I once asked a friend of mine why she drives a car.... to get to work came the reply. Here is the first of many differences between car drivers and motorcycle riders.
There are the old cliches like ..... a car moves the body while a motorcycle moves the soul....
For me I just love bikes, they offer a freedom that cars just can not. I am not interested in speed, and no longer need a destination to inspire a ride, now all I do is pick a direction. An hour or five hours it doesn't matter I just like to head out and eat up the kilometres! It doesn't matter that I ride a Ducati any bike will do.... I have owned a Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Triumph and a Yamaha.... my point is that just getting out there and riding is the goal.
I don't ride to work everyday and I do own a car... I don't know anyone that enjoys heading out for a ride when you start in the pouring rain. I don't consider myself a bike nut but I do consider myself an enthusiast. Bikes offer me an escape, I can be cruising along a country road with wildflowers on the side and wispy clouds above I will have the biggest smile on my face. When it comes to 'the nod' I acknowledge everyone, Harleys, Jap bikes and the European contingent also...
Sunday 12 August 2012
Sunday 30 October 2011
A man and his shed.....
We have often heard the age old saying every man needs a shed.... well I'd like to discuss this with you.
I have a shed, a shed full to the brim with power tools, hand tools, a couple mowers and various other implements of a masculine nature. I don't find the shed is a place of relaxation or a stress release it is merely a place to store my tools. I would like a bigger shed so I could set it out better and make it more user friendly but alas this is not going to happen in this life... perhaps in the next.
Why do men need a shed? Is it for when the woman of the house is pissed off so the man has a place of solitude? Or a place of safety? I find no calmness about my shed it is merely a storage facility. Is the shed a symbol of masculinity? The bigger the shed the more virile the man? Ladies perhaps that one should go out to you....
Why can't a lady have a shed? Are there ladies out there with a shed? Can you enlighten me as to what it is about a shed that draws people to need them? I for one would not find a lady with a shed more attractive or less attractive for that matter......
My shed..... I'm spending time in my shed.... to do what? Unless you need to fix something, build something or get something a shed really does not induce ideas of tea and cookies or a beer and pizza............ am I missing something? I just don't get the whole infatuation some people have with a shed...
Please help.....
I have a shed, a shed full to the brim with power tools, hand tools, a couple mowers and various other implements of a masculine nature. I don't find the shed is a place of relaxation or a stress release it is merely a place to store my tools. I would like a bigger shed so I could set it out better and make it more user friendly but alas this is not going to happen in this life... perhaps in the next.
Why do men need a shed? Is it for when the woman of the house is pissed off so the man has a place of solitude? Or a place of safety? I find no calmness about my shed it is merely a storage facility. Is the shed a symbol of masculinity? The bigger the shed the more virile the man? Ladies perhaps that one should go out to you....
Why can't a lady have a shed? Are there ladies out there with a shed? Can you enlighten me as to what it is about a shed that draws people to need them? I for one would not find a lady with a shed more attractive or less attractive for that matter......
My shed..... I'm spending time in my shed.... to do what? Unless you need to fix something, build something or get something a shed really does not induce ideas of tea and cookies or a beer and pizza............ am I missing something? I just don't get the whole infatuation some people have with a shed...
Please help.....
Tuesday 19 July 2011
my favourite things.......
Of late I have had plenty of spare time on my hands, and have got to thinking about my bucket list. I have never really thought about things that I really really want to do, until now that is.
I have not seen the movie and probably not really fussed on seeing it to be honest. Dunno why. Hearing people talk about their bucket list I become the cynic and think to myself 'but that is not only unrealistic it is nigh impossible unless your name is Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or George Clooney. I have what I think are realistic goals, some of them I have achieved. I don't want to dine with Barack Obama or ride in a hot air balloon with Sir Dick Virgin, they are for the incredibly lucky few, Here are some of the things on my list...
... I want to walk on a Mediterranean beach in the moonlight. .... For me you could not get a more romantic setting, a more intimate place I can't think of.
