Do I only need one lens for my camera?

A while ago now I bought a vintage lens for my Pentax camera. It was a 50mm f1.4 manual focus that I picked up from eBay for less than $50. It takes beautiful photos, if you get the focus right which was no easy task. I finally saved up (aka finished procrastinating) about getting an auto lens that was similar and picked up a 40mm f2.8 as a compromise.
Turns out that compromise has turned into my favourite lens. So much so that I usually only travel with that lens and nothing else.
In fact I think it's only been off the camera once since I got it.

Sure it doesn't have a zoom but in some ways I think that makes it easier to take photos because there isn't any fussing about it. If its not in shot just take a bit of a walk.

Sent from my iPhone

Good News but more scans...

As the saga continues I had some more good news from the Neurologist ruling out some nasty things which was very good news. Unfortunately I'm no closer to a cause so I'm off for another MRI today and some more specialists.... way to haemorrhage money before Christmas! (Not that I can complain... lots of people are working hard to figure it out)

I want these speakers!

Final Frame: Transparent Sounds
http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/final-frame/final-frame-transparent-sounds-161852

(Sent from Flipboard)

Hiplok; Wearable Bike Lock

These look awesome and would go with my hipster shorts :P

Review: Hiplok; Wearable Bike Lock
http://bikehugger.com/post/view/hiplok-wearable-bike-lock

(Sent from Flipboard)

New commuter tyre

I've been riding the new malvern star single speed convert as my commuter since I got it but I've made a few changes (mainly to reduce the death risk). New brakes and some deep 44mm rims with a decent breaking surface (still purple though to match the rest of the bike) were the first upgrades. It wasn't long though and the tyres were shown the door. A spate of flats and no quick release wheels meant it was time for a tyre with some decent puncture protection.

A nervous day

Today is the day... I'm off to see the neurologist today. I've managed to resist the urge to look at the MRI results simply because if it was bad news a few more weeks of ignorant bliss was nice.

Sent from my iPad

Worrying for the sake of worrying...

So after discovering that it's the waiting that is the most painful part of this whole scenario the worry that has kind of set in. Generally I'm a pessimist at the best of times so in this sort of scenario every little thing seems to be spark a worry in the back of your mind... The inevitable "It's probably nothing.... but what if it's not...."


I'm going to ban myself from "what if's" for the rest of the week I think....

It's the waiting that is the most painful

So after the news of yesterday I went off and had an MRI today. Which as far as medical procedures go was pretty easy. I almost fit in a nap while I was lying there. I think if you had any tendencies for claustrophobia it wouldn't be an y fun at all but for me it was an hour of time with my thoughts (probably a scary place but there is probably a whole post on that in itself). Of course now there is the wait, that time where all the stress of having the tests is replaced with still not knowing any more.

Not the sort of thing you want to hear

Was an interesting day today. I've been seeing the doctor for something that's been annoying but wasn't really impacting me at all. Today though we got to the point where it was suggested that an MRI and a trip to a neurologist would be a good idea.

It's only a precaution to rule out some nasties but it still isn't fun news to here. Let's just say I was a little sad on the walk back.

Somehow blogging about makes it seem a whole lot better..

Sent from my iPhone

The painful transition away from mobile me

As many of you probably know I'm well ingrained in the apple product suite and have been for a while now. The upgrade to iOS5 and iCloud has brought a few challenges. The biggest one for me is photo sharing/storage. Up until now I'd used iPhoto and mobile me gallery for all my photo needs. It integrated perfectly with all the base apps and worked beautifully so that I could take a photo on my phone. Upload it straight away and have it already in my appleTV screensaver instantly.

iOS5 has brought the photo stream which is great because it automatically syncs every photo you take to all my iDevices. The trouble is photo stream is terrible because it automatically syncs every photo you take to all my iDevices.
Now rather than being selective all
My photos including mistakes are up there straight away and you can't delete single photos once uploaded. You can only delete the whole steam.

