fire:false:alarm

fire:false:alarm:1, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

There was a false fire alarm tonight (28th Dec/29th Dec 2007).

So, there I was watching Casualties of War on Ten HD, when there is this alarm going off. It kinda sounds like a bad car alarm echoing through the night. The echos are such that it's hard to hear where it is coming from. I'm not the only one that has heard it either. Other residents are on their balconies. There are those with torches shining into the other flats. No one quite sure what is going on.

Two girls appear; running though the car park. The look up and shout to us.

"There is a fire; call tripple-0"
"What level?"
"It's on our level, level 3"

So, without hesitation I go inside call tripple-0.
It rings and automated response telling me I've dialed tripple-0 barks back to me. A voice comes on asking

"Which emergency service? Ambulance or fire?"
"Fire"
"Fire Brigade"
"Yes"
"Connecting you"

There is a slight pause. Did he not say Police as well? I wasn't listening for it. For all I know he didn't.

"Hello Fire Brigade"
"Hi, there is a fire in our flats on level 3".
"Is it in an apartment?"
"I don't know, I was told buy the girls running from the building, it's somewhere on that level".
"Ok, you are calling from..."and we confirmed addresses and roads.
"Oh, it looks like we have a unit on the way"
"Excellent, thank you."

So, I grabbed the camera, wallet and house keys. I made sure to shut all the doors and the open fire doors when going down the fire escape.

We got to level 3. The whole floor appeared thick with a smoke of some kind. It didn't smell like burning, but that didn't go through my mind. There was an acidic taste to the smoke. It still catches in my nostrils. I shut the door. Shit, a real fire in the building.

By the time I got down and out, the police had arrived with the engines just pulling in. I got the camera ready.

Beside me a fireman and police man were discussing street names with uncertainty.

"That one's Neutral Street" I offered.
"Do you know were the fire panel is?"
"Sure, it's on level 2 just around there", only to be granted by a blank stare. "Do you want to me to take you to it?"
"That would be great!"

So we headed off, around the building and into the foyer to the panel. The fireman looked for keys to open the panel.

"Do you mind if I take some shots?"
"No, go ahead"

More fireman turned up.

"There's no fire, it's a DCP event. They've made a good go of it too."

There was some other conversation that I missed here. My head was buzzing with the adrenalin I was too focused on DCP.

"What's a DCP?" I inquired.
"Dry Chemical Powder"
"Oh of course! That explains the taste and smoke."

Thankfully it was a false alarm. There was some more calls back and forth to other people. We waited for a while, before we headed back around to the car park.

Certainly an interesting way to end the night!

Mars:over:North:Sydney

Mars:over:North:Sydney, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Mars in Gemini, over North Sydney

52 stacked 30second images using DeepSkyStacker.
Used Lumicon Hydrogen Alpha filter to cut out some of the light pollution.
Camera mounted on EQ1 mount so as to move the camera in ralation to the earths movement.

The skies here haven't been that clear of late, with total cloud cover most nights. That's just typical really as i've got a load of new equipment that I want to play with. The main this is the " Lumicon Hydrogen Alpha filter". This is really to help cut down some of the massive amount of light pollution that I see. As you can see from the above, the glow is insane over N.Sydney. This means only the brighter stars get though. At least with the Lumicon filter you get to see some that appear bright at IR levels. Which is great for me as suddenly the skies appear full again. It does mean that you have to stack the images, but I think it's worth it in the long run. At somepoint, when it is clear again, I want to shoot M42 with the 400mm lens and see what I can get.

asian:elephant

asian:elephant, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

I bought a new lens a couple of weeks back and only got to use it last week. It's this one, the canon 400mm 5.6L. I have to say it's great to finally have a "L" lens. The downside of it is that it heavy on the 350D and balance is hard. So... to help with it I've also got a monopod. Plus, it has no IS so it's fast shutter speeds or holding yourself very still. Good practice for me I think. But man it's sharp, plus the speed of it focusing is great. All in all I'm really happy with this.

