New Toys!

For me birfday!

Thought I'd put up a work in progress. I'll be making a new terrain backdrop, put in a lava lake, etc. Also I've got a few hours of work still on the main bloke. Loads of detailing still to do on him, lighting, etc.

But I figured I'd better put something up so y'all didn't think I was blowing smoke about all the cool software goodies I got.

Please keep in mind this is in NO WAY complete. Just click on the image to embiggin it.

Step Right Up and ALL Your Questions Will Be Answered!

Yes indeedy all you little ladies! Just step right up to the Imaginarium of Doctor Dave and all your answers will be questioned!

or something like that

Can anyone guess what film we watched last night? Anyone? Just leave a comment. HINT: It really plumm-s the depp-ths...

Butt I do have two answers for you --don't swoon ladies, I'm human-- instead of only the one you may or may not have been expectorating.

Firstly: why my but was sore and bruised. It has to do with my back. And pressure points. Yes, I had a visit to my chiro a week before my birthday. Wee-Hoo!!!! Happy Birthday to me; here dave, go ahead and treat yourself to a sore ass!

Butt no, it really did help. She had to do some serious work on the pressure points of my right glute with her elbow in order to get the swelling and pain to go away. It worked! She really is amazing, dontcha know. Heck, I can even go in for stuffed sinuses and a few deftly applied thumbs to the top of my neck and all the sinus pressure is GONE.

Alice is cool. Ummmmm, that's Dr Lay actually.

Much better than modern drugs. Butt that's just me.

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Next answer: My age.

It's sorta kinda like gettin' up there. *wink*

In fact, I am now 2.659009203 *10 ^ 53 planck time units old, and my back with its 4 compressed vertebrae, off-kilter pelvis, off-kilter shoulders, and twisted neck vertebrae feel EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of those planck time units.

I suspect that 3 (three) of my readers can figure out my age. The rest of you can go bugga off mates!

Ha-rumph.


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It's been a while since I've put up some pictures of Australian wildlife. I shall fix that problem.

I think this lorikeet had it's neck lock. I can relate.

Dude, just give Alice a ring! She'll fix it!

It's quite common for Aussie ladies going au natural to ask me if I think their butt is too big. Here's proof.

Ooooh dave, does my butt look too big?

Wouldn't you just hate to wake up with this bloke staring at you?




The other day I noticed this critter. Not sure whether it's an ant pretending to be a spider or a spider pretending to be an ant. Either way, I wasn't gonna get any closer!

Judging by the eyes, I'm guessing spider.

There's a koala asleep here somewhere...




Oh, why look! Here it is:




This flying bloke picked just the COOLEST LOOKING plant to hang out on!




Just now many cats can YOU find in this picture?




As always just leave your guesses in the comments to anything I may or may not have mentioned, no worries mates.

One last thing... As I'm sure you have all already sent birthday presents/offerings to me (don't swoon ladies, I'm human) I have, most regrettably, yet to receive any of them. Therefore I've decided that all the birthday pressies I receive from you, my loyal readers, shall be put under the tree for Christmas.

Just remembered!

A conversation with Wifey-Poo!

Just a reminder, WP is Wifey-Poo, otherwise known as The Most Wonderful Woman In The Entire World, and YT is Yours Truly --don't swoon ladies, I'm human.

*YT walks into mission control (the 'puter room) carrying his best steel wok*

YT: Honey?

WP: Yes dear? *crap, what does that idiot want now?*

YT: I need to check my tags. Do you know where they are?

WP: ??????????? *????????????????*

YT: You know, my hunting tags.

WP: I'm totally clueless with this one. *can't he EVER let me work without some dumbass conversation?*

YT: I just need to make sure it's the right time of year for this.

WP: For what?

YT: Well, I need to season the wok!

WP: *SOB*


********************************************************************

And on a final note... If none of you ask where I got or why I use the fraze "don't swoon ladies, I'm human" then I'm just gonna... ummmm, errrrrr, KEEP USING IT!

So there.

3d Stuff and A Sore Butt!

We'll get to the 3d stuff, but first you get to hear about my bruised and sore butt.

Did I do this to myself accidently like wiping out on a bicycle? No.

Did I do this to myself on purpose? No.

Did I pay someone to do bruise my butt? Yes.

Was she tall, statuesque, and have big Ta-Ta's? Yes.

Did it involve her elbow? Yes.

You all should have all the information you need to make an educated guess in the comments. Just keep it clean --just kidding about that last part!


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I have some new software arriving for my Birthday. I share the date with a washed up actor from a 70's buddy cop show and also with a not washed up actress from a late 90's and 00's sci-fi tv show. Any guesses?

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Whilst waiting for my new software (Bryce 7 Pro with all the obj imports and all the other bells n whistles, and the full version of Millennium Dragon 2 for DAZ which includes the chinese dragon) I played around with World Machine 2 --the free, basic version-- to get some erosion effects on a terrain that I then loaded into Terragen.

