It's March on Monday?

I can't believe it's the end of February. I could never have filled 28 days worth of photos of myself and you could not have handled viewing 28 photos of me. That was a dumb idea. More importantly, where did February go? If time keeps going that fast it'll be summer soon. (Forever the optimist...)

In order to make myself busy I have taken drastic steps and have forked out a stack of cash to do a project management course for the whole of next week. I hear it's pretty intense which, I hope, will get my brain moving again. If I do happen to dust off the cerebral cobwebs then I'll probably achieve much more than that. After the last 6 weeks I'm a big believer in the saying "if you want something done, give it to a busy person". So I might have a lot to say next week...

In the meantime, to celebrate the end of February, I'll leave you with my final self portrait. Enjoy.

Sport is the Winner on the Day...

The first ever Twitter Time Trial has been completed and somehow the conclusion did not excite me the same way the lead-up did. Maybe I like the medium used to lay the bet down (it's different to the usual pub argument, and in this case 2 million people knew about it before Lieto got a chance to say no). Maybe the simple fact that Armstrong was always gonna win made this a no contest. What I did like, however, was the fact that Lieto skipped his morning swim to stay fresh and Armstrong wore a complete time trial suit, bar helmet, so neither player was going to let up.



Armstrong finished the 14 miles in 18 mins 35 seconds, Lieto in 18 mins 44 seconds. I like the way Armstrong took a pic of his time but covered the power output... It was probably around 500 watts- very powerful.



This will not be settled until there's a 3.8km swim before it, a longer (180km) ride, and a marathon after it. Then, I feel, the result will be different.

Showdown on the Queen K

Playing mind games in sport is an age old practise, which has now gone digital. Possibly the greatest use of social media to date occurred this morning when Lance Armstrong challenged Chris Lieto to a time trial showdown on Twitter.

To give you the background, Chris Lieto finished 2nd in the Hawaiian Ironman in 2009 after leading for the majority of the race, and set a new record for the bike leg. Lance Armstrong is planning to race the Hawaiian Ironman in 2011 and is, quite possibly, the greatest bike rider of all time. The two trained together for a week last year and I wonder if Lieto learned more about the bike than Armstrong learned about the Ironman... They are both training in Hawaii at the moment, although separately.

So here's how the tweet-off unfolded:
Lance Armstrong: Just passed @chrislieto going the other way. He was hammerin. Hey Chris, a little TT showdown on the Queen K tomorrow? You, me, and whoever.
Chris Lieto: @lancearmstrong see u on the Queen-K! Will have to be after 8am cause I have to swim first. Flying out mid day. Give me a call.
Just to ensure that 10,000 Astana/ Livestrong jersey wearing goons don't rock up to ride with the two, Armstrong has reaffirmed: This won't be a twitter ride. First ever "twitter time trial". Love it.
But what everyone really wants to see was put succinctly by @keeldragger: @lancearmstrong Why don't you make it interesting and challenge @chrislieto to a run after the TT?

I'd also like to see a swim before that.



The hammer has been laid down, and it's on. Armstrong takes the upper hand and announces it to his 2,439,394 followers:
Queen K Hwy TT Challenge. Tomorrow 9:30am. Start - Waikeloa Beach Dr to Kukio Nui Dr. 14 miles. Full gas. Take it easy on me @chrislieto.

Sensing that the 14 miles is short enough to have his ass handed to him on a plate, Lieto harks up with:
Swim at A Bay at 7am. See u there @lancearmstrong.
This short sharp jab seems to have hit the target, with a rather weak reply from Armstrong:
@chrislieto now that would require clearance from @johanbruyneel which I know we won't get!

Lance Armstrong isn't stupid. He isn't Keiren Perkins, either... And as a result, Chris Lieto accepts the inevitable and takes it like a man with this bold, yet uneffective dying tweet:
What am I supposed 2do when Lance announces to 2mil ppl we got a race w/o asking me first? We gotta race!



Stay tuned to see how it goes down:
www.twitter.com/chrislieto
www.twitter.com/lancearmstrong
www.twitter.com/snowyfenton

Don't Dream it's Over

Surprise, surprise, my photos were crap! I don't have the activity level, nor the knowledge to take a good pic every day of the month. So instead of forcing "art", I'll just let it come. If a good pic comes up I'll post it, rather than boring you with rubbish photos every day.

I'll keep working on some light painting pics, cos that's fun to do and Ash has sent me a copy of one of my favourite photos- which I will blatantly plagiarise. I'll post it here when I perfect it. It's not worthy otherwise.

In the meantime I'll leave you with a photo on the bus after Simon and Hannah's wedding. I think there is a new career for me yet...

...That Perfect Shot

You know when everything lines up? When the setting is perfect? When the light is perfect? When that great shot is about to be taken?

...and then the camera battery dies?

I left the camera connected to the computer and it drained the battery. So with the technology of iPhone, here is your photo of the day:



Quite artistic really. I'll try again later.

One of these 28 shots of the month might even be good!

Tired Of Doing Nothing

Yet another day wasted dealing with recruiters, researching roles that will never exist and Hedge Funds that will never let me in... So tomorrow I will take photos. If I get nothing else done it will not matter, as long as there is a fresh cheesy photo of me on this blog.

For today, however, it's another photo from the vault.



This is possibly me at my happiest. In melbourne, with a slurpee. Done.

I aim for this to be one of very few photos from the vault. Hopefully I'll put more emphasis on actually doing stuff worth taking a photo of. I have tomorrow's pic already planned out. Might make use of my bazillion spare hours each day and plan some more photos... We'll see.

Day 3. From The Vaults

Today I managed to accomplish... nothing. Not a thing. Not for lack of trying though. I went to the pool: closed. Ran along the river: flooded. (Still ran but not well.) Looked for jobs: recruiters. They always get in the way.

So as a result of my day being taken up with a whole lot of nothing, I will be posting a photo from the vault today.



This was taken on Rottnest Island in WA, after a day of riding, swimming, and marvelling at the colour of the water. It's just me being a wine tosser... Ignore that and look at the colours!

I Told You I Could Do It, Dad!

Fresh from watching "The Boy Who Could Fly" in 1986, I asked Dad why I couldn't fly from the roof of our house, like that autistic kid in the movie. Not to bother a 5 year old with details about mental illness, Dad told me that I can do anything if I work hard at it. I decided I needed to fly without wings at some stage before I died. And 24 years on, this is the best I could offer:



It also happens to be photo 2 of my 'photo-a-day-for-February'.

Angus and I utilised our weekdays without crowds and spent the day in Milton Keynes, about 80kms north of London, to go indoor skydiving at Airkix. I've been meaning to check this place out for a while and can't wait to go back. If you're in England you must have a fly. Well worth it and anyone with any bodily control can do it.

...now I just need to work hard enough to get a job so I can afford another few rounds at Airkix...

Day 1 of 28...

Sorry, I'm starting the month with a pretty average picture but I can assure you tomorrow's pic will be much better. I already have it planned. Today's pic involves some half-assed light painting and a creepy face. I hope to do more light painting this month, and I promise to put more effort in next time...



Got good photo ideas and want to see how I can butcher them? Send them through...