One of my other Christmas gifts was a copy of the latest Apple operating system 'Lion' (technically OSX 10.7). I opted for delivery via a USB key to save the nearly 4GB online download and have a fixed media backup should the need to rebuild ever arise.

…

Released in Q3 last year from memory, I decided not be an uber early adopter so I waited a few months for the dust to settle and the horror stories to be told and resolved.

Settling in last night for a lengthy upgrade session, I was surprised when it was all done and dusted inside 75 minutes (including the update 10 10.7.2) and the new log on screen was there welcoming me.

I understand what Apple was trying to achieve with the look & feel of Lion, but it comes over as a bit 'in between' for my liking. Not quite like a new full-blown desktop OS release, and not really like the IOS devices it was trying to align with. I also took the plunge and upgraded to the new iCloud syncing service as well. It is pleasing to report no issues so far.

Some learning required of this new technology, so bought a copy of the 'Missing Manual for Lion' by David Pogue, via Kindle to read on my iPad.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Well we got bundled out of the Finals in the first round, beaten by 62 points by our arch-enemy Carlton. As disappointing as the result was, I was hoping for a Top Eight finish at the start of the year and that was achieved, so 'Tick'.

How best to analyse and sum up 2011?

Let's start with the coaching staff. It seemed to me the all new coaching team worked together very well, very quickly and seemed to have the 'ear' of the players. The club managed the arrival of Bomber Thompson as well as could be expected. The mid season sequence of losses was unfortunate, but symptomatic of a young team I suspect. On the coaching downside, losing Brendan McCartney to the Bulldogs for 2012, and the Dean Wallis gambling issue late in the season were major disappointments.

On the playing side, Dyson Heppell was the obvious stand out. Playing every game, looking poised from the very start, rarely beaten with sensational disposal and winning the NAB Rising Star Award. A break out year also for David Zaharakis who eventually won the Crichton Medal for our Best and Fairest. Well done David! Third best to my mind was Stewart Crameri. For a Rookie, admittedly of slightly mature age, he was stunning. Big, bustling with a thumping left foot and great goal sense. Best of the rest? Hard to leave Jobe Watson, Heath Hocking and Dustin Fletcher out of any list of committed team players..

Were there disappointments? Injuries, the poor form (on average) of our ruckmen brigade, an occasionally screwy plan for three talls in the forward line, and that mid season losing streak were lowlights.

Roll on 2012!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

The home & away season for the Bombers has now ended and we will be in eighth place, qualifying for a spot in the finals. While we didn't exactly overwhelm over the last few weeks, at least we were better than 'the rest'.

Our final game today against Port Adelaide, who were / are last, had all the attributes of a train wreck for a little over three quarters until the Bombers awoke from their slumber and fairly stormed home in the last twenty minutes. The supporters might like to see a full four quarter effort next time out...

With a bye next week to freshen the team, we play traditional rivals Carlton in an Elimination Final in the second week of September. Be positive, Bring it on!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Here we are again back at the Chateau Royale apartments in the Cotton Tree precinct of Maroochydore for another two week stint on the gorgeous Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

After just a few days, I am delighted to report that the weather is living up to the usual tourism hype. After departing dodgy Melbourne last Friday, it has been 21 - 23 degrees each day here. I had forgotten what 'sun on your back' felt like!

Panorama from our balcony taken with the cool Photosynth app on the iPhone - 2011

In addition to great weather, we have found some excellent food so far. A Reef & Beef (sirloin / crayfish combo) at the curiously named 'Naked Turtle' in Caloundra and a barramundi / balmain bug stack at 'Yabbi's' in Maroochydore being the standout dishes so far. On previous visits, the wine snob in us (well in Robin anyway) seemed to struggle a touch to find a decent tipple. But not so this year. Especially on the white front, very decent chardonnays and pinot grigio / gris have been had at 'acceptable' price points given the tourist locale.

Interesting pie marketing plan at Mojos! - 2011

A side event this year is to crank the cameras up looking for the 'money' shot(s). A holiday gallery will be uploaded shortly.

Fishing at dusk is popular on the Maroochy River - 2011

We have a rental car but sadly not the Skoda Octavia we booked. A Holden Cruze is our vehicle and it is absolutely awful. No power, twitchy steering, grabby brakes, holes in the floor so you can watch the road pass under you (true!), and seats like milk crates. And of course it is black, the most practical colour for the Queensland sun. I don't believe the vehicle has one redeeming feature. I can't imagine anyone going into a dealership and test driving one and going back to the salesman to say 'This is the car I have always wanted'. Aarghh.. Some may say I have been spoilt car wise, but previous rental cars have been a Skoda and a Camry both of which fitted their roles admirably.

Some coastal wildlife! - 2011

More to come soon from a planned Eco waterways tour.

Ah, the Sunshine Coast - 2011

Other highlights - Maleny milk, Arnica Restaurant, frozen banana dipped in Belgian chocolate from Panny's at the Ginger Factory and sunset cocktails at the Boat House to name a few.

Post dinner drinks, Arnica - 2011

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

In recent times, we have been lucky to be part of a couple of wins by the mighty Bombers.

A sensational, out-of-nowhere victory over Geelong, a come from behind win over the Tigers and a very rare interstate win over the Adelaide Crows. This all got us into the 'Eight' and with some hope for post season action.

However, a thundering loss this weekend to the arch-enemy, Carlton, has put a serious dent in out finals hopes and dreams. On a brighter note, I did enjoy the game of Jake Carlisle. He stood up manfully in defence taking several strong, well judged marks. And he will be forever remembered for providing the stepladder for Andrew Walker's mark of the year!

Oh well, perhaps we can squeak a win over the premiership favourites, Collingwood, this coming weekend...

An update on the update. Just this week, Mark Williams the straight kicking forward recruited from Hawthorn only last year announced his retirement due to ongoing knee issues. Unfortunately Essendon never saw the best of Mark due to this injury.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

I have extremely exciting lifestyle news to report! I recently started some golf lessons and the pro was a little (!) concerned that perhaps my body was preventing me making those fantastic twisting moves you see the touring professionals make, and suggested I get some 'physical' support. Enter Dani, risking her reputation, courageously taking me on as a Personal Trainer. Early days, and with a little more discipline to find, progress has been most positive. As evidence, I submit that two weeks ago, I walked the 'Old Course' at The National (yes, the hilly one) for the first time in my life. As a bonus, the weather was superb, as shown by the iPhone happy snap of the 3rd Hole below.

Gotta go, some more stretches beckon!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Late June / early July was a very 'cultural' period for us. Stop laughing please...

First up was the Melbourne Theatre Company production of 'The Joy of Text', very interesting, well acted but perhaps a bit cerebral for moi. Try this review if you want to really know what went on...

'The Joy of Text' - Images courtesy MTC 2011

Later in the week it was off to the Classic Albums Live production of Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' album. Now this performance I clearly understood. It was just a superb rendition of a classic album from the vocals to the guitars to the percussion. Great to hear 'Albatross' and 'Oh Well' included in the second half 'Greatest Hits' set too. Here is a nice promo video from YouTube.

Finally, there was a musical narrative on the life of original AC/DC frontman, Bon Scott, 'Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be' at the Atheneum Theatre. Very well played, and (predictably) played extremely l-o-u-d. Nick Barker was most impressive giving a personable and engaging performance in the lead role. A good description and back story here.

Doug Parkinson & Nick Barker - Image courtesy Herald Sun 2011

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Essendon Football Club Update: Here we are at Round 13 of the AFL season and it has not been a great fews weeks for the Bombers I'm afraid.

