Monday, November 05, 2007
Last weeks news was a 32 inch High Definition Sanyo tv to go with the PS3.Much visual coolness.
This weeks news...
Blackpool.
Steve 1:54 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, September 29, 2007
"You likez collah? Is matching eyez.
You feelz my powah!!!1"
"OMG! I can't move!!!"
Steve 12:48 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, September 22, 2007
We went for a short trip just outside of town this evening so I could have a play with my new camera.These are the first half decent results.
All of these look better in larger sizes. Click the images to view them on Flickr, then click the "all sizes" button the pics, to get larger versions.
Several of these pics have been processed on Photoshop CS3, as if it wasn't obvious. I'm liking this software as much as the camera.
Steve 4:23 AM [+] (2) comments
Friday, September 14, 2007
Busy busy busy, work work work, etc etc....So, it was my birthday a week or so ago, and among other cool pressies, I recieved a Sega Nomad (handheld genesis) from Andrea, which is incredibly cool, and in the uk at least, rather rare.
In other news, after much messing around with another supplier, resulting in a cancelled order, I placed an order for a new camera... a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ50. It should arrive tomorrow, or monday.... certainly no later than tuesday.
Impatient? Me?
Never!
I want it!
Is it here yet?
Also, I've been messing around a little with last.fm, and found I can do this...
Benway Radio Mk II, or something. All the tunes this thing plays are ones in my collection, if I'm not mistaken, so no randomly chosen rubbish that I didn't select.
Enjoy.
Labels: camera, consoles, photos
Steve 11:09 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, July 30, 2007
Predictably, shortly after sorting out our email problems, our isp threw a serious wobbler, and refused to function at all.This was unfortunate timing, as it came a couple of days before we went on a short break, so till now, no-one has known why my cam and chatroom have been dead, emails haven't been answered, etc.
So anyway... the city of Hull has been generally recognised as the worst place in England.
We decided to find out if the reputation was warranted, and booked a few days in The Quality Royal Hotel, right in the heart of Hull.
These photos might suggest that the place is as bad as people say it is, but there's more...
And then when you begin to explore the surrounding area, there's still more...
Click the images for larger versions.
So, the hotel was absolutely fantastic, and is highly recommended, and as for the reputation of the town... no warranted at all, as far as we could tell.
Labels: holidays, hotels, photos
Steve 9:13 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Finally, after several days extremely tedious work, the Benway's Favourites section of the photo gallery is finished.68 photos, some of which are on flickr, and some which have been, but aren't any more. Some which are already in the gallery, all will be... and some which may have been seen in this blog. Some have never been seen before.
Anyways, check it out.
Can I take a half decent photo?
Labels: photos
Steve 3:44 PM [+] (1) comments
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Another new section completed in the photo gallery.This time it's Miscellaneous and Pets. Just a few pics that wouldn't fit in any other sections of the gallery.
Next will be "Benway's Favourites". The title says it all really, and it'll feature my fave pics from all the sections of the gallery, including the sections that aren't actually completed or uploaded yet.
I just think since my best pics are the more recent ones, and I've been working on the gallery 'oldest first', that this would be a good way to get some better photos on there.
It'll be around 60 - 70 pics, when it's done, so expect a couple of days wait for this one.
Labels: photos
Steve 4:46 AM [+] (0) comments
Monday, July 09, 2007
More work on the photo gallery.Firstly, a new section... Worksop and Clumber Park. These are new, in that they haven't been on my old netfirms gallery, and probably not flickr either. They're actually a couple of years old, and what with poor light and a fairly indifferent camera, they're nothing special.
Other changes to the gallery... Since all the functional links to sections of the gallery were right at the bottom of the page, I've removed all 'non-live' links to sections that haven't been completed yet. So now the only links to be seen are the ones that you can actually click on.
I've also made it so that you can click through from one section/catagory to the next/previous... but also so that you can click right through from the first photo in the gallery, to the last. You no longer have to go back to the main gallery index.
Labels: photos
Steve 2:59 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, July 08, 2007
More additions to the photo gallery.This time its the Zoo Visits and Steam Rally pics.
And just for a change, apart from the few steam rally pics, these photos, and everything that follows, are pretty much unseen.
One or two will have appeared in this blog, or on Flickr, but mostly, this is new material... even if it has been sitting on my pc's hard drive for several years.
Labels: photos
Steve 3:47 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Another website update.I've completed the Devon and Dorset section of my photo gallery.
Few of these photos are new, so anyone familiar with my old gallery on Netfirms (not Flickr) will have seen most of them... though not all.
Work continues on the next section.
Labels: photos
Steve 3:18 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, May 20, 2007
This afternoon we found ourselves in the small village of Bole, near Retford in Nottinghamshire, with the purpose of picking up a projector screen.Now whenever we go anywhere at all, I've taken to taking my camera along for the ride, as you never know what you might see on the way.
Allow me to sidetrack for one moment.
Having grown up in and around Milton Keynes, where if there are any nearby power stations, I certainly don't know about them... I've developed something of a fixation for power stations.
Something about their size, and how they dwarf everything around them, especially when they're stuck in the middle of the countryside... it really puts the zap on me.
Now, getting back to the original story...
Fascination for power stations, camera in hand, car travelling through Bole... this can only result in one thing.
Well... two, as far as this blog is concerned.
Labels: photos
Steve 8:37 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 19, 2007
This afternoon we took Max and Bailey out for a walk together. This is nothing too noteworthy in itself, except it's the first time we've let them off their leads.I was a little nervous... having visions of them both romping off across the fields and into the sunset.
I needen't have worried. They both stayed within a reasonable distance of us, and loved every moment.
While we were out, we wandered through a small piece of woodland, and me being me... took photos almost every step of the way.
Most of the pics came out fairly mediocre, but one in particular, after an ammount of tinkering, I'm really pleased with.
It looks better when viewed bigger.
Steve 12:38 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 15, 2007
I went for a wander down the road yesterday, as the photography bug had me firmly in its grasp again.At first glance, Worksop doesn't appear to have too many photogenic locations, but when you get a feel for the character of the place, it's surprising what you can come up with.
