Bits of a blog

Yet again it has been too long between updates. I'll get over it.
Today's update is because our boy, Garrick, took his first self powered walk on March 8.
This is of course very, very exciting for all concerned and I just happened to have the trusty video camera about to capture this moment in history.
Consequently, due to the brilliance of YouTube, I have uploaded and linked the video as seen below.

Hello again avid readers.
Yes, again it has been several months since I last posted anything on this blog.
Again many thoughts but little action. Until today.
Several months ago, I began a new hobby. That of Radio Control Helicopters!!
This is a fun hobby, but not for the faint hearted or walleted.
I have spent a good deal of money on spare parts and time on repairs. Nearly all the moving parts on my Walkera 76c helicopter have been replaced!
After my latest round of repairs, I decided today (October long weekend) would be a good day for a test flight.
By test flight I mean try to get the thing to hover somewhat stably. Easier said than done.
However, I also was motivated enough to film the event for posterity, and YouTube. Link is:

Yesterday was a memorable one for Kiera. She started Kindergarten!
To show us how grown up she has become, there was not a tear, nor a tantrum as mum left her at school for the first day.
She even let us take some photos.
Just for good measure we took photos of the other two, non-school attending children as well.

Happy Holiday Season to all who read. Hope everyone had a well behaved Christmas and sober New Year.
This Christmas has seen some major changes to our family. First of all we finally completed the "quest for house". Don't know how many of you readers out there have struggled through this dilema, but it took us 3 loooonnnnggg years of searching before we finally found the one for us.
We now live in Miranda in a good sized house. Plenty of yard and room to grow. Kiera and Zielle really love the pool and the tyre swing their Grandad put up.
I am now learning (very slowly) how to do handy-ish things around the house. Even thinking of buying some tools!! Dangerous I know.
I am time-sharing a lawnmower with a mate of mine and am remembering how to manage the pool properly.

Now if that wasn't enough, there is even BIGGER (or smaller) news for us. On Boxing Day at 2:45am we welcomed our newest member into the world. Garrick Thomas was born a light 6lb 11oz (3.04Kg) and 54cm long. His sisters think he is adorable and love him to death. Zielle can't wait till he is big enough to play with. Have a collection of photos taken soon after he arrived:



In keeping with tradition, I have been taking plenty of photos and video of Garrick so that he won't feel left out when he is older.
He is sleeping well, even at nights, and putting on weight.

We now await the next event which is Kiera starting school!!

All the best.......

Good morning avid readers.
This week I am spending in San Francisco for the Sun Customer Engineering Conference. It is rather amusing that it took my resignation from Sun in order for me to get an invite to this event! Strange but true.
So, what have I been up to.

Well, after a very long flight into LA (economy), then a 3 hr layover in LA, then a 90min flight to SanFrancisco I turned up in my hotel at 3:30pm on Friday local time.
Wandered around the Financial district for a bit, even visiting the brand new, just opened Westfield on Market St. Not much like the Westfield's at home, but much busier.

Crashed out at a reasonable time, then got up Saturday morning. Here's a tip. Do not order food from your hotel room. A 20% fee to do this!!
Went down to breakfast, enjoyed cereal, fruit and coffee.
Checked out transport to Fisherman's wharf, though walking seemed best. A 45min walk along the Embarcadero was great, though the weather was rather cool.
Spent about 2hrs around the Wharf, buying a few things for my girls and Meddwyn.
Got a phone call at about 12:30 from a Sun colleague who had just gotten into his hotel. Jumped into a cab and scooted down to the Renaissance Parc 55 hotel.
Met up with Dmitri, had some lunch at the Westfield foodcourt (way too busy!).
Spent the afternoon walking around SanFran.
Went up to China town, then along to Lombard St and the Crookedest Road.
Had a look at some digital SLR cameras and spoke to aggressive sales people. Walked out without spending money - just.

