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Artemis II – Moon Mission and Nikon

Vintage market, people looking through the goods on the table.

It’s been a long time since we have been back to the moon.

The fashions on show from our local vintage market were likely new.

In that time NASA has moved from film Hasselblads on the moon to professional Nikon D5’s well proven to stand up to the temperature range and radiation of space.

I believe there testing mirrorless cameras but for now the trusty Nikon D5 professional camera is NASA’s main stay and is currently heading back to earth with the crew of the Artemis II mission.

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Easter fun for the Children

Easter Treasure Hunt - Letters and Parcels come and go. Stamps are struck in neat rows. Red post box or county near. You'll find the next bunny, do not fear. A sign on the the school leading you to the next clue on the Easter treasure hunt.

The other day while walking Ted the greyhound, we came across a cardboard white Rabbit. It turns out someone has setup a treasure hunt for the children.

The first Easter White Rabbit in front of the fence by the village school
Beneath the conker tree so tall, Where Autumn's treasures drop and fall. Wander on, don't lose your way. Where village notices have their say. Pause a while and look around, your next bunny will be found.
Where children laugh and feet take flight. Where swings go whooshing left and right. Look near, but not too wide. Your next bunny is tucked beside.

From the school, to the post office then on to the crossroads, each bunny had a poem to lead you to the next.

White cardboard bunny next to the conker tree.
Where rackets swing, and balls take flight. Across the net with speed and might. Look nearby, don't rush on through. Your next bunny is close to you.
White rabbit near the play park
Where open play stretches wide, games and laughter can be tied. Through gates and gaps, the way is clear. To a grassy space both far and near. Step on through and take a look. Your next bunny is hidden in a nook.
Another cardboard white rabbit near the tennis courts.
Where bats and balls and players meet. A shelter spot beside a pitch so neat. Pause a moment, look around. And your next bunny will be found.
By the model railway that runs around the playing field.
Where tiny trains prepare to go With whistles soft and engines low. A platform small, a waiting line, All aboard, right on time, watch the tracks and look around, your next bunny is near the ground.
Bunny next to the cricket pavilion.
By the model railway that runs on Sundays to give children a ride. Where hammer's echo once would ring. A hidden bunny lies waiting. And South Scarle Lane - start navigating.

From the post office to the village cross roads, to the swings and then to the village tennis courts. From there around the main playing field with the mini vintage trains and tennis courts.

Where ancient stone and silence meet. And whispered prayers in stillness stay. Seek your next bunny beneath your feet. Where hymns and incense drift and pray.
White rabbit near the church.

It was then to the old blacksmiths and off to the church.

Where three roads meet & waters glide. A quiet crossing plain and true. Pause where streams and pathways guide. Your next bunny waits for you.
and another cardboard white bunny.
The bunny by the church.

Now down the old church lane where the paths, road and streams all meet.

Where pencils write and pages turn. A place where curious minds all learn. Look around where voices cheer, Your final bunny is waiting here!
The bunny of church lane.

So down church lane to school lane and back to the start to find the last bunny and claim our prize.

Hippy Hop. Hooray for you! You've solved the puzzle, well done too. Every bunny you've found with care. Now there's a secret step to share. Unjumble the letters, make the right word. Then take your map, fold or furled. Pop in the box today. And a special Easter Prize could come your way. So off you go young bunny bright. Your clever brain is a shining light.
The final bunny, outside the school fence.

And so the end of the trail.

If you noticed each bunny had a letter:

R, C, T, A, E, O, L, I, E, N, B

So now to work out the anagram. Can you get it?

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Ripping Music

Do you still buy music CD’s. The last few years I have really gotten into buying them again, using services like Tidal to find music as well as recommendations from YouTube and friends.

I like having my music with me, on my laptop and my portable music player so I still rip my CDs. Back in the early days I used iTunes but now I use a dedicated ripping tool called dBPoweramp, it has tools for ripping and batch converting files from one format to another, this is useful as I rip to FLAC and then create copies in an Apple format for my old iPod. Yes I still have an iPod classic going strong.