So... I went to the derelict Victorian pumping station, and these are just a couple of the better, though not best, shots I took.
The best have been submitted to Fotolia, so if they don't get accepted there, I'll put them on flickr too.
A quick walk along the canal just across the road seemed in order too.
Click the images to see larger versions of the photos.
Steve 10:45 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, April 06, 2007
Work on the laminate floor was completed a few days ago, and shelf units constructed and promptly filled with consoles and computers.So, what was once a rather chaotic bedroom is now...
..."The Games Room".
Labels: computers, consoles, photos
Steve 6:11 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, February 24, 2007
I've been working on the photo gallery again, and have just finished uploading the London Photos.These are nothing new, and most have already been seen on my old gallery, but I just thought I'd mention it, so people know I'm not totally neglecting the site.
Labels: photos
Steve 4:52 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, February 18, 2007
I've been rather a busy chappy, uploading photos to fotolia.co.uk.This is a very handy place for photography enthusiasts, as if you have lot's of high quality photos, you can sell them as royalty free stock photos, for use by web designers, catalogue publishers, and various other commercial companies or organisations.
Obviously there are limitations, like the photos must be at least 2 mega pixels, they can't fature recognisable corporate logos or any other copyright material, and any models must sign a consent form.
Even so... for someone like me who takes billions of photos, this is a great oportunity to try and make a little more cash from what is just an enjoyable hobby.
You can check out my stock photos on fotolia here.
There won't be many yet, but the numbers will increase as more are accepted into the database.
.... okay... there don't appear to be any yet. Hopefully they'll be on there soon. That or I've dont the link wrong.
If there are none showing in a couple of days, I'll have to look into that.
Labels: photos
Steve 5:55 PM [+] (1) comments
Monday, January 29, 2007
Most wonderful weekend ever!As planned some time ago, we went to Scarborough, and stayed at The Grand Hotel... a Victorian hotel that when it was built, was the largest in Europe.
The place is very quirky and slightly odd, seeming to be trying to stay true to its history, while functioning on a tight budget in a modern era.
So while the architecture is very grandiose and impressive, the actual decor is either looking rather tired, or somewhat dubiously chosen. What is it with all that blue? Certainly not horrible... just peculiar.
The staff were *very* good though, being both friendly and helpful.
Our room was quite an odd mishmash too, combining a victorian feel, with some later art deco furnishings, and plenty of that ill advised blue. The floor boards added real comedy value too. Creaky? Yup. Much fun.
This probably makes it sound like it wasn't really much good, but that would be doing the room an injustice. While quirky, it was very comfortable, had a warm atmosphere, and the most awesome view.
Looking south, we could see down the beach, and had a great view of the Victorian bridge spanning the valley...
...while looking east, we could see out over the harbour.
At dinner that evening, it appeared we'd been upgraded, as while we'd got our room at a bargain price, we were dining in the hall reserved for premium guests. Yay!
The experience was actually a little confusing, as the soup starter, which was absolutely wonderful, was served to us at our table... while the main course was self service from the carvery, and turned out to be a little unspectacular.
For what we were paying though, it was excellent... just slightly bemusing.
On saturday morning, before breakfast, and while Andrea was still asleep, I went for a walk with my camera.
It was very cold, but the sun was just rising, and there were some very dedicated surfers already on the beach.
I walked along the beach towards the town and took a wander round the harbour.
Time was getting on and I needed to find a florist, so I headed into town (or so I thought), only to get completely lost, and end up at the very top of the hill by the castle.
Though I hadn't actually planned to be up there, and I'd already been out much longer than intended, I couldn't help but be impressed by the view, and how The Grand completely dominates the bay.
Anyways, I made my way back down into the town, and after asking for directions several times, I finally found a florist, from which I bought every last red rose they had.
On returning to the hotel, Andrea and I went down for breakfast, and I have to say, this turned out to be quite excellent.
Then to the serious business of shopping, and some very specific shopping it was too. We must've checked out every jeweler in Scarborough, but it was worth the walk.
Rather than walk directly back to the hotel, we went down the hill and took a walk along the sea front, which for January was surprisingly lively, and then along the beach.
So, as we walked along the almost deserted sand, under the lights of the seafront, and in view of the impressively lit Grand Hotel, I took Andrea's hand, dropped to one knee, and said "Andrea.... Would you do me the honour of being my wife?"
She said yes. :D
Having already bought rings together earlier, Andrea knew I was going to propose... and it was the whole point of the weekend in Scarborough, but the actual moment... it was very special.
We exchanged rings. Andrea's is gold with a diamond cluster. Mine is a white gold ridged band with 6 diamonds embedded around it.
We headed back to the hotel, where I presented Andrea with the roses I'd bought in the morning, (the hotel staff were fantastic and went to some trouble trying to find a vase for them, though after much searching, a water jug served the purpose finely), and we drank the best champagne I've ever tasted, in some very nice glasses... a lovely gift from friends and colleagues of Andrea's.
The next morning, before breakfast, I went for another walk with my camera. I'm still learning how to get the best from the thing, so while some shots that should have been excellent came out blurred, some are as breathtaking as the views themselves were.
Scarborough has sunrises that make getting up early compulsory.
After another great breakfast, it was back off up to our room to pack. Checking out was at 10am, and we were pushing it, but it's hard to hurry to leave such a great place.
Just before we left the room, we paused at the window to watch the surfers on the beach.
Yup.
Best weekend ever.
And best of all.... We're engaged!!!
Labels: holidays, hotels, photos
Steve 6:00 AM [+] (4) comments
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
So today I was intending to start taking photographs of my retro computer and console collection to put on my website.Unfortunately, I had a little 'help' from two small furry animals.
Cat started helping by climbing up my legs and onto my shoulders... claws all the way. I figured this would be easilly sorted by shutting him in the shower room with some food for a while.
And so it was.
Trouble is, Milo, who doesn't have that climbing up people tendency, decided he was going to help too. His method was considerably less painful, but no less effective.
