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CoffeeWaffle
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Saturday, 28 February 2004
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Fours days between posts! Huston, we had a problem....
I got a new laptop from work. Slighty older than the one I had, no 3D graphics, and old USB ports that won't work with my portable USB hard drive without a seperate power supply, which I have long since lost because I've never needed it (until now). My blog lives on that portable hard-drive. I spent the last few days trying to get my blog back to a 'postable' state again.
I have now dusted off, and am now blogging on, my old 266mhz, Windows 98, PC. Long live Windows 98!
Anyway, theres a couple of things I haven't been able to tell you about so its catch-up time:
- On Wednesday I stopped in at the kite shop after work. Ted, one of the shop owners, said to me with a grin on his face, "I hear you've got a present coming?". I immediately thought of the prize I'm expecting from Felxifoil for my short story sucess. Appartently the UK Flexifoil guys contacted the New Zealand Flexifoil supplier, who then contacted the kite shop in Nelson, who agreed to accept delivery of said prize and get a photo of me being presented the prize in front of the shop. And..... the prize is.... a Flexifoil Super 10! This is a 10 foot wide two-line kite that is very fast and powerfull. The 6 foot version of this design holds the world record as the fastest kite in the world so I should have some good fun on the buggy with it. Look out for a new speed record soon! Heaps more than the hat & t-shirt I was expecting! Still waiting for it to arrive though....
- I was supposed to go to the Awatere High Country Festival today. This is held by an alpine lake about 22 km inland from Dashwood, just north of Sedon. The kite club were to put on a display of kites, buggying, and kite-boating (we have a Peter Lynn prototype, mono-hull kite-boat), but the weather has packed in with lots of rain and no wind. We got the van and trailer all loaded up with kites buggys and boat, and by 8.30am we had driven about 20mins out of town, then the phone rang to say the event was off. Would have been a nice location to photograph too. Oh well... next kite safari is in April (to Westport), so looking forward to that now.
One good thing about using the old slow PC is that my film-scanner is attached to this one. I think I'll continue the never ending task of scanning my huge collection of negatives and maybe I'll find a good one to post later...
9:30:05 AM 
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Tuesday, 24 February 2004
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"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea."
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Photo: Muriwai Beach on an overcast morning. Taken in 1998.
8:51:39 PM
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Sunday, 22 February 2004
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Its been a while since I've been kayaking. With the weird weather lately its been difficult to get out. Today was typical summer weather and I took advantage of it by kayaking around Pepin Island.
8:07:01 PM
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Saturday, 21 February 2004
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Remember that grapevine I pruned back in August?
Check it out now!
Its like living in a hobbit hole...
10:53:57 PM
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Kite Aerial Photography has interested me for many years. Anyone who knows me well would instantly understand the appeal to me. It nicely combines two of my biggest passions, kites and imagemaking. The work of Charles C. Benton was one of the first to spark my interest in the field. His pictures speak for themselves and really got me thinking about the pictures I could capture here in New Zealand using these techniques.
Tonight I discovered Scott Haefner's site which has stirred up my interest again. I love the abiguity created in some shots by this unique perspective. It can give subjects we see every day a fresh look. Scotts fountain gallery is a perfect example of this.
I think its high time I forked out some cash and dedicated some time to this. It could lead me places....
10:21:02 PM
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Friday, 20 February 2004
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Finally! A decent wind to kite buggy in. Its been like monsoon season here for weeks. Very unseasonable weather. Today there were a few spots of rain but by five o'clock there were clear skys, and a clean, strong south-wester blowing. There's only one place to buggy in a SW wind around here; the Wakapuaka sand-flats. The surface was still a little slick from all the rain but the wind was cranking. On one downwind run I got to a top speed of 60kph with just one excalibur flying! I stopped for a rest and took this picture while playing around with the timer on my little camera.
9:25:47 PM
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Thursday, 19 February 2004
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This photo was taken last night. The coulds in the picture were low and racing past on a brisk SW wind, which in the peachy light of last sun rays, gave the effect of a scrolling sunset. A perpetual view, as if the sky was standing still, while the earth rotated beneath it. I guess a video might of illustrated this better, but I'm sure your imaginations will do a fine job...
5:56:10 PM
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Monday, 16 February 2004
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Sunday, 15 February 2004
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Some old friends of mine dropped in for the night on Saturday. I known M & P for many years and its always great to catch up with them. Right now they are living in their house bus in Marlbough but only recently moved to the South Island. Hopefully I'll be seeing more of them now. Their House bus tows a covered trailer which houses the Kawasaki ZZR motorcycle for shorter trips... very James Bond.
We spent the weekend drinking coffee, watching movies, and catching up. M wanted to go kiting (he has an excalibur like mine) but the wind has been a horrible gusty south-easter; maybe next time.
6:13:35 PM
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Friday, 13 February 2004
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I got an email from the folks at flexifoil.com today (the makers of my most favourite kite) to inform me that I am the winner of their "Memories" competition for Janurary. You write a short tale about your favourite kiting memory and the best submission each month wins a prize. Not sure what the prize is yet. I guess I'll just have to watch the letter box with baited breath. It'll probably be something like a hat and t-shirt... but I'm secretly hoping for an 8.5m Blade III ;) (fingers crossed!)
Anyway, you can read my winning entry here.
6:47:36 PM
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Monday, 9 February 2004
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"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree"
Albert Einstein
11:04:03 PM
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Sunday, 8 February 2004
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I went for a bike ride to the very end of the valley I live in this afternoon. I live only 1km from the end of the public road but the forestry tracks go one for miles and connect with many other valleys. The ride up to the end took about an hour and a half while the return trip was considerably quicker.
The view at the top was worth the slog up there. The thrill ride back down was just the icing on the cake.
7:48:37 PM
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Wednesday, 4 February 2004
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My new years resolutions.
I know they're late, but it pays to think these things through; things are more likely to happen that way. In order of importance...
- Get back into drawing. I used to draw portraits in charcoal, and later started getting into drawing seascapes, but my photography has taken over. I would like my photos to become the raw ingredients to some drawings (or even paintings?) this year.
- Finish painting the house. This is a short term goal... just a reminder for me really. (famous last words?)
- Explore a career change. I get bored with a job after about five years. I am in my fourth year now...
*scratches feet*
- ...um ... I had another one but... er.... its slipped my mind for now. It'll turn up again soon. Can't have been that important, anyway, three's enough. 8D
9:12:53 PM
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Tuesday, 3 February 2004
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"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."
Ansel Adams
9:57:09 PM
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Monday, 2 February 2004
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"I am probably afraid that some spectator will not understand my photography - therefore I proceed to make it really less understandable by writing defensibly about it. "
Ansel Adams
2:22:45 PM
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Its been raining for days here. Today is a public holiday, Nelson Aniversary Day, making this a three day weekend. This Friday will be Waitangi Day making next weekend a three day break too, and theres only a three day working week in between. I was looking forward to kite buggying and kayaking but its been raining steadily the whole time. I was even going to finish the house painting (which is now long overdue due to delays getting a builder to fix a rotting window sill). It'll take a few days of sun to dry the house out enough to paint again. I'm bored with this rain. I really hope it clears this afternoon....
8:40:20 AM
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Sunday, 1 February 2004
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11:13:39 PM
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© Copyright
2009
Murray Neill
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Last update:
17/02/2009; 7:45:16 p.m.
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