We haven't won a game in over a month and are only just clinging on to 8th place. Despite excellent efforts from Watson, Fletcher, Crameri, Heppell, Hardingham and Bellchambers there is much more work to do over the next nine weeks or so if we are going to have a winning record for the season.

Oh well, it is a 'development and improvement' year after all...

One highlight for us has been the quality of the reserved seats we have at the MCG and Etihad Stadium. Both around the 50 metre line on the mid levels with a super view.

Imagine how happy I would look after the game if we could actually win one!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Another Easter, another bunch of chocolate eggs. Well, it should be but Robin appears to have forgotten about me...

I went to see Dad today and there was plenty of Easter activity at SomerCare with signs, Easter bunny mobiles, hand outs of eggs etc. Nice.

Dad was OK, but struggling with his knees, making him unsteady on his feet and not able to walk even with the wheeler.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

For probably the last time, Bob Dylan is touring Australia, and for the first time, Robin and I went to see the legend perform in his second Melbourne concert at the Rod Laver Arena on April 21. And we were not disappointed!

Not being as organised as I should have been I was unaware of who the support act was. It turned out to be Paul Kelly, one of Australia's greatest singer / songwriters and a perfect choice to warm up the crowd. He was most ably accompanied on backing vocals and guitar by his nephew, Dan Kelly. Moving through some of his recent material with a couple of old hits thrown in, the vocals and musicianship were excellent. An energetic version of 'Dumb Things' had the crowd really jumping.

But the PA sound quality was shrill and high-pitched to the point of nearly being painful. I was getting nervous for the main event. I needn't have worried. From the moment the roadies and guitar techs swooped on to the stage to set up Bob Dylan and His Band's instruments, even the tuning sounds were much more normal and balanced. Phew.

The stage set was very simple. No giant insects, cranes, walkways/runways, massive screens, just a curtain for projecting colour and simple images. Dylan led off with 'Gonna Change My Way of Thinking' and two things immediately struck me. Firstly the backing band (drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar and lap steel/banjo/mandolin) was stunning. Tightly focused on Bob and the music, they really grooved. The second thing was, and this is no surprise, the venerable Mr Dylan has little or no voice to speak of. Pardon the pun. A bit of spoken word mixed with a slight bark. And guess what? I knew that, most of the audience knew that and nobody cared! And while I am being honest, Bob didn't engage in small talk with the audience. Not once. Again, who cares. Not an insincere 'Hello Melbo-o-o-r-ne' was heard from the stage.

Nice shadow from the Dylan Show stage lighting - 2011

After a couple more songs, I was starting to become restless as the song selection and arrangements sounded more like the house band at a high-end' Chicago rock & blues club than what I was innocently expecting of the light & shade of a Dylan concert. After an interesting version of 'Tangled Up in Blue' things really started to move into high gear. The set list was: 

1 Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2 Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
3 I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
4 Things Have Changed
5 Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
6 Tangled Up In Blue
7 The Levee's Gonna Break
8 Not Dark Yet
9 High Water (for Charlie Patton)
10 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
11 Highway 61 Revisited
12 Simple Twist Of Fate
13 Thunder On The Mountain
14 Ballad Of A Thin Man

Then came the stunning encore of 'Like a Rolling Stone', 'All Along the "Watchtower' and 'Forever Young' which were all simply breathtaking. Sadly, after one hour, fifty minutes it was all over. A collection of reviews of his first night in Melbourne town can be found here.

So if Bob Dylan didn't sing well or speak to the audience, what did he do exactly? Well, for an artist almost 70 years of age, he did a hell of a lot. He was clearly the 'bandleader' with his supporting cast hanging of his every verse, chorus and musical interlude. Apart from singing (!), he played electric guitar, organ and harmonica particularly effectively, riffing, vamping and wailing, demonstrably adding to the overall feel and quality of the performance. Of course they are his songs, probably his old (and new) arrangements but the guy can still PLAY MUSIC and perform on stage.

I said at the start that Paul Kelly is one of Australia's finest singer / songwriters, but by the end of the evening it was clear that we had witnessed one of history's finest artists. It takes a very special talent to write, record and perform for more than fifty years without selling out or becoming a parody of themselves. Seemingly always re-inventing himself and his music, take a bow, Mr Zimmerman.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,
Robin decided that we needed a break from the stresses and strain of being self-funded retirees so she booked us in for a three night / four day holiday in the seaside town of Lorne. We made a late morning start on Tuesday in the Boxster for the two and half hour drive around the bay to the Surf Coast.

Our home for the stay was the refurbished Grand Pacific Hotel (pictured at left), built in the late19th century. Not restored totally to it's former glory, but modern-ish facilities, decent-sized balcony rooms overlooking the ocean / bay and a nice bistro (with no pokies) made for a very pleasant stay. The food was excellent and the wine list sensibly chosen not the usual suspects one typically finds. We particularly enjoyed the Simpson Valley Riesling from Clare in South Australia. Crisp, dry and sensibly priced to boot.

Interestingly no breakfast is available in the hotel during the week, so one either starves (not a valid option for the Humphries party), the lazy can drive or you walk about a kilometre to the township where a range of breakky treats are readily available. We found the walk enjoyable and the exercise valuable. Cafe Lick & Sip was the preferred venue with good coffee, great fresh juice and carefully prepared bacon, eggs etc.

Wandering back to our hotel one afternoon we were met by a couple from Adelaide who wanted to talk about AFL but the conversation easily moved on to golf, travel, house renovations, work reunions and nocturnal escapades... Thanks for a great afternoon Scott & Belinda!

The weather forecast on the news every evening always talks about 'west of Cape Otway' or something similar so when out touring we saw a sign that read to Cape Otway we gave it a go. It was a former lighthouse station but now is a tourist spot, has onsite accomodation in the old lighthouse keepers cottage and offers tours of the lighthouse. It would be very quiet (and creepy) staying overnight I reckon. Shipwreck ghosts, yeesh.

.

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Cape Otway Scenes - March 2011

After a slow start to the next day, we decided to try the Otway Fly, a raised rain-forest style walk on a platform suspended some 25 metres above the forest floor. It was an adventure just finding the place with narrow winding roads through towering trees and verdant ferns and undergrowth. Eventually we arrived, paid our money, walked down to the 'Fly'. I made it only about 75 metres before retreating. Robin probably did 200 metres of the 700 metre walk. It was high! And a see-through floor and sides. And it shook! Pass me.

A viewing platform on the 'Fly' - March 2011

And of course no visit to Lorne is complete without a dinner at The Pier Seafood Cafe. Local seafood from the co-op next door doesn't get any fresher and the crayfish mornay I ordered was stunning. All washed down with a Bellarine Peninsula dry white. Excellent!

Guess which one went in the boiling water first?
Photo by Robin Humphries - March 2011

I should mention the driving. The Boxster S drove superbly the whole time, usually with top down, just purring and slicing through the countryside. Of course everyone knows how good the Great Ocean Road is. And that includes caravaners and motorhome folks and overseas tourists who are sometimes challenged by the concept of driving on the LHS of the road. Interesting... But off the GOR, the road out of Lorne to Deans Marsh is fantastic, and so is the run from Apollo Bay to Lavers Hill. Both highly recommended. So after some 770 kilometres of touring, we travelled back to Queenscliff to take the ferry trip to Sorrento then home a little after lunch on Friday.

Our Boxster @ rest - March 2011

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Another year of AFL is upon us. Shock improvers, surprise losers, sacked coaches, off field indiscretions, and more!

Already, this is shaping up as the best year Essendon will enjoy in recent memory. My estimate is for us to finish somewhere between 8th and 12th. Courageously, I am going to go out on a limb now and predict a finals appearance for ‘King’ James and the boys. The lid is well and truly off!