Kittens continually swiping at the legs of a camera tripod are quite wonderful if you have a liking for blurred photos, but not so good if you want crystal clear shots to put on a website.
I'll try again tomorrow, but this time, I'll do the shots downstairs in the living room.
It'll mean a lot more toing and froing with assorted consoles and computers, but provided I keep Max out of there, I should suffer from a lot less animal interference.
Labels: animals, cats, computers, consoles, photos
Steve 5:07 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, December 31, 2006
I've mentioned the various pets in this house on occasion, so I figure it's time I formally introduced them all.This is Cat, who you've seen here once before.
He's grown a lot since the last photo I posted here, and oh yeah... that's a wardrobe he's standing on top of. He gets everywhere.
This is his brother, Milo.
Milo has a prettier face than Cat, and a less aggressive temperament, but he's not as bright
This is Whisper.
The photo doesn't really do her any justice.
Whisper's an incredibly sweet cat, with the most amazing purr... she trills when she's really happy. She's not a very bright cat, which can be funny. Fill the food bowl right in front of her, and she'll still bug you for food, till you show her that the bowl's full.
This is Farl.
For all that he may look a little like Whisper, he's by no means a sweet animal. In fact, he's usually downright horrible. He's mean to all the other cats, swipes at anyone who dares to stop stroking him, and frequently teaches Max, the puppy, exactly who is boss.
For all of that, apart from Cat, he's my favourite moggy in the house, largely because he's a really good lap cat.
This is Ellie.
Despite her expression in this photo, Ellie's a really sweet cat, but very neurotic. She'll stand on your lap, but won't sit down, preferring to walk round and round while you stroke her, sticking her tail in your face, and licking your hands.
This is Chloe.
She's an absolute princess, and woe betide anyone who forgets it.
The cat's food bowl is kept up on top of the washing machine, so that the dog doesn't eat it, and Chloe will sit on the floor looking up at it wailing, till someone lifts her up to it. However, if there's no-one around, she'll jump up to it, no problem.
Oh, and don't ever dare rub her tummy, no matter how appealingly she offers, coz she'll rip your hand off.
This is Little'n (LittleUn?)
He's a very bright little moggy, and in cat terms, something like a teenager in temperament. He'll be all over you and affectionate as you like, when he feels like it. The rest of the time, he'll completely ignore you.
And awkward? You better believe it. Whatever's least convenient for you is what he'll want to do.
This is Chester.
Sadly, this is a very poor photo of him, but I didn't want to startle him with the flash, as he's a very nervous moggy.
We don't see much of Chester, as he prefer's to stay in Andrea's oldest daughter's room.
Pity really, coz he's a really huge, incredibly sweet cat, with a head that looks like it belongs on a gorilla's body. Oh... and he's completely gay. How can such a huge moggy have such a wussy voice? The kittens have deeper voices.
And finally, here's Max, having grown a bit since the last photo I posted here.
He's turning out to be a really good dog, especially now he's mastered the finer points of house training. Lively, but not insanely so, he's learned the basic commands like sit, lay, paw, and NO!
Labels: animals, cats, dogs, photos
Steve 12:32 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, December 30, 2006
So then, now all of that's done and dusted... Christmas, and the run-up to it.On the 21st, Andrea and I went back to Milton Keynes for a couple of days, mainly to drop off pressies for my family, but also to do a spot of shopping.
As it's a damned long journey, we figured it'd be better if we stayed the night in a hotel, and while we'd initially booked a room at Newport Pagnel services, at the last minute, Andrea managed to get us a room in The Cock Hotel in Stony Stratford.
This was ultra cool for two reasons.
Firstly, Stony Stratford is my absolute favourite place in the whole world, and at Christmas, with all of the lights up, the place is absolutely magical.
This pic really does the place no justice at all, but you get the idea.
Secondly, we've stayed at The Cock Hotel before, and though on that occasion, our room was a little shoddy, we really liked the atmospehere of the place. So this time, we were thrilled to bits when we got a vastly better room for an absolute knock down price.
As you can see, the room was a decent size, with a double bed, decent sized sofa, HD TV, and wonderful decor and general ambience.
Now if that was all, I'd have been impressed, but the view from the window was really good too. Maybe if it hadn't been Christmas, it'd have been a little less impressive, but as it was...
This was the view looking directly out and down, while looking up the street a little...
So that's the run-up... what about Christmas itself?
Great day.
The build-up to Christmas is always pretty stressful, or at least, I find it so... so the fact that Christmas day was a really chilled and relaxing day was a real bonus.
With Andrea's 3 offspring all in attendance, it was a full house, with much food, drink, pressies, and tv. Just how things should be.
What did Santa bring me?
Among lots of other really cool stuff, top pressies were a Colecovision (early 80s games console... expect to find details in my Consoles And Computers section in a week or so), some books on photography and historic buildings, and Top Gear DVDs which repeatedly caused me to wake Andrea, coz I kept laughing at them, watching with headphones while she slept.
Yup... top Christmas.
Labels: Christmas, holidays, hotels, photos, Stony Stratford
Steve 9:12 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, November 24, 2006
As some of you may know, we live in a seriously animal filled house.Well, recently, Tess, probably the sweetest poochy you could ever hope to meet, had become ill, being sick quite frequently. The vet said it was largely down to her age, and that her kidneys were starting to fail, but that she probably had a reasonable ammount of time left.
Unfortunatly, in her weakened condition, her hind legs gave out on her, after which she declined rapidly.
I sat up with her for most of monday night, as she was having a rough time and getting quite distressed, and by tuesday evening, the family decided unanimously that as she wasn't going to get any better, it would be wrong to let her try and struggle on.
So around 6 o'clock we took her to the local vet, who's known her for years, and he helped her to slip away peacefully.
We miss you hugely Tess. A pooch in a million.
Needless to say, we've all been very upset, and Andrea, who's had her for 15 years is absolutely heart broken.
So, knowing full well that it's impossible to replace Tess, but also that something was needed to fill the huge dog shaped hole in the house, Andrea and I went to the local dog sanctuary this afternoon.
