Its not...

Its not...,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

...notraces work (you guessed that right!), but I was quite pleased with my first attempt at a night scene.

VERY bad day at work yesterday, lots of "unexplained" hardware issues. Not very good for confidence.

Went to a fantastic authentic tapas bar last night, good feeding and forgetting about the problems of the day.

Start of the week

Sunrise this morning,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

A pretty bad start to the week, I really don't won't to be in Winchester this week - but at least the holidays are getting nearer. Trouble is if I feel like this before I go, whats it going to be like when they're over!!

A great sun rise when I left the house yesterday, and that was the best bit about the day really! We had loads of problems with equipment which set us back.

We ate at the Napelese restaurant last night - fantastic food, ate loads, can't pronounce anything that I ate but it was all good.

BBQ

BBQ,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

Weekend roundup.
Fantastic weather all weekend. Tasha has been had working on Pop Icon again this weekend so we hardlt saw her on Sunday. We spent the time in the garden mowing etc.
Saturday night we had Jane & Nigel over and had a fantastic BBQ. Tasha made homemade burgers, with some mince that Nate & I got Ian Barker to make up for us that morning. Great to catch up with them both and good to see that they are well (and Jemmie too)

Nate Update:
He's not been very well at all - not sure whether its the chickenpox catching up with him (the spots are all drying up now), or whether its the side effects of the anti biotics he's on. He got a secondary infection behind his ear because he had loads of chickenpox behind there. He's not been himself and generallly "floppy" all weekend. Hopefully should pick up for the holidays

Southampton

DSCN2500,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

Geoff and I headed into Southampton tonight for something to eat. Geoff fancied mexican so we ended up dining mexican - and very nice it was too. Got this series of shots on the drive home.

Inspiration for Art

I'm also pondering what to do in this area, and I may very well have come across a site that will nudge me in the right direction!

Breakfast with the boss

Had to do a bit of impromptu brown nosing this morning when Mark H joined me for breakfast!! Bumped into him on the way down this morning, good chat about holidays with the kids, he has some young'uns too and they're off to Salcombe (another favourite).

Also recently upgraded to iTunes 4.9 with the podcast facility. I came across a great cast about digital photography. Tips from the top floor is run by an enthusiastic Germany guy, and is pretty good to listen to. The cast I listened to last night was about lightning and came with this stunning image, which was taken while making the podcast

Winchester car pan technique

Winchester car pan technique,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

Weather wise it is absolutly fantastic here in Winchester today (the Queen is due here later). The sky is so blue, more like you would see in the south of France. Not one to miss out on the weather I went to sit on the bank and read my camera manual. Started trying to master the pan technique on the passing cars, and when I downloaded these only relised that there appeared to be a car with some agressive looked blokes in!

Guilt

Working away from home (especially for such a long length of time) really makes me feel guilty. Tasha is having to do everything as well as fit in all the stuff she is doing for Pop Icon and "Whorehouse". I feel really bad when I don't see the family and Nate won't do the phone at all. Whats added to the problems is that Nate came down with Chickenpox over the weekend and now that means that because he's contagious Tasha won't be able to go to sports day. Poor Florence won't have anyone cheering her on.

UPDATE! - Florence won her race! A star in the making

Saturday

Bee,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

The task I set myself yesterday will take a lot longer than I thought. So looks like I shall be working in the hotel again next week.

Woke up this morning to fantastic weather. Nate and I had a great walk and managed to capture some good wildlife photos

We got the olympics....

...blimey

Its Clobberin' Time

After seeing the latest trailer for the Fantastic 4 on t'internet today and Mark's review of Batman Begins, it suddenly dawned on me that I could go to the cinema while I'm here on my own!! So tomorrow I think I will, set me up nicely for the drive to Manchester on Thursday morning.

Photography

Summer Sky Two,
originally uploaded by notraces.

Left a few comments with No Traces and he leaves some great advice on camera set up. Real bummer that I left my camera at home this week.

24

Well the end of Season 4 has just been watched (I know I'm a week behind). What a great 2 hours, nicely finished off, and I thought that it seemed that - that was that.

However I then found this

Back to the homestead

Branding,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

Well back to the house tonight, a much better drive home. Tasha is out on the lash tonight, so settled down for Bradford vs Rhinos and 5 750ml bottles of Tiger beer for £5

The Breakfast Club 2

Who cares whether Molly & Judd made a go of it, or whether Martin followed his Dad's advice and became a wrestler or followed his true path and became a skate artist - what everyone wants to know is that the Hoff was back this morning, and not only that but he was dining with the skinny lady. All was going well until he received "another phone call". What made it even better is that his ringtone was the Cagney & Lacey theme!!

The Fat lass wasn't in this morning so it was up to me to dive into a full English, the waitress (that when she's not waitressing is sitting by the pool in a bikini - which I'm not sure is the outfit that is most suited to her fuller figure) was in the background this morning - another reason to take advantage of the breakfast ensuring that it stays down! However, a abnormally tall Herman Munster youth with thick glasses was serving.

Woke early (again) so finished watching Dogtown and the Z-Boys, and started watching the Billabong Odyssey.

Steve Martin is definitely not Steve Martin, I gauged this by his response to me elbowing him in the ribs, winking and saying "Don't call him lifesaver, call him shithead"