tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34576542011-07-31T12:13:14.911+12:00<BR>The weblog of Evan Yates from Hamilton, New Zealand. <BR>He knows stuff...Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.comBlogger601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-77744470316251678642010-06-07T17:26:00.001+12:002010-06-07T17:26:57.081+12:00

One word... FaceBook...

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-84394732907626330902009-10-07T01:15:00.001+13:002009-10-07T01:15:49.299+13:00

Snows of PirongiamanjaroOriginally uploaded by KotukunuiJust goes to show that it can still get cold in Hamilton during October. There was snow visible on Mount Pirongia this morning.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-78867009642208068842009-06-05T22:47:00.002+12:002009-06-05T23:04:48.577+12:00

I bought a camera adapter for my telescope a while back. It just clamps on to the eyepiece and lines the camera lens up with the objective lens on the scope. The long focal length of the telescope means that camera can easily focus the image. It worked surprisingly well.Unfortunately the clear winter skies required to get these shots mean enduring bloody freezing temperatures and I don't want to

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-90783220476541327522008-12-29T10:56:00.004+13:002008-12-29T11:09:00.309+13:00

Went to Pauanui on Saturday (27th Dec) and Kevin Jane had his new Yak-52TW there. Registered (appropriately) ZK-YTW. Didn't manage to cadge a ride but had a sit in the cockpit and a look around. There are quite a few differences that would probably take some getting used to.One of the biggest changes is that it has hydraulic toe-brakes instead of the pneumatics on our yak.The landing gear also

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-18952470488777840782008-11-30T18:09:00.004+13:002008-11-30T18:12:45.227+13:00

The kids were flying again, so I took some more photos...

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-60543460116535499262008-10-25T17:30:00.004+13:002008-10-25T17:39:25.335+13:00

I was going to redo the Yak-52 pilots manual as the one we work from is a third generation photo-copy of a document produced via a dot-matrix printer and I thought it would be a good idea to update it.The cockpit layout diagrams in the old manual are just B&W line drawings, so I came up with the idea of using annotated photos instead. Unfortunately my camera doesn't really have much of a wide

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-32853918846217812182008-09-03T20:37:00.004+12:002008-09-03T20:44:00.548+12:00

Do you fancy a cool Yak Driver T-Shirt? Well now you can buy one. Click the image to go to the RedBubble website where these fine garments can be purchased in a wide range of shirt colours and a choice of styles.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-83977346755429337332008-07-19T18:43:00.005+12:002008-07-20T00:38:50.384+12:00

If you put on a large number of blue "beanie" hats, you start to look like Marge Simpson. Even if you are actually a 5 yr old boy.My 7 yr old daughter can fit into some surprisingly small spaces. The gap between these two huge stone monuments at the entrance to the Hamilton Gardens is only a few centimeters. I could barely get my thigh in between them but she could actually squeeze through the

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-73207267426483766082008-05-05T09:20:00.002+12:002008-05-05T09:29:10.185+12:00

Everyone enjoys a game of Twister but my little monsters have put a new "twist" on the game by playing it on a trampoline. It does make the changes between spots a challenge when you have to bounce from one to the other.Who says kids these days have lost the ability to use their imagination?...

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-75967814825317278272008-04-02T16:13:00.006+13:002008-04-02T16:22:28.599+13:00

Our Yak syndicate chief pilot (JP) decided he was going to drive down to Wanaka for the WoW airshow this year, so he was looking for a volunteer to ferry the aircraft down country. Well, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I stuck my hand up straight away. I met up with seven other Yaks at New Plymouth and flew down to Wanaka with that group.The route on the way down was Te Kowhai - New

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-81436653717513373082008-01-25T22:29:00.000+13:002008-01-25T22:45:00.790+13:00