The idea was that we'd just look at adult dogs of around a year or so old, without actually intending to bring one home. Once there, we looked along the line of kennels, and though there were a couple that were nice, they didn't really shout out to us "I'm your dog!"
Now when we arrived, the guy who was taking us around had asked if we wanted a puppy, as they had one left from a litter, but we'd said no, we wanted something older. However, for the sake of completeness, just before we left, we decided to take a look at said puppy anyway.
You know... as we wakled up to the cage/hennel he was in, he came running up to the bars, and the instant we saw him, we knew, this was our dog.
So, welcome Max (aka Max Poopy, as he produces maximum poopage), the cutest little Staffy cross.
Labels: animals, bereavement, dogs, photos
Steve 12:50 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, November 03, 2006
Ye-gods, what a day. I've never known one quite like it for animal related mayhem.The day started being greeted by Cat, dragging his arse along the carpet. A sure sign that he'd left us a present... but I couldn't find one.
Later, he enters a battle of wills with me over where he was gonna pee. He said the bed. I said his litter tray. I won, but only after removing him from the bed in the nick of time.... 5 times.
At lunch time the dog decided to throw her guts up right in front of me, while I was eating. Needless to say, I moved upstairs to the bedroom to finish my meal.
Unfortunately, while I was eating, I spotted the gift Cat had left for us earlier.
We're now minus one rug.
So having sorted everything out, I make myself comfortable and sit down to watch a film, only to be interrupted by the postman, bringing two armfulls of parcels. Now that isn't animal related, but the feathers floating all over the place as I brought the parcels in were. One of the other cats... the small stripey one, I'll wager, had caught, killed and eaten a pigeon, and scattered it's feathers over the entirety of downstairs. I have photographic evidence to prove the scale of the featherage.
So.... what's next? The day is still young.
What next indeed.
Seems reports of the bird's demise were somewhat exaggerated.
Not a pigeon either.
Labels: animals, cats, dogs, photos
Steve 3:04 PM [+] (0) comments
So many things I should've blogged about.
Holidays and long weekends, birthdays, exotic additions to my computer and games console collection.
None got a look in, in the end. I've just been too occupied with life.
This one just has to get a mention though
After around 15 months since Stupid went awol, Andrea decided it was time I had a new cat. So along with his brother, who's gone to Andrea's older daughter, Andrea brought home this little bundle of mayhem.
His name's Cat. Pretty imaginative, huh?
Steve 12:32 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, September 08, 2006
Some time around 11pm tonight I poked my head out of the back door, noticed it was more or less a full moon, and that the sky was perfectly clear."Fancy going out for a drive later, to do some midnight photography?" I asked Andrea.
Now you'd think that considering she had to be up not long after 7 in the morning, that she'd tell me I'm having a laugh.
Not so.
And better than that... she knew exactly the places to take me.
Roche Abbey, between Oldcotes and Maltby in South Yorks. Around 12:30am.
Conisbrough Castle, in Conisbrough, South Yorks. Around 1am.
What a marvelous girlfriend.
Steve 3:12 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, September 01, 2006
We've just returned after several days in Lowestoft, near Great Yarmouth.Predictably, there are new photos on my flickr page, of which, these are a few examples.
Steve 5:22 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Here are a few pics taken while experimenting and getting to grips with the new camera. These were just tinkering shots, so I could figure out how the aperture and shutter speed worked, and while the results aren't something I'd put on flickr, I figure I'd like to let people see them here.
No prizes for figuring out who this is. Self timers are handy things.
This is the kitten cleaning himself, with a 5 second or so exposure time.
This is my street at around 1am. No flash and no photoshop processing.
The back garden, in the rain at 2am. No flash, and no visible ambient light. It was quite literally pitch black to the naked eye. This shot used f2.8 aperture, 30 second exposure and ISO 200 'film'. Again, no photoshopping to boost the brightness.
Steve 1:17 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Wales then.I was gonna blog while we were there, but my pda blogging software didn't want to co-operate.
So now I'm too lazy to write a full account, and am just gonna do my usual thing... post a few photos and tell you to go look at the rest on flickr. Click that animated flickr link image down there on the left, or click the images here.
Steve 1:45 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, July 27, 2006
There are a few new photos on my Flickr PageHere's just one of them.
I'm using flickr just to preview new pics... not posting all of the best ones. Everything will be going into the photo gallery on my new site, when I get the time to finish it.
That's proving quite hard though, coz I'm taking more photos than I can keep up with... going away for a week in Wales soon, and that should be a real photofest.
Steve 4:09 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, May 21, 2006
We spent the weekend half way between Milton Keynes and Northampton, which was handy, coz it meant we could visit both my mum, and my sister and her family.The hotel was... interesting.
We stayed in The Falcon, in Castle Ashby, having a room in 'the anex', which was in fact a cottage a hundred or so yards from the hotel itself. The building was pleasantly quaint, and the staff efficient and friendly. As per usual, we got our cheap deal on the cost of the room, and a good job too.
Why a good job too?
Well... the staff being pleasantly efficient pointed out that the resteraunt had closed when we arrived, but that we could have a sandwich if we liked, and they'd bring it to our room. Great we said, and ordered a ham salad and cheese salad.
They were very nice sandwiches, and it was really nice of the staff to bring them the hundred yards to our room, but.... *** £8 *** for a sandwich?
That's nearly half the price of the room for a night.
Oh well.
Yup... lovely place, but if you should ever stay there, unless you're absolutely loaded, eat somewhere else, or take your own food.
Anyways... this is the view from our room.
Pretty.
Walking down country lanes in the very early hours, in the pouring rain is pretty fun y'know. It's SO dark.
Oh yeah... chatting on irc while travelling up the M1 is quite an enjoyable novelty too.
Yup. That was an enjoyable weekend.
Steve 9:09 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, May 13, 2006
I have a new toy... probably the ultimate toy for your everyday gadget freak.The T-Mobile MDA Pro... this thing is a 3G videophone, a camera, a sat-nav unit, a movie and music player, and an entire internet connected pc in your pocket. It's actually easier to list what it doesn't do than what it does.