Why so optimistic? Four simple reasons:

1. ‘Disunity is death’. The Essendon Football Club is united again after three and a half years of turmoil following the messy ‘assassination’ of Kevin Sheedy, the bumbling along of the Horsburgh/Jackson period, the flirtation with Michael Voss leading to the hasty and disastrous coaching appointment of Matthew Knights; and more recently many months of senior management dithering as the club plunged to it’s lowest depths on and the off field in decades last year. David Evans, the board and management team finally found their vision, spine and mojo, amply demonstrated by the assembling of the off-field team mentioned below, and the courageous Windy Hill relocation decision;
2. The recruitment of the best coaching & support team in the AFL, Hird, Thompson, Wellman, Goodwin, McCartney, supported by Dean Wallis in Player Development and Danny Corcoran looking after Player Welfare. An outstanding off-field team that will bear significant fruit in 2011, but will show even greater value in two or three years time;
3. A new defensive oriented game plan. Much has been written about this in the press already. Put simply Essendon now looks like a competitive 21st century football team;
4. A pretty strong list when combined with the two factors above. This year has the best crop of new recruits I can remember for ages including Crameri (has a real ‘X’ factor about him so get him off the Rookie List fast!), Hibberd (is poised and hard-at-it), Heppel (an absolute gun) and Browne (classy with good skills) to name just four. And you can add to that list ‘virtual’ recruits like a fit David Myers and Mark Williams along with the continued development of Jetta, Howlett, Riemers, Colyer, Melksham, Zaharakis, Davey, Bellchambers, Hardingham and Hurley. With the improved upfield pressure, I like our defensive structure that includes rotations of Hooker, Pears, Myers, Slattery, Fletcher and Dempsey. Also throw in the big guys Ryder and Gumbleton supporting ‘old stagers’ in Watson, Hille, Stanton and McVeigh and I think you may find that some of our middle-ranking players who consistently ‘mailed-it-in’ may be struggling for a game under the new regime… Competition is good!
   

Are there any negatives? Only three that I can see:

1. Injuries, especially to our key on-ballers and defenders. No different to any other side really;
2. A tough early draw. Even if we play OK, we could find ourselves in a 0-5, 1-4 win-loss position which may sap the confidence of the players, both in themselves, and with the new game plan;
3. With a new, high energy game plan plus the reduced rotations off the interchange bench, and with a number of younger, lighter bodied players, you might expect that the long AFL season will at some point take it’s toll. If that is sooner, rather than later, it may limit the win count by the end of the season;
   

‘We are One!’ Robin and I have heeded the cry, and are paid up members again this year, adding home game reserved seats to our package, I even signed up for AFL Membership again (Essendon club support package). This entitled me to free entry to the pre-season NAB Cup games. I attended our games against Melbourne and St Kilda so I have seen two wins, for 'free', already. Great value!

As for my overall 2011 season predictions, stick these in your time capsule!

Collingwood are the reigning premiers, have lost nobody of substance, recruited well and are still young. Deserved flag favourites. Gee, that was hard to write! As for the rest of the ‘8’, that is more difficult. The Saints are treading water with limited fire-power and a one-dimensional game style in my opinion and if it ain’t this year then they could be headed south. The Western Bulldogs are a chance with a strong list and some youth coming through, although Johnson is a big loss. I had Hawthorn as a GF contender last year and they let me down badly but with Hodge, Rioli, Franklin and Roughead fit and going around, they must be a threat, although Brown is a spiritual and onfield loss. Fremantle are too dependent on Sandilands and Pavlich. If either of those two go down injured forget it. Hard to like Carlton, except for the Judd factor, and after the off-season mass exodus from Cat-land, Geelong has looked pretty ordinary pre-season. I have them still in the eight, but they would need to quickly find some consistency and form with their new coaching direction.

Hard to see any of the bottom nine teams threatening those sides above them. Melbourne has made a grave error in shooting their experienced club men (Essendon in’09 anyone?) while investing too heavily in youth and they will struggle in 2011, and the Swans have stalled. Adelaide are rebuilding given their retirements last year, and North, badly hit by early injuries, and Richmond who need to find support for Jack Riewoldt are the best of the rest. It is going be a long, cold season for Port, West Coast and Brisbane. I like the building of the Suns list, but history shows year one in the AFL is a tough gig. Anything above 17th would be a very successful year.

Ladder:

Collingwood
Hawthorn
St Kilda
Bulldogs
Fremantle
Carlton
Geelong
Essendon
Sydney
Adelaide
Melbourne
North Melbourne
Richmond
Port Adelaide
West Coast Eagles
Brisbane
Gold Coast Suns

Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast Suns (just)

Coleman Medal: Jonathan Brown (Brisbane)

Brownlow Medal: Chris Judd (Carlton)

NAB Rising Star: Dyson Heppel (Essendon)

First coach sacked: John Worsfold , Dean Bailey or Michael Voss

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Don't think that I have shared this before but we continue to 'green' our property and lifestyle, minimising our footprint on the planet (if you ignore the cars of course...).

Previously we installed water tanks (some 50,000 litres total storage), installed a pumping station to send water to the garden beds and animal troughs from the dam and planted scores of trees for shade and O2 generation.

And now, we have added solar panels to utilise clean energy to power the property. On a good day we are energy positive, that is we are adding solar energy back into the grid as we are generating more than we are using. Well, we would be if the power companies would get their act together. It remains to be seen how successful the generation is in the winter months. Will post more technical detail when I understand it. Don't wait up.

Overall, I suspect the cost far outweighs the dollar benefits as the installation / rebate / refund scheme seems like a bit of a scam, but we feel we are doing our little bit for the environment. Cue the playing of violins...

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Santa did a nice job of squeezing an iRig, by Amplitube, guitar amplifier adapter / iPad app down the chimney for me for Christmas.

More details on the device here.

It is very easy to use. I have it connected to me Fender Strat at one end and some Grado SR-60 headphones at the other. There are lots of in-app options (amp cabinets, effects, pedals etc) to be added but it is pretty useful straight out of the box.

One cool feature is the iTunes playlist integration. My buddies and I have a garage-band set that we play whenever we get together. I made playlist of the original tracks in iTunes so I stream those through the iRig and just play along to the best of my limited ability!

Entry level cost is around $A60. A very good investment IMHO. A gadget I actually use!

Good afternoon,

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. I hope yours was a happy and enjoyable affair.

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Your humble correspondent with elegant 2010 Christmas hat (left) while Robin holds court (right)

Lunch was again at our house with M-i-L Margaret, her D-i-L Libby and two daughters Lani & Jessie, and good friend Tony joining us for a celebration. Unfortunately Dad wasn't well enough to leave his care to participate so I took over some oysters and champagne, together with some more cards and gifts for him. He enjoyed the morning and the rest of his day I am sure.

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Tony (left) and Margaret & Jessie (right)

A seafood entree was followed by turkey, beef and ham roast with vegetables but that was just the start. The 'serious' stuff was to follow. Margaret made a plum pudding, Robin did a tiramisu and a Christmas cake while Libby hand-makes some superb petit fours. The conversation flowed well in between mouthfuls before retiring to the lounge for the gift sharing and opening. As always, I was spoiled with some wonderful presents.

We wound up sometime after 5PM and our visitors got home safely. With Tony helping, dishes etc were quickly cleaned up, and we could put our feet up. I had two leftover prawns and one leaf of cos lettuce for dinner which I almost thought was too much! Happy New Year and I will report again in 12 months with any luck.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

As a Christmas treat, we decided to make the trip out to the 'other' Windy Hill today to watch the Essendon Football Club Open Practice Day.

