Cameras, a broad sheet, and a promise!

30 September 2012

There is a first for me today.  I've just watched a show on the CI channel called Sins and Sinners.  Now a bad show really.  But the 'first came when the cop photographer was shown working the crime scene.  Normally they use a camera where the name is blackout or Nikon/Canon cameras, but today I saw an Sony Alpha camera being used.  Couldn't see one it was mind, but refreshing to see a move away from the C&N usuals.

According to an email I got a few weeks ago both parties we're aiming to get our house sale completed by tomorrow.  When I spoke to our legal team during last week they said that there was no way it would be done by then and that they don't make such promises.  I shall sort out the email soon and see what they have to say about that! 

While I was in town yesterday I bought a copy of the Daily Telegraph.  I really do wish it would go tabloid size; then I would place an order for it on daily basis.  The big surprise was that I managed to get to read all of what I was interested yesterday, with nothing left over for today.  That's rare for me  to be honest, so perhaps it's a good job they are keeping with the broad sheet format ;-)))

For some time I've been on about joining the Disabled Photography Club.  Well, I did do something about and filled out the on-line form but instead of also filling out the payment form I clicked the wrong button.  The administrator emailed to let me know about it and at long last I have now do that part of it too.  All In need now is the membership details to arrive so I can take part.   

And while I am on the photo-theme ... I have come across some worrying reports of the Sony A77 starting to fail after 12 months.  Well, the A77 will be my next camera but seeing the reports on Flicker I got more than a tad concerned.  Well, I posted a question about it on two photo forums I read on a daily basis but without getting any real answers.  There seems to be four issues; a, the difference between what is seen in live view and the finished shot; b, a dull viewfinder; c, slow auto-focus; d, a thin layer of dust on the mirror.  Well, the camera isn't the normal DSLR camera; it has a fixed translucent mirror which would cause the first two.  Slow AF may be down to the battery being low in charge.  As for the dust, well, it's something all DSLR photographers have to contend with when they change lenses.  At least cleaning dust of the mirror will be a lot easier than cleaner the sensor!  At least I hope so ;-)))

Because of all this I had started to look at other choices.  I really do like the new Olympus OM E, and micro four/thirds camera based on the old OM series of 35mm film cameras.  The Nikon D7000 doesn't have the articulated rear screen and I wasn't all that impressed with D5100, a cheaper version of D7000.  I have also been looking at Pentax K-30 - but I need to do more reading up on that one.  At the moment the A77 is still in the lead.

Today's photo is this one ... 

a spiders web on the shed door in the back yard of our house.  This was shot on my current A350.  As you can see, it's still producing some stunning shots, indeed, I've used this one on the cover for my Web of Hate novel.  So perhaps you're wondering why I want to replace it?  Well, it is now four years old and is showing its age.  The technology has moved on now as well.  It really is time to move on.

And so to today's funny ...

A German guy approaches a prostitute. "I vish to buy sex viz you".
"OK"says the girl, "I charge 100 Euro".
"Ist goot, but I must varn you, I am a little kinky".
"No problem" she replies cautiously, "I can do a little kinky". So off they go to the girl's flat, where the German produces four large bedsprings and a duck caller.
"I vant you to tie ze springs to each of your limbs".
The girl finds this most odd, but complies,fastening the springs to her hands and knees.
"Now you vill get on your hans und knees" She duly does this, balancing on the springs.
"You vill please blow zis vistle as I make love to you."
She finds this odd, but figures it's harmless, and the guy is paying. The sex is fantastic. She is bounced all over the room by the energetic German, all the time honking on the duck caller. The climax is the most sensational that she has ever experienced, and it is several minutes
before she has recovered the breath to say:
"That was totally amazing, what do you call that?"

SCROLL DOWN..................

"Ah", says the German, "Four-sprung duck technique".

Jabs, teachers and a new book

29 September 2012

A letter arrived a week or two ago inviting us in for annual flu jab.  So dutifully I arrived at the GP surgery on time this morning.  Opps - I got the wrong week!  It's next week I need to be there.  Jan had hers done during the week when she had a GP appointment.  It leaves me to get mine next week.  My head will never save me legs ;-)))

So, I've just got back from town having had a couple of hours and two pints of Stella in the Willy White.  I might as well seeing as I'd got muxed ip over the flu jab.  A gut joined me at the table and he met up with an old friend of his.  They were both teachers but the guy had just retired.  For the next 15 minutes I regaled with stories about how badly their school was doing and the high staff turnover which had led to an Offsted inspection.  The result was that the schools report had dropped from Outstanding to Good.  No idea what levels there are between the two levels.  But I've noticed that with teachers before.  Get them away from school and in a social situation, all they seem to want to talk about is their school and work in general. 

I visit to Waterstones has led to buying three more paperbacks, two Peter James and a David Baldacci.  Now here's the thing ... can any of us remember what books we have back home on our shelves?  I certainly can't!  So what I have done it to open a document on my Blackberry and I'm listing my books on that in author lists.  It save keep buying books you have already at home.  While I was in Waterstones I had a look at the new J K Rowling.  They have it on offer for £12, £8 off the full price.  I'll wait until it come out in paperback.  It looks like a decent story line from the little I read.  Apparently the first Harry Potter was rejected by seven publishers before someone took the chance with it.  I tried it and gave up after 30 odd pages; so I would have rejected too.  I thought is wasn't worth the effort to read.  It won't be long before I can try her new one and see if it's improved.

