One of the absolute highlights our our trip to Vietnam was the cruise we took on the Mekong River on Le Cochinchine.
Photos
CES 2011 – Watch Microsoft & Steve Ballmer Live
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Steve Ballmer at CES 2010
Took this photo last year in Vegas when Steve was speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show.
I’m not there this year, but am eager to hear what he has to say, especially after such a rip-roaring 2010 with the launches of Windows Phone 7 and Kinect for Xbox 360.
His speech starts at 6.30pm PST so watch it live on the Microsoft News Center or on our Facebook page
If you’re in Europe and 3am is a little early for you, watch the webcast in the sames places tomorrow over your cornflakes.
Also, make sure you follow Microsoft on Twitter for all the updates from the show!
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Bich Duyen Hotel Ho Chi Minh City & Cu Chi Tunnels
Ben Thanh Market
Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, formerly Saigon, has to be one of the most amazing cities in the world for sheer sensory delight…….and overload.
Devon – Budleigh Salterton Beach, Otter Head & Cream Teas
I mentioned last week that we went on a jaunt to the west country to visit family and one place we always drop in on is Budleigh Salterton to visit my dad and step-mother.
Seaford Head in Sussex – A Walk on Christmas Eve
Snapped this photo with my Windows Phone on a jaunt around the beautiful countryside near Seaford in the south of England a couple of days ago.
Pet Shop Boys through an HTC Mozart 7 Windows Phone Camera
At Microsoft Advertising, we sure know how to party and last Thursday’s Christmas/MSN 15th Birthday shindig was the best I’ve been to.
Meet Julia Kay
My seven month-old niece. Taken with my Lumix G2 and a 20mm Pancake Lens.
Doesn’t she make you melt?!
Microsoft Redwest in the Snow with Panasonic Lumix G2
I’m in Seattle right now for my last meetings of 2010.
Just bought a new camera – Panasonic Lumix G2 – and got to try it out for the 1st time just now.
It’s just started snowing here, so I popped out with my new Pancake (!) lens and took a few snaps.
It’s really just out of the box, but I’m loving the micro-four-thirds way of doing things.
The camera is much smaller and lighter than a traditional digital SLR, but it’s just the sort of thing I need for holidays and conference work.
More detail on how it’s working out soon…..in the meantime, enjoy our head office in the snow…I used Windows Live Photo Gallery for the editing…
New Blog Coming Soon!
My blog is due for a revamp!
In this ever-changing landscape of advertising and technology, we’re always being advised to re-invent ourselves, think of new ways to push boundaries, and consider looking, and talking, about things from different angles.
A few days ago I spent my lunch hour getting some photos done with Jon Nicholson.
Jon’s a supremely talented guy who has had exclusive access to McLaren’s F1 team and Lewis Hamilton, shooting amazing images throughout his career including: Damon Hill’s championship year, getting the inside view of what it’s like at Ferrari during the season, books about cowboys, the England rugby team and, more recently, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveller and now tops it all off with exclusive photography tours with Abercrombie & Kent.
“They” say a picture tells a thousand things, and the above says a lot about Jon. I’ve walked past this mirror outside Waterloo Station ten thousand times, but have never seen what Jon saw that day: Pictures within pictures within pictures. That’s us in the centre!
Suffice to say I wasn’t disappointed with our shoot either!
You can see my new “avatar” on my Twitter page and on Facebook, the rest will be revealed when Kean’s had a think.
Follow Jon on Twitter too! I’ve persuaded him to start a blog as well, because I think his work needs more exposure, and I learned so much in just one hour with him.
Stay tuned….
Grape Picking and Crushing for Making Wine in Napa
Just back from a fabulous birthday trip to the Napa Valley in California.
More of what we ate and drank in later posts, but I wanted to show you some photos of why October is the best time to travel there.
October is harvest time for the grapes, and there’s plenty to see before your start stumbling in and out of the wineries.
Here are some snaps – kicking myself for not having my video camera on me – of the picking and crushing process…….
Grapes, ripe and juicy and about to be picked!
Pickers start making their way down the vines – in all weathers
Paid by the weight of their quarry, they move very fast until they’ve filled a basket
The grapes are then loaded onto pallets and towed by tractor to the winery
Stacked and awaiting crushing!
They’re then helped into a massive machine and sorted – no feet in sight!
The stalks are then removed by the machine….
….and the grapes fall down a crusher while the stalks….
…..end up being recycled as compost
As someone who’s drunk a LOT of wine in my life, it was real joy to see the actual picking/crushing process in action.
Now I know the work that goes into preparing the grapes, I’ll try not to drink the end result quite so quickly in future!