But where to test it out? Where better than the zoo I thought? And I have to say, it's a great place for it.

Of course wondering around with a large lens and a monopod, you get some really really strange looks. The other thing I noticed is that people kept apologizing to me for walking into my shot. To be honest, with such a long focal length that didn't really happen. Still it's strange to have it happen

I spent a lot of time with the monkeys. They still look sad being where they are, but not as sad as the kodiak bears. They really did look depressed and not happy to be there.

The hardest thing I find seeing are the zebras, giraffes and elephants. Mainly as I've seen these animals in the wild. After seeing them on the plains, it's hard to see them in such a small area. Okay, I haven't seen Asian Elephants in the wild, but I've seen African Elephants so I think it's kind of the same thing.

I have to say, I still like the African Elephants over the Asian ones. I much prefer the large majestic nature of the African ones. The Asian ones appear soo small in comparison. Still they were good to see.

You can see the other shots from this lens here.

in:your:face

in:your:face, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

In your face | a photographic portrait project

http://www.wingdingo.com/inyourface/

It actually feels almost real now.

skin

skin, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

So I went climbing... again :D Have to say the more I do it, the more I know that I love it. There really is just something to knowing that you alone, got yourself up a piece of rock. There is just that great sense of achievement to it.

I didn't have the digital this time, so only shot film (iso 800). I didn't take that many photos, but got a few. This is Gaby on "Skin (21)" at Illawong. The guide describes the place as "A pleasant little south facing crag overlooking Still Creek and the Woronora River." Rob took a shot of the place to see how pleasant the place is, take a look a this shot.

To be fair, it's not really that bad a place and with hindsight it's okay. The climb Skin got us all. So, this means that we are all have to go back and try and complete it. It was also just one of those climbing days. As Rob kept saying, "A bad day at the crag is better than being in the office".

To give you an idea of how bad it was, it started with the first climb "Butt Ugly, with Gravy". Which was really quite butt ugly. What didn't help was that the climb and the protection went right...none of us could see the route right. There was good holds to the left, so Gaby went that way...and stayed going that way. There is only natural protection this way.

At this time I was belaying him. As a belayer, your job is arrest the fall of a falling climber, and some other stuff. The other thing you have to be aware of the amount of rope out. That means thinking about if the climber falls how far they are going to fall. There are also calls that a climber makes; "watch me" means really sketchy here might fall, really watch me.

Now as gaby was climbing, through no protection I had to really think about catching him if he was going to fall. So I really did, to the point where if the climber fell, he was going to hit the deck. So, to prevent it I had to think what was it that I was going to do should this happen. Now I could run to the right hoping to pull in rope at the same time. There was also the ledge and drop behind me; so this means that I could jump off and pull in the rope. That means I'm falling and the climber is...and that may just have worked.

So there I was ready to jump off the ledge to catch the falling climber, between the two of us, there should be enough rope to stop the climber from decking... maybe. That was may plan for that whole climb. It's the only time I've really been scared as belayer and really really really aware of what is going on around me. It was really one of those moments where you can see a day to go shit in the blink of the eye.

I still love it though...

50s:fair

50s:fair, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

See... told you there would be more.

I remember when I was taking this, waiting for the girl in the mirror to turn her head or look at me. I stood there for what seemed an age waiting. At the same time, he kept been covered in hairspray. Then she finally turned and the hair dresser was out of shot.

50s:fair

50s:fair, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Man I haven't blogged in a while; I haven't been taking that many photos either. This has mainly been due to rain and climbing taking up much of my time. Yes, that's right, the rain... For ages it seemed it was wet or too wet to do anything. That seems to be drawing to a close now, with spring happening summer is on it's way. I'm looking forward to the warmth in my bones again. I have to say I've missed it. It's not been cold and wet like the UK, but it's not been warm either.

The above photo was from a "50's Fair at Rose Seidler House". Again this is film, expired, and from the Mamiya C33. It's also the first time that I've put some colour though it. I'm pleased with the results anyway. I still think that my framing in the square format is a bit off and maybe I could do more to improve it. Yet I really like the way it came out here - and of course I think it looks better against the black background. More to come....