... I want to ride a motorcycle across Australia.
... I want to visit the Ducati museum and factory in Italy.... Troy Bayliss is one of my heroes, NOT Valentino Rossi, he is just a prat.
... I want to have a photograph published in something, magazine, pamphlet, anything.
... I want to see the sun rise over the pyramids
... I want to visit Gallipoli ... 2015 is the plan but I think it might be a bit later than that.
... I want to do the rim to rim walk at the Grand Canyon
... I want to own my own restaurant
Here are three things I have achieved to do from my bucket list.
... Ride a motorcycle at 300kph or more
... Sky diving
... Riding horseback in the ocean
OK so there you have it, I hear some of the comments along the lines of but they really aren't 'if money was no object' desires, for those of you who really know me you will know that I don't have outrageous dreams I am a simple guy and I have a simple bucket list.
One last thing I need to add to my list, and perhaps this is one of the things I'd particularly like to do... I would like to meet one Mark L Fendrick.. he has been a guy my wife has conversed with for many years and I first spoke with briefly when my family and I stayed at a little back water hotel called Caesars Palace in Vegas during August 2005. Since then I have been lucky enough to speak with Mark on a number of occasions and have developed a friendship I know will last..... So Mark you are on my bucket list!
Enough from me I have drivelled on long enough. How about you have you a bucket list and how are the things on it important to you?
I have not seen the movie and probably not really fussed on seeing it to be honest. Dunno why. Hearing people talk about their bucket list I become the cynic and think to myself 'but that is not only unrealistic it is nigh impossible unless your name is Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or George Clooney. I have what I think are realistic goals, some of them I have achieved. I don't want to dine with Barack Obama or ride in a hot air balloon with Sir Dick Virgin, they are for the incredibly lucky few, Here are some of the things on my list...
... I want to walk on a Mediterranean beach in the moonlight. .... For me you could not get a more romantic setting, a more intimate place I can't think of.
... I want to ride a motorcycle across Australia.
... I want to visit the Ducati museum and factory in Italy.... Troy Bayliss is one of my heroes, NOT Valentino Rossi, he is just a prat.
... I want to have a photograph published in something, magazine, pamphlet, anything.
... I want to see the sun rise over the pyramids
... I want to visit Gallipoli ... 2015 is the plan but I think it might be a bit later than that.
... I want to do the rim to rim walk at the Grand Canyon
... I want to own my own restaurant
Here are three things I have achieved to do from my bucket list.
... Ride a motorcycle at 300kph or more
... Sky diving
... Riding horseback in the ocean
OK so there you have it, I hear some of the comments along the lines of but they really aren't 'if money was no object' desires, for those of you who really know me you will know that I don't have outrageous dreams I am a simple guy and I have a simple bucket list.
One last thing I need to add to my list, and perhaps this is one of the things I'd particularly like to do... I would like to meet one Mark L Fendrick.. he has been a guy my wife has conversed with for many years and I first spoke with briefly when my family and I stayed at a little back water hotel called Caesars Palace in Vegas during August 2005. Since then I have been lucky enough to speak with Mark on a number of occasions and have developed a friendship I know will last..... So Mark you are on my bucket list!
Enough from me I have drivelled on long enough. How about you have you a bucket list and how are the things on it important to you?
Sunday 10 July 2011
.. tells a thousand words.
The old adage ... time will tell, rings true in my ears at the moment. Had I discovered the photographic bug, that I have now, twenty-five years ago my life may have been entirely different.
My photography journey started back in primary school, my pop had a 1950's box brownie... from memory I don't think I took many photos with it though. I was intrigued with all things camera related... at school I looked for and read everything I could about them... most of which I promptly forgot, as you do. In high school I kind of lost my photographic focus, cooking was my love with horses and motorbikes following closely behind.
