Meredith, originally uploaded by kramnostam.

This year's Meredith music festival was held inside Bugsy's car.

Nova 100 Beach Volleyball Party

Hayley, Mark, Luis, Elise

More pictures...

Ok... I haven't posted for a while... oops. Here are some random Melbourne pics:

Playing golf with kangaroos:







Watching footy (Aussie rules) with a hungover Lloyd (what a strange game!)





Sunrise in St Kilda



Yummy chilli crab from Claypots



Lauren & Lisa



Will try and post more... I promise!

Hi everyone.

Most of my millions of readers probably know that I'm traveling around India and Vietnam at the moment but I forgot to put a link here to my travel blog. I am away from October until January 4th 2008.

Check it out for some interesting pictures. When we get to Melbourne in January I will start posting to markmatson.com again (well, that's the plan anyway).

Take it easy,
Mark

P.S.1

Well, summer means that PS1 is on and an entertaining day can be had out in Queens at the exhibition / dance party.

I love art.

I love music.

Happy people in the sun.


I love Lauren. And I need a haircut.
.

Another three months!!

It appears to me that this blog has an amazing habit of sitting idle for months... could it be because Mark is so busy and important that he has forgotten to share his personal meanderings with the world? As such, yet again, I have taken it upon myself to shed some light on the goings on of those of us in the lovely (and freeezing) new york city.


Donna, D-train, Donnatella, Boomer... seriously in need of a new nickname came to visit!! Did anyone expect that she would be a serious Yatzhee ninja?! Me neither! After multiple rematches Donna emerged undefeated as the champion... as a 'moderately' competitive person, I was NOT impressed :)

We went to Brazil! Despite limited vacation time courtesy of the US of A, we managed to sneak off for a week long holiday to south america. We had lived a year in complete envy of Dave, Emma, Silas, Ange, Dave, and Nessa... how could we resist? After three days in Rio we headed north up the coast. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse overlooking a peninsula in the town of Buzios, highly recommend the Villa Bambuti... am yet again reminded that we must write a review for them on tripadvisor.

Halloween, so hot! I really don't think that anything more needs to be said...

Have settled into our groove here a bit more, enjoying many nights out with the 'crew' a few of them pictured below... if you've come to visit, you are likely to recognize these faces... love them! Transition to new york would have been much harder if not for these wonderful people.

Viva la Mexico! A long time family friend chose to tie the knot south of the border over Thanksgiving giving us another opportunity to hit the beach... or the bar in Mark's case. I do however blame my father for the day I found them propping up the bar around 2pm. Can't trust these two alone...
**photos to come, they have mysteriously disappeared**

Finally, the long awaited return to the place I feel most at home... London! Despite the quick turnaround, jet lag had nothing on the two of us... special thanks to Care, Vale, and Donna for the lovely accommodations. If anyone is in need of a closet, vale is your man! Managed to hit all of the favorite spots: monmouth, c&r, borough mkt, yum cha... wait, is it odd that all my favorites have to do with food? hmm... The best part however, was seeing all of our wonderful friends and reminding us just how much we miss you!
**again, photos to come, there is some serious red eye reduction that needs to occur**

I suppose I should get back to work now... big hugs xx

Weekend away in the Catskills!!

Lauren and I had a fantastic weekend in the Catskills - a mountain range in New York about 2 hours drive north of NYC. Just the kind of area to shake off some of that big city tension. Oh the joys of nature!!

Also we took the opportunity to check out Woodstock, a lovely little town which everyone associates with the Woodstock festival back in the day. Interestingly, the Woodstock festival was not held in the town itself, but in another location about an hour's drive west of Woodstock. But the guy who organised the festival was from Woodstock (the town), or something.

Here's a pic of Woodstock. Ignore my outfit, I was having a bad fashion day.

























The Ashokan reservoir. Very pretty but not very exciting.




















This was taken on the grounds of the grounds of the home of FDR - Franklin Delano Roosevelt AKA 32nd president of the U S of A. Although I'm not a big fan of any type of history (least of all US presidential history, given the current state of affairs) we were passing through this town and decided to stop. This is also the location of the first presidential library. We had a nice walk around the grounds - very picturesque until it started raining cats and dogs.

In an ice-cream store in New Paltz. A cool little town near where we stayed. Although the area is green and spacious they also get a lot of tourists staying, along with the trappings of tourism i.e. nice bars, restuarants, shops etc.

























This was the back of the bed and breakfast that we stayed at. Right out in the bush. Reminded me of home.

I just came across this beautiful picture of two friends - Sally and my girlfriend Lauren.

p.s. this is not taken with the new camera - I took this on my phone about a year ago...

First pictures taken with the new camera... this is just a test but you can look forward to some killer photography on this website in the coming weeks.

The camera is a dream to use. It starts up in about 1 second and is ready to take photos. All the functions are easy to get to using the menu. There is an insane amount of features on this thing... I am trying to learn quickly!!

I'm going for a bike ride around manhattan to do some photography on Saturday... will post more photos then.










Lauren laying down a mixsizzle
















I know I look fat - don't worry I'm on a diet...

















Ok so there's not too much interesting stuff to photograph around the apartment right now... so I'll stop here.


ok bye

New camera

I just got a new camera... yay!! Hopefully this means there will be lots of exciting new content for this blog... but don't count on it :-)

Web 2.0 - The way of the future

This logo generator is quite fun and useful for anyone who wants to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon... if you're quick enough you can get in while the market's hot and make millions of dollars like I did.

I originally only put this up temporarily so someone else could download it... but other people have seen it so I'll leave it here.

It's a mix of house music that was done by Rick, a friend of Dave Gee's in London.

Click to download

I bought a bike!!!

