September 2008 Archives
What am I doing wrong?
I seem to be unemployed again.
"Bad patch; economic slowdown; poor market conditions; focus on core competencies..."
So I have to leave. Again.
I seem to be unemployed again.
"Bad patch; economic slowdown; poor market conditions; focus on core competencies..."
So I have to leave. Again.
I am very proud that someone has landed on eatmorechips having Googled "how to get fray bentos pie from tin". I'm very pleased to be part of the global FB community. This is what they were after.
I have also been alerted (thanks Mick) to the fact that Sean Bean has been known to enjoy the odd Fray Bentos pie or two, especially abroad. It is also his guiltiest pleasure.
It is quite likely that poor old Andy Kershaw is spiraling out of control simply through a lack of TLC and Fray Bentos pies. He is currently "in a year of madness".
I have also been alerted (thanks Mick) to the fact that Sean Bean has been known to enjoy the odd Fray Bentos pie or two, especially abroad. It is also his guiltiest pleasure.
It is quite likely that poor old Andy Kershaw is spiraling out of control simply through a lack of TLC and Fray Bentos pies. He is currently "in a year of madness".
Probably something to do with pretend guns not being allowed in Holland. Pretty cool and incomprehensible leaflet though that is on the counter at customs.
I was out with Bryony, and my new camera, as you do. Chanced upon a car that we are both familar with and love. No sooner had I taken the picture that I heard 'the perfect shopping car' from 'the man'.
Had a long chat; talked car-building; Le Mans; stuff. He wasn't snooty about talking Westfield. He was OK.
And he shook my hand.
Had a long chat; talked car-building; Le Mans; stuff. He wasn't snooty about talking Westfield. He was OK.
And he shook my hand.
The 5D is so so similar to the 20D. They are from the same age. Need more work to see what the real differences are.
I have replaced the 20D with a 5D. Replaced the 17-55 with a 24-70L. Same thing really.
I ummed and aaared for a very long tome and talked at length to leaned photographers about what I could / should get and in the end followed my instincts.
Yes it replaces a 50. Yes it's a zoom. Yes, it's a sop to carrying a 50. Yes, I don't like zooms.
Clincher was reading about the 28 lens. Review (not dpreview which is just too harsh on all kit) said that the 24-70L was noticeably sharper than any of the Canon 28s. So, they were out. The 24 that I could afford was not an L, and was very expensive anyway. The 16-35 which I really wanted was (a) humungously expensive and (b) would be a 28-35 as soon as you stuck on a filter - a protection filter. And without whch it wasn't weather sealed. Hmmmmm.
So, I now have a 5D, a pro 24-70L (2.8) and my 'old' 85 1.8. A very fine lens indeed. So so sharp.
It is a bit of a shock that the 5 is so similar ot the 20. It is old. 3 years old? What the hell. Full-frame. And an L lens.
I ummed and aaared for a very long tome and talked at length to leaned photographers about what I could / should get and in the end followed my instincts.
Yes it replaces a 50. Yes it's a zoom. Yes, it's a sop to carrying a 50. Yes, I don't like zooms.
Clincher was reading about the 28 lens. Review (not dpreview which is just too harsh on all kit) said that the 24-70L was noticeably sharper than any of the Canon 28s. So, they were out. The 24 that I could afford was not an L, and was very expensive anyway. The 16-35 which I really wanted was (a) humungously expensive and (b) would be a 28-35 as soon as you stuck on a filter - a protection filter. And without whch it wasn't weather sealed. Hmmmmm.
So, I now have a 5D, a pro 24-70L (2.8) and my 'old' 85 1.8. A very fine lens indeed. So so sharp.
It is a bit of a shock that the 5 is so similar ot the 20. It is old. 3 years old? What the hell. Full-frame. And an L lens.
... I saw an eatmorechips lorry. Parked up. I was a a passenger and had no time to take a pic.
I am still in between cameras at the moment. And flummoxed by today's intro of the 5D II (and last weeks intro of the 50D).
In the meantime, Rob was around at the weekend with his 5D - this is a picture of my cooking work surfaces. Fine. Solid. Tempting. Not my work surfaces.
Straight choice - they are the same price: the 'old' 5D or the new 50D.
I'm leaning towards simply better kit: 5D. 24-70L. 50 1.4. Fine.
In the meantime, Rob was around at the weekend with his 5D - this is a picture of my cooking work surfaces. Fine. Solid. Tempting. Not my work surfaces.
Straight choice - they are the same price: the 'old' 5D or the new 50D.
I'm leaning towards simply better kit: 5D. 24-70L. 50 1.4. Fine.
I have bought music from Boomkat before. Hard-copy CDs. And Andrew used to walk around the office with an enigmatic T-Shirt that was odd but cool. Turns out it was a Boomkat shirt. NSTAC.