It was just like the old days trying to find a car parking spot somewhere near this suburban ground, A bit of former local knowledge helped to secure a spot only five minutes walk to the ground to join about two or three thousand of the faithful, old and young mostly decked out in the famous red & black.

So how did they look? Firstly, it was great to see the new Senior Coach, James Hird, and his team of assistants including Mark 'Bomber' Thompson all present and actively (and loudly) instructing the players in what was a very energetic two hour session.

I must honestly confess that I did not recognise all of the players. Some of the senior guys were rested (like Dustin Fletcher), some others were on rehab programs (like David Hille) and we have some new recruits, new rookies and some guys still training with us in the hope of being picked up in the new draft round in January. Of those I knew, I liked what I saw of Angus Monfries and Alwyn Davey. Their speed and attack on the football was excellent. There was much focus on running and use of the ball for much of the session so the 'talls' had less opportunity to shine.

While there we finally finalised our membership and home game reserved seats for NEXT season. Roll on 2011!

A small picture gallery of more of the action can be found on Flickr here.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

After six months of my computer technology being pretty 'iffy', I have now cleaned up my environments.

For all my Windows stuff, specifically the RaceLogic Circuit Tools software, I have implemented OS X 10.6.5 and Windows 7 (under Bootcamp) on my 'old' 17" MBP. The wide screen will be great for reviewing my lap times. The final piece of this puzzle was the purchase of a Targus DC power inverter so that I can get computer power 'on the move'.

The changes above have enabled me to delete all the Windows partitions & images and the sorting of some 'conflicting apps' off my day-to-day 15" MBP. Then an upgrade to 10.6.5 has left me to enjoy the fruits of the Apple Mac world unencumbered. Very nice.

And now everything seems well with the world! I know this doesn't sound too exciting but it has kept me much calmer...

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Last night Robin and I attended a 'Classic Albums Live' performance of the Dire Straits album, 'Brothers in Arms'. An Australian company has come up with a concept of pulling together Oz's best stage & session musos to re-create the great rock albums of our time. A pretty good concept if you can't hear the real thing I reckon.

The performance was held within the classy surounds and velour seats of the State Theatre in the Melbourne Arts Centre. We arrived early to enjoy a tasty and relaxing meal at the Curve Bar.

The first half of the show was, of course, a recreation of the 'Brothers in Arms' album end to end. Although we signed up for the concert because we love the band and the album, you don't often sit down and just focus on how great the songs are, the depth of the arrangements and the quality of musicianship required to re-produce the music. Awesome.

Update: A previous version of this blog said that the title track was left to last, rather than second last, as per the original track listing. A couple of weeks later, I received an email from the drummer from the show, Chris Whitten. Yes, THE Chris Whitten, the touring drummer for 'Dire Straits' from the early '90s, politely telling me that I was wrong re the track sequence. Just my luck that the only person who read my review had insider information!

After intermission, the band played a 'Best of the Rest' of Dire Straits including 'Sultans of Swing', 'Tunnel of Love', 'Private Investigations', 'Romeo & Juliet', 'The Bug', 'Calling Elvis' amongst others. The highlights? To my ears, 'Down to the Waterline', 'Lady Writer', 'Twisting by the Pool' and 'Going Home' were the best in a very polished, professional but energetic performance. While I thought Phil Emmanuel (brother of Tommy) was the standout player, the rhythm section laid the foundation enabling the entire 9 man, one woman outfit to shine.

Highly recommended!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Music

God afternoon,,

Now that I have your undivided attention...

A couple of weeks ago, my hifi buddy Tony and I found ourselves in Victoria Parade, Abbotsford looking for some musical inspiration in the form of some audiophile CDs. I did manage to pick up an XRCD2 (Japanese Pressing) of 'Brothers in Arms' so I left the store happy, but nearing midday I was getting hungry. Some of you may know this area of Melbourne is home to all manner of Vietnamese markets and restaurants which don't really run to my taste. Surprisingly on the short walk back to the car, I saw an Italian restaurant called 'e Lounge'. Curious name, they seemed to specialise in wood fired pizza. A review of the menu on the window seemed to indicate it wasn't your run of the mill joint so I persuaded, well told Tony actually, this is where we will eat. It was pizza gamberi for me (pictured at left) and pizza con prosciuto for him. Absolutely stunning. With a crisp 'toasted' base, fresh tomato paste, tasty globs of mozzarella followed by your topping of choice along with mini roma tomatoes and fresh spinach leaves and drizzle of olive oil.

Upon leaving, the host indicated they had a sister restaurant 'Zonzo' attached to the Train Trak winery in the Yarra Valley. File that snippet of information away for use at a future date.

Train Trak vineyard in spring

Well, yesterday, that date came around. After dropping the Lexus off for a service, we took our loan Lexus IS250 (sorry folks, pretty dinky after the GS430), we made a bee-line for Train Trak. The day was just gorgeous so we sat outside overlooking the vines and the hills. Strangely (!), I ordered the same pizza as previously and Robin ordered the same as Tony had done. And the end results was just same. Spectacular! We washed our pizzas down with estate Train Trak wines, a sparkling for her and a young chardonnay for me. We managed to squeeze in desserts as well. A banana & chocolate calzone was my choice and Robin had the creme caramel. We followed with coffee and then we were done. But done very, very well!

Train Trak chardonay in repose....

All of the above photos were taken with my iPhone4. I am slowly getting used to it and starting to use it more and thus taking better photos to boot. As the old saying goes 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. Cheers!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Food

Good afternoon,

The planets finally aligned and I was able to get me some news toys.

My old 3G iPhone plan expired so I was 'free' to upgrade and after a few days I am pretty pleased I did. Very snappy, great features, especially the decent still & video cameras and a whole range of possibilities in the App Store to take advantage of the hardware features over and above my previous iPhone. The 'decent' storage (32GB) now makes a reality of messaging, mail, calendar & contacts, music and video on the move. The new 'Retina' display makes viewing even small script pleasurable.

Update: I managed to 'cascade' my original iPhone to my wife, an Apple lover but not a convert to the iPhone world while I had the only one... Now, Robin is Googling, texting, emailing, checking Facebook etc on my 'old' 3G phone hourly or more frequently and I promise you that she will not go back to the 'dark side' again!

So what apps are my favourites or 'must haves' so far? In no particular order:

• iMovie to edit the HD video the iPhone 4 produces;
• Paper Toss, a fantastic time wasting game;
• Beanhunter a location aware app to find the best coffee around you;
• Metlink for Melbourne public transport timetables;
• PS Express, Darkroom, CameraBag, PhotoBudy, Photogene, Image Touch, Pano and SketchMe! are all useful apps for enhancing iPhone photos on the phone;
• Dropbox for seamless document transfer across computers, platforms and geographies;

As for the iPad, well this is really a whim. But I can easily blame Robin as she was an early adopter of e-books back in 2000, so the iPad is just a re-imagining of those early readers only slicker with a lot more functionality. Given the larger screen size over the iPhone, videos look especially fine on the iPad. I opted for the 64B wi-fi only version.

Favourite apps so far?

• GT Purely Porsche, Total 911, Winding Road and Evo online motoring magazine subscriptions;
• iBooks, Stanza and Kindle as e-book and PDF readers;
• PCalc Lite calculator as I can't live without an RPN calculator at my fingertips,
• Epicurious recipes online and / or on demand;

As both devices run similar operating systems (soon to be the same), there is just the one learning curve and the tight coupling with the iTunes eco-system makes syncing and upgrading a one-touch process.