I took my 5-year old son for his first flight in a light aircraft yesterday. Looks like we have another Yates family member hooked on aviation! I used a club Alpha as I didn't think being stuck in the back pit of the Yak where I couldn't keep an eye on him was a good idea. I still had to put his booster seat in so he could see out of the airplane.We powered off into the evening sky for a quick

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-29735420287093959072007-12-27T00:23:00.000+13:002007-12-27T00:37:03.625+13:00

This year three-quarters of our family were selected to represent the Valerie Lissette School of Dance on their Hamilton Christmas Parade Float. The two elves were super cute.And everyone looked happy on the float (but I'm not sure how Ali Baba comes into the picture). Perhaps Helen's character is really one of the Magi.The parade itself was during a dull, drizzly day, but smiles were maintained

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-88591944529784340152007-12-20T21:22:00.000+13:002007-12-20T21:26:02.422+13:00

The Star Wars video was so much fun that the next night it was the same deal, except Harry Potter this time...

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-43689396855806532292007-12-20T21:12:00.000+13:002007-12-20T21:21:05.412+13:00

One balmy evening with 30 minutes before dinner to fill, the kids insisted we make a Star Wars video... Hoooo-kay!! So costumes, script, props and filming were all done in half an hour. I could only get the kids to agree to one take and there were a lot of unscheduled costume changes ("Daaaaad, I want to be the jedi this time!!"), but we had a lot of fun.I bet George Lucas never thought of

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-25945162508946123352007-09-11T12:50:00.000+12:002007-12-20T21:12:44.861+13:00

 Took this photo during the recent lunar eclipse. Unfortunately the camera I own doesn't really have enough grunt to get good sky images. I used a long exposure but I guess the auto-focus isn't up to lunar standards.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-17433690606136088842007-07-15T17:04:00.000+12:002007-08-04T09:31:35.942+12:00

On the first week of the school holidays we took the whole family for a short vacation to Wellington. The first leg of the journey was the Overlander train down country as far as you can go by land. Starting (30 minutes late) from Hamilton, the train was pulled by a standard diesel-electric locomotive.We stopped at National Park for a meal (and the south-bound & north-bound train crews swap over)

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-15532273629711754052007-06-22T20:20:00.000+12:002007-06-22T20:23:38.147+12:00

Don't you wish that you could fly like my daughter does....

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-32192148549717836672007-05-30T20:18:00.001+12:002007-05-30T20:26:07.316+12:00

We've been experimenting with long exposure photography. We all tried to write our names in the air using a torch as a pen. The camera was set for a 10 second exposure.Here's Mine.Here is my daughter's. She's only six but you can almost read her name.And last but not least is my son's attempt. He's only four but we thought he made a good effortThe ghostly effect on the image of the person doing

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-29040031556845486942007-04-26T22:02:00.000+12:002007-04-26T22:27:58.849+12:00

My first attempt at really "photo-shopping" an image (Using the open-source "GIMP" package). Once again, having a cute little Jedi readily available for photos goes a long way. If you have an eager young Jedi in your household, for a modest fee I could give them the same image-inary treatment (suitable for framing as a permanent memento perhaps)

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-35908815326377155792007-03-31T12:10:00.000+12:002007-03-31T12:22:30.115+12:00

This is a picture of my 4yr old son in his Jedi Knight outfit (that his Mum made for him). If Anakin had seen this youngling in the Jedi temple he would have put down his light-sabre with a long "Awwww...howw cute" and the Republic would have survived intact

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-17840923547626956662007-03-14T20:52:00.001+13:002007-03-14T20:52:47.009+13:00

Coco and Sunshine Originally uploaded by Kotukunui. We have two new additions to the family.Vermin!Say "Hello" to Coco and Sunshine. Can you tell which is which?The kids love to chase, catch and cuddle these fluffy bunnies. We've built the pair of them a bunny palace by renovating a tired old hutch we bought second (or third) hand. Luckily they are both males so we shouldn't have too much

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1172095954187698372007-02-22T11:10:00.000+13:002007-02-22T11:17:23.193+13:00

