Well the rake art shots made it onto BoingBoing. Now, the wierd thing is that I don't know how popular BoingBoing is, but I get the impression that it's quite prolific. I've subscribed to it for a year or so and it was Dave (aka Mobilexile) who Flickrmailed me and pointed it out.
Either way, it's on another blog and it's right here.
Whatever it means, I certainly got a sudden surge of interest in the set.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
00176 Rocks n' waves n' forts n' kitesurfin'
So I got out to kitesurf in the morning and KAP when the kids went to bed.
The kitesurfing was mostly good. Man, I could do with a bigger kite. On the up side I could finally ride Vazon in a Swerly. Up and over the waves. Bit shakey, but with a bit more power it'd be spot on.
The KAP went really well. Went back to Fort Hommet to do it with a higher grade camera. Got this great shot of the waves n' Rocks, plus a couple of good ones of the fort. Now all I need is some new subject matter.
The kitesurfing was mostly good. Man, I could do with a bigger kite. On the up side I could finally ride Vazon in a Swerly. Up and over the waves. Bit shakey, but with a bit more power it'd be spot on.
The KAP went really well. Went back to Fort Hommet to do it with a higher grade camera. Got this great shot of the waves n' Rocks, plus a couple of good ones of the fort. Now all I need is some new subject matter.
Friday, July 07, 2006
00175 Instinct flying
Went out yesterday in wind that Mike could only just get going in on his 14m Halo. I got out the 11m and managed to get going with a big board and alot of kite movement. And apart from a relaunch problem, which I put down to loads of seaweed on the lines and very low winds, it was a great success. Sunday promises more wind. I really want to see what it does in a hooley.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
00174 Wake up
After a full day doing the PTA thing and waiting for wind that never comes, Mike very kindly took us out wakeboarding again. Both of us got a go and the conditions were perfect. I even managed to Ollie after jumping to line up for the jump in the opposite direction and vice versa a few times - can't be botheres to make it any clearer than that.
00173 Ozone Instinct
My new kite arrived on Thursday and its inaugural month will no doubt be heralded by a total lack of wind.
Still, it is beautifully made and the attention to detail and build quality is superb, which is a miracle because it's usually all hype.
Although it is a bow kite, it doesn't have a bridle per se. Intead it has a fifth line that splits near the kite, with lines running out to the leading edge, center strut and the two wing tips. Allegedly it will never inver, a problem that bow kite suffer from at times.
I just cant wait for a challenging and gusty day. Bring it on.
Still, it is beautifully made and the attention to detail and build quality is superb, which is a miracle because it's usually all hype.
Although it is a bow kite, it doesn't have a bridle per se. Intead it has a fifth line that splits near the kite, with lines running out to the leading edge, center strut and the two wing tips. Allegedly it will never inver, a problem that bow kite suffer from at times.
I just cant wait for a challenging and gusty day. Bring it on.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
00172 A magazine comes calling
I got a Flickrmail from Andrea Ferrer about printing some rake art in a new magazine called "Pretty Fcuking Good Magazine", which I guess can't be bad. We'll see how it pans out. What I really need is to do some more stuff. I've got a couple of ideas, but it's a worrying thing that if you plan too much with these things, they never turn out as nice as the thing you planned. It seems that it's usually best to just go out there and do it spontaneously.
00171 Richmond slipway again
Just wanted to test out the new camera against the old by comparing like subjects. Well, it's miles better. It would have been nice at some other time of day (in the evening maybe), but it still works quite well. The other image (taken in November last year) is here.
Monday, June 26, 2006
00170 Rake art in third blog shocka
The rake art set has appeared in another blog, this time its Lost art. Cool
00169 The Channel Island Championship
Having qualified to shoot in this individual event, we spent the weekend shooting. 300, 500 and 600 yards on Saturday in Guernsey and then off on the evening ferry to spend the night in the Jersey clubhouse, after which we shot at 900 and 1000 yards.
Did reasonably well, especially considering I'd never even seen a 900/1000 yard range - man, those targets are hard to see that far out, it's no wonder so many people fired on the wrong targets.
