This was one of those truly excellent weekends, with mine and Kieran’s day trip to Berwick on Saturday being followed by the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees on what should have been a day of rest. It’s probably fair to officially call time on my birthday though, now that most of my vouchers have gone… that, and the small issue of the day itself having been two weeks ago.
The Berwick trip is an annual tradition of mine and Kieran’s, in that we did it once, three years ago, and have talked about repeating it ever since. It was his idea, with our birthdays being so close, for us to meet in the middle both date- and geography-wise, although we were a little late this year. For a small town there’s plenty to do, so by the time we discovered the Baracks Museum after wandering around the remains of the castle, down to the beach and having the traditional fish-and-chips it was nearly hometime. That’s fine though: we can start halfway round next year, and it means we haven’t exhausted everything the town has to offer enough to scunner us from the place.
There is plenty to see, too, if you have an interest in photography (and you can see my photos here). Now that I’m taking a photo every day, and of the limited subject that is my good self, I’ve come to realise that I’m ready for something a little more complex than a point-and-shoot camera. I’m really enjoying taking pictures more seriously, and I feel as if the cost would be a reasonable investment. Kieran let me use his Nikon D40, and it’s a lovely little camera which I found easier to use than I thought I would. I also like the look of the Canon EOS 400D, which Jessops in town are doing quite a nice deal on at the moment. I was wondering if anybody reading this has a preference for brand, or know what additional features I should make a point of asking for?
Elsewhere: This is probably only of interest if you’re a complete law geek like me, but… the Times has been running a fascinating series on the 100 cases that shaped modern Britain. The newspaper has recently opened up its archives; there’s now 200 years of reporting, including the reknowned Times Law Reports, accessible online. It’s a better read than the Guardian’s world’s greatest lyricists series certainly, in which John Darnielle is ignored as “too obscure” while that wee cunt from the Arctic Monkeys is lauded as some sort of creative genius. Philistines.
PS RIP George Carlin; I only really knew of him thanks to Jay spamming me with YouTube videos, but it was shit to have to wake him up this morning and tell him.
PPS I know it’s not cool to acknowledge these things, but I got my first mention in the Scottish Blogging Roundup this weekend 
[PHOTO: Day 333.]
It was a top day out, and I’m already looking forward to next year
The camera is infact the (now sadly discontinued) D40x which has a more hefty sensor than the D40 (10.2 mega pixels if memory serves me correctly). Nikon have replaced my camera with the D60 which is essentially the same as you were playing with on saturday, only a few more bells and whistles.
To be honest though I don’t think you can go wrong with either a Nikon or a Canon.
You’ll be pleased to know that the stufflust goes both ways though – after our chat in the pub I’ve now got almost uncontrollable desire for a Macbook Pro. I’m just trying to work out a) where the pennies would come from and b) can I survive with only two firewire ports?
Well done on the mentioning, lady! Not that I’m acknowledging it, or owt!
@K: Ah, that’s why I was confused! I knew yours was a D40 and you’d said it was discontinued, so i was surprised to see them in Jessops when I was there at the weekend. I had a play with that, and a D60.
You’ll probably get some USB ports as well, I’ve got the standard MacBook which I think has three USBs and one firewire. Which is fine for my typical camera/iPod syncing.
@Hoolie: Cheers!
For normal internetting, photography and whatnot the Lacbook would be ideal. Sadly for music (which is my main use) I need an external hardrive with higher bandwidth than USB can offer. The 15″ Macbook Pro looks like just the ticket, as I can use the express card for an external h/d and the firewire for various music peripherals. Just need to find the pennies now
Goodluck with the camera searching, let me know what you end up with
…that just made my brain explode. I think all my shopping yesterday has turned me into a GIRL!
But, but, but I think that’s you on the dance floor, is that you on the dance floor, is that me on the dance floor, is someone on the dance floor, is something going on on the dance floor, who are all those people on the dance floor? Genius! I don’t know what’s wrong with you!
I bet -I BET- that you have enough of a sense of humour to see the funny side in Philistines only having one ‘L’ in it.
@MA: You mean, you hope?
My work computer can’t cope with in-line spellcheck, unfortunately.
@Lady ‘Ooligan: It does take some sort of genius to rhyme “dancefloor” with “don’t know if you’re looking for romance… or!”, true.