Met up with another mate, Mike, down near the harbour as we were taking photos of Alcatraz and the harbour. Walked across to Pier 39 (again) and jumped in a cab back to the Renaisance55. Had dinner at a little place on 5th Avenue and enjoyed hearth roasted beef. yum.
Mike and Dmitri crashing early, so back to my hotel, Hyatt Regency, which is 20min walk from theirs : (

So, now I am blogging on Sunday morning. Mike and Dmitri have SMS'd me. Both are just moving. Unsure what to do today. The locals have the bridge to bridge fun run this morning. The weather is again overcast and rather cool. Did not bring too heavy a jumper as the forecast was for warmer weather when I left.
So, today I need to register down at the Moscone Center (25min walk), then there is the welcoming dinner for the CEC conference. Then the week will really begin.

Untill later......

Thought that I would post an entry today as it is now the end of soccer for the year.
As the photos show, my team has won the Churches Association Soccer competition First Grade for 2006.

It was a tough, tough game against an old and regular foe - South Hurstville.
These guys beat us in last year's semi-final and the year before. South's have won the competition 3 years running and it was time for a change.
There will be a post match report from the team journo, though I am not sure when it will be released.
The star of the match was our keeper, "The Merch", who must have parried 8 or 10 good shots on goal!! My involvement was minor in comparison but no less challenging. Played at Right-Back for the whole 90mins and had a tough competitor to mark by the name of "Mick". Thankfully, I had to be rescued from a couple of dire situations, Mick did not score any goals and our strong striking partnership of Sean and Marcello were both able to find the back of the net.
Somewhat surprisingly, were given trophies this year, so in a small gathering with lost of cameras, we all collected our trophies and have a few photos. These will be added when available.

Have a quiet evening, so thought that I would get off my butt and post something to my blog. As I said last time, I would post regarding the 2006 soccer season and how the GBC team is progessing on our quest for glory and fitness.

We turned up on Saturday to face our bogey team from the last couple of years, South Hurstville Uniting on a re-surfaced Todd Park.
Unfortunately due to the lack of rain, inability to water and the extemely heavy traffic the ground has all week, it was already very dusty in a couple of places. Goodness knows what it will be like by the end of the season unless we get some rain. Team news we started with Aaron from Team Thunder on the park playing up front and the encouraging item that the Bocos brothers and Marcelo may be ditching the wedding mid-stream and come and play!

Game started off well for us, exceptionally well given that we are not necessarily known for our quick starts. The game was only minutes old when a through ball to Aaron on half way saw him with a nice turn of speed and skill in behind the Souths defense and showing them a clean pair of heels.
He zeroed in on the advancing keeper and clinically slotted the ball into the back of the net to the delight of the Team Thunder cheer squad behind the net and to the absolute delight of Gymea. 1-0 to us, what a start. Now before the game the talk was that Souths had lost some players and picked up some others. Certainly there were some familiar faces missing however the back 4 looked very familiar and this start jolted them into action. We held this lead despite some spirited attack from Souths. Souths were using the width of the field well however with a combination of good scrambling and skill, Andrew, Sam, Peter, Ross and Adam held them out. While this was
working, Andrew in the nice new BLUE shirt and new gloves was probably being called on a little too much. Sam and Adam were having particularly strong games in the backs as we defended hard. Whilst the focus seemed to be on defence, we were able to make some nice inroads into Souths half and onto goal however the back 4 were proving tough to get through, past and over. Sean was having a nice tussle with his opposite man and Bruce and Craig were doing everything to try and hold the mid field. Approaching half time, Souths received a penalty outside the box and off near the our left hand side line. The kick was good however the Souths player in the box ran
through and brushed Andrew's shoulder as he was going up for the ball and the end result was the ball ending in the net with not a hand on it.
Disappointing to level up close to half time however it was one of those goals that happen, though Souths always seem to be able to get those against us. 1-1 was the half time score and while I think the possession on the field was probably with Souths, we were certainly in the game with a 1-1 score line.

