Musings

Listening to: 1965-The Afghan Whigs. As close to a perfect album as I have in my collection, in the way that there isn't a bad track on it.

Firstly I invite you all to behold the glory that is my daughter in her Christening gown (click to biggify):
To be fair, it is the family baptismal gown, having been made for my mother (although she didn't manage to wear it for her christening), and worn for most of my family baptisms ever since, including my cousins and my siblings and I, and the various niblings.

Charlotte was baptised yesterday morning at the church her parents were married in (St James Anglican), and made it to the church her father grew up in (St's Peter and Paul Catholic) for a blessing at the evening service. She's come a long way since the NICU.

And she slept through the whole thing. Sometimes I can only marvel at how cool she is.

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In other news, I am currently shopping for a replacement zoom lens for my camera. The minolta 75-300mm zoom I inherited from my previous body, has served me well, but may be starting to get a little tired and worn, which isn't surprising given that it is about ten years old, and has endured some pretty rough environments.
While browsing for another 300mm, I hit on the idea of upgrading to something bigger, 400mm or even 500mm. 300mm is only just adequate for the airshow work I like to think I specialise in, and I have been hankering after something better for a long time.
The only problem is that zooms start out expensive, and costs increase exponentially it seems with length. For a new anything 400mm or greater you won't get much change this side of $1200. For 500mm the change comes out of $2000 or more. This isn't for a camera, this is just for a lens.
I'm currently eyeing a compatible 400mm on trademe. The good news is its cheap. The bad news is its cheap at only a couple of hundy, but I am not sure I want to shell that much on what could prove to be merely a learning experience.

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As noble as it sounds, I am still trying to make riding to work habitual instead of casual. The fact that I live on a 700ft ish hill may have something to do with it. The psychological (and literal) mountain doesn't bother me at the end of the day; it has the most effect at the beginning, when I am lying in bed trying to convince myself to ride.
Still, I rode today, and had the immense satisfaction of passing 50 or so jammed cars on the motorway at the stately pace of 30kph.

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Due to the christening, I missed out on round the bays. I did it last year, purely as a fitness test. I figure it could become a useful annual ritual in this regard. Not Kate did it this year, although she walked, the pansy. That said, had she run, the story might not have been nearly so entertaining.

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I watched the new 'Top Town' last night, and was immediately disappointed that the nearest team to my home (and hence the one I was obligated to support) was Masterton. Masterton! One of my least favourite towns (for no particular reason, I just don't like the place. I like the airfield at Masterton, but the town itself has never enamoured me). Still, they got eliminated, so next week I can support whomever my fickle ways decide.
The original series from the 1980's is now a fading memory. It used to be a travelling thing, I remember that, since the new one appears to be exclusively located at a Christchurch water park. The new challenges appear to be all water borne, which also differs from the original. I loved the original, and in the great tradition of lacklustre remakes, I was expecting the new one to be not as rewarding. Luckily I was disappointed, since the new version is not altogether bad if sunday night silliness is you're thing.
That and sprains. While the padding should eliminate lacerations and broken bones, it seems tailor made for hyper extension or contraction of limbs and appendages. Which adds to the visual fun I suppose. Wouldn't be any fun without painful looking and inelegant falls and sprawls.

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And finally, a shout out to the legendary D3vo, who is parking up his blog for a while. As a constant source of interesting reading, and one of the inspirations for this blog, its been fun. I offer a metaphorical salute, and await its return when the time is right.