Why am I so behind in my life? I’m really going through a can’t be arsed phase of my life at the moment. I’m convinced I’ve got the first symptoms of mid-life crisis. I really need to get on top of some things, my life is just drifting and I’m wasting it.

I got asked today why I have such a tall header graphic and that it adds nothing to the site and is pointless. It’s just a picture of pebbles. Well I refer readers back to why I chose Buttons of my Mind as my blog title. As you will know this comes from a song by The Scaffold, but why haven’t I a picture of a load of buttons then? Well, the lyrics of this song are…

You’re not mine anymore as we take our last walk together,
Along the midnight shore,
Before we say goodbye forever.

The picture is of course a picture of the midnight shore. Simple really!

At last some warm sunshine. Even the paddling pool has managed its first outing of the year. Shame it’s not going to last.

So what’s been happening? Speedway is running again in the Conference League (the lower league), the Elite team has disbanded. At least we survived this crisis for now. I have a Flickr account, I’m just working out how to join it with EE. I have a Facebook account (don’t ask) and I did the wedding photography for my sister-in-law last week, more about that later.

Time to post regularly here again…

What the hell is benchmarking I hear you cry! It’s one of my sad little hobbies I reply. What is a bench mark I hear you cry! I’ll let Wikipedia explain…

“In surveying a bench mark is specifically any permanent marker placed by a surveyor with a precisely known vertical elevation (but not necessarily a precisely known horizontal location). These reference points may be chiselled into a wall, or more typically, marked by small brass or aluminium disks, iron pins or bolts that are permanently attached to a stable foundation, such as concrete posts, bridge abutments, buildings, or a specifically constructed concrete block. These markers are then used as starting (control) points by subsequent surveyors and other users to establish the elevation of nearby points.”

Where is this leading? Well, it leads to my latest little toy, the Google Maps API. As a useful exercise in learning the API I have created a Google Map of my benchmark images, you can find it at the URL below.

http://www.jochta.com/maps/benchmarks.php

It’s a bit basic at the moment style-wise as it was really the API I was interested in, I will embellish as I learn and add some more information.

The news all Oxford Speedway fans have been dreading broke this afternoon, the immediate closure of the club mid-season. When it came it was a bolt out of the blue as the promotion had held a fan’s forum on Friday and painted a rosy picture of the future. It was all lies. A whole part of my life from when I was a boy appears to be over, another outlet for the local children taken away.

I shed a few tears this afternoon for all the memories, good and bad, Oxford Speedway has given me over the past 30-odd years. But the loyal supporters will fight hard to keep speedway in my once fabulous city and we shall see what transpires over the coming days and weeks. I truly hope that this isn’t the final bitter end.

Oxford 1-2 Exeter (Agg: 2-2)
Exeter win 4-3 on penalties

So disappointed not to get a trip to Wembley. Not so much for myself but for my son who had been so looking forward to it. How many other chances will he get to see Oxford United play at Wembley? But to be honest Oxford played awful tonight and we missed three penalties when we had the advantage.

Well I’ve eventually taken the plunge and bought myself a Digital SLR camera. I plumped for the Nikon D40 which has a 6.1 megapixel sensor as it produces sharp images at a very reasonable price. The kit lens supplied is very good, an 18-55mm zoom. I also bought a 55-200mm zoom to go with it plus a few filters. It takes fantastically sharp images, puts all the compact digital cameras I’ve owned to shame. The nice thing is its portraits, no sign of any red-eye and super crisp images.

I’ve also been trying out some astrophotography with it, hit a snag trying to do prime focus photography on my driven telescope as I cannot achieve focus, but I have a plan. Had some success with afocal projection and you can see some results in the photo section here.

If I order something on Monday morning for next day delivery I understand that to mean I will receive the order on Tuesday. Not the day after you decide to dispatch it. Let me get this straight, I order on Monday morning for next day delivery but you won’t dispatch it until Wednesday for next day delivery on Thursday? Eh? How does that work then?

This is it the final part….

16 - The Cure - Boys Don’t Cry

Well we don’t do we? Or we’re not supposed to anyway.

17. Hazel O’Connor - Will You?

From one of my favourite films, Breaking Glass. This is a lovely moment in a traumatic film and I’m a softie for a good saxophone solo and there is a cracker in this song.

18. Roy Orbison - I Drove All Night

This belongs to the 7” single days again. The lyrics are quite funny, I drove all night to make love to you, is that all right? No, I’m tired, now bugger off!

19. The Pretenders - I Go To Sleep

I used to go out with a girl who looked exactly like Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders were one of my favourite bands (still are) at the time! Chrissie was and still is gorgeous.

20. Radiohead - Motion Picture Soundtrack

The song I want played at my funeral! I will see you on the other side, maybe a bit maudlin but it will be my funeral, so tough!