Sep
08
2007
We all attended the fireworks at Blackpool last night, launched from North pier they were the best we have ever seen. We walked in from Star Gate along the promenade and it was a great night out for all. We decided to watch from the beach which added to the fun as the kids played in the sea and sand while we waited for it to start. Stephie also played with the camera, hence the pictures! The kids had chips on the way home. A few more details can be found here:
Top firework companies from around the globe will be invited to stage pyrotechnical displays, bringing an International flavour to Central Promenade during the opening weeks of Blackpool’s World Famous Illuminations season.
One display will be presented per evening on Sunday 2nd and Fridays 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th September 2007.
2nd September Portugal
7th September Canada
14th September UK
21st September Austria
28th September Winner Announcement and Celebratory Display
To out-shine their opponents, entrants must demonstrate cutting edge pyro-musical design with a display that represents the style or traditions of their country. Each competing company will launch fireworks particular to their homeland and showcase their own pyrotechnical expertise, to win the public vote.
Build up will commence around 7.30pm Fireworks from approximately 8.30pm
It started a bit late, and I recommend that if you decide to go along that you wrap up warm!
Sep
07
2007
After two weeks of only scanning and saving RSS posts, I have a whole load of browser tabs open and ready to read, so on my first day back at work it was down to the beach to do some serious catch up.
My favourite cafe is closed for staff holidays so I went to the local beach side cafe which is a couple of minutes walk away. On my way back I met my wife and a friend heading to the same Cafe for lunch.
I now have a whole load of “to blog posts” in my backlog for tonight :-( and still quite a few tabs to get through. Luckily I still have some time to catch up over the weekend!
The first picture is from the window, and the second is the view from my left. Both taken with my new camera!
Sep
07
2007
I have had an excellent Minolta Dimage Z1 camera for a couple of years, but the 10X zoom makes it really heavy and awkward to carry so I tend not to take it with me. In particular there’s no way to carry it in the gadget pocket of my everyday rucksack, or my bum bags or pocket. As a result I have been after something that:
- Uses rechargeable batteries - cheap to run
- Has a docking station for charging and USB connectivity - easy to use and always ready
- Has a USB mass storage interface - no drivers or other software to install
- Used SD cards - which I have plenty of
- Is small and light
- Is robust enough to not need a carry case
- Is cheap
Ebay came to the rescue again and I managed to find a Nikon Coolpix S2 for
Sep
07
2007
I am back at work today after a break of a couple of weeks and for the first time this year a holiday has coincided with remission so I have actually managed to get out and enjoy myself and work on the backlog of work around the house, briefly:
- Hiked to the top of Coniston Old Man with my twin girls - 9 years old. A brilliant day, very hard work, amazingly clear views from the top of the mountain
- Hiked the North West of Windermere lake side with twins and second eldest daughter (from the ferry), a great walk by the lake North, then a hard climb to the top of the “valley” and then some wonderful views from on high as we walked back. If anything the views were even better than from Coniston Old Man.
- Hiked to the South West of Windermere lake side with my Mum, twins and eldest daughter, still nice - but not as good as going North
- Hiked from my house to Fleetwood on my own, which is a good chunk of the Lancashire Coast - caught up on podcasts and met the rest of the family at Fleetwood - who then took me home!
- Hiked from Arnside down to Silverdale and back with my wife
- Hiked along the river at Bolton Abbey with the whole family
Lots of shorter walks, like to Blackpool and back along the beach with my wife- Repaired two rotten windows, which I had hoped only to paint! A pretty depressing job as I hacked away a lot of window, but more rewarding as I made the replacements and fitted them and painted them
- Caught up on gardening, in particular my main Strawberry beds
- Dug out an old tree, the digging out was pretty easy, but chopping it up with a hand saw was a major test of will power! Good job I’m used to sore muscles!
- Went to the cinema and a new Blackpool show - Forbidden - excellent
- Loads of reading, some of it great fun, some of it serious
The weather was excellent for the whole time, and whilst I did check email and respond to the more important ones, I didn’t really think too much about work, or read any of my RSS feeds!
We all attended the fireworks at Blackpool last night, launched from North pier they were the best we have ever seen. We walked in from Star Gate along the promenade and it was a great night out for all. We decided to watch from the beach which added to the fun as the kids played in the sea and sand while we waited for it to start. Stephie also played with the camera, hence the pictures! The kids had chips on the way home. A few more details can be found here:
