Oddly enough. I already live this way. Guess I should stop beating myself up over it.

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Interesting.

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BWAAA ha ha ha !!

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After holding out for a 5D Mark 2. I decided on a 550D instead. Stumped for the two lens kits.

Serviceable lens that get the job done. Especially for sports where the high speed shutter is a huge jump on my old 300D.

Having handled and used both the 5D and 5DMk2. They’re great cameras. The trade-off is weight.

As much as I’ve been tempted by the new micro 4/3rds cameras. The cost of lens and their size offsets the smaller camera bodies.

So the 550D is a good compromise. All the flexibility and capability of an SLR wthout sacrifices.

Canon have said they’ve plans to produce smaller DSLRs in response to micro 4/3rds. I’m definitely interested.

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I’m on a roll.

This is fun because it looks to be actually four or so dancers edited into a troupe.

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This is apparently quite old. Who knew Claire Dane was such a great dancer ?

Ben Lee, totally your loss.

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The full sized mountain bike I’ve got is just too cumbersome. It lacks that certain fun.

The new foldable commuter bikes are sort of what I wanted. But the origami factor isn’t required.

Having some free time, I ran across this. The Cannondale Hooligan. Its a BMX style, three gear urban bike. Left only fork which looks very mod, smaller 20″ wheels and disc brakes.

The thing is, no where is there a Sydney bike store that seems to stock it. At least, judging by their websites. I’ve even fired off an e-mail to the supposed Cannondale Australia. It bounced.

Whats a consumer to do ?

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What a year. My heroes. Creative people who’ve influenced me. Given great inspiration and enjoyment are all passing on.

Gary Gygax, Dave Stevens. Now Arthur C Clarke.

Inevitable but sad.

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The state of the internet on mobile devices is all over the shop. On Saturday we needed to book a restaurant for Sunday night.

We only had the name and the suburb. So I though I’d go to whitepages from my phone browser. Bad mistake. Whitepages came up a mess. Soldiering on I plugged in what details I had but came back with an eye straining mass of gibberish.

Sitting there for awhile to think. What the heck give google a go.

Plugged in the URL. It detected my phone and adjusted the web page to suit my Nokia Navigator. Entered the restaurant name and it comes back with the address and phone number. Not to overdo things, it also returns a map and a link for directions.

Now thats what I call a service. Plus its free !

People may complain about Google being a monopoly. Theres a reason for it though. They really know their tech and they make sure that it works in most given situations.

That little extra care is what keeps them king of search. Plus we got to have a great meal.

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I don’t need or want another login.

I have a document that currently tracks my logins. Note that none of these are work related.

Your app better be darn good is all I can say.

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Whew. The Xmas break has gone by in a flash. Even less time for the normal retrospection.

Last year has had its ups and downs. Plenty of surprises and fun. The boys completed another year of school. The youngest his first. Football featured heavily. Plenty of milestones to be proud of.

A wonderful trip overseas. New sights and experiences in a totally foreign place.

I’ve been fortunate in more ways then I can count. Heres to a new year. New possibilities.

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Returning to normal work day life after holidays. The holiday sheen is still with me.

Everyone talks of the wonderful public transport system in Japan and how terrible the Sydney’s is. Don’t get me wrong, Japan’s transport system is a marvel of precision and capacity.

In all our recent travels, we’ve run into transport issues. Stuck on full trains during peak hour in Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto. Everyone weathered the delays. Despite being three quarters of an hour to two hours behind.

Tokyo was particularly interesting as we’d just finished the afternoon in Ginza and were heading back to Shinjuku to meet some friends for dinner. However the south loop of the Maranouchi line was being held up. Apparently due to an accident.

After a half an hour wait, we opted to go around the Tokyo Metro north loop and hop to a JR line back. Two stops short of Ikebukuro the trains were delayed. Eventually making it back in a little over an hour. Updates on the JR line showed that the southern loop was running by then.

Last Friday I rolled up to McMahon’s Point to catch the six pm rivercat. Unfortunately the Ferry service could only manage a small two decker tourist ferry rented to fill in. Most likely rivercats were in for maintenance.

The problem was its a peak hour service and was full just from picking up in Circular Quay. A lucky few managed to get on before they shifted the gangplank. The public service announcement was that everyone had to wait for the seven pm service. Needless to say there were a huge number of livid people.

Rather than wait, I hopped the bus back up to North Sydney station. Jumped the train to Town Hall and caught a bus to Top Ryde. Walking in the house door at seven fifteen pm.

No mess no fuss. All thanks to a weekly travel pass that entitles me to ride everything.

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The tooth fairy has arrived in the last few months. Number one has been shedding baby teeth. Biology racing through the stages. I can’t keep pace.

He recently got invited to a special school workgroup. Its just the morning but I’m sure it’ll be fun. I’m amazed and proud that he got picked to attend.

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The second season of football has finally finished. The last games played today.

Number two stayed in under sixes. A new team was formed. Two really came into his own. Being the most experienced he powered through every game. On the whole it was great to watch a fresh team come together. Starting from scratch and really getting the hang of the game.

Number one’s team pretty much reformed intact. Coach focussed on team work and strategy. The last few games really showing what they’ve picked up from practice. It looks like we’ll be looking for a new team next year. Some interesting possibilities but we’ll see how it goes.

Its been a hectic marathon of Saturdays. With two going into a separate team, my SO and I have had to juggle transport duties. Each of us only catching a handful of the others games.

All up I can’t be prouder. They both played well and improved immensely. I couldn’t ask for more. Now I have a mountain of video footage to assemble.

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Apologies to my readership (of one?).

I’ve recently upgraded to a newer version of the Tranquility theme. I’m looking to retire Alex King’s wp-photos library so I need to go back and make all the photos accessible again.

Most likely I’ll put them up on Flickr.

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Why is it that hair dressers always want to do the opposite ?

Part left. You should part your hair right.
Hair straight. You need a perm.
Hair curley. You should try straightening.
Normal coloured hair. You need psychodelic colouring !

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Not as useful as the Tardis USB hub.

This is a UV pen with UV light at the end. I’d prefer the telepathic paper but this will do.

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Nothing quite like home cooking. In this case plumbing my mum’s recipes for my favourite childhood (and adult) dishes.

Beef brisket is a great comfort food. One thats light and good anytime of the year.

Best of all it goes well with noodles. Whats not to like.

Unfortunately the camera decided to focus on the side of the pot rather than the contents. Bit hard to tell on the Ixus 400 with its tiny little screen.

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Now this is what flashmobs is all about.

A spontaneous dance routine in the middle of Akihabara.

Yay for a site like Youtube to share this with everyone.

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