Bon Jovi – The Circle, The Leak and the O2!

Promotion has thus far been minimal so you’d be forgiven for not knowing that Bon Jovi have a new album out on Monday The Circle. It’s their 11th studio album and comes 2 years after their 10th Country tinged album Lost Highway. I have the deluxe version on order from Amazon which for the bargain price of just £12.98 includes a DVD of the documentary When we Were Beautiful.

The Circle

I got very excited yesterday when I got an email from Amazon telling me that it had been dispatched. Even though Royal Mail were on strike, I could still get the album before the Monday release date thanks to Amazon ditching Royal Mail when the strikes were announced. Alas, my excitement was quashed when I read the email in a bit more detail and saw it was being sent out by Indigostarfish, Amazon’s preferred merchant and still with Royal Mail – denied.

On a big Non Jovi forum many people have already heard the album thanks to it being leaked and available on download websites. I have resisted temptation and will wait until I have the CD in my hands before I play it. On the plus side the reports coming back from those that have heard is universally great. People are saying it’s the best album since These Days, which Bon Jovi fans the world over see as the zenith of Bon Jovi music.

With the Royal Mail strike in mind I’ll probably buy a vanilla version from a supermarket on the way to work on Monday, such is my impatience!

Now, onto matters of outrage – the prices of the tickets for the shows at the O2 in London, which started off as 5 shows but has since risen to 8. For more information on the fan response and prices I suggest you go here: BonJovi-Live.com where fan comments have been and continue to be documented.

When I went to see Bon Jovi at the very first show at The O2 in 2007 I paid £60+ for each ticket, this past Saturday I paid £45 for each ticket and the seats are far better so from my personal perspective I’m doing ok. If people are moaning that they don’t want to pay high prices to be at the front then don’t, buy a cheaper ticket and sit further back – that’s life. Oh yeah, I’m going to see Bon Jovi, for the 5th time, on June 13th 2010 – good times!

Steve Vai Blu-ray – is it worth it?

I’ve always been a big Steve Vai fan, in my eyes (should that be ears?) he’s the greatest guitarist in the world. Seeing him live on stage with Whitesnake at Donnington Monsters of Rock in 1990 was one of the musical highlights of my life. Vai’s latest album, Where the Wild Things Are is also available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Vai on Blu-ray

I’m now left with the decision of what format, or formats, I should buy? My immediate instinct is to go with the CD and nothing else, but as I have a Blu-ray player (PS3) and a full surround audio set-up at home, am I missing out on a fantastic audio/visual experience by ignoring the Blu-ray? What most people probably either don’t know, or forget, is that Blu-ray not only offers a better quality high picture but also a far better sound. For a budding (wanabee?) guitarist and Steve Vai fan I’d no doubt enjoy watching the master at work, but with my son only being 18 months old, am I ever going to get an opportunity to get the most out of this Blu-ray – the volume would surely have to be set at 11?

Has anyone out in there experienced a concert on Blu-ray, was it worth it?

Jenson Button wins Formula 1 Championship & Lewis Hamilton races to 3rd in Brazil

I’ve been quite critical of Jenson Button over this season, as have a lot of others. As a Lewis Hamilton fan it was hard to watch Jenson race to victory after victory at the start of the season while Lewis struggled to get into the second part of qualifying with his underperforming McLaren MP4-24.

Button has the advantage of driving a car that had a lot of money and time pumped into it by virtue of Honda forgoing success in the 2008 season to concentrate on the 2009 season. Of course that didn’t quite go to plan when late last year Honda announced they wouldn’t be taking part in the 2009 season – at this point Jenson Button, and team mate Rubens Barrichello, were without a ride for the 2009 season. The rest of the Brawn GP story, as they say, is history and perhaps both drivers were deserving of such a superior car for sticking with the team.

There’s no doubting that for the first 7 races the Brawn GP were far superior to any others on the grid, with the Red Bulls being the closest in terms of performance. Even though the likes of McLaren and Ferrari have turned up year after with superior cars, this felt different, and I almost resented the Brawn’s performance and Jenson’s success. As the season progressed and other cars got better, specifically the McLaren, the playing field evened out. The only problem, if you can call it that, is that Button had built up such a lead that only his team mate had any chance of catching him, with an outside chance going to either Sebastian Vettel or Mark Weber at Red Bull. This meant that even though Button was under-performing he was still going to be the champion and for me that spoiled the season a little bit.

