BEAT SPEED CAMERA

Vanishing Act (The Sisterhood)

For the women of the Sisterhood, planning a lavish reception for their long time ally, attorney Lizzie Fox, at their luxury mountain retreat is the ideal way to unwind after their latest successful mission. The only cloud over the happy occasion is that their mentor, Charles, is still mysteriously absent. But amid the friendly bickering about floral arrangements, cake tiers, and wedding favours, the ladies of Pinewood receive a frantic phone call from Nikki's fiance, Jack Emery. Harry Wong - Yoko's true love and a staunch supporter of the Sisterhood - has become the victim of a ruthless identity theft ring. Harry's bank accounts have been closed out, his beloved dojo is being foreclosed, and he's being evicted. Distraught, Yoko is about to rush down the mountain to Harry's aid when the Sisters intercept her. A situation like Harry's requires finesse, careful planning, and the Sisterhood's distinctive brand of vigilante justice.

Some people have been asking me about my backpack. Its a canvas backpack made by a chinese company called Weifeng with the label "Fancier" on the front. These are the same guys that makes tripods apparently.

It's about the size of a regular backpack, to me it's just right. I did wish it had a mid strap like my North Face back that could tighten the middle of the bag to make it look a little more compact. I tend to use one backpack for everything, cycling, hiking, going to work/gym, travelling and even carrying the shopping. My old bag was good for the most part but lacked back support for long journeys and there wasn't enough paddings to protect my notebook or camera. I would consider using Michael Chick's suggestion of buying a $25 insert if I had know about it but my bag was already getting quite old and torn in some places. It has served me well.

I didn''t want the full fledge mount everest type backpack, but still needed something that was useful enough to be used for many purposes. After shopping on ebay for a while I came across the Fancier backpack which supported both a notebook and a camera. Thinking that it would be bulky I went to check it out for myself (they had a local shop in Melbourne). I ended up buying the bag for my trip.

The canvas material is different, having never heard of Billingham or Donke I didn't know what to expect having a canvas bag except it did seem like I was going back in time going for a "vintage" design. The old country road bags were canvas as well so they have to be durable stuff.

The notebook sleeve is clever, opened from the side instead of the top, I think it was easier getting things out quickly, but you have to make sure you zip up tight otherwise things will fall out. I also noticed that it can't be locked or sealed with a lock. This bag cannot be locked off as all of the zippers except the top compartment are one way zippers. Would have liked the assurance of being able to lock the bag as I've had one close experience of someone opening my camera bag to take a look inside!

The lower compartment supports the camera and lenses and is well divided by padded splitters. There's also a side opening for quick access to the camera, I found this to be useful and slightly faster than my old camera bag. Good thing I'm right handed as this opening is only on the left side of the bag. This compartment can store 1 DSLR with an attached lens (70-200mm) and 2 other lenses. I had plenty of spaces with just a 7D, 15-85mm and an 85mm lenses for other things like a blower and LCD viewfinder (which I didn't use at all).

I took this snapshot of the Jackson 5 Brothers (Michael in the middle in black & red jacket) in 1984, when I was working for the California State Parks at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu. They had come to do a photoshoot for some promotion for a tour. The boys were quite unruly, driving their (loaned) exotic cars at high speed on the park and campground roads. I managed to take this shot before some security man asked me to stop.

I found the print again when packing to move this last month of April. Almost tossed it. After today's news of Michael's passing, I decided to scan it and post it here. I have not found the negative. This was WAY before digital photography!

When You're Lost, The Sisterhood Will Find You
For the women of the Sisterhood, planning a lavish reception for their longtime ally, attorney Lizzie Fox, at their lux mountain retreat is the ideal way to unwind after their latest successful mission. The only cloud over the happy occasion is that their mentor, Charles, is still mysteriously absent.
But amid the friendly bickering about floral arrangements, cake tiers, and wedding favors, the ladies of Pinewood receive a frantic phone call from Nikki's fiance, Jack Emery. Harry Wong--Yoko's true love and a staunch supporter of the Sisterhood--has become the victim of a ruthless identity theft ring. Harry's bank accounts have been closed out, his beloved dojo is being foreclosed, and he's being evicted. Distraught, Yoko is about to rush down the mountain to Harry's aid when the Sisters intercept her. A situation like Harry's requires finesse, careful planning, and the Sisterhood's distinctive brand of vigilante justice. . .
Praise for Fern Michaels and her Sisterhood novels. . .
"Delectable. . .deliver[s] revenge that's creatively swift and sweet, Michaels-style." --Publishers Weekly on Hokus Pokus

When You're Lost, The Sisterhood Will Find You
For the women of the Sisterhood, planning a lavish reception for their longtime ally, attorney Lizzie Fox, at their lux mountain retreat is the ideal way to unwind after their latest successful mission. The only cloud over the happy occasion is that their mentor, Charles, is still mysteriously absent.
But amid the friendly bickering about floral arrangements, cake tiers, and wedding favors, the ladies of Pinewood receive a frantic phone call from Nikki's fiance, Jack Emery. Harry Wong--Yoko's true love and a staunch supporter of the Sisterhood--has become the victim of a ruthless identity theft ring. Harry's bank accounts have been closed out, his beloved dojo is being foreclosed, and he's being evicted. Distraught, Yoko is about to rush down the mountain to Harry's aid when the Sisters intercept her. A situation like Harry's requires finesse, careful planning, and the Sisterhood's distinctive brand of vigilante justice. . .
Praise for Fern Michaels and her Sisterhood novels. . .
"Delectable. . .deliver[s] revenge that's creatively swift and sweet, Michaels-style." --Publishers Weekly on Hokus Pokus