The other issue is the appleTV which displays it without an issue but the stream only holds the last 30 days photos. And I kinda like being reminded about my younger and less responsible times now most of the photos I take are of my kids (not that I don't love them dearly, it's just nice to know I had a life once)

So I've gone back to my Flickr account and I'm migrating my albums to there. Now before you ask the main reason I didn't choose picasaweb or any other service is the integration to the appleTV. I really like having them float by as I listen to music and it's with the Flickr subscription to keep that going.

Sent from my iPhone

Getting older....

It's inevitable I know... All the birthdays (both big numbers and small) have come and gone and it hasn't really affected me. In fact I love birthdays... presents, cakes and the excuse to be selfish for a day (or more). The fact that it meant I was getting older was neither here nor there, sure I was getting older but I wasn't really feeling older (most people would probably say I still acted like a kid most of the time). Yesterday however that was all different.... I discovered I needed glasses.... suddenly I feel old... really old...

I remember how I used to have time to blog.....

This week sees me return to a week of works travel away from home and I remembered why I used to have time to blog..... Flight time....

It's one of the few times that I'm disconnected from the intertubes leaving me time to just thing and blurt out useless post like this.... The constant connection especially armed with an iPhone and iPad with push notifications there's rarely a few minutes that goes by without a notification or similar distraction. Also having two little ones around (even one of them is only 3 weeks old)means there's always play time to be had because lets face it I'm little more than a kid myself.

The not so little one turned 3 on the weekend and I think I enjoyed his loot stash nearly as much as he did. It's been almost a couple of decades is since I've rattled through a box of Lego (even if it was Duplo) and I'd be lying if I said it was anything but a lot of fun. I can see the will be a lot of Lego purchases in our future.

So..... I guess there should be a bit of a tech update in here as well.... To be honest there hasn't been a lot of tech change recently. The last big change was more a cross/down grade than an upgraded dropping my projector and jamo thx system for a 54" plasma and mission flat panel setup, most of this was driven by the constraints of a child friendly house. The additions to the iOS features for streaming and updates to iTunes has meant that with the existing tech (even an aging G4 cube) can run a streaming environment into every room of the house with ease. The other reason is the tech fund has also seen some other priorities with the ramp up of the cycling.... obsession (it probably is the best description, really) with silicon replaced with carbon fibre as the bulk of the purchases. 

This is probably going to change in the future as I'm really at bike saturation with a carbon road bike and a townie commuter (although this might see a replacement due to logistical child seat issues) and I've missed having the speakers that started the whole home theatre / stereo shopping - the wharfedale floor standing speakers. I'm not saying that I don't want another bike, because a quick look at my eBay watch list would suggest otherwise.. I just can't work out WHY I want another bike and why I want a fixie as well but there is probably a whole post in there somewhere. Back to the audio, the tivoli model two that became my dedicated music setup streaming from an airport express and running the turntable does a beautiful job but I still miss having a pair of big speakers around. Fortunately there is a new stereo store (who specializes in apple streaming) has open around the corner stocking all the brands I love. The tivoli won't be completely retired, the move to the bigger house for the additional little one and to accommodate the semi permanent house guests means I have plenty of spaces that are musicless...

That's about it for this flight although I'm sure I'll fit in another post or two while I'm away.... I'd also forgotten how many people I used to catch up with on flights... Ran into someone I used to do musicals with 5 years ago on the flight this morning.... Weird

Sent from my iPad

New Wheels.... yay...

I agonised over upgrading the wheels on my Kestrel for weeks... after much deliberation and a lot of spreadsheet comparison I decided it wasn't worth the upgrade.

Of course the irony was just after I decided I didn't need new wheels I had an incident and then needed new wheels (along with a few other things). I went for Aluminium wheels as a bit of a compromise over performance, weight and durability becasue I didn't want to have to change my wheels for everyday riding.

I picked a set of SRAM S30 AL Race wheels after a pretty good deal from the bike shop. The downside it took almost three weeks for them to turn up and to be fitted so they haven't had much of a ride but they do look good.

Their big test will come this weekend with the Brisbane to Ipswich Challenge... I'm sure there will be a post review after

EyeTV Netstream DTT: A first look

With my parents moving into the house there have been some rethinks around how my media is distributed around the house (something I've talked about at length here over and over and over again).