At half time the Bocos brothers had arrived and were playing ready, Marcelo was not able to get the approporiate leave pass from the wife, we understand Marcelo. Greatly needed reserves. My knee was not good so Jeff came straight on and Wally subed for Bruce about 10 minutes in who was still feeling the effects from last weeks strain to the groin. I can't recall whether Souths made any changes up front or it was just us starting to tell in the legs from the tough first half however Souths had 2 young
guys up front that were really starting to stretch our defense. Combined with this we seemed a little off the ball and Souths are a team that will take this advantage and really knock you off the ball. From the side it looked like they had plenty of time and people everywhere to control the ball and we were rushed and a couple of players down. The pressure Souths were exerting told when a long Peter Hinton goal kick was headed straight back to the young forward who was quickly able to get in behind our defense and with a quick snap, able to put the ball low and to the side of Andrew
for a score. 2-1 to Souths but with plenty of game to play. We continued to scrap hard for every meter of ground, determined not to let Souths get away. The next score was unfortunate. Peter Hinton had been very long all game with his goal kicks and just once, he miss hit one. The two young Souths forwards pounced and between them took advantage of the opportunity and with their speed and skill, were able to beat Peter and Andrew to score and make it 3-1 to Souths. To our credit we took the tough option. We could have dropped our heads and the score could have been anything however we put in as hard as we could to score and to keep Souths out. Sean, who I
found out later was not well, had an inspiring and determined half combined
with some good work from Wally, Jeff and Craig put some pressure on Souths.
A really nice move down the right saw a cross to Sean who put on a really good shot however the young Souths keeper pulled off a ripper of a diving save to deny the goal. Not long later, a good cross from Craig found Sean again and his header was just wide. The defense held tight with Ross Giles playing a full game and despite having the young legs running at him, showed that experience counts by often foiling the Souths attack. Despite our best efforts in attack, Souths are experienced in closing down games and the back 4 were giving us no room and were tough all game and the game finished with a 3-1 loss.

It was a disappointing loss however it is only the second game and I think out lack of match fitness showed a little on the bigger, wider ground at Todd. We just lost the legs a little and this made it hard to fully compete being a step behind. Certainly trying to run down the younger, faster Souths forwards told on our backs There were some encouraging signs and with more games, it will come together, though I would like to beat Souths just once!

Player of the match this week was another of the new boys, Sam Luccitti. A very quite man who doesn't say much however he knows his way around a soccer field. Played in the middle backs on Saturday was everywhere, with plenty of skill and determination. Stopped many a Souths raid however also has that ability to take the ball and look for options to set up a counter attack. Lovely skill in the air and on the ground making Sam a wonderful recruit. Has polled points in the first two games to show that he is a man with a lot to offer the team. Well done Sam.

Second points and only just missing the top points this week in arguably the best game I've seen him play was Adam Lewis. Stood very tall in the right back position, particularly in the first half. With my knee going early in the game I couldn't offer Adam much support but that didn't worry Adam (probably did but he didn't say anything). Was tough on the ground, often having two Souths players on him and in the air, using his height to advantage. Was able to promote the ball up field as well in a strong display and Adam was key in the score only being 1-1 at half time.
Continued with the good play in the second half and thoroughly deserved the
points this week.

Third points this week and just to emphasise how tough in was in the backs was Ross Giles. Ross is a regular half game player however put in a full game this week and excelled. It's great to watch Ross defend, how he times his moves perfectly and just always seems to be in the right position. He had a speed man coming at him in the second half and except for a couple of times when he got away, had him under control. Excellent performance Ross and well done on the points haul.

Notable mentions this week. Sean was just pipped for points after a determined and solid display up front. Aaron after his first up goal got a little swamped as the game went on and Sean was battling away often by himself. Was doing everything to get Gymea going and was unlucky not to have scored at least once, with the keeper denying a great shot with a great save.

Peter Hinton is a player who goes largely un-noticed however his work is top shelf and we probably just expect it each week. Peter has so much experience in the backs and is able to intercept in the air or ground so often and in the first half he cut off a lot of Souths attack with tough play. Was unlucky to be involved in the third goal as he really had some length on the goal kicks on Saturday.