There's a date that every school child learns - 1066.  But William the Conqueror actually landed in England on this day in 1066 ready for the battle that would make him king of England.  A lot of people say that it was the last time that England was invaded.  But the forget that another William, William of Orange invaded England many centuries later. 

Today's photo is of the Dorktown Market ...

The Rochdale Sage says ...

Police in Liverpool last night announced the discovery of an arms cache of 200 semi-automatic rifles with 25,000 rounds of ammunition, 20 tonnes of heroin, £5 million in forged UK banknotes and 25 trafficked Ukrainian prostitutes, all in a semi-detached house behind the Public Library in Toxteth.  Local residents were stunned and a community spokesman said: "We're all shocked, we never knew we had a library."

Forgeting things, sex and spoke language

28 September 2012

What happened to yesterday's entry?  Well, I totally forgot about it in the morning, then we went out for a few hours and then I forgot again.  Now real reason though ... just plain forgot.  A senior moment eh ;-)))

So, that teacher and his 15 year old girlfriend have been found in France.  I wonder what he can be charged with though?  Child abduction, yes, but what else?  Will there be any evidence of sexual assault?  I doubt it; and in any case if the girl doesn't make a compliant then how can they charge him with it.  She's 15 now, but what is the difference between now and her 16th birthday?  It's just a line of text in then Law isn't it?  But why would a 16 year old be expected to be better informed in this area than a 15 year old? 

I agree that there has to be line in the sand somewhere but just because has reached that line doesn't mean they are mature enough to make informed choices.  We all mature at times and in different ways.  The Law as it now stands doesn't take any notice of that.  The LAW says ... and that's it.  But even so I've known of case here in Dorktown where 14 and 15 year old girls wouldn't make complaints about someone because they claimed they were in love with the men involved.  And thinking of maturity, I know one man who is not only mentally ill but he is also termed as having 'learning difficulties'.  This man has never had a girl friend and the odd time the subject of marriage and sex has cropped up in our conversations, he just shakes his head and says he doesn't understand it.  This man is older than me, and I'm 64 next month.  So the whole subject can fraught with difficulty.

I was reading something in one of the weekend papers one time - can't remember which or when - and it was claimed in that the number of children who are losing their virginity between the ages of 12 and 14 is on the increase.  If they lose it to an adult then an offence has been committed.  But what if two 14 year olds decided to give it a go?  Both are under the age of consent, so which one is charged?  Can both be charged?  Indeed, what can they be charged with? 

I'll leave you to decide!

Here is today's photo that I got in Cambridge some time ago ... 

I think this is one of my better shots.

Funny time ...

A British Navy Admiral was attending a Naval conference that included admirals from the U.S., British, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of half dozen or so officers that included personnel from most of the countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked: "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the British Admiral replied: "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak f**king German."
Suddenly the group became very quiet.                 

Guillmots, words and a mean spirited Jobsworth

26 September 2012

There are some mean spirited people in Dorktown.  My old school Alderman Smith has now become the Dorktown Academy.  It has a uniform policy that they insist on applying to the current pupils no matter what happens.  The thing is dear readers, not so long ago a 14 year old boy named Jordon died from cancer.  In an effort to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust, a number of the pupils have bought and are wearing a rather nicely coloured blue wrist band.  These bands have now been outlawed as being contrary to the school uniform policy.  It's all rather sad isn't it?  Just what lessons are there in this for the kids to learn; that sympathy, compassion and kindness takes second place to rules?  Hopefully the kids won't be put off over this petty minded jobsworth ruling.  As for the school Principal - what a mockery of that word that is being portrayed at the school - maybe the BBC has a few more of those lovely golden coloured Jobsworth hats they used to give away, might like to send her one.  Then the governors should make her wear it as part her uniform!    

I've just finished the October issue of Bird Watching that we have on subscription.  It's always a good read with lots a birdie facts and figures.  But two separate articles this time round have me a tad confused.  One is of the work of a man who has been studying guillemots on Skomer island off the Welsh coast.  After years of decline Guillemot numbers are on the rise again.  Tim Birhead puts this down as being due to an increase in their main food, sand ells.  OK, fine; but in a later article Ray Collier says that kittiwake numbers are on the way down - because of shortage of - sand ells!  Birhead works in South west Wales while Collier works in the Highlands.  Could there really be such huge difference in sand ell populations within such a small area of the worlds oceans?

Yesterday I managed to increase the Photo Finish word count by over 4,000 words.  Not by writing anything new, just by adding an idea I had already started and thought it might well fit.  It did do.  Now I have to find a way of linking it in.

So for today's photo ... 

a kittiwake!

And an easy pick up for today's funny ...

A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there is a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He has been checking her out since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to talk with her.  Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket towards the man.  He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back.
 

Oh my, I am so sorry, " the woman says as she pops her eye back in place.
 

"Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you, " she says. They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to the theatre followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams and he shares his. 

She listens.  After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap and stay for breakfast. They had a wonderful, wonderful time.
 

The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. The guy is amazed! ! Everything had been SO incredible! !! !  "You know, " he said, "you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet? "
 

"No, " she replies. . . . . . "

Wait for it. .

It's coming. .

The suspense is killing you, isn't it?

She says:

"You just happened to catch my eye."