Ringtones - 28/03/09
Had plans of the ice wall again today, but then sacked it off as I'm out on the lash at 1pm and I suspect they may be 'booked up' (utilising staff for the sale). Definitely need to get a day booked off work to go. Going midweek has the benefit of not only being quiet, but warmer (relatively). They aren't allowed the coolers on during office hours as the solicitors next door complain. Warmer is better as optimal temperature for ice climbing is 0c to -5c. Anything colder makes the ice too brittle and it will shatter like glass.

Although I quite like my iPhone I don't like the way Apple try to rape you for all the cash you have. They seemed to have limited the phone and then force you to pay for an app to take advantage of features which have been available on other 'smart phones' for ages. The new version of the iPhone software looks good, though I can't understand why people are getting so excited over features which should have been enabled from day one!

Speaking of Apple charging... what about ringtones? I can't believe that Apple will effectively charge you to download a ringtone of music you already own! Luckily someone at work told me about a trick of simply renaming *.M4A files to *.M4R and iTunes recognises it as a ringtone. In fact this website tell you how to do it via iTunes 8! A kick in the teeth for Apple (hopefully).

I still can't understand why iTunes is sooooo slow. Granted, I have my music on a NAS drive, but even so, I can access anything from a 3MB photo to a 700MB film with relative speed. My PC is a Dual Core 2.1Ghz CPU, with 2GB of RAM, 1TB RAID 0, 220GB RAID 0, plus 300GB drive as backup; all topped off with a 1GB NVidia graphics card. Should I expect poor performance in iTunes? If there is the argument about iTunes being written for the Mac and then ported over, what about Adobe? All the applications I use from Adobe have been written for both with no issues. Premiere Pro CS4 runs like a treat on my machine (obviously encoding takes a while, but then it would on anything, and it depends on what I'm encoding). Someone on a forum commented about it being Apple's plan to force people to move to a Mac. Can't see that working as I have lost total faith in iTunes, so why move?

Quiet Climb - 23/03/09
At the climbing wall tonight. Was pretty quiet compared to a Wednesday night. Nice ladies dotted around wearing *tight* clothes. It kind of distracts me from belaying.

Managed a few 5s today, but have ruined my forearms, grated my finger tips and scratched my watch. I will sleep well tonight.

Mother's Day - 22/03/09
Another walking session today with Jonny, however, as it is Mother's Day we couldn't wander around too much. Ended up tackling something which looked okay from a distance, but had us having to traverse as to avoid over hanging rock! I relied on the heather to help me up, but it was old stuff and would pull out. One point I was scampering up a 70 degree section with my rucksack tugging me down, as I lifted my right foot, my left foot slipped, then both left and right heather hand-holds ripped out. I had to almost head butt the heather to push my body into the slope. Only one knee was wedged into the heather holding me up. I wasn't best pleased.

Got to the top and then tried without success to find a rock without GPS or a map (we had a map, but I couldn't remember where this rock was, so it wasn't much use). It seems stupid looking for one rock when there are thousands and thousands on there. This was is good for sitting on and brewing up.

After that it was shower, get changed, then homemade meat and potato pie and home chips back at the old queen's for the aforementioned Mothers day.

Encore Pants - 21/03/09
Urgh... can't stop yawning. Either I'm going to have another cup of tea, or break the 'no coffee' rule which I've maintained since Christmas.

Just found out that Vista 64bit doesn't work with Encore 2.0, so I've got to uninstall Encore from my desktop and fire up the laptop. I only want to burn a wedding project I did last year. Got a couple of weddings lined up this year. I'm not sure why I agree to them as it's a very stressful time - only one chance to capture the moment (unless it's engineered, and then it can sometimes show). Then you've got the hassle of editing afterwards; every photo will have a small amount of sharpening (as I turn it off within the camera) and possible some colour level adjustment. Last time I took 900+ photos and I wasn't even the main photographer! I could do with an extra camera body, but I can't really afford just now.

...Bloody nora, it doesn't work on Vista 32bit either!

Running the Pennine Way - 15/03/09
Went for walkies again this weekend. On my tod this time. I set a good time from the car park up to the top of Wildboar Clough - 35mins. Got to the top and took a few photos fore the hell of it. I'd brought no food with me apart from a flapjack and I'd already had one for breakfast the thought of another didn't do it for me. That had an impact on the amount of time I was planning on spending up there.

Climbing over a stile and heading north west (ish) would bring me out at the Pennine Way. I couldn't quite remember which stile led to a path, so I just made my own across the heather. Saw 6 hares in a relatively small stretch. What else I saw set the pace for the rest of the walk...

In the distance I saw a lone walker; probably about 0.5 - 0.75km away. I didn't think I was that competitive, but any time I see someone ahead I *have* to catch up and overtake. It's stupid really, as I've slipped on my arse a few times charging down hill and either speed walking, or running. Then when I get there I pretend like it was nothing. On this occasion I clocked the guy across the way and sped up across the moor. I came up to Torside Grain and then Torside Clough, which was my crossing point. I did so swiftly thanks to some nicely positioned rocks and a gate over the water (to keep sheep out?!). Clambering up to the path, using heather for assistance I then started to run. I'd lost site of my target, which actually troubled me. Occasionally I would take a photo when the light hit the hill in front of me, but then that would make me have to run the next section just that bit quick to catch up.

