Watermark

I’ve decided to slap my own custom watermark (literally “photo signature” in layman terms) on all of my photos from now on, as I feel I’ve earned the right to be able to call each photo my own, and thus “protect” them to a certain extent  (even if other people might think my photos suck and aren’t worth protecting)

I conjured up the watermark using Photoshop CS3. I think it looks quite nice, wouldn’t you agree?

Here’s a sample of what the watermark looks like on a photo of mine:

Watermark on a photo of Emmy I took a few weeks back

Happy 23rd Birthday To Me :)

Two days ago (12th March 2009), I turned 23 years old. Wow. 23. My age is starting to sound old. In a mere two more years, I will be one quarter of a century years old!

Mum, Dill, Jenny and I went to La Porchetta on Hobson St for dinner on Thursday. It was great. Very nice dinner.

Mum and Dad got my Michelin Pilot Preceda tyres for my new rims about a month ago, and I suggested that the tyres could be my present. Dill got me Queen’s “Live in Wembley Stadium” DVD. I just finished watching it, and all I can say is WHOA. Queen have got to be THE BEST rock band I’ve ever seen. So much charisma, especially from Freddie Mercury (rest in peace)!! The man can SING and WORK THE CROWD!!

There were a few songs that could’ve been included, but I definitely have no qualms.

Sound: 10/10 (excellent quality for a remastered 1986 recording of their concert)
Picture: 8.5/10 (very watchable and reasonable, but some camera angles were a bit fuzzy)
Song Selection: 9/10 (a few could’ve been left out, and similarly, a few were missing)
Extras: n/a (have yet to check out the 2nd extras DVD)
Overall (not an average): An easy 9/10

Dill and I also just took Mum to the airport earlier this morning. She’s going back to Taiwan for a month to visit my grandma and meet up with Dad.

Jenny also kindly shouted me dinner (on the 14th March) at Oh Calcutta in Parnell as a b’day present Dill and Steph also came along, which was great! I must say, besides the fact that we had to leave at 8:30pm (as they had many more customers coming in for a later dinner time), the food was delicious! The butter chicken I had has got to be one of the best I’ve ever tasted!

Thanks so much for the lovely dinner, baby! I know it must’ve been quite expensive, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Emmy’s New Shoes (Photos)

Weather cleared up a bit today. Managed to take a few photos of Emmy and her new shoes I even got enough sunshine to wash her!

Pity it got quite gloomy after the wash, so I didn’t get any post-wash photos. However, she wasn’t that dirty to begin with anyway

Quite an artistic shot, don't you agree?

17" x 7.5" AMG Monoblock II replicas + 225/45ZR17 Michelin Pilot Preceda PP2's = SEX ON WHEELS

Another artistic shot lol.

Nice and aggressive looking. With Dill in the background LOL.

A shot from the left side

Front-right side shot

Portrait shot!!

Emmy’s New Shoes!!

Just got home from work, so if you’re looking at the date, it may seem a day late, but I haven’t gone to bed yet, so to me, it’s still the same day LOL.

FINALLY. FI-NA-LLY!! The 3-4 year wait has finally arrived! The day I FINALLY get new rims/wheels on my car is FINALLY HERE!! I must say, the wait has been worth it!!

Dad was busy this morning so I went to Fred’s tyre place, Herb Morgan Tyres, in Onehunga by myself, along with my Monoblock II replicas. Fred’s been really awesome since the first time we went to him. Great service, very good wheel balancing and alignments, AND great prices. Definitely recommended for anyone who’s in the Auckland area and needs new tyres/wheels etc.

I got some new Michelin Pilot Preceda PP2′s (225/45ZR17) to complement my 17″ x 7.5″ rims, and traded in my still as-new 195/65R15 Michelin Energy’s. After the trade-in, the price came to a total of $700. Pretty damn good price for some Michelins! I also got the new wheels balanced and aligned.

I’ve driven around 50km today, taking mum to Silver Bell, picking dad up from Apadana’s on Dominion Road, and going to and from work. I have to say, the bigger wheels make a huge difference! The steering is MUCH more responsive and more sensitive, and the car feels like it’s stuck to the ground, so the handling seems to be HEAPS better. The only thing yet to be determined is how much more detrimental is the bigger wheels on my fuel economy :p I’m hoping not too much!

Anyway, weather’s been crap today here, so I didn’t get the chance to break out the 40D and take some snaps of Emmy and her new, long-awaited shoes. Will upload some photos once the weather clears up!

AMG Monoblock II Replicas!!

Finally. After years upon years of convincing, my dad finally agreed to let me get some bigger rims!! He FINALLY let me get some BRAND NEW AMG Monoblock II replica wheels off TradeMe. $450 for FOUR 17″ x 7.5″ wheels is a HUGE steal!!

Wheel Dimensions: 17″ x 7.5″
Stud Pattern: 5 x 112
Offset: +37

The wheels arrived yesterday afternoon, at around 2pm. I eagerly opened all four boxes and arranged them around the garden and took some snaps (below). They’re better than I thought! Hyper silver paint with machined lip. Extremely sexy.

Only downside to this is that I won’t be able to slap them on my C240, Emmy, yet. I only just replaced my 15″ stock Mercedes-Benz alloys with new Michelin Energy tyres a few months ago. Will have to wait for the tyres to wear out first Not to mention the fact my dad only seems to want to get Continental Sport Contact 3′s for the new 17′s. He’s convinced he can get another steal price somewhere along the line (we managed to get FOUR new Conti Sport 3′s for $900 a week or so ago LOL). I personally wouldn’t mind some Michelin Pilot Sport tyres.

Ah well, at least I’ve got the rims now The hardest part is over and done with, which was convincing my dad to LET me get them.

The rims in all their shiny glory!

Standing in line for a photo!

The wheels along with the Mercedes-Benz centrecaps.