Moving on to the Brazilian Grand Prix and I was firmly behind Barrichello and wanted him to take both the victory at Interlagos and then the Championship from Button at the very first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two weeks later. As Vettel had qualified 14th there was no chance he was going to challenge Jenson. Hamilton qualified in 17th which was pretty poor but as always I’d be behind in, hoping he’d be able get past a few people and get some points, maybe even enough to match or get past Kimi Raikkonen on the leader board.

What I witnessed on Sunday was Button having the race of his life and putting on a performance worthy of a champion. With his lead having been eroded over the weeks and there being a strong chance of Barrichello winning after starting from pole position, Button was obviously fighting for his championship and for the first time this season felt very much under pressure. I just wish he’d raced like that for the previous 8 races rather than relying on his cushion of points amassed earlier in the season. Because of his fantastic performance I was pleased for him when he became champion, though at the same time extremely gutted for Barrichello who once again had no luck during his home race.

Congratulations Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 Drivers World Champion, and to Brawn GP, the 2009 Formula 1 Constructors Champions.

2009 World Champion (Photo Credit ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images)

After qualifying in 17th, Hamilton also had an amazing race and thanks to a great tactical decision of pitting and changing tyres while the safety car was out early in the race, along with some great driving, he managed to overtake Barrichello with a few laps left and come home in 3rd, another podium finish. Importantly, this meant he overtook Raikkonen and has a 1 point lead going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – hopefully he can keep the 5th place while helping McLaren remain in 3rd in the Constructors Championship.

Lewis leads the way (Photo Copyright: Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images)

While there a few lesser places still to be decided, like Vettel and Barrichello’s fight for second place, we go into the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with both the Drivers and Constructors Champions already crowned. Still, next season should be fantastic, as long as the FIA don’t throw too many spanners into the works!

In search of Manga, found One Piece!

For a few weeks I’ve been wanting to get into Manga comic (are they classed as comics?) books and have been researching what would be the best title to start with. I’m a keen comic book reader and collector and also love Japan and it’s culture, so it’s a good fit really! Just a pity I didn’t have this epiphany when I was in Japan 8 years ago!

I was in Waterstones just this afternoon and came across a series which I think would be perfect for me: One Piece – it’s a Manga series about pirates, another big interest of mine!

Avast there!

On further investigation it seems that this is a mega popular series which has been running for over a decade and has been released in 55 volumes, so far. It’s longevity is another very attractive quality as I love a long series that I can get my teeth into and look forward to continuing volumes. I’ve ordered volume 1 from the awesomely cheap Book Depository who take Paypal Payments and as I had some funds in there from an eBay sale a few months ago it’s like I didn’t have to use actual money! If I like it then I have a few volumes to buy before I’m up to date, luckily Christmas is upon us in 2 months and I’ve requested Amazon vouchers from relatives who’ve asked what I want!

Sticking with Manga, if anyone is a fan themselves, please recommend me some other series’ I might like. Not so keen on horror or anything too violent – fun, fantasy and even some vampire action, as long as it’s not OTT!

2nd November – Disney Blu-ray / DVD Combi Re-release day!

First came the DVD, then the extended version, then the Blu-ray and now Disney are re-releasing some of their catalogue in Blu-ray/DVD Combi Packs, presumably to keep them in line with their recent releases…oh, and to make a heap of money as well!

Blu-ray / DVD Combi Pack

The titles being released as Blu-ray / DVD Combi packs on November 2nd are as follow:

Pirates Of The Caribbean – The Curse Of The Black Pearl Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
Enchanted Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
The Nightmare Before Christmas Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
The Chronicles Of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
The Chronicles Of Narnia – Prince Caspian Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
Cars Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
Tinker Bell Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
High School Musical Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)
Ratatouille Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD)

Of those we have Pirates of the Caribbean on both DVD and Blu-ray, Enchanted on Blu-ray, The Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe on DVD, Cars on Blu-ray and DVD, High School Musical on DVD and Ratatouille on Blu-ray. These Combi Packs are all priced at £12.98 ($20.87) which is a pretty damn good price and less than I paid for any of the Blu-rays, and probably the DVDs at the time. As an avid Disney collector, am I tempted to re-buy any of those that I have? In a word, no. That said I’m probably not the target consumer for these deals, more likely they are for people who don’t already have these titles. I don’t have Prince Caspian and am very tempted to get this Combi Pack at just £12.98 as I like to play Blu-ray in the lounge and DVDs elsewhere in the house.