6:6:contact:sheet:narcissism

6:6:contact:sheet:narcissism, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

There are times when you really have to play around with the kit that you have bought. Sometimes, things come off other times not. I'm mostly happy with these, I've been meaning for a while to really start playing with my flash ala http://strobist.blogspot.com/ style. At the same time I wanted to use the Mamiya. That was scary flash and film. I needed to test the 135mm lens too, and this is what came out. Thanks to the instructions and information on strobist, things came out kinda well. Some technical issues, but I'm happy. More to come soon.

nowra:puppy

nowra:puppy, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

So we spent another weekend climbing. This time the rain didn't get us but the wind did. It was mighty windy, gale force in fact. Still it was fun to be able to climb outside again. It's nothing like being in the gym, the only way I can describe it is that it feels real.

The realness of it all came back when Rob feel a millisecond after the above photo was taken. By the time the shutter went, he was dangling in mid air. I didn't even see the fall. Just like that acceleration due to gravity occurs. It's amazing how quick you fall when you fall. Not that I've fallen leading... yet...

Someday I will fall. Knowing I'll have good belayers when I'm leading, this doesn't bother me. When it comes, not having to worry about that part makes a difference.

6:6:chandelier

6:6:chandelier, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

More fun with the Mamiya C33. I have to say I really love using this. It's still hard to use in very dark lighting situations as even at F2.8 the screen is dark. Daytime is excellent. This was shot on Ilford 3200 @1600iso. I have to say I really prefer this over the lucky film. Lucky film was fun and cheap; it serves it's purpose. The tone and grain on the 3200 is great I think, that and I like that I can shoot at 1600iso without a problem - other than metering as I can only meter up to 1000iso with my Western Master.
Oh well, better than nothing me thinks.

6:6:yewenyi

6:6:yewenyi, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

yewenyi from Sydney photobloggers.

Shot on my new Mamiya C33 with the 80mm lens. Spent a roll of film to check everything works and I was sloppy when developing, hence all the dust etc. All images came out fine and look quite sharp. It's much better than the Halina A1 that I have, but doen't give the dreamy look that the Halina A1 has.

Now I need to test the 135mm lens...

six:six:flight

six:six:flight, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Seagull in flight over Cockatoo Island; scanned in by new "Canonscan 8600F". This was just with its default settings, no second pass scans to remove dust or scratches, if anything i like seeing these. I'm also pretty happy on how these shots came out. It was an overcast day, and having 100iso film wasn't going to be very useful, so I pushed it to 400iso. The lucky film seems to be able to handle this quite well.

As for the scanning, I was pretty happy. Each image scanned in at 1200dpi; no where near the maximum, but good for test. Each too about 2-3mins to do. I didn't use any of the build in dust removal, simply cause it was late and well couldn't be bothered. The only downside seems to be the autodetect of image locations. It kept thinking it was 6x7 format. Changing to full manual and off thumbnail sorted this all out; then it would see 6x6 and slight adjusting sorted it. This could just be the film type, as there isn't much of a gap between frames or a color difference. But hey, I'm really happy with it so far.

red:rocks:desert

red:rocks:desert, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

What a crazy couple of weeks; Sydney -> LA -> Las Vegas -> San Fransisco -> Sydney... Oh the joy of a modern workplace and global organisation. To be far though, it was fantastic. Las Vegas was for our user conference which was crazy as every. I mean it was work, but hey, there was a lot of fun that was occurring too. For the most part, it was between 2-4 hours of sleep each night, so when it finally came to a break I was shattered ( I think I'm still catching up on the missed sleep ). Still one of the highlights was getting out of Vegas and heading to Red Rocks. It was such a joy to replace the sounds of one arm bandits and people winning sums of money with the crunching of stones and the slight desert breeze.

But it was hot and dry; overhearing someone about cleaning their camera will give you an idea:
"Usually I just breathe on the lens and give it a wipe; breathing out here doesn't fog anything up".