Greg Horth was another quiet achiever playing on the left of the field in the halves. Beat his man often with skill and a step and defended as hard as ever. Scored well in the points to show that people notice quality work.

Craig Abrahams, the sticky tape man was in the action the whole game again and is just a whole hearted, tough competitor, someone that every team needs working away in the middle.

Andrew Merchant turned out in the blue this week and with new gloves. I know (cause he took me home) he was dirty on letting all 3 goals through believing that he should have stopped them however there were also many other times when Andrew was diving at the feet of oncoming Souths players and stopping shots. WIll be better for the run as it was his first game and the second two goals of Souths were well finished so I wouldn't be that hard on yourself Andrew.

Captain Bruce was carrying the injury from last week and stood tall in the middle in the first half. Defended well in the air and ground and hopefully the two weeks off gets the leg a little better.

Wally was full of running in the second half as usual and was backing Sean up in attack and it was great to be able to sub him on in hte second half.
Jeff was also fully appreciated in the second half. One memorable moment later in the half when he beat two Souths Players with superb skill and when the third player came in, was able to step, skip and turn away from him as well. A very impressive piece of play and will be better for every run on the park.

Well loyal blog readers another soccer season has begun.
This year I shall bring something a little different - nothing from me, but over the years of the team's existance one member has delivered a Monday Game Report that is eagerly read, not only by the team, but by all the teams supporters in Sydney and around the world!!

Even though this was only a trial game, here is the weekly report.

Saturday 11th March officially marked the start of Gymea Baptist Church
Soccer Club's march to the premiership. We dusted off the boots (assuming
we could find them), flashed some larger than last year guts, pulled on the
trusty red shirts and took to the field against Miranda. On an unusually
hot March Saturday ........ (have we ever played a trial in the cool?) we
played 4 quarters of 20 minutes each to record a 5-3 loss. To put this in
context, I refer you to Adam Lewis's correct quote of the day 'I reckon
there is going to be a salary cap audit on us for sure!'

Yes, the cheque book has been opened and I'm happy to report that our three
new recruits, bought sight unseen, are straight off the top shelf, A-grade,
number 1, razzle dazzler beauties!

Marcelo Hoffmann, the Bocos cousin, lets just say I wish we all had a bit
of Bocos blood in us! Brilliant first up display, scored a goal, narrowly
missed another (to prove he was related to Wally), strong in the air, a
distributor and a talker, welcome to the team!! Father Bocos is getting
very happy with the increased Bocos blood in the team, I've never seen him
smile so much as he did on Saturday.
Sam Luccitti who came with the kiss of death, i.e. Bruce rapped him, stood
up to the curse and stood out. You can tell the good players, had a bit of
what I call the Pete Wood/Bruce Mullins style, doesn't get ruffled under
pressure, showed some very nice, silky, deft touches on the ball. Seems to
have the time that other players don't. Defended strong, good in the air,
good passes, Sam, welcome to the team!
Lastly but by no means leastly (yes, I'm allowed to make up words), Murray
Colliss who joined us from the church with no prior form or knowledge to
support the contract papers. Took the field in the coolest looking classes
you'll see on a soccer field and ran all game, and I mean ran. Murray is
not the youngest in the team but man does he put us to shame. Tough
defending, good passing and he seemed to be everywhere, cause he was!!
Charging off downfield on a run, defending in the last line, great support
play.

Now a run down on the game and some observations on the returning players.
We started with the usual major decision to be made by the Captain on
players taking field, who is in goal? The Merchant was otherwise engaged
(he he) and thus it was the time honoured tradition in the Gymea team of
when the Captain asked who wanted to start in goals, there was a mass
exodus and lines heard of 'I left something in the car, back soon', 'I need
to toilet stop before we start', 'I don't look good in green', 'the shirt
is too big for me', 'I'm a runner not a stayer', or the best one, 'get
stuffed, do it yourself Bruce!'. Thus the clear message from this game
other than the quality of our recruits, the only person guaranteed a start
each week is the one and only Mr A Merchant!

