved to... the first two are of Kos beach, and the first resort, the next two are of the airconditioning god that worked... the other the very quiet pool!!! :D