So we trekked around red rocks doing the white rocks loop, amongst other things totaling about 6 miles. During this time I drank about 4 liters of water; most of which evaporated from my body before I could release it in traditional means. But it was worth it, there is nothing better than this place. Its dry dusty and yet teaming with life; compared to the unrealistic creation that is Vegas, I'd welcome going here at any time.

graffiti

graffiti, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Taken whilst walking from Ashfield to Newtown. I just love how the bloke's torso is matching the graffiti woman. Well, it made me laugh.

red:chili

red:chili, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

So easter has come and gone. It was great to have the break; it was a crazy week before hand and I really needed the extra time off. So, what did I do? Well we wend down to Nowra and did some climbing. Second week on real rock. Great to get out there again, and also not.

The first afternoon was fantastic, had great time on the rock and climbed well. With this in mind and having seen the climb we were going to do the next day, I knew I was going to do well. How wrong could I be.

For the first time in a very long whilst climbing I freaked... I freaked big time. I freaked to the point where I thought I was going to die, fall, hurt myself. My arms felt like ice; the rain before hand made the rock cold and I could feel it traveling up my arm. Looking around there it looked like there was no holds. It all just looked like a black sheet of glass. Before I knew it, I was shaking, sweating and losing control.

My breathing was uncontrolled and tunnel vision was upon me. I was tense and overgripping everything. My muscles now hurt and I was close to crying. The environment now took hold of me. I could here the golfers shout "fore"; the birds; the water skiers; the helicopters and my fellow climbers. It was all beginning to close in on me. Panic, pure panic.

I didn't know what to do or how to get past it. I really didn't. I was going to give up; just let go and forget climbing completely. I was ready to just give it up for the rest of the day.

Yet, I didn't want to quit. I don't like quitting, my competitive nature doesn't like it. There was a battle between these two feelings.

Suddenly for a brief second there was nothing; bliss; emptiness; stillness. Without even thinking, I moved my feet put my hand up found the hold and moved past the problem area. Then the battle returned. It did so for the rest of the climb. I could find the holds this time, they were big but not obvious to me.

When I finally got to the top I was dripping; soaked to the skin in sweat and still shaking. As I was lowered down I had to re-clip. Again the panic started. I started to downclimb; bad idea that really got to me. So I was lowered to the same height as the quick draw and moved across the big ledge and eventually clipped the rope in.

When I got to the ground, everyone released how shaken up I was. I had some food with high sugar content and felt better.

After Rob climbed "The Grouch", a harder climb, I wanted to go again. I didn't want to try the one I freaked on earlier, I wanted to do the harder one. Why? who knows, I think it was because Rob was confident on it and hence I thought I can do that. So I got and tried to get up a few holds; found a really good one that turned out to be an ants nest, tried to stand up and fell. I fell good. I was top roped and on belay, but with my weight and dynamic nature of the rope, I pretty much feel to the floor; only such that my feet just touched the floor. With the fall all the panic left.

I then climbed "The Grouch" without a problem; I was sooo pumped when I got to the top; so happy. This is why I climb for this feeling. I got up there on my own; no one else just me. That's how good it is.

I then had a rest whilst Amy climbed it. We then went back to "Uncle Udfuddy", the one that scared me horribly. Rob climbed it without a problem, then it was my go. This time it was fine. I found the holds, felt strong and got up it without issue. Why did I have a problem in the first place? I do replay it in my mind now and don't get it. Its something to learn from and use for focusing and strength in future climbs.

