Notepad Scribbles #20100428

So I decided to dust off my basketball boots after a one year hiatus. I decided to turn up for some Tueday night scrimmage for laughs - so others could laugh at me! I seriously hadn't even touched a ball for a while and rust had definitely set into some joints.

Jumping was definitely out. I watched others soar above me as my feet were firmly glued to the ground. I watched others run right past me. I also watched a few shots spray everywhere but in.

So after two long hours of playing (thankfully there were enough rotations to allow me to sit a lot as well) I have come away feeling pretty sore....and likely to be sore over the next few days as well....fantastic.

Also, I managed to pull together some quick shots of my nephew's birthday, starting with cupcakes:

and more mature drinks:


Of course there is play time with the new toys as well!

Whatcha laughing at?

It was looking like I was heading towards a rather ordinary Friday night - with me lacking in new ideas. Drinks, dinner out sounded pretty average and I could tell that it wouldn't be well received. Luckily enough, we were lucky enough to gain some tickets to the Comedy Store at the EQ. Admittedly, I had never even heard about the Comedy Store and so it definitely sparked my interest. We ended up seeing this act.

I have never been to a live stand up comedy act and it definitely reminded me of the stand up routine shown at the beginning of the Seinfeld episodes. There was table service which was good - as it didn't interrupt the show. Also, it was the first time I had tasted VB Raw!

The acts were progressively longer and I personally found them progressively better too. I didn't expect to laugh so much because I find humour to be quite selective. I definitely found the comedians good fun and able to integrate the audience to good effect. It must be hard to think of new jokes and punch lines all the time while also making it relevant to others. With an audience in the mood for a few laughs and a good night out it definitely is good to see the crowd enjoy themselves and laughing heartily at the impromptu jokes. There were witty jokes, stereotypes and downright crude but mixed in just the right amounts for a good night out.

Gee - it's a pretty good role to be able to make people laugh.

New Skills Required

So in a further effort to get down into my new targets for the year, I bit the bullet and decided that I needed to stop doing research and waiting for the "latest and greatest" as the opportunity cost was that I was not learning anything and the risk was that a quarter of the year has already gone by! Here is my new toy:


Now I have no excuses and I have to learn more about taking better photos and learn all the camera controls. In this digital age, I gather that post processing is also a key skill to have and so more attributes are required than just pressing a button.

Having moved from a 35mm film based cameras (Minolta and Nikon) to the digital format, I must admit that I find it easier to learn on the spot, rather than having to take down all my settings and then analysing the results when I get the prints back. Nothing worse than thinking I have captured a great moment to only realise that the photo was incorrectly exposed or was out of focus! Not that I can't learn, it's just slow going.

Fiddling with different camera settings and taking the time to delve into photography has made me realise how one's eyes are truly remarkable in being able to focus and detect contrast from light to shade so quickly.

So a sample photo from my new camera is here (and of me taking the photo too!):

At the moment, I am shooting on "borrowed glass" so I know what my next expenditure will have to be!