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 net, which pivots and hits a suspended tennis racquet, which sends a tennis ball down a set of tracks, around a corner and dropping off to upset a balance beam, which drops a tea candle into a bowl of petrol, which burns through a string tethering a model Possum Bourne Subaru Impreza to a ramp which runs down the ramp and activates an electric fan which blows a model boat across a small pond, where a needle mounted on the prow bursts a balloon which releases a cricket bat which hits a ball into a wicket, knocking it over and the middle stump triggers a basketball to roll down a ramp, hit a soccer ball which pivots a lever releasing a golf club which knocks a golf ball into the hole, right back where we started. Whew!! It took me 30 hours straight with no sleep to build and film the stunt. There was hard deadline to work to so it was all a bit miraculous. The audience at "Float" gave it a long cheering ovation so I guess I'm in with a good chance to win the trip to Manchester. All I need now are some details and I can get organised. (I am absolutely physically shattered!)

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 everything work properly.

Also I've moved house and the chaos has not yet settled. The new place has some great views. We've been watching the hot-air balloons in Hamilton for the Balloon Fiesta. They rise up out of the early morning mists and float across the city. We can watch them from our breakfast table. My little girl, Samantha, is crazy for hot-air balloons. When she is a bit older I'll organise us a hot-air balloon ride.