Sometimes you just get scared - how you deal with it is what matters.

rob:on:taylor:made

rob:on:taylor:made, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Finally, I got to climb outside! I don't care if I was top-roped and it was only a 6m 15 climb, I climbed outside!

north:sun

north:sun, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

The apocalypse is upon us... nah its just the crazy sunsets that happen and you can see from the office window. Not that I'm the biggest fan of sunsets, but sometimes when you see them like this you really do have to just stop and go wow. The last couple of weeks I've really needed something to go wow about. Yeah, crazy shit happens and when its important to you and affects you directly its sometimes hard to see a resolution, even when you know there should be one. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks things shouldn't be so apocalyptic

house:of:priscilla:boys

house:of:priscilla:boys, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Why does it feel like I just don't stop, even though I have had a break only two weeks back. Work has been just hell and busy... I wrote a 2000 word email back to a customer only to have them escalate it to a VP. Oh well, at least I haven't done anything wrong and everyone is backing me up on it. Its just more time of me doing things without a chance to relax.

Then again at the same time I have been doing a "Gym-to-RAWK" sorry "Rock" class. Whilst this is only once a week, its lots to learn. Its also lots to practice too. This means that during my free times at work I'm playing with rope, quickdraws and carabiners. My workmates just think I'm crazy... but that what happens when you pull out 30m of rope on your desk (Thank's Rob).

So come Thursday last at the SPB meet, I really needed a drink. So drunk was I that a jelly wrestling match between Kylie and Alanis Morissette brought me to tears of laughter.... of course Alanis would win!

So back to the photo... or at least come to the photo. It was taken at Syndey's Mardis Gras parade. More shots from that night can be found here. It opens with "Dykes on Bikes", which as you can imagine is a lot of dykes on motorbikes. It was a fun but tiring evening.

It didn't start that well. We were abused by people from the "gong"... There were a set of middle aged women that had decided to plant themselves near the end of the parade. They had blankets, cheese and crackers, rugs and wine glasses done... Now they expected that everyone would respect their space when the parade came. Given that there are thousands of people out there, as soon as it started everyone was pushed forward. I tried my best not to move into their space but they had more room than me. Then it started...

"Can you stop bashing me in the back; I don't want your elbow in my back for the whole parade." Great thinks I and moves back the inch space that I had. " You have just pushed your way in and we have been here since 3pm" (drinking too). "If you want to take good photos , then you should have been there at that time too". Then they had a go at Amy...called her Canadian and everything...

Anyway, we made sure to crush all there stuff when we could and bash into them when I could. Me thinks Hell is coming for me...

Well these drunk woman were more than happy to have the hot ripped guys come over and hug/kiss them... Not as comfortable when any bigger guys came over and really not happy if it was a female. Following with the comment "i can't believe how many there are of them...". As this is one of Sydney's big gay event, you'd expect a few gay and lesbians to turn up... it's not going to be "I'm the only gay in the village" event now is it?

I was expecting the comment, well they will grow out of it... won't they? Needless to say the rest of the time was fine. Tiring but fine. The welcome drink in the pub afterwards was really really needed...

Oh well its been a fun week, here we go again this week...I guess.

stop:search:record

stop:search:record, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

I was stopped today (Valentines Day) in Liverpool Street Station under section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000. These are random stop and searches to stop terrorism...I think it may have been my singing as I was plugged in at the time. It wouldn't surprise me, as I can't hear a thing when they are in. But why me? IC1 male, dressed in Jeans and a red and blue top carrying a bag. Must look shifty. I was searched, well at least my bag was. When they saw it was a camera I was asked what I was taking photos of. All of those places that you shouldn't say came rushing through my head (MI5 headquarters for example)... the funny thing was I hadn't taken a shot all day. Just didn't get me today, london just didn't grab out to me the way it used to. Very Very strange... But that what this trip home has shown me. I have moved on. Its another life back here, not the same and not what I want to go back to; at least for a while. My life is now 10,000 miles away... and its those 10,000miles that I'm really missing quite a lot really; especially one big part of me that is still there...