Yes, I am aware that the quality and frequency of posts on this website has become questionable... and the staff (namely Ms. Anderson) will have to be severely reprimanded... but I'm sure my loyal readers will be incredibly amazed at this newsworthy event: my purchase of a hot new GT Avalanche 3.0 mountain bike!!
















This is sort of what it looks like... well actually I think this picture is of one that's slightly different to mine (mine has normal pedals) but you get the idea. I assembled it last night but I haven't got a tire pump yet so I couldn't take it for a ride. My brother is coming over tonight with his pump and we'll go for a ride down to Union Square to meet some friends.

The only problem is - where do I store it? Our apartment is so small we can't store it indoors. I will have to ask the super if I can store it in the common areas of the apartment building...

Happy cycling!
Mark

Interesting stereo-optical illusion

This is one of those crazy optical illusions that people forward to each other. Except this one is quite funny!

Examine the following picture which was taken using a stereo-optical technique. Half of the image is showing a real person, half of it is not. Can you guess which is which? Extra points for guessing who the real person actually is, and who would win between the two subjects if they had a fight.

Here is the picture.

Usage of MarkMatson.com skyrockets

It is with great excitement that I announce a huge increase in consumer interest in new blog start-up MarkMatson.com.

Page views on the site jumped from 1 view on Wednesday 17th to a staggering 40 views on Thursday 18th, an astronomical climb of 4000% which translates to an annual growth rate of 1460000%. Readership levels remain steady.

CEO and founder Mark Matson partially attributes the growth spurt to the newly-discovered talents of partner and business associate Lauren Anderson. Anderson's recent blog entry exposed an enchanting and sublime writing ability that is credited with catalysing the new public interest. Mark commented earlier today - "We're really pleased with Lauren's efforts. She's certainly surprised a lot of people with her post".

Responding to criticisms that Anderson will turn out to be a "one-hit wonder", he said "I think anyone who is able to recognise true quality will acknowledge that Anderson's work will stand the test of time".

MarkMatson.com (StockWatch: MMAT) is seeking VC funding next month and hopes to raise at least $US20 million in the first round.

Confabulation...

Okay, so the fact that this thing has not been updated since February is shocking and need I say more than a bit lazy. As such I have taken it upon myself to fill in the past few months.

As the weather improves so do our spirits and our ambition for exploring this city. Weekends have become a ritual of brunch and shopping, which seems to be a favorite girly new york past time that Mark hasn't fully come to appreciate yet. Our new friends, Becca and Drew, proved that Cranium plus four bottles of wine will inevitably be a fantastic Saturday night. Much effort has been made to visit the art galleries, some with questionable material, but altogether educational. So far the Met is a favorite. We failed at our attempt to attend the Tribeca Film Festival, twice, and have since concluded that door sales = arrive several hours early and wait. Waiting, by the way, is a constant theme in this city as people are keen to wait for everything, hours even, be it for the hottest eatery in town or a burger from the park stand, you name it, there will be waiting involved.

Beyond all this exciting information, was a quick trip to Dallas for the first time in two years to celebrate Shirley's bachelorette weekend. I found all my browned friends really accented my corporate tan and I realized just how much I've missed the sun. Mark and I head down to Dallas for the actual wedding in two weeks. Concurrently will be the much anticipated arrival of Steve and Stacey. I've tried to add some photos but without any luck... I think that's all from me for now...

xoxo
Lauren

The Blizzard of 2006!

My brother and I had been complaining for months about how the weather in New York has been so mild this winter - little did we know that February 11th would bring one of gnarliest storms ever!!

26.9 inches of snow fell in New York City - the most since at least 1869, when records started being kept. It was spookily surreal to wake up on Sunday morning and look out onto the street to see a blanket of white. After donning multiple layers and my super-puffy warm winter coat, I went for a walk around the neighbourhood to see what was going on.

Lots of people were out walking, mostly with smiles or bemused looks on their faces; kids were making snowmen in Madison Square Park as dogs ran around barking frantically. Lord knows what happened to all the squirrels in the park - the poor things must have frozen to death!!

Below are some pictures we took on Sunday. Unfortunately it wasn't long before the novelty wore off and the snow became a nuisance - it started turning to slush on Monday and didn't disappear completely for about a week and a half - but, for a precious day or two, Manhattan was turned into a winter wonderland. Just the kind of weather I had been waiting for!

Welcome to New York!!!

Finally I have managed to set my website up with a blog :-)

After moving from London to New York in November 2005, this weblog will be a record of my adventures in the good ol' U S of A. God bless America!! But seriously - this blog is a latecomer in a mighty battle which three of my friends have already started - battle of the blogs. You can find links to their blogs on the right-hand side of the page. Remember - there can be only one!!

Without further ado - here are some pictures of our New York apartment - we just finished setting it up last week... (click to enlarge)

The illustrious front door to the apartment....

We are on the 2nd floor (which most other countries class as the 1st)

The kitchen. The front door is the white one on the left...

The alcove on the right of the kitchen. Will the madness ever stop??

The decks.

Now for the exciting bit....
here is the lounge!!

Expertly designed by
Ms Lauren Andersois....

Whoa.... another view of the lounge.

This is the definitive view of the lounge.

OK - on the other side of the lounge - the TV and computer desk.






A frontal view of the computer desk. Specially modified to fit the MIDI keyboard! Useful for music production, and for Lauren to practise her piano.








And finally the bathroom. Unfortunately we couldn't be bothered cleaning the bedroom so pictures of that will come in the next post...

So there you have it. An inch-by-inch, super-intimate, detailed tour of our apartment! This has to be the best blog post ever. And don't worry - it can only get better!

Stay tuned for Lauren and Mark's exciting adventures in New York City!