The team event (which I wasn't in, thankfully) was Jerseys win. Now, I have dropped ten points out of 50 on a very, very bad day. They dropped ten points out of 1200. Not bad. Bet they were smug about that.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
00167 Whispy
Got out on Friday to do some rake stuff. QUite like this one, but I'm sure that the larger the image, the more whispy and uninteresting it will become. Also the larger the piece, the more time it takes and that is something I never have enough of to complete these things.
Caroline saw the kite on the beach and came over with the kids, so she and Jack are in the middle of this one.
I got a response from Geoff Manaugh, who runs BldgBlog, a lovely blog dealing in architecture in all it's forms and interpretaions. He's posted up a very flattering entry about the rake art and was good enough to ask permission to publish the images.
He in turn, apparently found the images through another blog by the name of Spy's Spice. Here's the article.
In other news, the shooting started really badly with a 31-1, but after a few words of friendly advice about butt placement (fnarrr), I turned up a 35-4 and a respecatble 33-4. Hope it picks up for the Jersey match next week. Signs are good.
Caroline saw the kite on the beach and came over with the kids, so she and Jack are in the middle of this one.
I got a response from Geoff Manaugh, who runs BldgBlog, a lovely blog dealing in architecture in all it's forms and interpretaions. He's posted up a very flattering entry about the rake art and was good enough to ask permission to publish the images.
He in turn, apparently found the images through another blog by the name of Spy's Spice. Here's the article.
In other news, the shooting started really badly with a 31-1, but after a few words of friendly advice about butt placement (fnarrr), I turned up a 35-4 and a respecatble 33-4. Hope it picks up for the Jersey match next week. Signs are good.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
00166 New kite and scope
So I'm now nearing the end of my quest for shooting equipment and all I'm missing is the rifle - but I'm really not into getting one of those right now (I wouldn't want to keep it in the house anyway). Dave Jory sold me an old bashed up scope for spotting and it does the job very nicely. I shot last Saturday and came up with a 46-2 and a 47-4. I've got one more week before we go to Jersey, so I think improvement would be a good thing.
On the other hand I'm selling my Strike 2s and hopefully getting an 11 meter Ozone Instinct. It's anew bow kite and so far it's been raved about. Now I just have to hope that Ebay comes up trumps on the selling front.
On the other hand I'm selling my Strike 2s and hopefully getting an 11 meter Ozone Instinct. It's anew bow kite and so far it's been raved about. Now I just have to hope that Ebay comes up trumps on the selling front.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
00165 Two things (one of them a thingy)
Covering two (or perhaps even three) of the obsessions I currently entertain:
1. Rakeart - Grande Roques. I was walking down the beach with a rake, headding for the nice flat featureless sand further down the beach and decided to stop on the way to try out a couple of things. Naturally I didn't get any further and ended up drawing the compass thingy (I've got to find a more suitable name for these ... thingys. See, that also brought the KAP into it. The Maxi Dopero was flying like a dream, so it seemed rude not to capture a few shots from the air. The fact that I roped Meriel and Cara into the shot was just a bonus.
Really pleased with this one, but I think things are going to get better. It's all down to confidence with the rake, and that's going to come from practice.
2. Shooting - Fort le Marchant. Up and down today. 32, 35, 32. So 99 out of a possible 105. I just couldn't seem to get them in, although they were all really, really close. I'll take some advice and improve.
1. Rakeart - Grande Roques. I was walking down the beach with a rake, headding for the nice flat featureless sand further down the beach and decided to stop on the way to try out a couple of things. Naturally I didn't get any further and ended up drawing the compass thingy (I've got to find a more suitable name for these ... thingys. See, that also brought the KAP into it. The Maxi Dopero was flying like a dream, so it seemed rude not to capture a few shots from the air. The fact that I roped Meriel and Cara into the shot was just a bonus.
Really pleased with this one, but I think things are going to get better. It's all down to confidence with the rake, and that's going to come from practice.
2. Shooting - Fort le Marchant. Up and down today. 32, 35, 32. So 99 out of a possible 105. I just couldn't seem to get them in, although they were all really, really close. I'll take some advice and improve.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
00164 Almost forgot the meteor thingy
How could I forget to post this up. It was from 3rd May, second outing with the Maxi Dopero. Almost crashed the rig with the kite pulling to the right. It's sorted now, mind.