My mate Tony needed a ride over to his beach house in Pauanui. What better way than by our Yak-52 express.The happy guy in back is Tony. As you can see from the back of my head, I was a bit busy flying the plane to be able to mug for the camera. Tony, next time, you fly, I'll be the star...If you are anywhere near Hamilton, NZ and want a thrill flight, just give me a yell.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1172095769856649992007-02-22T11:06:00.000+13:002007-09-11T16:34:42.193+12:00

Look how smart I am ;-)Your Vocabulary Score: A+Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!You must be quite an erudite person.How smart are you?And I even have a nerd score

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1145835244816094892006-04-24T11:27:00.000+12:002006-05-12T15:56:23.943+12:00

I'm finally getting a chance to do some Yak flying. Our syndicate chief pilot, John Parker, has been monopolising the plane in practice for the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow. He's back now and I'm putting in some time. I'm scared of heights so this picture shows the preferred altitude for cross country flights. BTW, No it isn't me doing the flying... I'm not that good! (yet)

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1144819619189536722006-04-12T16:44:00.000+12:002006-04-12T17:40:11.836+12:00

On my way home from BrainShare in Utah, I had an overnight stop in "The City on the Bay", San Francisco. I was determined to do all the tourist traps I had seen on TV and movies over the years. I arrived early on Saturday morning during some grotty weather. Luckily for me the showers soon cleared and I was able to enjoy the city in sunshine. I took a bus tour which purported to show the "City

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1144036929126584422006-04-03T14:39:00.000+12:002006-04-06T09:17:39.750+12:00

Last week I returned from a 10-day trip to the United States, primarily to attend the annual Novell BrainShare conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. I've never been to Utah before and all I knew was that it was the origin of the Mormon (Latter-Day-Saints) church. We have a well-known Mormon temple in Hamilton so I had at least an inkling of what the LDS church was all about.After a 12 hour flight

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1130890768058202472005-11-02T13:19:00.000+13:002006-04-06T09:17:00.086+12:00

Apple Fragrance AdOriginally uploaded by Kotukunui. This is pretty funny. There used to be an actual product called iSmell which allowed scent tags to be embedded in websites and the device would mix and evaporate chemicals to imitate the scent specified in the tag. It never took off and the company went under. This is a funnier use of the term iSmell

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1128036069455624332005-09-30T11:21:00.000+12:002005-09-30T11:21:09.500+12:00

taupo_landing Originally uploaded by Kotukunui. Flew an aero-club Piper Archer (ZK-FWS) down to Taupo for the 2005 AgriQuality Leader's Conference. Co-pilot was Mike Gilbert from HO and the photo was taken by Richard Leong from Hamilton who was sitting in the backseat. Lake Taupo is to the right of screen and the snow-covered eastern slopes of Mt. Ruapehu can just be seen in the far

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1125965211552299872005-09-06T12:00:00.000+12:002005-09-06T12:08:14.406+12:00

Just got back from a short holiday in Ohakune having a play in the snow on Mt. Ruapehu . The kids loved tobogganing and we built an awesome snowman. Stayed at the Ohakune Court Motel which was OK. The kids also loved the big carrot and throwing stones into the Mangawhero stream from the little swingbridge near the motel.On the return trip we stopped in at the AC Baths in Taupo which was fun. The

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1110165985994425282005-03-07T16:26:00.000+13:002005-03-07T16:26:25.993+13:00

TrolleyGP_Team Originally uploaded by Kotukunui. My brother-in-law Andrew took a few photos of us at the Trolley GP. I'm the one in the "pram" (Awww.. wot a cwute widdle man...)The other team members are: (from left to right) Barry, Chris, Steve, Mike.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1108611216731502412005-02-17T16:15:00.000+13:002005-02-17T16:41:22.726+13:00