I'm pretty pleased with how the renders turned out. Just click on a pic for a 1280 by 800 version!

First, a view from the magic helicopter 5000 metres above the ridgeline that is 500 metres above the frozen water --also know as ice.




Then the magic helicopter drops down to 1000 metres above the ridge.




And then the magic helicopter runs out of fuel which of course causes it to crash onto the ice. But not before this final picture was taken:





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I've never been accused of having a big mouth, but there are times it'd come in handy...

Fine! So there! Happy Early Birthday to ME!

Haaaaaaaa-RUMPH!

And no one even made mention of the song. So I've deleted it. So there.

*tttthhhbtbtbttbthtbttthhtbt*

*hmmph* gonna go take a nap or three.

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I do age! No, please... don't swoon ladies, I'm human*

Fortunately, as I plan to live well into triple digits, I am not middle aged yet. But I will tell you that I share a birthday with a few famous people. Any guesses?

I shall now go hide in a tree.




I also know some of the pressie's I will be receiving! Ha!

2 of them involve new software. I've already downloaded the how-to's and what-it's of one of them and am currently studying it.

Another involves a DOWN UNDA margarita party in honor of ME --don't swoon ladies, I'm human*-- for which I've just bought the supplies! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!


I shall now go toss fleas in your general direction.







*For the last few years that I've been using that expression, not ONE of you have ever asked me about it. Does that mean I'm awesomely studly-like?

So what do you all think of...

... the new song that's playing in the background on this ole blog?

Don't worry, I won't leave it up too long. I promise, you betcha! *wink*

Some of you may find one of my food recipes tasty: Bananas wrapped in bacon slices with chocolate sauce poured over the top!

I made it. Seriously. It tasted good. Seriously good.

Here's the post from my food blog --which, by the way, is now more popular than the blog you are reading now!


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Bacon Wrapped Bananas with Chocolate Sauce



And doesn't that just sound AWESOMELY delicious? I know it does "it" for me! Seriously, what dish can't be improved by adding bacon?

I got the idea for this from a yoga teacher in New Zealand who has a cool food blog called Couscous & Consciousness. In one of her posts she asked folks about what trio or trios of food combination go well together. One of the ones I mentioned was bacon wrapped chocolate that gets battered and deep-fried. She thought it sounded ok but suggested some with bananas to go along with the bacon and chocolate.

Hence, this beauty of a recipe was born!

I made it last night, we all loved it. And that includes BIL who has a very fussy palate. In fact, he licked the plate clean!

Dingo Dave's Original Bacon Wrapped Bananas with Chocolate sauce with thanks to Couscous & Consciousness for inspiration.

What you need:

For the bananas and bacon:
One banana per person
1 to 3 slices of bacon per banana depending on size of slice

For the chocolate sauce:
175 grams of dark chocolate --that's 6.141592654 or pi+3 ounces
2 heaping tbsp butter
1/3 cup cream
1/4 cup cream port (or regular port, or a sherry variety)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/8 tsp cayenne powder (I usually double or triple this, but that's for when it's just me)

What you do:

Put everything for the chocolate sauce in a small, thick-bottomed saucepan. Your saucepan should now look like this:




Put the saucepan on the lowest heat possible and stir or whisk it while it heats. Make sure nothing sticks to the bottom and that it's well mixed. This should only take a couple of minutes.

Turn the heat off and cover it.

Now to assemble the bacon and bananas. Ummmmmm, this is pretty simple, just wrap the bacon around the bananas. If you need to secure the bacon with toothpicks the go for it.




Then cook them till the bacon is done to your liking. Be gentle when turning them as you don't want to bananas to break apart.




Remove the toothpicks if you used them and liberally ladle the sauce on top!

Notice how I used one dark plate and one light plate so that the color balance in the photo is way off? Yeah, I did that on purpose. Maybe.

And the obligatory closeup:




Use a sharp knife and a fork for eating. Why a sharp knife? So that you don't mush down the banana as you cut a piece.

You'll have lots of leftover sauce, I'm sure you'll think of some use for it.

Oh, next time I'm going to roll the bananas in brown sugar before wrapping the bacon around them!

Happy Monday Morning To Y'all!

Ahhhh yes, rise and shine at 6 AM awoken by the chatter of wattle birds. Then the magpie start up, the blackbirds sing, and the parrots show up.

Happy, contented sigh...

KE-RASH! BOOM! BANG!

Suddenly the sound of chainsaws rip through the birdsong! The smell of burnt petrol and diesel fumes permeate the trees.

Needless to say, the birds disappear.

Why?

Cus at 730 AM this Monday morning, this monstrosity and it's obligatory noise and crew showed up behind the house:




Must.