The biggest thing was trying to get commercial TV everywhere (not that I really watch that much) with only one antenna point in our master bedroom. With so many iDevices and two AppleTVs in the house the logical solution looked like the EyeTV Netstream DTT.

In reality is hasn't been so perfect though. The setup was quite easy although it failed to work on my G5 iMac (not a show stopper I know but a little annoying) and the installer disk didn't actually work with the Netstream, you had to download a different EyeTV app from the web. Once those hurdles were done though it wasn't all smooth sailing.

I've had nothing but reception issues with the unit. First off I must say that my current Panasonic plasma is running on a $5 set of bunnies ears without a hiccup. The Netstream by contrast can't seem to get more than about 29% even plugged into an external antenna.

One thing that has helped was moving it a long way from my time-capsule with which it doesn't seem to have a good working relationship.

To be fair when I can get enough reception to get a picture it works brilliantly streaming wonderfully to my iPhone/iPad and laptops. I can even airplay it to the AppleTV and the ability to convert to iTunes is very handy. With that said though, with so many receptions issues I'd have some serious second thoughts about adding this as a DVR solution.

Training for a ride?? When did this happen

The weekend gone saw me go on a training ride for the Brissie to the Bay event. This is a first for me... I'm not a big one for training... I guess some where along the way I became a cyclist and this is the sort of thing they do.

It was kinda fun having never cycled that far before, the ride next weekend should be a bit of fun!

I managed to reach my goal so after a call from MS Events I've doubled my current total to see if I could make it before the weekend.... (you can donate here if you feel so inclined)

A big move!

After 6 years in the same place we have packed up and moved (all be it only one floor). I found it pretty sad to move out of our old place. I surprised myself with how emotionally attached I'd become to our old house. Even now I still have no real logical explanation for why, but it made it quite hard (and sometimes stressful) event.

A big thanks though to those who helped me lug all my gear around. It would have been impossible to get it all done without everyone (especially as we didn't have any movers)

Now to the important stuff... all the Tech....

Probably the nicest thing (well for me) is there is now a study to get all the Mac gear setup (including the very nice house warming gift of a G4 Cube).

And the arcade table has it's own dedicated nook which is probably best placement it's had since I'd got it. (Although it does have to share it with the new bike as well, jury is still out as to whether it gets cycloc'd to the wall)

The biggest question at the moment is what to do about rear speakers, the current thought is a wireless solution. The two best options I've found so far have been from JBL and KEF. The JBL one is the current pick (mainly because of price). The JBL WEM-1 looks like it would do the job perfectly but it's still an expensive solution vs tripping over wires.

The other option is to go for a sound bar (and the obvious choice there is the B&W Panorama) but there is a big expense in swapping out all the existing gear I have dedicated for surround sound.

Time will tell...

Pimp My Ride

So I've had my new bike for a little while now (a bit over a month) and I've done almost 500km on it and started the pimping process already.

First of all I managed to track down some Kestrel branded water bottles and holders (which are actually in the shape of the logo).

I then swapped out the tyres because the Slicks made me nervous especially if there was any water around and as the Water bottles and Tyres were red highlighted I continued the trend and added a new Fi'zi:k Antares Saddle in Red with matching handle bar tape to finish off the carbon/red look.

Taking the bike from this

to this

Signed up for a ride and some fund raising thrown in

This year I've signed up to do the Brissie to the Bay ride to support MS. Like a fun run though this fun ride is about raising money.

So if you feel so inclined my donations page is here http://www.msqldevents.org.au/Enerflex-MS-Brissie-to-the-Bay-Bike-Ride-2011/CAMDS

Sent from my iPad

The end of an era?

Could it be? The end of the nespresso? Our Nespresso has started to play up and seems like it's on it's last legs. The odd flashes of the lights warming up doesn't look like a good sign.

It's given us many long years of service (I think maybe 6? And I'd hate to think how many coffees) but maybe it's time to upgrade to one of the Pixie models.
http://www.nespresso.com/pixie/

Sent from my iPhone

Bloggn' from my new phone.

After all the bike talk lately it's about time there were some more gadgets on here.