Having gotten the trolley grand prix over and done with, I now turn my attention to an aviation project. Getting my Yak 52 rating. I have just bought a share in the Te-Kowhai Yak Syndicate which owns and operate ZK-TYS. I've had a joyride in it previously, but this time I'm going to be a part owner. I'll probably be broke and disillusioned within 12 months but, by crikey, I am determined to enjoy

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1108523085583834262005-02-16T16:04:00.000+13:002005-02-17T16:13:06.136+13:00

Here are the 2005 Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix Results. Team "Four Men and a Baby" came 29th overall (or 25th according to my calculations). Our trolley was the 13th fastest down the hill but two of the judges absolutely HATED our dance number.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1108343277794713662005-02-14T13:35:00.000+13:002005-02-16T16:08:16.850+13:00

Well the Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix has been and gone. We didn't win, place or show.Our race actually went really well. Thanks to a good pushing effort from Barry, Chris, Mike and Steve, I got out ahead of my opponent and took off. The trolley just flew down the course. Everything went to plan right up until the "hairpin" where I turned in a bit early and the understeer scrubbed off a bit of

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1107833170909930002005-02-08T16:21:00.000+13:002005-02-08T16:31:23.060+13:00

Steve and I took the Prambinator for a test run on some deserted back roads last Sunday. Found some twisty hills out the back of Huntly (Pukemiro, Glen Afton way). Sat in, strapped on the seat-belt, took a deep breath and pushed off. The trolley handles like a real go-kart, cornering flat-out with no worries. In fact I chickened out before the trolley reached its adhesion limits. Luckily the

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1107202118006940212005-02-01T09:08:00.000+13:002005-02-01T09:08:38.006+13:00

The "Prambinator" rolls Originally uploaded by Kotukunui. Did a fair bit of work on the "Prambinator" today. Got it all painted with primer and all the bits attached. We slide in under the 80kg weight limit by 3 kilos. Had a test attach of the bodywork but due to some shonky measurements on my part, poor old Helen will have to remake the camouflage panels. Took the kids for a ride down the

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1106176008701000152005-01-20T13:00:00.000+13:002005-02-01T09:06:42.520+13:00

My next project is the 2005 Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix Our team is called "Four Men and a Baby" and our trolley is called the "Prambinator". As the name suggests it is a giant pram and I will be dressing up as an oversized baby (complete with bonnet and nappy) to drive it. My brothers-in-law, Steve and Barry, are in charge of building the mechanicals with help from my wife's cousin, Chris.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1102625396492869282004-12-10T09:49:00.000+13:002004-12-10T10:14:43.710+13:00

Me and David Beckham Originally uploaded by Kotukunui. Just testing the whole Flickr to Blog thing. This is a photo of me with David Beckham that I took using my Sharp GX10 CameraPhone while attending the Man. U. training session in May 2003 while on my SportsCafe prize trip.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1093494648770980052004-08-26T16:21:00.000+12:002004-08-26T16:30:48.770+12:00

I've been on jury duty this week. Haven't made it on to a jury but seeing the people in the jury assembly room got me to thinking. If I were accused of a crime would I trust twelve of these "peers" to be able to decide on my guilt or innocence? This brought me to a moment of startling clarity. If you were guilty of the crime you were accused of, you would want a jury trial so that your lawyer

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-1081416079605752542004-04-08T21:21:00.000+12:002004-08-10T18:12:38.400+12:00

Want to know your cyborg-name? Click Here :)

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-948801462003-05-26T14:44:00.000+12:002003-06-19T00:49:05.043+12:00

Congratulate me!! I won the SportsCafe "Sporting Trick" video competition on 30th April. My brother Tim and I flew out to Manchester on Thursday 1 May. Business class trip on Singapore Airlines. We stayed at the only 5-star hotel in Manchester (The Lowry). We were taken by coach out to the Man United training ground at Carrington where we watched the team train and then got autographs and photos

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-931576442003-04-24T16:26:00.000+12:002003-05-26T13:45:14.000+12:00