Eventually I think I'm catching him. Instead I'm approaching a group of people stood admiring the view - or catching the breath from climbing up what I'm going to go down. I'm still running at this point and upon approaching the group and downhill section keep running! My heavy rucksack is bouncing on my back at this point, so I cinch it up a little to help with the rapid descent. I'm still not sure why I've not slowed down. I pass the group hearing "he must be in the army" - no, just stupid. Running, leaping and jumping down the hill - probably 45 degrees with loose rocks - get me up to the farmers gate pretty quickly. I clock my 'target' only 100 yards away. I'm running fast now as the ground levels to 20 degree grass. I pass him with a cheery "Morning!" but keep running. If I stop I look like I was catching him up on purpose (which I was) but if I carry on I will be in pain (which I was!). I carried on. I carried on for just under 1.5km extra until I got to my car!

Walking alone is not a good thing!

Pool - 08/03/09
Phoning the ice wall to check whether they had any free slots this weekend brought me irritation as I found, for probably the 3rd - 4th week on the trot, they were fully booked. Actually, it transpired that they weren't booked up, but were taking less bookings due to the sale being on. Am I ever going to use the 4 remaining xmas vouchers I have left?!

My brother suggested we go out for a game or two of pool on Saturday. It would, of course, include a pint or 6. It all ended with a curry and a few games of Wii Sport before he got a taxi back to his. Since I'd not had too many beers I figured an early night would have be fresh for Sunday ready for a walk. A crap night of sleep scuppered my walking plans, so I went for a run instead. I think I need to replace my 10 year old trainers as my feet were killing that evening; and the next day, too.

Climbing 04/03/09
Went climbing tonight. I'm really enjoying it at the moment and can see/feel improvement, though small, each time. Vinny had said his friend was going to go, which meant my first top rope, but unfortunately he couldn't make it in the end. I find I can shoot up a 4a/b/c, but struggle somewhat on something a few grades higher - 5b - mainly because of grip strength is shoddy.

Tricky Hares - 01/03/09
Rather than wandering aimlessly across moorland, it was decided that I should have a crack at photographing some mountain hares. They have their white fur, but it will be gone soon, replaced by a light brown. As our weather conditions are never the same year in year out there is a number of weeks where they remain as white as snow even though there is none. This makes it easy to spot them. Starting off in a different spot than normal took Jonathan and me up a tarmac road before darting off to the right to tackle a warm-up 30 degree grassy incline. As the ground plateaued we had to decide which route to go for - paths are not for us. Choices were down the clough wall so that we would cross the clough proper and climb back up the other side. Or go the opposite direction and go diagonally up the wall in front of us to the top. As we couldn't see whether the clough was a trickle or a raging torrent, we opted for the seemingly more forgiving diagonal.

I'd noticed that the top section was effectively a 15-foot cliff face and would be a nice challenge. Of course I didn't expect the lower section to be as hard going as it was. Big old tufts of heather and half hidden rocks made the 'easy' section a real thigh burner. I had to hold on to keep balance whilst not reducing my overall speed. Half way up I nearly slipped as a smell knocked me sick. There before me was a rotting hare carcass. Lovely. It was the second one I'd seen with a hole in the side. I saw one a while back with entrails coming out and thought a bird must have been picking, however, I suspect it was overzealous game keepers. The 15-foot cliff was actually 20-25, and perhaps 80 degrees with large steps. Problem was that the majority of the time the steps were up to my chin. So I'd have one hand on top of the rock and another higher up grabbing heather, whilst smearing with my feet. Of course the rock was wet and the heather roots were weak, but I got to the top fairly quickly - needless to say I was panting like a dog!

After lunch we'd made our way across a moor on to one which we know is teeming with hares (comparatively, of course) and sure enough, in the fleeting sun light, we counted 4-5, uncertain whether the 5th was actually a rock. Connecting my telephoto lens (telephoto-ish 200mm F2.8) I wandered slowly and quietly towards their location, only for me to hit the deck after 20 metres. My foot, knee and thigh went into a small bog. It was only my hip and other leg which stopped me from going further - I felt no bottom. The smell was revolting! Call me a funny bugger, but I didn't fancy black fart-smelling stuff in my boot, so I ended up getting out a spare sock and using water to clean my leg and boots.

An hour of slow stalking got me 20 okay shots. The problem was that they seemed unusually jumpy. In fact they'd leg it when we stood up from 100 metres+ away. Normally you can half that distant before they go and half that again before they bolt. Jonathan reckons he'd counted 18-19 hares, but I'm certain the buggers were playing with us and there was actually only 10; 15 at a push. We called it a day once we unwittingly cleared half a square mile of the hare population. I do wonder whether we are intruding a little too much and whether that effects where they have their forms (flattened nest of grass).