So it doesn't make toast or do the laundry, but it's got pretty much everything else covered.
I bought it for 3 main purposes, largely related to the frequent siteseeing trips and short holidays Andrea and I are going on lately.
The Sat-nav will get us there without getting lost, and then I can blog our visits and journeys, including photos, while we're still there, instead of having to wait till we get home.
I also wanted to be able to go into irc chat from wherever I feel like... such as in the middle of a field out in god knows where. So when I get my new chatroom set up, you may find yourself chatting to me while I'm sitting at the top of a hill out in the peak district... assuming I can get a signal.
The only faults I can find with it are the backlight, which has an annoying habit of not turning on when you power up, so you have to go into settings... and the browser. Pocket Internet Explorer may look nice, but it has no java script support, which makes it impossible to use blogger. Duh!
Obviously I found a way around this. I installed Opera.
I could go on all day about this thing but bleh. Just go out and buy one. Your internet usage will never be the same again.
Labels: gadgets, MDA Pro, phones, photos
Steve 11:41 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
This weekend we went back to Leamington Spa, Stratford Upon Avon, and Warwick... where we went to Warwick Castle, since we didn't have time last week.
Lemme tell you, getting up the tower to take that photo was *scary*. 530 steps didn't exactly make it easy either.
This photo is one of the many new ones I've added to my flickr site, so go click that flickr image thingie down on the bottom left and take a look.
Steve 2:44 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 23, 2006
More travelling again this weekend.First, Kenilworth, where we saw the ruined castle, built by the Normans and extended by the Tudors, and then ruined after the civil war...
...a walk through the churchyard of the ancient Norman era church...
Then on to Leamington Spa...
followed by the historic town of Warwick.
Labels: castles, holidays, photos
Steve 10:38 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Okay, so I didn't get round to blogging about the brighton holiday, but if you took a look at the pics on flickr, you could probably figure it out yourself anyway.Along the same lines, we went for a trip into the Derbyshire dales today, so here are just a few of the awesome photos I took.
Expect better quality versions on flickr at the start of next month, when I have a new bandwidth allowance.
So, I may not live in the most wonderful town on earth, but living within spitting distance of places like this, and having a wonderful girlfriend who'll drive to god knows where, just for the hell of it, life really is good :D
Labels: photos
Steve 3:42 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, March 11, 2006
We went to a place called Gainsborough today, just to see what was there.I took loads of photos, so if you wanna see what we saw, go click the link to my Flickr album, down on the left, or click here for the slideshow.
Labels: photos
Steve 10:22 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Deluxe Paint 4 on a PSP?
Bwaaahahahahaha.
I love this thing.
Labels: consoles, emulators, photos
Steve 9:50 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, February 10, 2006
There's 3 new photos on my flickr photo album. You can get there via the link down on the left, should you wanna take a look.(Edit)That link is no longer there, as this is a new template, so click here instead.
Labels: photos
Steve 11:43 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, November 20, 2005
This afternoon/evening we went back to Sheffield to see the turning on of the christmas lights.We got rather sidetracked, wandering round and exploring the city centre area, so by the time we got back to where the lights were, they were already on.
No biggie.
I got a couple of great photos though.
Here's one of them.
Steve 6:42 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, November 19, 2005
This is 2 photos I took last week in Sheffield, put together in Photoshop.
The join isn't too hard to find if you look for it, (though no, it isn't down the edge of that building in the foreground... there's some odd perspective stuff going on here) but I love the end result.
Labels: photos
Steve 6:54 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Two noteworthy things for this post.First the bad stuff.
I'm having serious problems with my right eye.
I dunno if there's something in it, or if it has an infection, but it's been rather painful for about a week, and then friday eveing it flared up and became extremely bloodshot and sore. There's a very gritty feeling, so it could be that there's something in it.
This morning it watered like an absolute bitch, and I found some grit in the fluid, so that may be it, but I can't be sure. Right now it still feels gritty and the vision in it is extremely cloudy, though it's not hurting so bad.
I'll give it a couple more hours to see how it goes, and if there's no improvement, I'll have to go to A and E at the hospital, to get it looked at.
Truth is, I almost certainly should have done that 2 days ago, but I have an incredible fear of having my eyes poked at, or anything going near them, stemming back from an experience I've blanked all memory of, when I was a child.
Now the good stuff.
In town yesterday we happened to look in the retro gaming shop, and I had half a mind to pick up a Sega Game Gear. That being a rather unremarkable piece of gaming history, I wasn't really too fussed about it, but since they have one going very cheap, I figured what the heck.
However, in the window they also happened to have one of these...
That's a PC Engine GT handheld... and I absolute*had* to have it.
Why so excited about something that looks like an oversized black gameboy?
The PC Engine GT is the handheld version of the NEC PC Engine... a very successful console in Japan, later released into the US as the GT Express, where it had only very limited success, and never officially imported into the UK or Europe.
To say they're rare in the UK is a major understatement.
The retro gaming magazine I have prices them between £100 and £200, and the only one I found when looking on ebay (uk) yesterday was in spain, selling for the equiv of £160. I picked this one up for £105, with 2 games... one of which is R-Type, *the* game to play on PC Engine.
Very chuffed.
Labels: consoles, iritis, medical, photos
Steve 9:02 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Saturday night was a crazy night.Unable to sleep, Andrea and myself embarked on a photgraphic expedition.... at 3am.
We started off in Passenham, a village near where I grew up, but after taking only 3 shots, the batteries in my camera died suddenly.
Oops.
After coming back to Milton Keynes to buy fresh batteries from a 24 hour garage, we set off again, to take pics of the ruined Norman age church at Stanton Low.
Obviously, my planning, and memory was a bit off, coz I'd forgotten how long the walk across the fields was to get to the place, and the temperature was minus 3... but get there we did.
I got some very cool pics using the flash, and a few time exposure shots that at first glance appeared to be nothing but black.
Photoshop being the wonderful tool that it is though, I ran one of the black pics through it, and was very surprised at the results. Needless to say, I ran the rest through it too.
Here's my fave of the bunch.