Anyway, we started with Greg Horth in goals and the game was willing as we
got used to kicking and running around again. It was very hot starting at
2pm and for once the small field was appreciated. We started with an as
usual formation as possible, though Richard Dwyer and Marcelo up front was
not our usual pairing up front. Miranda scored first after a throw in and
confusion between Greg in goals and a defender saw a Miranda head on the
bouncing ball into the net. The next score not long later was Greg Horth
giving Miranda his usual complimentary early season goal by fielding a ball
in the box, then kicking it straight into the back of a head of a Miranda
player, in the confusion and laughter, Miranda got the ball in the net.
After the first 20 minutes, 2-0 Miranda, however some promising signs. We
had sort of (for so early in the season) settled into a reasonable passing
game, just a little rusty and Miranda had no other chances and they were
fielding their best team, that had been training and running for weeks. We
had created numerous chances with Marcelo, Richard, Jeff Bocos (yes he's
back and stuck in a typical tackle just to show the knee is good!) with the
skills, Wally looking a little unfit but still skillful, Craig A showing
that sticky tape does work in keeping you together.

Second half, Bruce changed the structure with only 3 in the back, 3 up
front and 4 in the middle. Just to confuse us more, there were players in
positions we were not used to seeing and with the new recruits, we
struggled a little to get the combinations going. Craig Abrahams put his
hand up for the green and saw two break away goals go past him. This was
more a result of unstructured play in our backline and the small field. We
though arguably still created good chances. Marcelo beat three players then
just missed the goal with the left foot, Richard Dwyer had a good shot,
Jeff and Wally were showing some wonderful phases of play in conjunction
with Marcelo and had a couple of shots, I got pulled down by the keeper, so
even though it was 4-0 at half time, and given how much we were puffing and
panting, we were encouraged.

Third quarter, Bruce took the green shirt and gave us the instructions, 'I
want us to hold the ball, pass it around, don't go for advancement, let's
just keep it at our feet, support each other, get into position to take the
pass and let the ball do the work'. Now while Miranda brought on a few of
their reserve players in this quarter, there were still the same halves in
place and honestly, we looked like other famous teams in red, Man U,
Liverpool. On a small field, we dominated possession. Bruce I think touched
the ball once, maybe twice. Wally though couldn't help himself, in fact it
was funny from the sideline. Bruce was yelling from the goals, keep the
ball, pass it around. Up the other end, Wally was yelling out, send it
long, send it long and charging up field. Anyway, Craig Abrahams scored a
good goal and Marcelo snapped home a good quick strike for us to win the
quarter 2-0. Some things though never change, Wally kept missing the goals,
even with some real good chances. You've got to love him. Anyway, we looked
good, everyone was smiling and thinking, this is not bad for the first run
of the season. Marcelo, Sam and Murray fitted straight in, Wally and Jeff
in particular back to their skillfull best, Peter Hinton, Greg Horth tough
as usual. John Cox made a comeback in the quarter and after such a long
time out after the broken leg, it was great to see him cutting down Miranda
attack after attack.

Fourth quarter saw Peter Hinton in goals and just to show that Gymea has
retained one of it's traits from previous years, we finished all over the
younger, trained up Miranda team. We put togther some really nice passages
of play, mixing running attack with moving the ball around setting up
support players. We had some good chances and Wally finally found the back
of the net with a nice finish to a good movement. Miranda clawed one back
when early in the quarter a long range shot was not able to be contacted by
Greg Horth and the ball went into the side of the net with Peter Hinton
standing there looking his best in the green shirt. The game finished 5-3,
we won the second half 4-1. An excellent first up run.

Now I shouldn't go on without acknowledging the referee on the day, Richard
Southworth. Richard came along thinking that John Hughes wanted to have a
run practicing his refereeing, not expecting that he wanted to have a full
on run with the team. It was hot and Richard did the whole game so thanks
Richard.

So, our first trial of the year and some really encouraging signs to come
out of the game. A little match fitness all round and we'll be in there
with the best of them.