Once ripped, I copy them to my NAS and from there to the devices that need them, such as my Roon Core Server, my travel laptop and music players.

This week as I was in town I bought two classic Fleetwood Mac albums as well as one my Dire Straits. All for a typical months stream fee.

I also buy and play vinyl but my record player like my CD player is in need of replacing, but I still spin a disk occasionally, either vinyl or CD.

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Wanting a new camera again – Olympus; Micro Four Thirds

silhouette of a woman drinking coffee by a window. People can be seen walking by outside

I was in Lincoln again this week visiting a couple of data centres to resolve hardware faults. As always I had a camera with me and in my lunch break went for a walk through the centre of town.

I grabbed a few shots before heading into an independent coffee shop for a coffee and sandwich.

With my transport needs met by several different modes, the main one for work being a motorcycle to cut through traffic quickly, I again started down the rabbit hole of what small camera would fill a particular every day carry niche when my Leica or Nikon ZF were a little to big.

As always my heart leads me towards a Ricoh GR or Fuji X100. The Fuji is not really any smaller and the Ricoh is expensive for a compact. For that money one can get something a little more flexible and fun. So I have been looking at the Olympus Pen line up. I came close to pulling the trigger on the original micro four thirds Pen when it was first released and it’s still a fun little camera. I started to look around and one can pick one up for about £80 in the local camera store.

Lens choice would be tough. The 17mm would be a start but would also like something a little wider.

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Whisky glasses

Advertising photo of a Glencairn whisky glass.

I love food, good beer, robust red wine and good whisky.

I currently have over forty bottles of whisky plus lots of tasting samples in small 50ml bottles. The majority is Scottish single malt, but some blends including a few independent blends of grain whisky, as well as some Irish, French and American Single Malt as well as some good old bourbon.

One thing that I do not think is given enough thought is about the glass you drink from. There is now scientific evidence too prove that glassware affects the taste experience.

In general I’ll use a Glencairn, but for some of my more expensive single malts I use a stemmed tasting glass to really appreciate the smell and flavour.

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Choosing a mouse

Grid view in Lightroom classic showing a selection of black and white fashion photos

As I was redoing my desk, I wanted a new mouse. For light editing on the laptop, the touchpad is fine, but for more detailed editing then I reach for a mouse on the desktop. If its going to be a long detailed editing session then nothing beats a pen and tablet, so I also have my trust Wacom.

Screen shot of the Logitech mouse software for the MX Master 3S showing the controls on the mouse.

For a mouse, comfort, a few extra buttons one can configure for extra functionality in Lightroom and Photoshop, and a way of customising the scroll wheel. MAC OS still has not implemented a way of setting different scrolling preferences between touch pad and mouse, so it set the track pad how I want it in the OS settings and set the scroll wheel how I want it in the Logitech software.

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Desk Re-organise and sourcing cables

Photo of a crowded desk. Two monitors, a mechanical keyboard, mouse and trackpad can be seen.

A change of monitors means a change around on the desk. I am still working on the best places for everything but I have taken the opportunity to change the cabling. One additional thing I will be doing is upgrading my work mouse, I want something better then this old Dell mouse that I can configure for ‘no natural scrolling’ while still having the touch pad set to natural. You would think Apple would allow you to set them independently in the OS but no.

The sound source is also changing for my music and this bit has proven the most difficult. Finding a high quality USB-B to USB-C cable. Its proving harder then you expect unless you want a cheap £2.00 printer cable from Amazon.

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Spring Fair

Line of Union flags on a village hall

Now that spring is here events are shall we say springing up all over.

Last Saturday one of the local villages had a spring fair.

Craft stall with a local villager chatting to the stall holder.
Craft stall in the village hall

Selections of local craft, a raffle and all the usual village events.

Entrance to the village hall. Union flags are around the entrance.

I was travelling light with a Leica M10 body and a 35mm ASPH f/2 Summicon. All that was needed for a few snaps like these.