It’ll be interesting to see if other companies follow suit, but as usual Disney are the front runners in the way Blu-rays are released.

Amazon Kindle now available in the UK, but do I want one?

So, on surfing onto Amazon UK this morning I was faced with the following announcement:

Kindle in the UK

For the past year or so I’ve been hearing about the ‘US Only’ Kindle, particularly on the This Week in Tech (TWiT) podcast. It not being available to me in the UK has not bothered me as I was convinced I neither wanted nor needed one. However, now I can get my hands on one, do I want one?

The Romance of Reading
I have an almost romantic attraction to books and for years have loved nothing better than picking up a new book and allowing myself to be consumed by its content. I’m not sure I’d get the same from an electronic screen, of which I get 8 hours of at work each day. The Amazon website does boast Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight, which sounds good in theory, but can I really shrug off the feeling that I am reading a screen and allow myself to enjoy the experience as much as I do a book?

Money, Money, Money
First off, the Kindle itself will set me back $279 (£175.49) which is not an amount of money I am able to spend on a whim. Also, for some strange reason, the Kindle is not available from the UK Amazon and so ordering it from the US store leaves me open to more expense, as Amazon kindly point out: Your international shipment is subject to customs duties, import taxes and other fees levied by the destination country. Thing is, as you may have guessed, the thrill of getting a new gadget sometimes outweighs my need for said gadget.

The books themselves don’t seem to offer good value, at least not on the surface. I recently paid £8.99 for the hardback edition of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol which I thought, and still do think, was an absolute bargain. To buy this from the Kindle Store (see next point) it would cost me $9.99 (£6.29) which is cheaper, but I don’t actually have the book, I just have an electronic copy and I’m one of those people who still buys CDs as I want something I can hold in my hand for the money I’ve spent. Maybe I’m being naive but I’m thinking a couple of pounds for a Kindle book is a reasonable price to pay.

Availability
Follow this link and you will see that The Lost Symbol is not actually available to me as a UK customer – why? How can Amazon expect me to buy a Kindle when the No.1 bestselling book in the world right now is not available? What else isn’t available and how long, if ever, do I have to wait for it to become available to me? There are certain books I like to read as soon as they come out and if I change the way I read books I expect to be able to read those books as soon as I am able to buy them from a bookshop.

Black and White Screen
Really? I read a lot of comic books and at some point I can imagine these will be available for the Kindle, but I don’t want to be reading them in black and white. There are of course many other books which have pictures and to not have them in colour just makes the Kindle version seem inferior and I won’t be getting the full experience as intended.

Usability
Maybe I’m wrong having never actually seen a Kindle, but there looks to be so many buttons around the area that I’d hold it that I’m almost certain I’m going to be pressing something I shouldn’t at some point. While we are on the topic of the keys, why do I need a keyboard? In a world that has become awash with touch screen technology, why can’t the Kindle employ this and give me either more screen or less bulk. Not having to carry around a big heavy hardback has its advantages, as does not running out of room to store books as is currently happening in our house.

These are just a few concerns I have and though my thoughts may come across quite negatively I suspect that’s to try to contain my own deep down urges to order one, because all the limitations aside, it’s a new piece of technology that I’d love to play with. Would I use it much/ That’s really besides the point, much like when I bought a Wii, PS3, PSP, DS – all of which have been used for just a few hours each!

Photography: Sony A200 & Panasonic TZ1 Photo Comparison

This past Sunday we took our little boy to the park so I decided to use the opportunity to take a few photos as well. One thing I am beginning to realise is that my standard seems to have risen since I started using my Sony A200, and by that I mean that expect more from a photo and am finding that fewer of the photos I take are meeting my expectations. That aside, on spying a ladybird sitting on a leaf I decided to take a photo with both my Sony A200 and my Panasonic DMC-TZ1 – DSLR v Compact: Macro Battle!

The TZ1 has a 10x zoom with an effective focal length range of 35-350mm, while the A200 was used with the kit lens with an effective focal length range of 18-70mm. The better wide angle setting wasn’t going to help the A200 but was the lack of zoom and macro capability going to hold it back? Let’s look at the evidence, and note that the photos have not had any post production aside from cropping and resizing.

