Could I take a photo of an LED bulb? I thought I probably could so agreed to have a go.

When a bulb is not doing the job for which it was designed, it is easy enough to shoot. Put it on a piece of my favourite plastic pipe so it suspended above the shootings surface and produce a generic shot with almost no shadow.

Alternatively: Canon Bangkok calibrates my lens with extreme prejudice.

Sorry for being absent for a week; but I’ve been in Japan. Started not far from Kyoto and have been travelling through various provinces. Not always welcome by the citizens to be honest; and at times I had to revert to some rather extreme tactics to gain acceptance. I’ve laid waste to towns, assassinated generals with ninjas, blockaded ports and left thousands dead on the green fields of rural Japan. Yep, I’ve been playing Total War: Shogun 2.

Back in the day, Shell sent me to work in The Hague. The job involved convincing operating companies to implement the business system of choice, and there were three people assigned to the task. One was the boss and he focused on procrastination and coffee drinking from the safety of his office, while the other two (one of whom was me) spent too much of their time on aircraft (in the days before air miles), visiting reluctant customers in locations offering varying degrees of shitiness (Nigeria was not a popular choice, Oman was).

Also known as the Pattaya Summer Bra Carnival.

To reinforce the carnival theme, it was necessary to start proceedings with a dance by a couple of Brazilian girls who made up for a total absence of dancing skill with plenty of enthusiasm and desperate smiling.

The Son has returned from his trip to New Zealand and is more than ready for a few days of doing nothing. Little chance of that, given that Pattaya Days needs a tweak.

The “Recent Searches” box differed from the rest of the sidebar items in as much as there was not a “>” at the start of each line. Unacceptable, and only a matter of time before genuinej complained about it. So, dearest son, could you fix it?

When I was thrown onto the junkheap of humanity by being forced into early retirement (Ed: oh please), the blow was slightly softened by a sizeable chunk of cash. A portion of the funds were allocated to the acquisition of a new TV, the remaining balance was donated anonymously to a worthwhile charity (Ed: oh please).

The TV was necessary partly because my existing Sony CRT had evolved to the stage where it could display any colour you like as long as it was a shade of vomit; but also because I had always fancied a Pioneer; and this was a time to get one. So, hello 42" Pioneer Plasma slab of loveliness and for a while I was content. But then came HD and Blu-Ray and my Pioneer couldn’t handle that; so it had to go.