Player Ratings
Abrahams - ran hard and strong all game as usual. Still held together by
rubber bands and sticky tape however a valuable contributor. Has obviously
be doing some training in the off season as he's looking ready to play.
Scored a nice goal and showed that goalie is not his best position.

Bocos W - turned up looking pregnant himself. Has obviously let himself go
over the off season and it shows when the shirt is off. Wiped the smile off
Dad's face quickly when he saw it. Wally still puffed out a good game,
plenty of skill shown, in particular the skill in missing the goals though
redeemed with a nicely finished goal.

Bocos J - the missing ingredient from our finals campaign from last year.
Has also been to the Wally School of Off Season Preparation though he was
coming off an injury so excuses him. Couple of good tough tackles to show
that the knee is good. Plenty of that silky skill stuff, you know, foot
over the ball, under ball, twirl the baton, stop, twist, turn, back the
ball up, take off with speed, beat the man, and that's just going over to
take the corner kick! Good to see you back Jeff!

Colliss - already previewed above. Ran all game just to show what a level
of fitness achieves. Some lovely touches on the ball, support play and
tough defense. Looks extremely cool in the classes!

Cox - the crowd held it's breath when the veteran class J Cox took the
field. First touch, bamboozled the Miranda defense with his patented back
heal defense. Coxy is back! Played well and covered the younger Miranda
players as if he'd never been away. Leg held up well, which is always good!

Drury - landed flat on his face in the first half and flat on his back in
the second half. The usual inconsequential contribution.

Foxe - turned up late but tuned right into the rhythm of the game.
Performed well, showing a good level of fitness and skill in his time on
the park until having to leave. We'll value his contribution before he
leaves for Navy duty and will be a pleasure to have in the team even for
the short period.

Hinton - looks good in the green, so good he didn't want to get it dirty.
Showed he has lost none the passion for the game by lasting the whole game,
which also shows his fitness. Tough as usual at the back with his head
getting onto many dangerous balls. Couldn't resist the temptation and had a
shot at goal from the corner of our own box. Will never die wondering.

Hoffmann - brilliant debut. Skilled, tough, a talker, Bocos blood!.
Previewed above and a good recruit. Scored a lovely goal, unlucky not to
have another and showed he'll be a real team player.

Horth - maintained the tradition of giving a complimentary goal to Miranda
each year. Thank goodness it was a trial, though it was a good warning to
Miranda to get the head out of the way of goal kicks. Lesson well learnt as
it didn't happen again all game. On the park, showed his usual ball skills,
beating players, setting up play and running all game.

Lewis - has been doing some secret training (or so I was told) and it
showed. Played well in the first half when Miranda threw their best at us.
Had a run in the backs and halves and did well at both, keeping the right
side of the field quiet. Showed that the scars of the green run deep by
refusing to take a turn in goals.

Luccitti - broke down the curse of the Mullins, what more can I say? Showed
some lovely touches on the ball, defending many times with skill by taking
the ball from the Miranda player and then setting up play for attack.
Straight out of the Wood/Mullins book. Get the three of them going in the
back line, look out!

Mullins - Captained the team well, moved players around and the different
set ups for each quarter was a good idea. Showed he'd lost none of the
skill on the park with some beautiful pieces of play, particularly in the
first half when Miranda had a real go down our left side with no success.
Rapped Sam and was right. Perhaps this is our year. Obviously learnt from
last year as Bruce did not say once, do not get hurt!

Honorable Mentions
Dwyer - showed he should be playing with us. Fit, skillful, able to run and
attack all game. Good defense shown as well. Slotted straight into the
team.
Hughes - was supposed to ref but played and for a 50 year old, did a good
job. Did show us how they tackle in the over 35's with one of the best
slide tackles from behind seen in our competition for a long time.

Merchant - superb skill shown by the Merchant. By withholding his
considerable talents, the rest of the team recognised what he brings to the
team. Has sewn up a starting spot on the team for the rest of the season by
not turning up. Impressive stuff.