Quite like this one, I'll be investigating this avenue some more.
Quite like this one, I'll be investigating this avenue some more.
00163 Low scores and reasonable air with a doodle
In a week of weddings and hangovers, I managed to get a whole load of experience in the fullbore department. A score of 40-2 out of a possible 50 at 300 yards showed me that I needed to sort something out. My coach, Sylvia, suggested that I hunker down a bit further - it was really windy and we were trying allsorts to lessen the impact of the wind. The elevation on the 300 yd score was really good, so I knew it had to be something to do with the wind buffeting the rifle. I tightened the sling and wore a jumper, which made it almost painfully tight and almost difficult to hold the rifle. But it did the job and I hit a 47-3 and a 47-5 at 500 and 600 yards respectively. So it looks like that worked, then. Pity I had to find out the hard way. To make things easier, I was put in the reserve squad (there were two of us), so my score had no impact on the team. Still, I was very pleased with the elevation on all the ranges and it bodes very well for the future.
Kitesurfing session at Ladies bay, with griff going upwind over to the Northern end of the bay by going around the big rock island in front of the sand bar and downwind into the Northern bay. As the tide came up he was watching it until it just came over the sand bar and then shot across it declaring "The bar is open!". And so it was. Good session, good conditions (if a bit choppy) and a few decent airs, especially when I used Dan's advice - popping off the chop or the swell. It really works, but I've got to get out more to practice it as often as possible in the hope of really cracking it.
I also got to do a quick ten minute doodle on the sand at Grand Roques, but forgot the kite line. Doh!
Kitesurfing session at Ladies bay, with griff going upwind over to the Northern end of the bay by going around the big rock island in front of the sand bar and downwind into the Northern bay. As the tide came up he was watching it until it just came over the sand bar and then shot across it declaring "The bar is open!". And so it was. Good session, good conditions (if a bit choppy) and a few decent airs, especially when I used Dan's advice - popping off the chop or the swell. It really works, but I've got to get out more to practice it as often as possible in the hope of really cracking it.
I also got to do a quick ten minute doodle on the sand at Grand Roques, but forgot the kite line. Doh!
00162 Backgammon board
I've recently found Google's free 3D design tool sketchup and it's renewed my enthusiasm for making a backgammon board.
I've been looking at several ways to make the backgammon design on the board itself and although I might make several, I'll probably do the first one as a decoupage project, if only because I want to try it out.
I've been looking at several ways to make the backgammon design on the board itself and although I might make several, I'll probably do the first one as a decoupage project, if only because I want to try it out.
Monday, May 22, 2006
00161 Photo dessert
The lack of images of hobbies and the like indicates that I've been doing nothing imaginative recently.
I'm waiting for a burst of motivation to finish the Dopero by making a nice new bag for it - a bit like a "topping out" thing.
Went out kitesurfing last Thursday in very gusty high winds - won't be doing that again. My 11 meter lofted me and dragged me towards the rocks. Had my hand on the release all the time, no problem. So after a brief attempt to get going I packed it in and borrowed Mike's 9 meter. Now I know I have to get some new kites. It was really nippy and easy to jump with, not to mention the gust handling ability - just superb.
In the shooting, it looks like I might be selected for the team to shoot against the NRA (the British national rifle assoc.). I'm feeling a bit guilty about this, as there are people whose experience tops mine. So the agreement is that if the weather is good, then I might go along. Well see. Fortunately the even t allows me to be coached. Hopefully Pete Jory will help with the windage.
In other news, my Mum has suggested that I give her the details of my rakeart set to give to the people at the Coach House Gallery in order to see if they want to host an exhibition. Where the money will come from to get the prints done I don't know, but I definitely need to go out and do some new stuff. Oh well, at least it's free.
I'm waiting for a burst of motivation to finish the Dopero by making a nice new bag for it - a bit like a "topping out" thing.
