Sparkie's Junkyard

Shamini’s folk music barbecue party sleepover thing

Sparkie — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 11:17:04 +0000

I took these a while back, when the weather was still pretending that it was summer time. I’d just bought my 50 mm lens, and this was a great chance to try it out. For £100 (thank you Taiwanese exchange rates) I think it’s a bargain. While it’s very plasticky, this does make it extremely light and (relatively) unobtrusive, and the large aperture means you can use it inside without the flash.

Andy and Irina’s Wedding

Sparkie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:50:10 +0000

Exactly what it says on the tin – Andy and Irina are Mr and Mrs Bennett. It was awesome. Here are my photos.

Switzerland holiday photos

Sparkie — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:37:01 +0000

Photos of rocks and scenery to follow soonly, in the mean time here are the holiday snaps.

A change of scenery

Sparkie — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:56:19 +0000

Italy this time – this is Lake Iseo. Taken after a particularly calorific trip to the gelateria. Mmmmmm.

Guess where I am

Sparkie — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:16:04 +0000

There are no prizes…

London Zoo

Sparkie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:50:17 +0000

For Adam’s birthday we wen’t to the zoo. With five cameras between 10 of us, hundreds of photos ensued, but I’ve only found a couple of Ian’s so far. This highlights one of the main failings of digital cameras – we take loads, but never show or share them with each other. I’ll do my bit though, here are some of my least worst:

Budapest Pictures 2

Sparkie — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:59:50 +0000

On my way home…

Sparkie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 06:19:38 +0000

That’s it – my time in Taiwan is over and I’m now at the departure gate in Hong Kong. It’s 2.30 pm here, but I need to get used to British time again, which is apparently 07.14 Worse, i won’t be back until gone midnight, which is over 17 hours away. Fun times. At least there is free wifi in the lounge, which gives me a chance to do this, and send in the turn for our latest Solium Infernum battle.

I’m flying through the day this time, so endless movies and books are the order of the day, rather than trying and failing to sleep. Although with a 6.45 am start (yes that’s 11.45 pm yesterday in UK time) and a frantic rush around Taipei – dragging 20 kg of rocks of course - to find the right bus to the airport I could do with a nap.

Right – boarding time I think, see you on the other side of the world!

High speed trains FTW!

Sparkie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:08:45 +0000

Mountain lodge

Sparkie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:58:43 +0000

Moving away from the heat, tonight I’m staying in the countryside at a mountain lodge operated by the National Taiwan University. We had a beautiful (unfortunately camera-free) sunset, followed by some fantastic food:

Earlier in the day however, we were slightly hotter. Niels and I were sampling in a river valley in the full sun, at 34 degrees and near 100% humidity. I’m now drinking my sixth litre of water for today. Sampling from 10.00 until 4.30, we have managed to get 40-odd samples which should give me plenty to do back in Cambridge, and if the results are ok a chapter of my thesis. Sounds scary talking about that sort of thing, but it’s a reality I am having to face up to quite quickly.