Other stuff....
After 2 weeks and 4 days, I finally finished watching Babylon 5 this morning.
As I've already said, seasons 1 to 4 are awesome, but I had serious reservations about season 5.
Having watched the rest of it... I feel inclined to say to those who might consider doing the same, "don't bother"... except for one thing.
The very final episode is a must see, but wouldn't really work without seeing the rest.
I dunno. Tricky.
Nope. I really don't know what to tell you.
Labels: photos
Steve 9:48 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, February 26, 2005
What a week.Monday started out with a trip to the hospital which left me feeling really angry.
You may recall some months ago I mentioned having a lump ...er... putting it bluntly... on my bollox. Well, the treatment I was given didn't seem to do a whole lot, so a month or so ago I went back to see a different doctor, who decided it was probably an epididimal cyst, and made an appointment for me to go and have an ultrasound scan at the hospital.
So when I got there, talk about being treated like a piece of meat.
There were two guys, one a (greek?) doctor who's only interest appeared to be football, and a techician running the machine, who had all the communication skills of a house brick. To make matters worse, just on the other side of a partly drawn curtain where a bunch of other people who seemed to be using the room as an office, and they kept walking through while I was laying on the bed with my bits out, being poked and prodded at.
So... after being made to feel generally very degraded, the doctor announces that yes, it is a cyst, and I ask if it's anything I should be worried about. his reply was "Yes................. in around 2098." Now excuse me, but when I'm looking for information and reassurance about something that I find quite worrying, especially having been made to feel like a worthless piece of meat that barely warrants a "hello" when they walk into the room, I find having a joke about it not only inapropriate, but downright disgusting.
Anyway, moving on.
On the way home, it snowed, which I rather liked, but I somehow managed to lose my bearings and got lost along the maze of cycle paths on the wrong side of town. Heh.
On the plus side, it snowed all day, and that night I went out and took some photos.
Here's an example....
Certainly one of my better night shoots.
What else have I been doing?
Ahhh.... Babylon 5.
Yup, I've had my eyes glued to the tv, working my way through the box sets for the past couple of weeks... every spare minute I've had. It really is that good.
Saying that... I'm a bit concerned with season 5.
They obviously knew they were gonna be cancelled at the end of season 4, and so basically completed all of the really important aspects of the story, leaving only a few loose ends. They could very easilly have left it right there, and you wouldn't have been left feeling short changed and left hanging.
Then they got picked up by another network, and continued with season 5. Trouble is, having already completed the main story, I was concerned that 5 would feel tacked on... and to be honest, the 4 episodes I've seen so far feel very much like that.
I just hope it improves. I'm not writing it off yet.... but so far, it doesn't look promising.
I've mentioned before that Andrea lives some distance from me. Around 105 miles away, up north, to be a bit more specific, meaning we only get to see each other at weekends.
So, up till now, we've been running up huge phone bills, speaking to each other every night in the week.
Well, we've found a solution to that.
During the week, I tried to initiate an audio chat with Andrea using msn messenger, but it wouldn't let her accept the call as she didnt have a cam or mic. So... next day she goes out and buys a cam and mic, and we duly tried again.
The results were... variable. Cam to cam with no audio was excellent, brilliant frame rate. However, as soon as we fired up the audio, the cam frame rate dropped down to a crawl, and the audio was very choppy, and broke up enough to make holding a decent conversation almost impossible.
I figured turning off the cams would improve the audio, but no... still very choppy and broken. Pity.
However....
For the past year or so, I've been hearing about a program called Skype, which a number of people have been using for audio chat, and have said is *very* good.
So, I figured why not give it a try. It's free, so what is there to lose?
Andrea and I duly downloaded, installed, and signed up to it, and oooh boy, is it ever good.
I've used a number of audio chat programs in the past, all with fairly decent results, but this absolutely stomps all over them. It's way better than phone quality audio. In fact, without exagerating, it's like being in the same room. Better yet, if you buy credits (which I haven't done yet) you can call people's home phone using it, for a fraction of the cost of dialing them on your own phone.
Anyway, to top all of this off, we discovered it's possible to run skype for audio chat at the same time as using msn messenger to run webcams, and the cam framerate is almost exactly the same as running msn webcams with no audio at all... ie, very fast.
The end result was that we can now chat for hours, face to face, with near realtime (and excellent quality) cam images, and audio like we were in the same room.... and all of this costing absolutely nothing.
Good stuff :-)
Labels: annoyed, medical, photos, webcams
Steve 5:21 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Woohoo!!!So I was out doing a spot of christmas shopping when I happened to walk past the retro gaming shop, and they only had the holy grail of retro gamers for sale in the window.
Needless to say I rushed to the bank, rushed back and bought the thing.
What is it?
It's a Vectrex.
This thing was out at around the same time as the Atari 2600 VCS and Mattel Intellivision, back in the very early 80s, and was only available in the uk for around a year... two years tops. To say examples in full working order in the uk are rare as hens teeth is something of an understatement. I've been looking for one at a sensible price for years.
It's got 9 games with it, including Mine Storm which comes built into the console, so though it wasn't cheap, it was a pretty fair deal (no I'm not telling you what I paid for it).
Steve 5:43 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, February 20, 2004
Stupid has a new favourite spot to nap. I laughed my head off the first time he walked across it, coz he didn't know what the hell it was.So, spot the cat...
Steve 8:03 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
As requested by Amy, here's how it looks when you take the doors off a wardrobe and tip it on its side to make a book-case/wall unit, or whatever you wanna call it.
Labels: photos
Steve 4:12 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Take one creatively inclined person, a digital camera, a copy of photoshop and give them a plasma ball lamp for christmas (thanks Dawn :-) )... and see what happens.....
The ball's getting a lot of coverage on my webcam at the moment, coz it's just too cool not to.
Labels: photos
Steve 4:18 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, December 15, 2003
Not a real post today, as there's not a whole lot to talk about... but a photo.This is one of the things I love about where I live... one of the best views across town, anywhere in town... especially at sunrise.
