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)