In 2007, photographer James Nachtwey won the TED Prize which awarded him $100,000 and “one wish to change the world”. His wish was:

I’m working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age.

On 3 October, Nachtwey’s story will break — both online and around the world. Melburnians can view his story at Federation Square while the rest of you should check the TED Prize Event Location page to see if it’s being shown at your location (it’s on in 16 countries). If not, you can always view it online:

For more:

• Nachtwey’s TED talk
• Nachtwey on Wikipedia
• JamesNachtwey.com

Google News now has a Pakistan edition :)

I am “seriously” impressed with Channel Ten’s new police action/drama Rush. The premise is fun (and makes for lots of good action), the writing is good, the storylines are interesting (yes, I know, we’re only two shows in but it looks good nonetheless), the characters are interesting, the cast is excellent (plus Claire van der Boom is gorgeous), and the production is fantastic (I love the immersion that handheld camera work gives viewers).

The best part: all of the show’s episodes are online along with a bunch of other behind-the-scene videos — that too for free! Channel Ten really kicks ass for doing this for so many of its biggest shows.

And speaking of good cop shows, I also like Channel 7’s City Homicide but its broadcast timing is such that I haven’t watch more than a few episodes of it. I guess I’ll have to wait till it comes out on DVD.

For my 32nd birthday, Nadia and I took a day tour down the Great Ocean Road, which is a “273km stretch of road along the South Eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool”.

 
Nadia at the Great Ocean Road arch

After some research, and a visit to the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square, we decided to go with AAT Kings’s ‘Great Ocean Road with Helicopter Ride‘ tour. This 12-hour tour leaves from Melbourne at 8am; stops at Bells Beach, Torquay, Apollo Bay, Port Campbell, The Twelve Apostles, and a few other places in between; and gets back to Melbourne a little before 8pm. It includes a lunch stop at Apollo Bay and a Helicopter Ride around the Twelve Apostles.

A view of the Twelve Apostles from the helicopter

The day started out slightly overcast and, by the time we got to Apollo Bay, it was windy and it had started to rain. That wasn’t a major problem — though it made taking pictures a little more complicated! — and we had a great time nonetheless.

The scenery were brilliant — though we’re told it’s better in summer — and the helicopter ride was spectacular. I took a video of the chopper ride and will post it up here once I’ve edited it.

Me ‘n Nadia at Apollo Bay 

What made the trip particularly enjoyable was our driver, Les, who gave an excellent tour commentary and joked and chatted with us at our rest and photo stops. Overall, I was most impressed with AAT Kings and would recommend them to anyone else who wants to go on a tour around Australia.

I’ve uploaded some photos from this trip to my Picasa Web Albums page. Take a look and let us know what you think.

[Also see: Official Great Ocean Road website]