Should be climbing tomorrow... I wonder if I can do a 5b?

purleigh:vineyards

purleigh:vineyards, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Snow.... Woke up to 3 inches of snow. Pleasant change to the sunshine I have been used to over the past couple of months. Shame the snow doesn't look like it will stay around for a while. Of course it is causing chaos in the UK. Still it was nice to go out, build a snowman; throw snowballs etc. As they have closed all of the schools in Essex, all of the kids are off. So there is tobogganing and snow angels galore. Bet you its all gone by tomorrow...

heybridge:basin

heybridge:basin, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Back in the UK for a while. I turned up to surprise my mum for her birthday this week. Turned out really well in the end. No one was awake when I got to the house at 7.30am; so I had to phone. My mum picked up the phone and asked her to let me in as it was cold outside. Screaming and tears followed; all good of course.

Its cold and grey back being back in the UK, not that I mind. It really does feel like home and it is good to catch up with people and see my family. You forget how much you miss them when you are 10,000 miles from home. Its good to be back for a while. I am missing the sun though...

climbing:hand

climbing:hand, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

My right hand after climbing tonight. The blisters are coming out nicely. Tonight wasn't the most successful night of climbing; I pretty much fell of every route. If you look at it that way, it really wasn't a good night. The other way to look at it is to look at the routes I was climbing. They were at my technical limit. What is this limit then? Well its not pure strength, I have that and can get away with pull myself up here and there. The problem I have is that I can't do the balancy stuff. That's where I struggle over and over again. Its where you have to shift your balance in such a way that you can keep all your weight being held on with your hand or a foot then move to the next hold... sounds simple.. its not. Both my hands hurt sooo much from crimping holds. If anything I'm probably overdoing it to compensate the balancing issue. I'll get there; a few weeks ago I was struggling with different issues, so with a bit of practice I'll overcome this...

Weaknesses to work on:
1 - balancy climbs
2 - finger strength
3 - understanding climbing holds and how to hold them
4 - climbing stamina
5 - physical weight

These I think are my top 5 issues at the moment.

Goals? Climb better than Rob... well at least catch up to his level!

pearl:bay:problem:13

perl:bay:problem:13, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Rob whilst doing problem 13 at Perl Bay. Fun thinking quick routes and a picnic too. That's what bouldering is all about....

The place itself is beautiful; you sit on the grass and watch the boats in the bay. There is a gentle breeze and everything is just peaceful. Its a complete change to the bouldering at Lindfield. This week was a much better week for bouldering too. The weather was great, there was no pressure as we had brought a picnic lunch. It was simply boulder some of the problems if we felt like it. Well, the sandstone was just far too temping not too. Problems 12, 13, 14 completed... I fell off problem 15 (need to work on my footwork). Then again I needed a fall.

Before new year we went to Lindfield and I fell, not far, about 5 foot. Landed on rock and bruised both heals. I also damaged the my right foot and I'm been hobbling around in a brace still. Since then I got a mat. Today I feel from about the same hight (boy did it feel about 10 times that) onto the mat. I was fine, but I needed it to get the confidence back for just pushing myself a little outside. In the gym its easy to as you attached to a rope or you have piles of crash mats to land on. The real world is somewhat different; boy do I love it though!

its:a:steal

its:a:steal, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

Actually I think he was locking it up, can't remember now...but he looked shifty...

These are all part of a set of photos that I have just developed. They were taken November/early December. Some of them I just don't remember taking. Maybe it was the camera pixes doing it, who knows.

I have been impressed with the werra1. Its a Tessar Carl Zeiss 2.8/50 mm and such fun. Every time I have a roll developed from it I'm more and more impressed with it. Not bad, given its over 50 years old.

lomo

lomo, originally uploaded by monkey_pushover_tree.

I got a Lomo erector set for my birthday... Its a camera, an enlarger, a slide viewer and a magnifier all in one! You have to build it yourself.

only 100 where found. Authentic Dead Soviet-Era Deadstock... HOW COOL HUH???

Buy anyway... this is also the first post of 2007. Its been crazy this week, both with thing in and outside of work... Oh and I feel when I was climbing so I've been Gimping around as both heals are bruised to hell. I also forgot to recharge the batteries for my camera, so no fireworks shots for me... Well I did borrow a film camera and there maybe some that come out - in black and white... oh well...

I also had a dash with danger.. I had a redback spider crawl on me. Cool huh?