Went out kitesurfing last Thursday in very gusty high winds - won't be doing that again. My 11 meter lofted me and dragged me towards the rocks. Had my hand on the release all the time, no problem. So after a brief attempt to get going I packed it in and borrowed Mike's 9 meter. Now I know I have to get some new kites. It was really nippy and easy to jump with, not to mention the gust handling ability - just superb.
In the shooting, it looks like I might be selected for the team to shoot against the NRA (the British national rifle assoc.). I'm feeling a bit guilty about this, as there are people whose experience tops mine. So the agreement is that if the weather is good, then I might go along. Well see. Fortunately the even t allows me to be coached. Hopefully Pete Jory will help with the windage.
In other news, my Mum has suggested that I give her the details of my rakeart set to give to the people at the Coach House Gallery in order to see if they want to host an exhibition. Where the money will come from to get the prints done I don't know, but I definitely need to go out and do some new stuff. Oh well, at least it's free.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Friday, May 12, 2006
00159 Grande Roque battery
Well my excuse is that the computer's been broken, what's yours?
I've been out KAPing at Grande Roques and had a blistering session on Mike's Cabrinah Switchblade (12m) - man I've got to get hold of one of those.
The shooting's going well - I even won a spoon. How crazy is that. Not very. But in the meantime I managed to get on theteam to go to Jersey. There's only 8 of us going, so not bad really - and, yes, there were more than 8 people competing. And, no, there weren't 9. Or 10. Look just leave it.
I've been out KAPing at Grande Roques and had a blistering session on Mike's Cabrinah Switchblade (12m) - man I've got to get hold of one of those.
The shooting's going well - I even won a spoon. How crazy is that. Not very. But in the meantime I managed to get on theteam to go to Jersey. There's only 8 of us going, so not bad really - and, yes, there were more than 8 people competing. And, no, there weren't 9. Or 10. Look just leave it.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
00158 Katchup
So it's come down to this, a look back at the week. I thought I'd be able to avoid this, but hey.
This image and a couple of others were taken from an impromptu session with the Maxi Dopero (first KAP sesh) when we went to Portelet with Caroline, Steve and the kids. Iwas just showing them how it worked and it seemed a little pointless to miss an opportunity to KAP on a blue-sky day.
The kitesurfing was not so hot. Underpowered at the South and then the North ends of Vazon (I think it was Tuesday and then Sunday). The first outing at the South end of Vazon was quite a revelation. As usual I was suffering from the lack of low-end grunt from my 15 (because of the 5th line, as far as I know), and Mike lent me his 12 meter Cabrinah Switchblade. What a thing that was!. Powered up fully in 9 knots of admittedly constant wind. I'll be trying it out when he moves down a size to check out the high wind ability. If that's good, then I'll sell the Flexis (with a tear in my eye) and buy just the one 12m Bow. Man, that was a real moment.
Shooting was good. Coached again (by Peter Jory). Got a 73-10 followed by a 73-11 at 500 and 600 respectively. Would've won the B class trophy for the day had it not been for the lack of membership to the club (and perhaps the coaching). Shucks.
This image and a couple of others were taken from an impromptu session with the Maxi Dopero (first KAP sesh) when we went to Portelet with Caroline, Steve and the kids. Iwas just showing them how it worked and it seemed a little pointless to miss an opportunity to KAP on a blue-sky day.
The kitesurfing was not so hot. Underpowered at the South and then the North ends of Vazon (I think it was Tuesday and then Sunday). The first outing at the South end of Vazon was quite a revelation. As usual I was suffering from the lack of low-end grunt from my 15 (because of the 5th line, as far as I know), and Mike lent me his 12 meter Cabrinah Switchblade. What a thing that was!. Powered up fully in 9 knots of admittedly constant wind. I'll be trying it out when he moves down a size to check out the high wind ability. If that's good, then I'll sell the Flexis (with a tear in my eye) and buy just the one 12m Bow. Man, that was a real moment.
Shooting was good. Coached again (by Peter Jory). Got a 73-10 followed by a 73-11 at 500 and 600 respectively. Would've won the B class trophy for the day had it not been for the lack of membership to the club (and perhaps the coaching). Shucks.
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