My old iPhone 3GS finally stopped connecting to the phone network and suddenly became an iPod touch. Having to switch back to my nokia 6110 for a day was enough to get me to walk down to Optus and get a shiny new white iPhone 4.

My screen has been broken so long going to the retina display is just amazing.

The most impressive feature though was the upgrade. Plugged the phone in. Prompted me to say I'd synced a phone on here before and would I like to restore the new one from the old image. Done. Simplest change ever

Sent from my iPhone 4

And the New bike, Stolen bike, no bike saga ends.... with a KESTREL Evoke SL

Well the saga of my new bike is at an end...

A bit over a month ago I took the plunge and decided to upgrade my ancient Apollo RDZ3000 that I'd been riding since before time began. I picked up a very cheap Specialized Festina Team bike from eBay and after one ride was super happy.

Unfortunately after one ride it was stolen from my house and thus the saga. I have to say the response from the Police and insurance company was very quick but sadly the bike was long gone.

The Insurance company came back right on time with a very generous payout considering I'd only just got the bike. The only small issue with them was where I had to source the bike from... Initally I had to get my bike filled from a Melbourne store while I live in Queensland. But after a bit of back and forth we came up with a cash settlement and it was time to go bike shopping.

The purchase happened very very quickly. The day after the settlement was agreed I started my shopping list and narrowing down my specs. But all that went out the window after following Valavien (and complaining about having to go) into Gold Cross Cycles (formally Victor Cycles) in the city.

I wandered past a Kestrel Evoke SL with a price that seemed too good to be true. I knew nothing about them, but I could see the glimmer of carbon weave through the clear coat. I picked it up and it seamed amazing light... A quick search on my iPhone confirmed the SL in the name as Super Light which meant a 7.3kg weigh in. Then looking at the spec the SRAM Rival with double tap and in my size and I hit up the sales guy for a test ride. I love the ride and being nothing more than a weekend warrior on the bike it fulfilled the most important criteria.... it looked awesome in all it's naked carbony goodness.

 So I did the deal then and there. Got a few other bits and pieces thrown including a Garmin edge 500 for a great price of the already amazing price on the bike (but not the Cosmic Carbone Wheels, sorry Tom).

I've since taking it for a couple of spins and had a fit up, I loved the ride of the Specialized but this is something else again. I don't think I could have hoped to get a bike this light and fast for my budget.... but for the money I payed it should be a crime.

Lastly but not least to prevent the same happening to this as to the Festina I picked up a Cycloc and the Kestrel now sits proudly in the hall way safe and sound... not unlike this

So as annoyed as I was to lose the Festina, it's ended very well.. I have a new bike and more than enough cash for some serious tech spending... did I hear someone say iPad 2?

Musing over an upgrade for my turntable

I have no real need but I've started to think about upgrading/replacing the tivoli that is the heart of my turntable setup. I have no real reason. Sure the tuner has started to go but most stations I could stream to the airport express if I'm desperate.

I think the lack of traditional speaker setups in my house has been starting to chip away at my and it's started to form into an idea.

I love the thought of a valve amp running off the B&O turntable to round out the vintage technology. But I'm equally drawn to the simplicity of a Geneva L sitting next to the turntable on a red ikea PS cabinet.

It's nothing more than an idea chipping away at the back of my mind. Hopefully the current bike obsession and purchase will keep the upgrade at bay for a while.

Sent from my iPhone

How late is this post.

Well is so very very close to my birthday and I'm only getting around to a wish list now. Pretty sad really. My birthday hasn't been the big event I normally hype it up to be... Not sure why really.

Anyway onto the wish list. There isn't much that I really want..... Actually that's not try but there isn't a lot of stuff I'm really looking for.

- Another 3 art vinyl storage containers
- It's rare for me to want physical media these days but I TRON Legacy on blu ray I think is a must
- I'd like a 3DS but my DSi is hardly getting any play time. (I still haven't finished dragons quest)
- iPad 2 but really that is because I'm not a fan of sharing the one we've got :)
- new appleTV
- Munchkin card game
- Some New Records
- some new t-shirts (everyone needs new t-shirts)

Sent from my iPad

Apparently cycling is the new golf....