Update: I am really starting to get into the iPad as a PDF reader for of all sorts of info / data, magazines and manuals. And you can read it with the light OFF in bed. A big WAF! Regrets? I probably should not have been such a cheapskate and should have bought a 3G iPad rather than WIFi as the always on convenience and ten+ hour battery life 'deserves' an always available internet connection. Another 'cascade' opportunity for Robin!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Technology

Good afternoon,

Our annual holiday to Maroochydore is officially over.

A busy first two weeks of July made our departure a bit unpredictable but we finally got up in time to catch our flight to Brisbane, and points north on the Sunshine Coast. We are again at the 'Chateau Royale' apartments. It is a fabulous location with uninterrupted views to the east, north and west. We came up here last year with my Dad and this time we have Robin's Mum with us. So far so good...

The happy holiday makers!

This was our second year in Maroochydore, staying two weeks rather than one this time. Maybe it was due to the previous 'knowledge' but we seemed to have a better overall experience this year, visiting some interesting spots, finding some great restaurants and generally relaxing even though the weather was nothing special. We had a Skoda Octavia hatchback as a hire car and it was a most enjoyable device, huge boot, plenty of features while delivering outstanding fuel economy.

A gallery of some holiday snaps can be found here.

Highlights? Meeting the 'Mojo Bluesmen' busking at the Eumundi Market; a great lunch at Harry's at Buderim; plenty of awesome local snapper from the Cotton Tree Fish & Chip shop and generally having some fun with the cameras with Robin 'out & about'.

Dawn, Margaret & Greg at The Boat Shed Restaurant, Maroochydore

We have booked again for next year.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Holiday

The new four bay shed project is well underway.

The slab is down, the building erected (two closed, two open bays), most retaining walls in place, tanks installed (about 44,000 litres). Now waiting for final drainage and power to be connected, the site cleaned-up and a load of gravel and screenings to improve the optics.

While the entry and exits to / from the garages are a little tight, it will be fine. Looking forward to getting it all done and the cars locked away in their new 'home'.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Home

We caught a show of the Beatles tribute band 'Rubber Soul' at the 'Cube Theatre' at the Frankston Cultural Centre on Saturday night. And extremely good it was too.
The musicianship was first class, great bass and drums (go Bongo!), and the two guitarists played particularly well. The vocals were perhaps the least best element but they carried off the performance with bags of personality. It was a show of two halves, the first being the early years with the band dressed in suits & ties, and the second half being the 'later years' with the band appearing in Sgt Peppers attire.

The assembled crowd really got into the music & show (no surprise there) and it was interesting that Robin and I knew all of the words to all of the songs played over the course of the two hour show. A tribute to: a) the quality of the music: b) our memory (!); and c) our wasted youth!

My favourite song of the night was a fantastic rendition of 'Birthday'. Robin's vote went to 'Back in the USSR' with a special mention for 'Get Back'. Really, really good stuff!

A fine night was had by all. And you can probably guess the demographic of the crowd...

Tags: Music

Good evening,

On the way home from our short holiday in Merimbula, we just happened to be passing through Morwell in country Victoria at precisely the time that Essendon and Richmond were playing a NAB Challenge game at the fantastic Morwell City Oval. Imagine my surprise when I (casually) mentioned to Robin that we could drop in for a look, and she said 'OK'. We didn't know where the ground was precisely, but after only five minutes of scouring the town, the growing crowd was spotted, a parking spot secured, and we were inside about one minute after the first bounce.

What excitement! At a suburban (well, country anyway) ground, standing in the outer on the wing, drinking a 'Coke' while eating a jam donut watching the mighty Bombers go round. It doesn't get much better than that!

Through the middle, Go Bombers! - 2010

As we were in the middle of a long drive, we only stayed for the first half. So, what did I think?

Well, our forward line seemed to work well against the Tigers, at least. Gumbleton, Neagle and Hille (he is a BIG unit) worked nicely together, and played wide and stretched the Richmond defence. Ryder rucked well and picked up many possessions across the mid field and presented really well. The defence seemed stout, although for the Tigers, Nahas and a newcomer, Roberts, cut extremely speedy swathes through our defence for impressive goals in Q2. But outside of that, Pears, Hooker and (especially) Fletcher stood firm and Slattery cleaned up neatly. But to my eye, Brent Stanton was the stand out in the first half. He ran laterally and very, very hard, while disposing of the ball extremely well usually by foot to position. Young Howlett looked impressive as well, while Zaharakis looks to have matured into a 'real' AFL player.

Apparently we had a pretty strong side out there today, with Jetta, McVeigh, Lovett-Murray, Houli, Melksham, Laycock and Hurley being the notable absentees.

The Bounce - 2010

To my uneducated eye, the game plan appears to be to switch direction from defence, then switch again using fast hand, leg and foot speed to move the ball and possession towards and through the 'corridor'. That plan requires extreme skill to perfect and at times it appeared that more skills sessions will be required. Also, when the run stopped, say late in a quarter, we looked a little stodgy and proppy as we found it difficult to move the ball out of defence. And as per last year, we often looked better with the ball, than without it.

And I do need to brush up on the players numbers however as there were quite a few players who I did not recognise either by number or physique.

When we left it was 12.4 to 5.4 in favour of the Bombers in a fast and entertaining half of football played in glorious conditions.

The EFC Quarter Time Huddle in front of the 'Adoring Faithfull' - 2010

The crowd to my estimate was at least 5,000. A boost to the local economy I hope. Even Robin commented how great is was to be watching on the 'same level' as the players and to be so close to hear and feel the action. Roll on season 2010!

Update: The final score was 23.9 to 11.7, with some 14 different goal kickers. Outstanding!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Sport

Good evening,
As we are now only a few short weeks away from kicking off the 2010 season, it is time for me commit my thoughts, dreams, aspirations and fears of the mighty Essendon Football Club's performance this coming season.

First off, it seems that this is one of our most injury-free pre-seasons in living memory. Of course, you need to exclude Jason Laycock, Scott Gumbleton and Jay Neagle from that assessment as they are perennially overweight or limping...

Let me start with the positives. I do like our defence. Tayte Pears, Cale Hooker, Dustin Fletcher, Henry Slattery, Courtenay Dempsey, and perhaps NLM all going around make for a tall-ish, quick-ish, skilled back half. If the odd player goes down with injury we can slot some others in like Michael Hurley and Darcy Daniher.

I am less sold on the mid field. No question that our new captain, Jobe 'Son-of-Timmy' Watson is now an elite 'in and under' mid fielder but he is not overly quick. Throw in Andrew Welsh, Heath Hocking, Brent Prismall and Mark McVeigh and while we have the ball, all is well, but on the rebound, that group is a tad slow. I know that Ricky Dyson and Jason Winderlich will be thereabouts but I still fear the defensive run with / shutdown element of our mid field. Alwyn Davey could be tried in the midfield to provide that defensive pressure with superior speed & run.

If you thought I was a bit negative about our mids, wait till we go forward! It is irresponsible to build a forward line around Scott Gumbleton and Jay Neagle. Not because they don't have talent, as they have it in spades but they haven't proven that they have the hard bodies to play 22 weeks plus finals. Mark Williams will be a 40 goal addition, Angus Monfries needs to continue his improvement, but Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett will be sorely missed. Let's hope Hurley can continue on from his stunning debut last year. But it will be tough for the six guys down there to regularly kick a winning score I reckon.

I like the ruck division. Ryder is clearly a class act, Hille would die on the field for his mates and Tom Bellchambers has bulked up a bit and looks like a real candidate in the medium term. I have a lot of time for Brent Stanton as a runner who makes sensible position and gives 100%.