After my school career had come to an end I was re-introduced to photography by a good friend who's daughter had terminal cancer. We would all go out to a park have a picnic, and snap some pics... I was designated photographer as he wanted, understandably, as many pics with his angel as possible. His camera of choice was the Minolta 7000 AF SLR.... in its time an awesome camera indeed. I learnt much about photography with this camera. However I feel the need to say I took probably thousands of shots and only a few hundred that I would actually call 'a good photo'.
For years after that Minolta I could only afford the ever more popular point and shoot mindless digital camera... don't get me wrong they take a very good photo but if you really want to take a great photo and compose it yourself you really do need a digital SLR.... and that brings me to my baby... I am now the proud (and grateful, thanks Erica) owner of a Canon 5oD..... it is a far better camera than I am photographer so it helps me push my abilities. As for lenses I have a Canon 50mm prime, a Canon 18-55 mm, a Canon 55-250, a Tamron 10-24 wide angle and a Sigma 150-400.... I need (yes Erica, need) a Canon 100mm USM macro .... but that will come later.
What kind of photos I hear you ask.... well I try my hand at just about everything. Landscapes, sunrise, sunsets, bike races, wildlife, kids, basically if it can be photographed I am up for a session. Being able to get out in the darkness of pre-dawn, watching bikes go round and round a race track or sitting neck deep in a still creek to capture that elusive shot moves my soul, it cleanses my mind and completes me.... I hope you get as much enjoyment out of photography as I do.....
I am interested in knowing what photography means to you?
Friday 8 July 2011
... and it begins!
I make no apologies, I do what I do because I love it.
I remember I was a typical ten year old, well maybe not so typical. I lived on a farm at the foot of the Brown Mountain in the beautiful Bega Valley. I had a horse, a motorbike, pushbikes, and a Russian built .22 calibre rifle. I loved all my things equally. I used to love going out and getting dirty, like any kid, helping dad on the farm, but what I most loved to do was help mum cook. We regularly had cooking days when we would bake cookies, cakes and various other delights that dad would proudly tell his workmates his son made.
The first thing I truly made on my own was a chocolate coconut slice, I remember everything about that day. I remember the quantities and I even remember the bowl I used to make the mix... sad I know! Anyway, I digress, I made the mix, greased and lined the tray, poured in the mixture (it was here that I learnt not to waste a thing so the bowl was scraped almost clean, a fact my family pays heavily for now in never having the bowl or beaters to lick clean) and into the already warm oven. I watched, and watched .... and watched waiting for it to be ready, to change colour so I knew it would be ready. It was chocolate based so it was already dark..... so I overcooked , ok I burnt it. My dad still ate it, he said it was 'pretty bloody good for a first effort' .
I remember I was a typical ten year old, well maybe not so typical. I lived on a farm at the foot of the Brown Mountain in the beautiful Bega Valley. I had a horse, a motorbike, pushbikes, and a Russian built .22 calibre rifle. I loved all my things equally. I used to love going out and getting dirty, like any kid, helping dad on the farm, but what I most loved to do was help mum cook. We regularly had cooking days when we would bake cookies, cakes and various other delights that dad would proudly tell his workmates his son made.
The first thing I truly made on my own was a chocolate coconut slice, I remember everything about that day. I remember the quantities and I even remember the bowl I used to make the mix... sad I know! Anyway, I digress, I made the mix, greased and lined the tray, poured in the mixture (it was here that I learnt not to waste a thing so the bowl was scraped almost clean, a fact my family pays heavily for now in never having the bowl or beaters to lick clean) and into the already warm oven. I watched, and watched .... and watched waiting for it to be ready, to change colour so I knew it would be ready. It was chocolate based so it was already dark..... so I overcooked , ok I burnt it. My dad still ate it, he said it was 'pretty bloody good for a first effort' .
It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to cook for a living. I wanted to learn how to cook something for my dad that he would really like, something I was proud to let him eat. That was more than 30 years ago. I am now a chef with 25 years experience and have come a long way from that over cooked slice.
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