Anyway, I happened to subscribe to their '14 Tracks' mailing list not really knowing (as usual) what it was really about but thinking, hey, when I get the emails, I'll figure out what it is they're trying to sell me and deal with it then.
It turns out that they have this cool idea that they put together a grouped set of theme-linked tracks, from their catalogue, and present them as '14 tracks' for you to buy individually or if bought together, at a massive discount.
So, you (I) get a set of tracks, linked by a common theme - 14 of them - for £6.86 (yes, that is in fact 99p a track). Not a typo.
I'm on my second set.
First set was called 'Filmed in Super-8'. Utterly magical. I listen to tracks in bed. Just mesmerizing.
Second set, today, is 'Dubstep Hybrids'. A little more challenging. But hey, we're experimenting here. For £6.86.
Have a go...
As a bonus, the web site is beautiful and informative. This whole thing is web 2.0 for me. More please.
Anyway, I happened to subscribe to their '14 Tracks' mailing list not really knowing (as usual) what it was really about but thinking, hey, when I get the emails, I'll figure out what it is they're trying to sell me and deal with it then.
It turns out that they have this cool idea that they put together a grouped set of theme-linked tracks, from their catalogue, and present them as '14 tracks' for you to buy individually or if bought together, at a massive discount.
So, you (I) get a set of tracks, linked by a common theme - 14 of them - for £6.86 (yes, that is in fact 99p a track). Not a typo.
I'm on my second set.
First set was called 'Filmed in Super-8'. Utterly magical. I listen to tracks in bed. Just mesmerizing.
Second set, today, is 'Dubstep Hybrids'. A little more challenging. But hey, we're experimenting here. For £6.86.
Have a go...
As a bonus, the web site is beautiful and informative. This whole thing is web 2.0 for me. More please.
OK, so I'm in between cameras at the moment... but the insurance company has come up with the goods (vouchers) so I can buy some gear (any gear).
Right now though, as you can see, I don't seem to be able to share pictures. Something to do with by backup / restore.
What happened last time, in February when I lost the HDD, I had a bootable backup and all came back including cookie-saved passwords... This time that didn't work. New Mac OX? New and better h/w? Dunno. I had to restore via the OS X 'new install' process. Seems to restore everything except passwords and crucially application serial numbers. For most apps it hasn't been an issue. But image uploading here seems to be knackered.
Anyway, another problem is the 500MB of spam comments that I have accumulated. And can't delete en-masse. Not knowing that this was the root cause of my host disk allocation filling up I have upgraded my host a/c capacity at considerable expense. Hmmm.
I'm looking at moving (again) this site to another environment. It seems to me that nobody is using MT4 and that allof the goodies that I moved to MovableType for are not ported to MT4 and are sitting quite hapily in MT3-land with no prospect of going the distance. And there is scant user-support / knowledge of MT4 so I think I need to move again.
Wordpress has come up as a possible and they have importers for MT and even GretMatter (where my secret blog is hostd). So...
Maybe.
Right now though, as you can see, I don't seem to be able to share pictures. Something to do with by backup / restore.
What happened last time, in February when I lost the HDD, I had a bootable backup and all came back including cookie-saved passwords... This time that didn't work. New Mac OX? New and better h/w? Dunno. I had to restore via the OS X 'new install' process. Seems to restore everything except passwords and crucially application serial numbers. For most apps it hasn't been an issue. But image uploading here seems to be knackered.
Anyway, another problem is the 500MB of spam comments that I have accumulated. And can't delete en-masse. Not knowing that this was the root cause of my host disk allocation filling up I have upgraded my host a/c capacity at considerable expense. Hmmm.
I'm looking at moving (again) this site to another environment. It seems to me that nobody is using MT4 and that allof the goodies that I moved to MovableType for are not ported to MT4 and are sitting quite hapily in MT3-land with no prospect of going the distance. And there is scant user-support / knowledge of MT4 so I think I need to move again.
Wordpress has come up as a possible and they have importers for MT and even GretMatter (where my secret blog is hostd). So...
Maybe.
Can you see this?
Yeah, if you were keen you will have seen these on flickr, but I need to get something up for those who didn't.
Police were brilliant; insurance were cool... Gear is creeping back. Bought replacement Mac last night. Restored from backup (have you backed up recently?). Back in business - Quickly and easily. Yes, I have lost data, photographs... BUT, with this being the second time in six months to 'lose' my Mac, I'm probably going to go for wireless backup - I need it to be thought-free. It costs though.
Anyway, I'm back.
Pictures back soon. Analogue pics sooner too as a stop gap.
Anyway, I'm back.
Pictures back soon. Analogue pics sooner too as a stop gap.