Once again, Lion Red Sports Cafe features in my life. They are running a video competition "Film Your Best Sporting Trick" and win a trip to Manchester to meet up with the Man. Utd. football players including David Beckham. I entered a "Mouse Trap" style chain reaction machine. It starts with a golf ball being putted down a tube, triggers a swinging boot which kicks a rugby ball into a fishing

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-923854692003-04-11T09:38:00.000+12:002007-04-26T22:08:17.990+12:00

Haven't posted to the blog for a while. Busy, busy, busy. I'm currently developing a Web based GIS enabled information system for managing the the Animal Health Board's possum killing (vector control) business. It's very interesting. A Cold Fusion web client interacting with a text based SQL Server database and a GIS built around ESRI's ArcSDE and ArcIMS software. Cool, but hard work to make

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-873022912003-01-13T01:08:00.000+13:002003-01-13T01:09:38.000+13:00

Had two "Its a Small World" experiences recently. This is quite common in New Zealand. (1) Was invited to a board gaming session at the home of a friend of Michael Switzer's. Turns out that Gordon (the friend) had purchased the house from my wife's best friend, Jenni Murphy-Scanlon and her husband. It was strange to go to a house that I had previously visited regularly and seeing some one else

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-873021462003-01-13T01:00:00.000+13:002003-01-13T01:00:21.213+13:00

Well, the trip to Wellington was a roaring success. I enjoyed the LOTR:TTT movie. I had a good seat in the Premium seating at the Embassy. The sound was awesomely full and the action was deliciously frenetic. I liked the fact that everyone (except Legolas of course) gets tired and dirty during the film. Just as travellers on such a journey really would. Viggo Mortenson really is Aragorn. The

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-867824432003-01-01T23:28:00.000+13:002003-01-01T23:28:14.886+13:00

My wonderful wife, Helen, gave me an ultra-cool Xmas present. A plane ticket to Wellington to see The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers at the Embassy theatre. Staying overnight at the groovy Downtown Backpackers hotel. I leave early tomorrow morning. I think I shall luncheon at my favourite spot in Wellies : Wholly Bagels on Johnson St.. Helen is the grandmaster world champion of present

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-867823122003-01-01T23:19:00.000+13:002003-05-26T14:01:56.000+12:00

Another SportsCafe "Big Question" Win. Question was "How did the Ivy League get it's name?" My Answer: There are two main popular (but, alas, incorrect) explanations for the origin of the term "Ivy League" The first refers to the group of older established Universities of the Eastern United States (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, yada, yada, yada). Because of the length of time they had

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-786627512002-07-08T11:30:00.000+12:002003-05-26T13:46:53.000+12:00

Had another satire article published in the Rockall Times online magazine. Read it here. They folded another writer's article into mine, but at least I got top billing!! Forks and Knives.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-775610292002-06-10T23:42:00.000+12:002002-06-10T23:42:28.776+12:00

The New Zealand Film Festival sent me an e-mail saying that they did not want "Soul Trader" in the film festival. I didn't really expect a low-low-budget tongue-in-cheek splatter horror film like "Soul Trader" to meet their criteria for exhibition, but I'm still disappointed. :-(

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-775609032002-06-10T23:35:00.000+12:002002-06-10T23:35:44.880+12:00

Haven't updated the blog for a while due to other commitments.Then I saw this and just had to comment on it. The Comp Air Jet. I think it is a very bold move for an aircraft company. Trying to sell a single engined jet as an 8 person transport will be a hard sell. If you want to fly people by jet you should be flying IFR up high. I don't think that a single engine aircraft will be accepted as

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-768604592002-05-23T11:46:00.000+12:002002-05-23T11:46:20.330+12:00

My sister-in-law Diana gave birth to a 7lb 7oz baby girl @ 5:12am this morning. Claudia Jane Blake, welcome to the big bad world. Photo (Just Kidding)