Labels: photos
Steve 8:39 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
What a cool day.Oh yeah... it's my birthday. I'm 35.
How'd that happen?
Things started off as well as they were to continue, with some really cool pressies. Thanks Brigitte and Sis :-)
Next, the plan was to drive up the A5 to a military museum, but when we got there 75 miles later, we found the place was rather... well... crap, hehe.
Not a problem though, as on the way I'd spotted signs for Twycross Zoo, so we decided to pay the place a visit.
It's rather sad to see the levels of boredom some of the animals have to deal with, but still fascinating to see such creatures up close... and with a zoom lense, that can be REALLY close.
When we finally left to go home, I'd flattened the (new) batteries in my camera after taking 134 photos. As expected though, many pics didn't come out well, as not only having to contend with poor light, bars and glass, my camera doesn't handle moving objects too well, and do you think the animals would sit still for a photo?
Needless to say, there will be some very cool new photos in my online album very soon.
Just as a taster, here's one of my fave pics of the day.
Steve 11:04 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, August 11, 2003
Seaside trip number two then...Brigitte, myself, Alicia, Les, Emma, Nickie and Richard... that's two carloads of (allegedly) adult kids piled into two cars and headed off to Hunstanton, Norfolk, on the English east coast.
After the mostly shingle beaches of Devon, Hunstanton beach was a revelation... miles of sand... perfect :-)
After lazing in the sun on what was the hottest day ever recorded in Britain (100 degrees f) we swam (or paddled in my case) in what turned out to be a very warm sea, and then set to making a rather impressive sand castle.
Now, while we were doing this, something very strange happened.
There'd been a nice gentle sea breeze from the moment we got there, just perfect as it stopped us from completely frying under the blazing sun... however, a sudden almost gale force wind blew up out of no-where. I don't mean a sudden brief gust... I mean a continuous very powerful blast of cold air that lasted for maybe a couple of minutes.
Lots of people including myself were quite startled, never having experienced such a thing, and in all seriousness, I looked out to sea half expecting to see an incoming tsunami or tidal wave. Umrellas, wind-breaks, hats, beach towels and anything else not tied down were sent flying and I was hit full on by a very large umbrella.
Needless to say, there was no tsunami, no comet striking the sea, no nuclear strike or any other scary event. All I can conclude is that as the tide turned and started coming back in, it must have pushed a front of cold air back inland which was amplified by the very large cove that forms The Wash... the bay we were in.
The wierdness didn't end there though. The colder water coming in with the tide joining the very warm water, coupled with the now stronger sea breeze combined to form a very thick mist or even fog, transforming the scene from this scene of sun drenched beach to this scene of foggy confusion.
The fog kept coming in waves of cold air and wind for a couple of hours, almost untill the tide was at it's highest, and then things settled back to a more normal sun drenched afternoon/evening.
Weirdness aside, we all had a great and chilled out day, one we'll hopefully repeat on a fairly regular basis. The place is probably the closest piece of coastline to us and well worth the two hour drive.
Steve 5:43 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Finally, here we have the long awaited holiday blog entry.First off, the pics form the London trip are online, starting here. Just click through using the 'next' links at the bottom.
There's 14 or so pics and then you'll come to the Devon holiday pics, so you can either keep on clicking there, or read the full account and click the links here.
The Devon Holiday
We started out at Seatown, where after a drink at the pub, we went for a walk along the beach. After about half a mile crunching through the pebbles, we came to the headland where rocks had fallen from the cliffs... some very big rocks. Looking beyond these, we could see the seaside resort town of Lyme Regis.
So, back into the car and down the coast to... Lyme Regis. The seafront and town centre are classic english seaside resort, with a quaint little fishing harbour.
Next stop was Sidmouth, with beautiful teahouses built into the cliffs, and a castle come resteraunt at the top of the cliff.
At the end of the seafront we found a little bay. Looking closer through the zoom lense of my camera, I could see that the tiny white speck on the side of the cliff was in fact a quaint little cottage. I'd hate to be living there if they had a landslide... something quite common on our coastlines. Turning back, we see the resteraunt/castle from another angle, and then wander back along the seafront to look up at the houses on the hillside. Next, we drove up that very hillside (Steep? You better believe it) and stopped half way up when I caught a glimpse of the town below and just had to take pictures. Seeing the spot we'd been looking up from from such a vantage point was quite something.
Stopping in Budleigh Salterton for food, we were accosted by a very persistant seagull who wasn't at all impressed that we'd eaten without saving it any food. After circling the car for some time and then landing on the roof, the daft bird flew away, so we took the oportunity to head back to the guesthouse we'd booked into that morning. Chimney's in Chideok is a great little 17th century cottage run by Roz and her husband Dave, and if you should ever find yourself in Dorset and in need of a place to stay for the night, you could do a lot worse than look them up.
Our first stop next day was Dawlish Warren, south of Exeter. Not the most thrilling of locations and oddly deserted, possibly because the tide was in. I did find a pretty nice view though, by climbing up onto that rock outcrop in the last photo. The public aren't supposed to go up there, but damnit... if you want to get a good photo you sometimes have to break the odd rule.
We'd been planning to find accomodation in Torquay, but despite a very nice view of Babbacome Bay, the town itself really wasn't our cup of tea.
Off further down the coast then, and a ferry ride across the estuary into Dartmouth.
After finding a room for the night in Stoke Fleming we carried on down the coast road till stumbling across an almost hidden beach in Blackpool Sands, not to be confused with Blackpool on the north west coast. The water, weather and view were fantastic, but the beach itself was fine and not so fine pebbles, and not that comfortable under foot, so after messing about in the water for a while, frying under the hot sun and digging a very impressive hole, we headed south again.
Just down the hill the road to Torcross ran between the sea on the left and a wildfowl sanctuary on the right. Having water on either side of the car felt quite unusual... if impressive. Maybe I'm easilly pleased, `cause we just don't have that kind of scenery around here.
Following the road up from Torcross, after getting lost on numerous VERY steep unmarked roads, we came to the lighthouse at Start Point from which we had a great view across Start Bay. There was an added bonus in going up there, as not only did we get a great view, but it also allowed us to spot several places we'd never have noticed if we hadn't been up there... places like Hallsands.