Panasonic TZ1 - f/6.3 - 1/1600 - ISO-800

Sony A200 - f/5.6 - 1/250 - ISO-100

Interesting when looking at he exif information that the TZ1 chose an ISO of 800 compared to the A200 which chose ISO-100. I’d hazard a guess this is due to the superior quality of the A200’s sensor which has picked up more light than that of the TZ1. This could also be why the colours in the photo taken by the A200 are more natural looking.

There is more detail on the leaf of the TZ1 photo but that is because I purposely selected the ladybird as the focus area when using the A200 and increased the aperture setting to get a shallower depth of field.

I’m very encouraged by the photo taken with my Sony A200 and can only begin to imagine what results i will be able to achieve with a dedicated macro lens or a zoom lens with macro capability. Macro photography is an area I am particularly interested in so such a lens is on my wish list – you listening Santa?

I’ll leave you with two more photos taken on the way to the park.

Now that is a blue sky!

Dew on the flower petals.

Photography: Different focus points, aperture and depth of field

You may remember from the blog about my first set of photos with my newly acquired Sony A200 that I got feedback about my photos all having the subject in the centre of the photo, and that not always being the best for good composition.

Little did I know, because I didn’t read the manual, that my camera has 9 focus points that can be manually adjusted so as to focus on any of the 9 points in the viewfinder, and not just the middle. The image below, borrowed from the awesome Steve’s Digicams, shows these focus points as I see them in the viewfinder.

Different focus points

I also read up on aperture settings and how they affect depth of field. Basically, the higher the aperture setting which is actually a low number, for example f/4.5 is higher than f/22) the shallower the depth of field and thus the less of your photo is in focus.

My aim going out was to combine the 9 focus point options with high aperture settings and hopefully see some results which were different to the standard pictures I took the week before. I took 50 shots in all and got a couple of photos I am happy with – I guess I’ll have to get used to that kind of hit-rate, where more thought and precision is required, good results will be more infrequent – at least for now!

This first photo is my favourite, and one which best highlights my best use of a different focus point and a manual aperture setting. I love how the lone piece of straw (or whatever it is – any fauna experts out there, feel free to correct me) at the front is sharp and in focus as the bits behind are less in focus and the background is not in focus at all.

Shallow depth of focus

The next shot shows just how much attention you have to pay when taking a great photo, and how I had my mind on lots of camera settings but not on the actual flower itself. As was pointed out to me on AVForums, I should have moved the bud from behind the flower.

Damn that bud!

This 3rd photo had the makings of being a good shot but the dandelion is not nearly sharp enough. Not sure why that is, I’m probably not taking enough time to line up and get the shots right before pressing the shutter button – another point and shoot trait I need to lose. It’s a shame because the depth of field behind the dandelion is really good – maybe too good that it starts to lose focus before the dandelion itself!

Not sharp enough

All in all I’m pleased with my efforts and it’s nice to be learning about actual photography and different settings can change the outcome dramatically. I’m glad I got rid of the Panasonic DMC-TZ7 and left compact cameras for the world of DSLR, and proper photography.

Brits may struggle to make the 2009 World’s Strongest Man finals in Malta

Just seen that the groups have been set for the qualifiers of the 2009 World’s Strongest Man over at the official website and I have a feeling that there is a chance we could see no Brits in the finals. Let’s go through it group by group and see who the likely qualifiers are – Brits are in red.

Group 1
Derek Poundstone
Jimmy Marku
Kevin Nee
Kostiantyn Ilin
Louis-Philippe Jean
Sebastian Wenta

Derek Pounstone is a given, he’ll get through in 1st unless something untoward happens. For the 2nd spot, Britain’s Stongest Man, Jimmy Marku is going to have get past Kevin Nee and Sebastian Wenta. Apologies for my lack of patriotism but I don’t see that happening – going through from Group A will be Derek Poundstone and Sebastian Wenta.

Group B
Brian Shaw
Mark Felix
Marshall White
Martin Wildauer
Stefan Solvi Petursson
Zydrunas Savickas

Zydrunas Savickas back in World's Strongest Man

Mark Felix is Britain’s best hope to get through to the finals, though it’s the 2nd spot he’ll be fighting for in Group B. It’s very exciting news that Savickas is back in World’s Strongest Man after the IFSA/WSM split kept the super-strong Lithuanian away for the past few years. If Felix does get 2nd place it’ll mean he bests Brian Shaw, which will be no mean feat! Let’s hope Mark’s legendary lifting power sees him through. Zydrunas Savickas and Mark Felix to get through to the finals.