Flee.

To.

The.

Hills!

Baby Australian Possum!

And they are SOOOOO CUTE!

Please keep in mind they are in no way related to North American 'possums. Jus' saying'.

A friend of ours volunteers at the local fauna rescue centre and she routinely stops by with some baby critters she nurses back to help before they are released.

This little bugga was rescued from the pouch of it's dead mommy --roadkill, but the person stopped to check on the possum and found babies alive in the pouch and called the right folks.

Isn't s/he just the cutest?




There is a strict feeding schedule for the little bloke. Here's a vid of Cathy feeding the little fella.




And all together now: Awwwwwwwww, so cute!




And just in case you need some more cuteness today...

Cute Cockatoos

In progress

This is part of a work in progress. I won't be doing anything on it today as I am still sick. Only 2nd day and I'm already sick and tired of being sick and tired!

I feel like I've been shot at and missed, but shit at and hit. Yes, I feel like crap. I am also finding the taste of strepsils (anti-bacterial throat lozenge) to get worse and worse. And pure echinacea extract? Nasty stuff!

Anyways, enough about me. Here's the work in progress.

Mother Earth's Curves

This is a render for ScienceBloke(z(2^8)+z(2^5))/z. Hope he likes it and it's nice to see him blogging again after his trip.

I still can't believe he'd never seen the ocean...

I think this render is quite "fetching", don't you?





And the large size...




Did anyone get the joke?

Or is no one tuned into the same frequency or amplitude as meself?

Please note: there are now four (4) (quattro) (네) (vier) (quatre) (四) (chetiri) (أربعة) (tessera) (dörd) (nne) (cara) jokes or bad puns in this post. Can you find them all?

Waterworld 3D

Or bigger...

Some things just...

... look better with critters!





Just click to embiggen, or have a squizz at the full size flickr one:

Almond Trees are BLOOMING!

And that means that our frigidly cold winter HAS to be coming to an end soon. I mean, DANG, but I am so tired of wearing pants.

Sigh.

Naturally when I saw the almond tree that's next to the pool blooming today, I just had to get the camera. The reason I grabbed the camera was to take some pictures for you. Of the almond blossoms, of course.

Here you are, and you're quite welcome.















The cat was clearly not amused...

...at having a camera shoved in his face.

Playing with water in 3D *updated*

You can do a surprising amount of stuff with just the Terragen basic program. I was playing around with water settings this morning and was very pleased with what I came up with.

I'll be adding some critters to this with DAZ next.

Click to embiggen the image. It's scaled to fit a widescreen monitor if anyone wants to use it, no worries.








Obviously, it's hard to see the edge of the water cus the shore foam blends into the snow. So I then lifted the snow to higher elevations only --and made it thicker. You can really see the water now!





However, there is a HUGE scale problem! The water definitely does not match the scale of the mountains. Since I wanted to keep the water the way it is, I decided to do a eroding and excavating! I also thickened the snow again and brought it down below the water depth.

Presto! We now have a bunch of icebergs and the scale now matches the water.







Pretty cool, huh?

T'was a Dark and Stormy Day?

Suddenly, a shot rang out!

A maid screamed!

A door slammed!

Snoopy smiled whilst perched atop his doghouse with his trusty typewriter.

Charles Schulz cringed.

His ghost snickered.

And since most of you have absolutely no idea what I'm writing about... I shall now show you.

When you look upwards at a sky that appears thusly:



and your first thought is "oh, so pretty" then you probably don't know this means to the non-city dwellin' folk, "Crap! Storm comin'!"

It wasn't long till the sun was blotted out by the rapidly approaching front...




This winter storm caused lots of flooding around Adelaide, various roofs were not-roofs, and a tornado hit one of the outlying communities.

We don't get tornadoes down here in South Oz. My feeling is that it was a water spout that not only made landfall but continued on for a long time. Just my opinion, of course.

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Anyone remember Highlander?


I am the one!
The only one!
I am the God of kingdom come!
Now gimme the prize!
Just gimme the prize!

And now, just...

Gimme the camera!



Do you remember when I was writing about yellow-tailed black cockatoos a few posts ago? I've got some pics of the Belair flock!

Yes indeedy, this'll prove that I've seen them!

I'm sure you can all tell that these aren't crows. Look at their wingtips and the head morphology. Yep, these are cockies alright. Trust me when I say (write) that they have a yellow tail and yellow wingtips.

Here's a much better picture of them.

This

pic

will

astound

you

with

it's

brilliance,

clarity,

and

whatever

other

crappy

adjective

I

care

to

use.



Are your seatbelts fastened?

Are your tray-tables in an upright, locked position?

Have you grabbed the flight attendants butt (male, female, doesn't matter)?

Check this pic out of a flock a yellow-tailed black cockatoos!




Ready?







Proof! Word, baby!