Wildcards in 2010? David Myers, Jake Melksham, Kyle Reimers and David Zaharakis will be worth watching. On the flip side, I think 2010 will be a make or break year for Leroy Jetta, Michael Quinn and Bachar Houli.

So, where do I think 'The Wonderful Wizards from Windy Hill' will finish? Certainly above Richmond and Melbourne, probably on top of North Melbourne but similar to the Swans, Fremantle, West Coast, Port Adelaide and Carlton so anywhere from 13th to 8th. Best guess: 10th. Let's hope Matthew Knights and the boys can prove me wrong. Go Bombers!

As for the flag? A Geelong and Hawthorn Grand Final for mine with the Hawks re-discovering their desire and will win the Big One.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Sport

Good evening,

Robin and I attended our first MTC event for the year last night, 'The Drowsy Chaperone'.
.......
First aired on Broadway in 2006, this show is great fun and delivers super entertainment. An all-star cast turned out for this Australian season, including Geoffrey Rush, Rhonda Burchmore and Robyn Nevin to name three. But the entire cast was excellent with their vocals, dance and comedic timing entertaining a most appreciative extended-season crowd. The two-hour performance without an intermission just flew by.

We followed the show with a superb supper at the Curve Bar at The Arts Centre. Snapper for him, pork for her, all while doing some serious people watching. A great night out!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Theatre

Good evening,

We took a pleasant Sunday drive to the You Yangs National Park at the weekend for a picnic lunch and to exercise the Turbo.

Interesting Rock Formation - Canon 5D, 50mm (© 2010)

On the western side of the hills, some recent plantings of gums gave off a very distinctive reddish hue in the direct afternoon light. It looks fake, but it is absolutely straight from the camera with just with a little RAW processing in Aperture 2.

Gums near the You Yangs - Canon 5D, 50mm (© 2010)

The You Yangs Park was a bit barren I thought, the victim of some bush fires and the general drought conditions. Otherwise, the facilities, signage, roads etc were all fine. As were the views over the plains towards the bay and beyond. A very pleasant spot to visit indeed.

1997 Porsche 911 Turbo 'en route' - Canon 5D, 50mm (© 2010)

On the way home, we fell foul of the 21st century version of Dick Turpin and his highway robbery scam. Only now it is conducted by the Queenscliff / Sorrento Ferry Company, in the form of a $69 bill for a small car and a couple of passengers for a 40 minute boat ride. Yikes!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Porsche

Good evening,

I am getting very serious about making a golf comeback this year.

My membership at one of the finest golf facilities in Australia is being wasted by my playing far too infrequently, not to mention, badly. I really do need to re-focus and dedicate myself to the game. To assist in kick-starting my 'resurgence' I have a couple of lesson credits to use up with the pro at my club. Playing and practising will help my general fitness as well. So that is all goodness and sounds like a win/win.

So step one is to do the mature and responsible thing - go out and buy a new driver! Well, not exactly brand new, but a used Ping Rapture 10.5 jobbie off eBay.

Due to a full schedule this week I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it looks great sitting it the bag... Will post an update after my next round.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Sport

Good afternoon,

After a pleasant NYE spent at home, the new year was kicked off in style with a drive morning.

911 Turbo at Flinders (iPhone) ©2009

I dusted the Turbo off, slipped Paul Rodgers 'Singing Muddy Water's Blues' into the CD player and in slightly inclement weather did a 'lap' of the Mornington Peninsula. A joyous 90 minute sprint from Mt Eliza, to Cape Shanck and back home via Merricks that also included a 15 minute pit stop for a home-made sausage roll and photo op at Flinders. Roll on 2010!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Tags: Porsche

Good morning and Happy New Year,

Where did all the previous posts go to from this blog?

They have been archived (by year) and are easily accessible via the links in the sidebar on the lower left hand side of this page.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

Another Christmas Day has come and gone and a most enjoyable family luncheon was held here at 'Windy Hill'. In between the lively conversation, we tucked into an oyster, prawn and crayfish salad starter, followed by roast beef, baked ham & turkey, roast vegetables then some home-made Christmas pudding, cake and shortbread all washed down with a little sparkling wine and good coffee. I must say that an evening meal was NOT required! Fortunately my Dad was well enough to get a 'Day Pass' from his hospital bed and enjoyed the meal, the company and a little 'freedom'. A big thanks to all those who came and contributed to such a great day!

Monica, Dad & Robin - Christmas 2009

The biggest, but I must say unwrapped, gift I received this year was from Robin in the form of a car trailer to transport my Porsche GT3 to various club race meetings across the state and beyond.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

I got an invitation to head down to the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in mid December to join in with some testing and customer / sponsor laps with Maranello Motorsport and Jocaro Racing, who incidentally look after my car. Unfortunately, the principal of Jocaro, Calvin Pusterla couldn't attend due to other business commitments. He had kindly offered to 'show me the fast way' around the Island and check my times and help my development. Heaven knows I need it.

The Aston Martin GTR looked awesome! - 2009

So with no driving / learning to do, I could freely wander around 'perving' on the exotica in the pits and on the track. Every major motorsport brand was represented even though there was only a dozen or so vehicles present including Aston Martin, Porsche, Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and a Dodge Viper. It didn't get any worse in the car park, as 'supporting' the dozen or so track vehicles were a couple of Ferraris, a Porsche GT3 (mine!), several Mercedes AMGs, one Lambo Gallardo, the odd Rangie and a new Nissan GTR just to name a few. Sheesh...

This Maserati Trofeo was the LOUDEST on track! - 2009

'Arty' shot of a cool Ferrari 360CS - 2009

This Ferrari 360 has been around Le Mans a few times - 2009
...
The Dodge Viper was easily the BEST sounding car on the day - 2009

Although the temperature was in the mid 30s, the cars all ran well and a great time was had by all.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good morning,

For the last few years I have been wearing prescription glasses when driving to assist distance vision. In getting the glasses made, I was more interested in the 'coolness' of the frames and I let the optometrist figure out the glass piece.

After a couple of years, I recently had another check-up and my distance eyesight had stabilised (or actually improved a fraction, normal in 'old age' apparently) and I was interested in a new pair of driving glasses, especially those that change during bright light and shade, so called Transition lenses. And I wanted a thinner frame to slide under my helmet for track-day usage as well.

Upon investigation I learned that the transition lenses work off UV light and modern car windscreens block much of the UV rays so the lenses don't get the 'data' they need to do the transition-thing successfully.

So a middle solution was found, a lens called Drivewear which uses both visible and UV light to make it's photo-chromatic lens changes.

After just one days driving, I can tell you the difference is startling. Highly recommended!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

For my recent birthday, Robin took me to my favourite local seafood restaurant in Sorrento where I was able to indulge in Port Phillip Bay Snapper (in Japanese Breadcrumbs!) and Petaluma Riesling, all with spectacular bay views. Awesome!

Sorrento Seafood Tavern - Fresh Fish Menu - 2009

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good morning,

Madness has officially moved to clinical insanity at our place as ANOTHER car was purchased today. A graphite over slate grey, V8 twin-turbo diesel-powered MY07 Toyota LandCruiser Sahara, 44,500 kms young. Superb build quality, it even drives like a 'car', but is bigger than a Docklands studio apartment. With 650nm of torque, it will tow Robin's horses & floats without breaking sweat.


Will post more driving impressions shorty.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good morning,

Late spring means hay fever for me and rapid grass and pasture growth. The latter is goodness as we have been able to cut & bale hay from our property over the last few years. Early spring rains really freshened up the paddocks and this week our 5 acre back paddock was cut and some 376 high quality bales were delivered at the very productive rate of 75 bales per acre. Excellent.