Well done to everyone and hope that you have all recovered from any little
bumps and bruises. Keep and eye out on the emails for possible training
and/or games. The first game of the season in 1 April !!

Till later, gee it was good to be in the red again!

Well yes devoted readers (all 2 of you), my 33rd Birthday happened on March 9. I am again a multiple of 11. Getting older can depress or aggravate some people, but not me....no way! I plan to stay some respectable age for a long time to come.
As I get older though, my girls are more involved in delivery of present and card. This year was no exception. My new book and socks were delivered to me with joy and excitement.
My day was spent in endless meetings which meant I had to do work when I finally arrived home :(
Managed to do that, then we went out for a very nice Thai dinner. Yum.
Then slipped into the regular routine of our Thursday bible study small group at Craig and Karen's.
It was here that I had a phonecall from Meddwyn's brother in law. Her sister has been expecting child #3 and today was the day. How cool. My newest nephew born on the same day as I was!

Also a bit strange is that my previous employer, Sun, had 4 people having consecutive Birthdays: March 7,8,9 and 10.

Today was also a great day, though for a different reason. Soccer season is starting shortly!!! Yay.
As a result, my team had a trial game against another in our division.
All were a bit rusty but there were no injuries and all had a good, fun afternoon.
The serious stuff starts April 1.

Time to now go and catch some TV or something others may describe as nerdy :) Till next time...

It would seem that the Christmase/New Year holidays continue up until Australia Day this year. Has been a very quiet time for me at my place of work.

The quiet period has given me time to read up on new products and tech stuff that is appearing this year.
One of the areas I monitor is the world of PC upgrades.
At this time I am looking at what components could be put together as an upgrade that will not cost a limb or two.
This does entail some compromise such as cheaper CPU in upgradeable motherboard (socket 939) and better graphics hardware, noteably ATI X1xxx series.
The last couple of days has seen the tech drool levels increase somewhat with the arrival of the ATI X1900xt product as reviewed here and here.

The better news is that as a result of the new product launch, the older product X1800xt will reduce in price to nearly affordable levels (one hopes).
Given that my current "key application" is Battlefield 2, there is sufficient performance in the older card to justify moving to it rather than the newest model.

Pairing this card with AMD's Athlon 64 4000+ CPU will result in a cost effective, performance boosting upgrade while allowing future faster CPU's to be added at much later dates. Now for that next step.........

Yesterday (Sunday) my wife of 12 years and I went out into the city, minus kids (feels very different), to spend the day together for our Anniversary.
Went to the Imax cinema for the first time, for me anyway, to watch Landing on the Moon 3D.
Not a bad show, though it only went for 40minutes. Some very inspiring bits with young kids answering questions about who landed on the moon and what they thought about it.

Munched on some M&Ms and went wondering around the shops in Darling Harbour, caught a bit of the street theatre and generally just hung out.

Had a very nice steak dinner at the Hotel Ibis and a very rare game of pool which Meddwyn won!

The highlight of the journey was next. Walked on down to Tumbalong Park to catch part of the Sydney Festival called, "Concert of Fire".
This is a truly outstanding concert filled with electronic drum-beats and the best fireworks I have ever witnessed.

The picture does not do the event justice, but as I have no video footage, nor does google, I am unable to fully describe the entertainment.
Five guys from a French group called "Les Commandos Percu", each with an electronic drum kit attached, beating away in perfect sync or rhythm while packing flares and rockets underneath.
Behind the stage were three launch platforms for the array of fireworks launched into the sky. The launch and detonations were computer controlled in perfect time with the changes in music - much better than other attempts seen on television.
The heavy bass was interspersed with other tones like empty water cooler bottles.
The finale was devastating in its volume and thunder of explosions and drum beats.

So if huge detonations and beating of drums is your thing, then go check it out next time the group is in town. Highly recommended.

Our two girls spent the day with our friends, P&V and their two boys. They had a thoroughly good time, as usual.