A good friend yesterday was saying to me that the headline article for Men's Style magazine at the moment is "Why cycling is the new golf" and I wondered if I've been pulled into the craze (admittedly while I browsed the web for the replacement for my stolen

I've certainly been cycling for a while, even commuting to work off and on for 10 years but in the last 6 months I've been cycling more than I ever had. Initially I started riding again for cost saving and health reasons. Firstly the cost, the public transport from my suburb is fantastic but for the distance I needed to travel it seemed silly to be spending so much on travel every day (especially when I already had a bike). Secondly health/fitness, there was a fairly big ad campaign (at least in Queensland) about keeping your weight down featuring parents not being able to run after their children and while I wasn't at that stage with the birth of our littleone I wanted to make sure I didn't get there.

Now, however there are some different reasons I head our on the bike more and more, maybe this cycling golf analogy isn't that far off and maybe I'm part of it. Quite a few mornings I meet friends for a ride and a coffee (in a lot of cases the littleone comes along for the ride). Sure we could just go out for coffee in the morning but without the ride there just wasnt the motivation to get up extra early. In many cases I wouldn't normally get the chance to catch up with during the week otherwise.

Some of my oldest school friends started cycling in bunch rides on the weekend and while I'd been on the occasional one here and there it was never a regular thing. It's regular enough now that it's a weekly event and my reason for going is rather selfish (but also largely while cycling works for me for fitness), I can be a little bit competitive (that's also probably an understatement) and with that I like winning. Somewhere along the way I started being able to keep up and then beat the pack on the rides (especially up the hills, which are still my least favorite part of the ride) and this has just spurred me on. The thrill of the being close to the front has been a big driver in going for more rides, trying to make sure I can stay at the front.

So in reality (and reading back over this post) cycling has turned into my "golf" alernative using it to catch up with friends and for the bragging rights at the coffee shop at the end. Maybe I should switch back to HI-FI gear though, I think it might be a cheaper indulgence.

Sent from my iPad

My bike is now "very hot!" - The short life of the Festina

Well it was a bit of a crazy week on the retail therapy rollercoaster....

Last weekend I picked up a bargain bike on ebay. A fantastic Specialized S-Works Festina Team frame.

I took it for a ride on Thursday with Tom (who I have to thank for the blog title inspiration) around a short loop of Brisbane and it felt fantastic... Such an improvement over my much loved Apollo RDZ 3000.

The new bike was a great fit and was just a pleasure to ride, but sadly this trip out was my only chance to ride it.

Finally a showy bike for the coffee shop (Tom's show piece on the right)

On Friday it was stolen from our garage, which was pretty sad. It's covered by insurance and the police have been great in trying to track it down. It was mostly annoying because I'd finally made the decision to spend money on a bike after riding the Apollo for nearly 9 years and the same week the new bike came home it's gone and they also took the back wheel from the Apollo so I'm left road bike less.

They guys I ride with have been great posting the theft around most places and keeping an eye out... hopefully it turns up.

Cycling through obsessions.

I wasn't intending that title to be a pun but I guess one of my current obessions is back to cycling although I'm trying for it not to be a purchase heavy obsession at the moment. The temptation to get a new bike is pretty strong given the age and spec of my bike (especially compared to the rest of the people I ride with) but I seem to be keeping up with them ok at the moment so I'm resisting the new bike urge.
The post was actually because I've come full circle back to photography, trying very hard to not start the audiophile cycle again (yes Andrew I'm looking at you). I haven't bought much for my camera since I the original purchase a few years ago (a pentax k200d) with the exception of a 50mm 1.4 prime fully manual. It takes fantastic and beautiful photos but is a bit hard to focus given the shallow depth of field. It's not bad if you have a plenty of time to setup the shot and focus but now the little one is getting bigger and much faster on his feet it's very hit and miss.
The obvious direction this is going is that I bought a new lens, while is a wider angle than the manual one I have it's nice and compact and still fairly fast at 2.8. I managed to get PENTAX DA 40mm F2.8 Limited fairly cheaply on eBay and I'm hoping that it will be a good auto alternative for my old 50mm.

It does make the camera look a little anemic though

Stay tuned for some sample pics (provided it turns up of course)