I am delighted to report that for the first time in three or four years, there has been a significant amount of spring rain here in Melbourne and across Victoria. This has gone a considerable way to easing the drought conditions and our states perilously low water supply.

On a personal level our tanks and dams are full, and after some recent plumbing work, most of the garden water is being sourced from our dam. And of course everything looks wonderfully green. We have received over 50 ml, and ten days of recorded rain, so far in October.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

After a few false alarms, Della finally gave birth to Star on October 23. High excitement and some initial nervousness gave way to joy as Star finally got her feet after some stumbling which really should not be done in public. Star is a gorgeous light chestnut colour, and expectations are that she will get a little darker turning to a liver chestnut as she gets older.

It was a busy weekend here with large a number of visitors and our new neighbours children all stopping by to take a look. After only three days the little one is now walking, trotting and being cheeky.

She does sleep a lot!

Of course the new arrival was a great excuse to get the camera out and get some happy snaps. As the morning light arrived I had a mental blank in the excitement, couldn't remember where or what the camera settings should be for the light, subject etc. Ah, panic. No, just set the camera to 'P' and press the shutter! All worked fine on the end. I will post a "Gallery' entry for Star soon.

A candid shot (Photo by Robin Humphries)

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

So, an eighth place finish for us in 2009. Flatters to deceive I'm afraid. We won 10.5 games out of 23 for the year, after only eight wins in 2008. Not what you would call dominant and the signs from the coach and his high-handed treatment of senior players does not augur well for harmony and cohesion going into 2010. He seems to have a problem with experience, surrounds himself with junior coaches (almost solely) and doesn't appear to have gotten over the nature of his exit from Punt Road a decade ago. I wouldn't be at all disappointed if the Bombers didn't re-sign Matthew Knights at the end of his current three year deal in 2010. Going into next season with a 18.5 out of 45 record, and should we have another losing season I would hope that the new President and new CEO (fortunately neither of whom were involved in Knight's initial hiring) don't fall for the Knights-speak and judge his performance solely by our on-field results.

On the plus side, like most supporters I was delighted with the emergence of Pears, Hooker and Hurley as an exciting 'spine' for the future. It was great to see Andrew Lovett settle down and play exciting and disciplined footy (Update: Another Knights victim, gone.....). And unlike many fans I quite liked the efforts of Monfries, Henry Slattery, Dyson, McPhee and Hocking across the season often in difficult circumstances.

Disappointments? Serious injuries to Hille, Laycock, Welsh and Gumbleton of course, coaching / selection blunders (how can you not play a ruckman in any game, let alone a final?), Jay Neagle's aerobic fitness, the playing treatment of David Zaharakis, Bendigo Bombers losing all 20 games this year (can you spell 'development'?) and a one-dimensional game plan to name a few.

But to end on some more positives, congratulations to Jobe Watson and Patrick Ryder for their commitment and on-field leadership (after David Hille went down) and to our captain, Matthew Lloyd in maintaining his grace and focus under enemy, and allegedly friendly, fire. And where would we be without 'Fletch'. Just a joy to watch him run around spoiling opponents and kicking the long bomb! And finally, thanks to Scott Lucas for a superb career, and keeping the stereotype of the one-sided player alive!

Looking forward, albeit with some trepidation, to season 2010. To paraphrase an ancient Chinese proverb - 'May your team play in interesting times'!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

I am delighted to report that my pre-ordered copy of Apple's new operating system, code named 'Snow Leopard' arrived today, on the actual release day! I am so excited. What a geek!

It seemed like a good opportunity to take advantage of the upgrade promotion to raise our versions of iLife and iWork so I purchased the 'Mac Box Set' Family Pack to load on our three machines here.

Looks like a fun weekend ahead......

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Our holiday in Maroochydore was most enjoyable.The flight / hire car arrangements were straight forward and as we bought the NavMan along with us, navigation was a non-issue.

Highlights?

Maroochydore by Night

Well our accommodation was the first one. On the tenth floor of a north facing building with nothing interrupting the view over the Maroochy River & inlet, the coast towards Coolum and beyond. Also it was large and airy to boot. Very easy to settle in and be comfortable.

On the restaurant front, for me the best meals / dishes were the Barramundi and Crab Chowder at Yabbi's in Maroochydore, Garlic Prawns at La Vida in Noosa, the Snapper House Special & Crepes Suzette at The Omeros Brothers in Southport and the Hawaiian Parma at the Alexander Headlands Surf Club. Hmmmm....

View North to Mount Coolum

Best of the sights included Montville (a fabulous tourist / local hangout) in the Blackall Ranges, Southport on the Gold Coast, Tewantin Wharf, Mooloolaba waterfront shops & restaurants to name a few. And most days we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast around the corner at the 'Cotton Tree' shopping precinct.

Chateau Royale Resort, Maroochydore

We hope to get there again next year. No higher praise than that!

Have to tell a funny story. Coming home, Dad was all dressed up in suit & tie etc for the flight. At Brisbane Airport, we entered security and he set off the alarms. Checked his pockets, went through again and set the alarms off again. The security folk suggested he remove his shoes. Which Dad duly did, but instead of putting them on the rollers to go through the scanner, he just pitched them through the 'walk through' scanner assuming he would get them again on the other side. I thought we would need medical assistance for the security team who were rolling on the floor laughing. It clearly made their day! The issue turned out to be coins in his jacket pocket. Who would have thought that an 83 year old pensioner could set off security alerts because he had too much money!

But happy to say that a good time was had by all.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

.....

I arrived home on Tuesday afternoon to find a new road outside my front gate. Not another road of course, just a new one!

It seems the old dirt Grant Road has had a thin layer of asphalt layered over the top of it. No idea who was behind this new piece of local infrastructure but well done to them We will check with the neighbours to see if they had any hand in it. It remains to be seen how well the surface actually seals but it may be that some of our summer dust / winter mud issues may be a thing of the past. Yippee!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

PS - Apologies for the dodgy photos, but I couldn't hold the iPhone steady out of pure excitement......

Good evening,

Great infrastructure news! The car wash tank has now been installed. A Bluescope Steel tank, painted Mint Green (I think) with 5,000 litres capacity and sourcing water from two sides of the house roof. It is here just in time for what looks like a damp week so it should fill quickly. No excuses now for not having a clean car! To finish the job, I just need to pick up a paint brush and get the new feeder and overflow pipes to colour match the tank, the eaves and the 'older' down pipes.

As of June 12, the tank is about 50% full. I washed the Turbo today using the old GMC high pressure pump and 'my' water, and I must say it does look cleaner!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

The Bombers were continuing to roll along nicely until hitting the proverbial submerged log today against the all-conquering Geelong Cats, by some 11 goals. I must admit I was a bit perplexed by some alleged experts who thought we might have been a chance to win, as they seemed to overlook the fact that we had out best two running defenders out and were planning to bring in a couple of older / slower types who were returning after injury or coming back after being dropped for poor form. I wasn't absolutely convinced we were matching up well with Geelong so I am not overly surprised (or disappointed) with the result, except that it does hit out percentage hard. This will be important, as a number of teams are bunched up around us and a decent percentage will almost be worth a game at the end of the year.

I hope the club keeps it's head up after today's loss and focuses on Adelaide for next week. Go Dons!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

The weekend started well on Saturday with the guys getting together for one of our irregular jam sessions. The group consisted of the host, lead guitarist and vocalist Mike, bass player (& part time drummer) Peter, guitarist Chris and myself fumbling away on rhythm guitar.

Mike has a midi / karaoke / backing system hooked up in the barn at his holiday house a little over an hours drive out of Melbourne. So you can just turn up, plug in and play along, although I do take my own amplifier just for fun and to get a different (better?) tone.