 

 

 

 

Welcome all to 2006.
Yes it has been another month and a bit since I last put something up on my blog, but I have been really, really busy.........or not so much.
A fair bit has happened even though I did not officially take any leave this Christmas break.

I started a new job with Frontline Systems beginning of December. A very quiet month which gave me the opportunity to work from home most days! Very enjoyable.

Christmas was in Canberra this year and the girls really enjoyed spending time with Aunty Mel and Uncle Randall.
We came back Boxing Day and had a Birthday for Kiera (now 4 years old) on the 27th.
Both girls really enjoyed Christmas this year and not just because the presents kept coming for over a week.
They have a tricycle each now (mum & dad) which they are keen to ride around our unit! Not the best area for riding bikes.

My desk finally arrived from the shop, was installed and was entirely not what we had ordered! Much discussion later saw the desk picked up again for a rebuild. It should be delivered again this week. Hopefully as we ordered!!

New Years was rather quiet for us. We travelled up to Ettalong Beach (Central Coast) and spent a couple of days with Meddwyn's parents (holidaying from Dubbo) and friends. The girls enjoyed it a lot, except for the 44 degree day Jan 1. Thankfully we were very close to a decent beach and spent quite a bit of time in the water.

Back at work in the city this week. Not too much happening so taking the opportunity to catch up on some online training from Sun Microsystems. Also trying to reinvigorate my quest for Cisco certification - CCNA.

Meddwyn has started to read a fabulous book that I have by Matthew Reilly "Ice Station". She is enjoying it and finding it difficult to put down.
I have been tinkering with a new device called a media gateway. This is the Zensonic Z500.
It is now playing all the video/TV files I download from the US keeping us up to date with our favourite shows, or those that have not started here yet, like Invasion.

Hope you too had a good New Year.........

Well, here I am. I am at home, in between jobs, waiting to find out when I can start with my new employer and my wife and girls are off at school and having fun.
Going to work, even early, is most certainly better than this.

On the plus side, I did have the opportunity to try out Skype voice over IP with a mate of mine this morning. As it was computer to computer, there is no time charge or flagfall so this form of communication is very cheap.
What amazed me though, was the quality of the voice signal in each direction. Admittedly, we both have high speed connections, but even though I have two or three other tasks using the network on my PC, the voice quality was way above normal telephony. It was literally like Shane was in the same room! On top of that, the voice link was encrypted between our PC's.

I will definitely be using this service again. I would encourage all readers of this blog (hopefully there is more than one of you) to check it out -> skype.

Was wandering around my bookmark collection (need to clean them out sometime) and found the link to my blog site. So off I went and blew the dust of it, had a read and decided to make a post as I had not posted anything in a while.
Has been a lot of activity the last few little months.
- New jobs for me,
- Girls growing up, getting ready for preschool and learning at a staggering rate,
- Some adjustments to our abode to cater for Christmas tree as well as a new desk (for me!!!) and a storage cupboard for our "stuff".
- Getting into cycling more, now that soccer has gone for the year,
- Looking at more houses again in case we feel like moving somewhere else over the weekend.
- Travelling to both Ulladulla and Dubbo for Birthdays and a reunion.
- Even took some time out in between jobs to get a couple of golf lessons in. Very helpful too.

Just a few things to keep us occupied and out of trouble, though combining Christmas decorations with a highly mischevous 2 year old is asking for trouble.

Already making plans to record as much of the world cup as SBS will show.......especially after yelling at the television during a very tense Aussie penalty shootout. Pity Germany is so far away.

In my spare time I have also been messing around with a webcam (no public use allowed) and Voice over IP through Nodephone and Skype.

Have just been looking through the blog-help pages and found a link to audio blogging. Sounds interesting enough to try. Make sure you have your speakers turned on when you all rush to hear my dulcid tones : )
Ok. Now having registered I realise that to record a blog entry you are required to dial a number in the United States! Not sure that I want to pay for an international call to put an audio sample onto my blog Hmmmmm.

Anyway, it is time to post and then get some sleep. Have another job to quit from tomorrow : )