Free Press Association

Hi & Happy New Year to you all.

Thought I'd kick off 2006 with a review of a new digi-cam I have just bought.

I have been using Fuji compacts for years now but have bought a Panasonic FZ20 Lumix.

It is a 5 million effective pixels camera with a Leica lans capable of 12x optical zoom + 4x digital zoom.

It has the look of an SLR but dosent claim to be one. As I am still learning to use it I can say that the operation is simple to grasp but it has a full manual operation setting so you can over-ride the auto settings. The LCD screen is very clear but as usual eats battery power voraciously.

The 12x optical zoom is stupendous and hardly distorts your full zoom pics. Needless to say you will need a tripod to prevent blurring. There is also a video mode with sound which is excellent.
Pre-set picture taking modes are useful and it even has a setting for taking fotos of 'fireworks'!!

All in all I think it is extremely good value for money.......
How much I hear you ask? Jessops has them on sale at a mere £199 which includes a 16mb SD card which you will need to upgrade to my suggestion of a 1gb SD card which is on offer at Staples for around £45..
I feel that you would have to spend an extra couple of hundred pounds to get a camera better than this one.

I wondered when the energy wars would begin! Looks like Ukraine & Russia are about to have a serious fall out over Ukraines inability to pay the vastly increased prices Russia is demanding. Or is it that they can extort more cash out of the rest of wealthy Europe?

Today the French Chairman of our gas supplier for the UK which is French owned I think was defending the ridiculous price increases we will and indeed are paying for gas, a bit like the ridiculous price of oil....maybe the cost of of it freely shooting up the pipelines has doubled....whoever advised the government of the day to sell of our electricity, gas, telecoms, railways, oil etc needs impeaching...

Sales fever is more contagious than H5N1 it appears. Thanks to Television we have been beamed pictures of fever sufferers waiting hours to willingly spend vast sums of money on goods that 2 days earlier were anything up to 70% more expensive.

The shop operators are their own worst enemy. It really annoys me that a gift bought on christmas eve will probably be discounted just after.

I usually give cash presents now as the recipients can maybe get double the goods.

I have been trying not to be concerned with politics recently as the fiasco that is unfolding around us all is becoming too much to think about.
What with reaching 50 a few weeks ago, both my 4x4's developing problems and bloody xmas approaching in a few days I have had enough!
My new/reconditioned large format printer I bought from a guy on EBay doesn't print and he doesn't answer his phone or e-mails...looks like he is due a visit, very soon....
I also have a tooth that is determined to fall out over the next day or two.

Bills reaching in excess of £1,000 have amazingly dropped thru the door & I'm really pissed off. As I'm writing this I am trying to drown my sorrows with San Miguel & Carlsberg Export but it is totally ineffectual tonight.
There's feck all on TV & I need a shag!

Hard life isn't it?

Merry Fecking Christmas...........