As a bunch of 50 something blokes, you can imagine the style of music played. Mostly up-tempo, danceable, sing-a-long stuff. Although being of German extraction, Mike has a favourite German pop song which he likes to belt out in his mother tongue. Interesting........

After a solid morning of setting up, tuning and deciding which songs to play, and getting a few favourites out, we break for a BBQ lunch and a chat. Then back to the tunes, while Mike's wife Julie, cleans up. Thanks!

Although it is an all electric affair, we do all have acoustic instruments and did chat about maybe having an 'unplugged' session one of these days. Should be a bit different and interesting I reckon. A bit like my visits to the camera club, these music days give me valuable practice in a relaxed environment and a chance to pick up some tips on techniques from the other guys who are all much better players than me. In readiness for going acoustic, I recently purchased an entry level acoustic guitar amplifier, a Kustom Sienna 30. I am currently fiddling with it but it makes the Martin sound a whole lot better than when it is plugged into the Fender electric guitar amp.

A great day was had by all and it is amazing how fast seven or so hours pass by when some oldies are having fun!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

The mighty Bombers are off to a pretty good start in season 2009. The Anzac Day, come from behind victory over Collingwood, was really one for the ages. We just seemed to want to win and kept forcing the ball forward with speed and energy, but not always with precision.

Any year that we beat Carlton & Collingwood in quick succession is a good year! I can forgive the belting by Port Adelaide over there in round one, but I must admit to being disappointed with the recent loss to North Melbourne. A wasted opportunity IMHO.

I feel really sorry for David Hille going down with a season-ending knee injury and wish we could get Scott Gumbleton back on the park again soon. Davey, Lovett and Dempsey are doing excellent things through the middle and our young defence is holding up surprisingly well.

Now for Brisbane this week!

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good morning,

I hope you enjoyed your Easter break and didn't eat too much chocolate. We didn't, but probably over-compensated with substantial quantities of seafood & white wine.

Speaking of the diet taking a hammering, Robin and I found ourselves at the 'Wings & Fins' restaurant at Tooradin airfield yesterday for lunch. Just so happens they fly in fresh seafood from Flinders Island for their retail and restaurant businesses. I ordered a Chicken Kiev which was stuffed with crayfish as well as the usual garlic & oil. Unbelievable. Baked in puff pastry, not fried in breadcrumbs, it was absolutely outstanding. I wonder what time they open tomorrow..........

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

A couple of new technology advances recently here.

The first was participating in the social networking phenomenon of Facebook. Wow, as if I didn't have enough ways to waste my precious time, I come across this veritable 'black hole' of online frippery. Sorry, gotta go 'poke' someone..........

The second item is (yet another) iPod, this time the third generation Shuffle, with the feature of 'Voice Over' to announce songs, artists & playlists. Impossibly tiny form factor, cool technology and very good sound is sadly let down by proprietary ear buds which I just can't keep in my ears long enough. I need to wait for the after market ear canal type phones to fully enjoy this rather expensive 4GB player.

Update: Apple have a new pair of in-ear phones compatible with the controls required for the 3rd Gen Shuffle. Will give them a try.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,
Gee, it doesn't get any better than a surprise 80th birthday for your mother-in-law does it?

Of course I jest. Margaret and I get along famously, or as best we can between Carlton and Essendon supporters.

Some 35 folks attended the function on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon in South Warrandyte to take some tea and cake and tell tall stories. Old school chums, former nursing colleagues, riding companions and business partners made up a pretty diverse crowd. Robin was in very verbose speech-making mode, seeming not to leave out any aspect of Margaret's 80 years to date!

A great time was had by all.

Live long and prosper Margaret.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good evening,

Very sad news in the family this month with Robin's step-father, Ian George Cleland passing away peacefully, but suddenly on March 18. In the course of his 90 years, Ian was successful in business, in sport, in the media and in charitable organisations. Simply an all-round good guy, Ian was always kind, respectful and generous towards me and I know he will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by all who came in contact with him. Rest in peace Clelo.

Bye for now, BomberBoy

Good afternoon,

This morning, Dad and I took our annual 'Father & Son' outing to the Melbourne International Motor Show. It is apparently the last one before Melbourne and Sydney start alternating Australia's largest (only?) new vehicle exhibition from 2010 onwards. The day dawned sunny and we made the trip to Jeff's Shed in good time. The crowd was relatively thin, with a number of school excursion kids filling up some of the available space.

The Shannons Auction vehicles outside the main hall seemed a little down in numbers than I had previously remembered, but an interesting array of mostly vintage and veteran marques nonetheless.

Driven no doubt by economic issues, Mercedes Benz (much to Dad's disappointment), Rolls Royce, Range Rover/Land Rover, Mini, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Saab, Volvo, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Ferrari were notable by their absence. Apologies to any others that I missed, who were also missing. The most impressive stands I thought were Audi/Skoda/Volkswagen and BMW (with the M1 'Homage' (above) & the By-Appointment-Only chiffon disguised 7 series salon) who both went to considerable effort with a large range of impressive vehicles on show. Lexus (with the LF A supercar below), Toyota, Holden and Ford were also commendable in their efforts.

Although to be fair, most / all exhibitors made a significant effort to attractively display their goods. Apart from the absentees, there wasn't a low-rent or Global Financial Crisis feel to event at all. I hope that bodes well for the motoring industry as a whole. A special mention however does go to Bentley, who as a small seller, seemed to have a very large part of it's quarterly sales allocation on display. Very tasty they were too, especially the four door Continental Flying Spur Speed (below).

Trends? Well, in general, there was a great emphasis on alternate / green fuel alternatives with most manufacturers (and after market specialists) emphasising their electric / hybrid / LPG / diesel credentials. Super for the environment, but not so exciting for those of us who may be somewhat less than carbon neutral........... And strangely, only one replica F1 car on show, rather than the usual flotilla.
The BMW 7 Series & the IS F

My top picks of show? Pretty easy for me. There were two, one of which will come as no surprise. Porsche had a special order 997 911 GT2, bi-winged in white with black logos & trim, and PCCB (look it up!) that looked extremely stunning for (sadly) upwards of $447K. The other was the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640-4 convertible, which looked ridiculously imposing (in a good way) in white (again) with matte black accents & wheels and deep red pleated leather interior. Upwards of $800K would start the purchase conversation. It would be very hard to go incognito in either of these babies....... And the Lexus IS F (in blue, above right) continues to gnaw away at me as a quality M / AMG competitor while retaining many of the core values of the Lexus brand.

Best in Show

Any more affordable vehicles of interest then? Well, perhaps my favourite was the new Volkswagen Passat CC which was very attractive & well finished for mid $60K money, but otherwise I kept my hand on my wallet pretty easily. Not too hard when Dad and I rocked up in a pretty sharp looking Porsche 911 Carrera 4 S .........

A most enjoyable morning, so until perhaps 2011, adios MIMS.

But wait, there is more! After the show we moved on to a fantastic seafood restaurant, 'Rubira's' at the Swallow Hotel in Port Melbourne. Rubira's used to be a high-end seafood restaurant in Sorrento but fell foul of a fairly fickle crowd. John has opened up again with the same excellent combination of fresh seafood and fine wine selections. We had a delightful meal of Oysters Kilpatrick, King Prawn & Spring Onion Spring Rolls, and Grilled Gold Band Snapper all washed down with a 2008 Catalina Sounds Sauvignon Blanc. A wine that even Dad liked, but he couldn't get much of it as I had the bottle pretty close me (!), which resulted in the chauffeiring picture below. Thanks for the ride home Dad!

Bye for now, BomberBoy