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-768597632002-05-23T11:23:00.000+12:002002-05-23T11:23:31.280+12:00

Ric Salizzo from Sportscafe sent me a Muhammad Ali video as my prize for the Big Question. Thanks, big guy!! I must get up to Leftfield and watch the show one day.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-768595702002-05-23T11:17:00.000+12:002002-05-23T11:18:06.000+12:00

I'm off to Sydney on Monday to attend a workshop of Australian government departments on property/event disease database systems. AgriQuality, the company I work for, has a product called VADIS ( that I developed ) that we will be trying to promote to the state governments in Oz. We developed it in partnership with the Victorian Department of NRE. I will catch up with Ian Mackenzie from Vic when

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-764466182002-05-12T14:57:00.000+12:002002-05-12T14:57:27.376+12:00

Ric Salizzo from SportsCafe sent me an e-mail to apologise for not giving me a prize for getting the Big Question about Magnum P.I.s dogs. He promised to find me something. We'll see...

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-764465122002-05-12T14:53:00.000+12:002002-05-12T14:53:17.733+12:00

Somebody sent us the Klez virus. My work also sent a MailMarshal response to say that I had sent it the Klez virus. I guess someone with both my home and work E-mail addresses must have it. I deleted the infected e-mail without checking the headers to see who it was. Damn. Used Symantec's Klez Removal Tool to check our computer and it says we don't have Klez. Good.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-758049682002-04-25T23:38:00.000+12:002002-04-25T23:38:49.973+12:00

The organiser of the 2002 New Zealand Film Festival e-mailed me while I was away in Australia saying that he wanted to see a VHS preview copy of "Soul Trader" for consideration in this year's festival. Cool!!I'd better tell Michael (Director). With film being a director's medium, it will probably be he who gets the invitation and free tickets.When you follow the link don't worry about the fact

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-758047952002-04-25T23:28:00.000+12:002002-04-25T23:31:09.000+12:00

Got back home from Brisbane (Australia) today. Flew on budget airline Freedom Air. The plane was 75% full on the way out and 100% on the way back. Apparently the runway at Hamilton is not long enough to let them take off with full load of fuel and passengers, hence the decresed loading on thw ay out.As a result of this consultancy trip I have been invited to attend another one in Sydney in a

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-755741232002-04-19T16:44:00.000+12:002002-04-19T16:44:37.993+12:00

Had a real Rain Man moment last night. My wife is the treasurer of the local Embroiderers Guild. She brought home a whole stack of cash that had to be counted prior to being banked. She handed me a wodge of notes and said, "Make yourself useful, count that for me".I waved it around a bit, weighed it in my hand and said "One Hundred and Forty Five Dollars"Helen scowled at me and told me, "No. You

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-755616482002-04-19T10:02:00.000+12:002002-04-19T10:02:27.000+12:00

Well, it's official. The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has been told "No co-hosting the 2003 Rugby World Cup for you!!". The aussies have taken the lot. What a cock-up! It would be divine justice if the All Blacks could now go on and win the damn thing.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-755441012002-04-19T00:55:00.000+12:002002-04-19T00:57:33.000+12:00

We've all heard the Urban Legend about some idiot who imbeds himself in a cliff after attaching a JATO bottle to his Chevy Impala. Is it just a legend? Go away and read this article.Even if it is all just fiction, it is so well written that it deserves to be true.

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3457654.post-755436152002-04-19T00:35:00.000+12:002002-04-19T00:37:49.000+12:00

First Post. Wow!!Submitted an answer to the "Big Question"on Lion red Sports Cafe ( a New Zealand Sports chat show on SKY Pay TV ). The question was "What are the names of the dogs in the TV programme "Magnum P.I.". Did a bit of research and found that their real names were Brutus and Dominique (Apollo and Zeus respectively). Made up a story about how the dogs were not allowed back to the

Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595324540434046180noreply@blogger.com0