Group 3
Alexander Klyushev
Darren Sadler
Ervin Katon
Jimmy Laureys
Mariusz Pudzianowski
Phil Pfister

Sorry Darren, but Mariusz Pudzianowski and Phil Pfister will going through from this group – discussion over!

Group 4
Agris Kazelniks
Ettiene Smit
Johannes Arsjo
Laurence Shahlae
Richard Skog
Travis Ortmayer

If this had been Mark Felix, Jimmy Marku or Terry Hollands then I’d have been much more optimistic about a Brit getting through, unfortunately Lawrence Shahlae will not be getting past the two guys who move forward to the finals from Group 4; Richard Skog and Travis Ortmayer.

Group 5
Andrus Murumets
Christian Savoie
Dave Ostlund
Florian Trimpl
Jarek Dymek
Terry Hollands

As much as 3rd place in the 2007 World’s Strongest Man was a great achievement for Terry, I’m not sure he’ll be climbing to those heights again this year after a 2008 plagued with injury. Any of Ostland, Trimpl and Dymek could win this group but I’m predicting Dave Ostlund and Jarek Dymek to go through to the finals.

The qualifying groups look very interesting this year and we could see some surprises. I see the final coming down to these 10 strongmen, with Mark Felix as the lone British representative:

Derek Pounstone
Sebastian Wenta
Mark Felix
Zydrunas Savickas
Mariusz Pudzianowski
Phil Pfister
Richard Skog
Travis Ortmayer
Dave Ostlund
Florian Trimpl
Jarek Dymek

My prediction for the podium is as follows:

1st – Derek Pounstone
2nd – Zydrunas Savickas
3rd – Mariusz Pudzianowski

this could well be the last time I blog about World’s Strongest Man until December, because although the qualifiers and finals take place in Malta within the 2 weeks or so, I don’t want to read any spoilers before traditionally watching World’s Strongest Man in late December / early January.

First photos with Sony A200, new website & learning about composition

This past weekend I had a chance to have a proper play with my Sony A200 – quite different to the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 that I’ve been using for the past few years, to say the least.

On the Saturday I mostly shot indoors with my 16 month old son as the main subject. When I looked at the photos on my laptop I thought they looked good quality, and after confirmation from both my wife and Mum I knew that the A200 was a great acquisition. The photo below is my favourite of the ones I took of my little boy, and I think he looks a lot older than his 16 months, even with dried yoghurt all over his face!

Serious face!

Around 6pm I took things outside and decided to do a bit of macro photography with one of my favourite subjects, spiders! Luckily (depending on what way you look at it) there was a big spider above our door so I took about 30 shots from all different angles, using both the macro setting and the normal setting with maximum zoom. I didn’t think the results were as good as with my compact camera, but then that has a macro mode designed to be used with the built in lens. Without a dedicated macro lens, or at least a lens with a far better zoom than my 18-70mm kit lens, I can’t expect world class macro photography. Still, I think this one came out quite well.

8 hairy legs!

The weather on Saturday had been amazing, a beautiful later summer’s day. Sunday however was a different day entirely, much colder and overcast. Most disappointingly the light wasn’t very good, and as an absolute beginner I had no idea how to use the camera to compensate for that. We went off to St. Albans and I set about taking photos of St. Albans Cathedral, where I graduated in 1997, and the park and lake which I had hoped would be drenched on the same sunshine as Saturday. The sun never showed its face, but I did my best all the same. More importantly I had fun, and got more used to the feel of my camera.

I actually set up a new website to show some of my photos. The idea is that I will be putting photos that I am most proud of on there but I also thought it important to post quite a few from this weekend so people can see where I started from in months and years to come. The website is Fable Photos – leave a comment if you can guess where that name got it’s inspiration!

When I posted a few on the Talk Photography Forums I got a comment that about my composition and the subject of my all photos were dead centre and that I cropped too close to the subject. I get that and especially in this photo I took of a goose which got the following comment – It would look much better with space on the right side of it so that it’s moving into space. I have to agree, it looks like the goose is about to bash it’s head!

Goose lake

My composition will improve over time, it’s not something I’ve really thought about much before but is something I will be thinking about when I use my camera next. Below are a few more of the photos I took on Sunday, the rest are at Fable Photos – any comments and advice will be gratefully received and appreciated.

St. Albans Cathedral

Hedge life

Arty!