Having spotted what looked like derelict buildings in the cliff, we consulted the map and headed on down to see if we could get to the place. What we found was a "Road Closed" sign, beyond which was... well... the sea... and this. What had once been a thriving fishing village had been washed away in a storm in 1917, leaving only 2 buildings inhabited today, at some risk to the occupants, and a few ruined shacks.
Next morning saw us making an early start towards home across Dartmoor, the secluded and rugged scenery having a very particular appeal.
Slap bang in the middle of the moors, is The River Dart, starting somewhere above Dartmeet (where we found it), and running down to the coast at Dartmouth where it meets the sea. The rather curious orange/brown colour of the water is caused by the water filtering through the peat of the moors.
Apart from peat bogs, heater, and wide open empty spaces, another common site on the moors is the wild ponies... like this one which decided that our lunch wasn't enough, so it'd eat both me and the car too.
Our final stop before heading directly(ish) home was Avebury Stone Circle. This is a neolithic circle of ditches and standing stones, dating back some 5000 years, surrounding part of the village of Avebury.
We finally arrived home around 9pm after 12 hours on the road, excluding several stops for sight seeing and visiting some of Brigitte's relatives. That's 660 miles over 3 days. Quite a trip, and one we'll both remember for a long time.
Steve 10:57 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, July 28, 2003
The trip to London was great fun.I'm absolutely shattered now... far too tired to tell the story and Brigitte tells it very nicely in her blog, so I'll just show you my fave photo form the trip.
There'll be more great pics appearing in my photo album soon.
Labels: photos
Steve 9:51 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, July 06, 2003
Brigitte rocks.Let me say that again, just in case I didn't make myself clear... Brigitte rocks!!!
See the super funky bath sponge she bought for me in town the other day...
In other news, I watched Terminator 3 today.
How did I see it when it's not released in the uk till August?
*Cough*
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll already know... and if not, I'm not telling.
Anyway, suffice to say the film is very good.
I'd had my doubts about it, Arnie being no spring chicken these says, but he pulls it off really well... better than in T2 in fact.
With all the effects you'd expect and pretty good acting too, the film had a slightly different feel to the last two, probably because it wasn't directed by James Cameron.
It's hard to say what exactly was different... there was more obvious humour, but it seemed somehow more grown up too. The biggest surprise was the ending (no I'm not telling), and I'm not sure if I liked it or not, but it certainly isn't what I've come to expect. Maybe that's why I'm not sure about it.
Steve 10:33 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, May 11, 2003
What an excellent day out.Brigitte, myself, my sister Dawn, her husband Paul, and their daughter Shannon went to the Stoke Goldington Steam Rally, half way between Milton Keynes and Northampton. What follows is the story of our day in pictures... just click the links.
There was a funfair with many traditional rides and attractions, so first off, Dawn and Shannon went for a ride on a steam powered carousel. Next, Brigitte took Shannon on a rickety old helter-skelter. Shannon obviously loved it, while Brigitte's expression speaks volumes... hehehe. Paul and myself then got all manly and indulged in a spot of competative driving on the dodgem cars, which was a right old laugh.
The funfair duly explored, we then went and checked out what the rally was all about... Traction Engines.
As you can see, there was a lot of steam and smoke, and the smell was just amazing. I remember going to this rally as a kid, and even back then, I fell in love with the smell of steam engines. There's more than just traction engines though, pretty much anything steam powered had an example on display, like this steam powered car and this steam roller.
There were plenty of non-steam powered attractions too, with many classic forms of transport being covered, like bond bugs, horse drawn carts, classic motor-bikes and numerous military viehicles.
One of the larger displays was of vintage farm tractors, this one being very old and probably only just at the start of a long restoration, while this one looked like it came out of the ark. Notice the total lack of rubber tyres... you could tell where it had been, 'cause it dug up the grass everywhere it went.
After taking in all the sites, we went and bought some traditional locally made honey, and freshly made bread rolls, and then all headed on home.
Much fun :-)
Labels: photos
Steve 10:24 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, February 13, 2003
As you may know, I'm rather into a spot of photography every now and then. Nothing fancy as such, but put a camera in my hand and I'll take snaps till the cows come home.Well, this rather runs in the family, as not only has my dad always been a keen photographer, but so was my grandad, who developed his own photos in the shed at the bottom of the garden.
So anyway, while visiting my mum yesterday afternoon, I asked if I she still had my grandad's collection of photos (taken in the 40s and 50s) stashed away, as I knew some of those pics would have been shared out among other family members when my gran died. Some of the ones I remember have gone elsewhere, but she still has a large collection of small test prints, probably shots that were never developed full size. She's let me borrow the collection, many of which are so utterly charming, I simply had to scan them, though this did admittedly prove difficult because of their size, being too small to feed into my (non-flatbed) scanner. A little ingenuity did the trick though.
I'm going to put all the pics I've scanned into my online photo album, linked over there on the left, but till then, here's a couple of examples.
This is the street where my granparents lived, and my mum and aunt grew up. I have very vague memories of the place, most of it having been knocked down in the 70s and replaced with some godawful monstrocity of a housing complex.
This is the river at the back of New Bradwell, which still looks much the same today. I love this pic, partly because it's exactly the same kind of photo I like to take myself.
Labels: photos
Steve 5:07 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, January 18, 2003
It's january, right? As in freezing cold, heavy frosts and all the crap that makes the middle of winter suck so badly, right? Certainly not the time of year you'd expect to see daffodils coming up.So WTF is this all about???
I shot this pic this morning, and it's not just a one off. They're coming up all over the place around here.
That's just not right.
Labels: photos
Steve 9:48 PM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, December 26, 2002
What an enjoyable christmas.Good company, good food, fun pressies, fun times.
Things took a very disturbing turn in the kitchen though, as this picture shows...
"Keep drying, or prepare to be probed."
"Er... okay, but can I take this silly hat off?"
"Silence!"
Steve 6:16 PM [+] (