Sunday, August 24, 2008
Moving to WP?
Well, it’s possible. WP is amazing, and we’re going to try it for a while.
Come on over here!
No more eye contact
As technology drives up close and personal wedges in between us, I’ve noticed that when you pull up to a red light, almost 90% of the time the car beside will not pull up even with you, soasto avoid any chance of making eye contact.
Am I the only one to notice this? Check it out for yourself next time you hit the next red light.
VW lights
Has anyone else noticed that VWs have a major electrical problem? How many VWs have you been behind with one or more tailights out? I see it all the time, and can only speculate there is a large recall type problem with these vehicles.
Canada Company: Many Ways To Serve
After reading about the three latest soldies to die, some of them with kids, I was glad to read there is a company that appears to offer some sort of scholarship mechanism to take care of the orphans.
Canada Company provides a platform to do things in our communities and our workplace. Making the route to serve as supportive as possible and providing the care that is deserved whenever needed is a contribution that we can, and should, make as both business leaders and citizens.
CNE Attendance
Anyone else notice that in the last few years the CNE doesn’t announce attendance? Could it be that attendance is falling off the map?
Friday, August 22, 2008
Gold for Bolt
Let’s hope the latest 100m star will survive all the drug tests. If so, it’s a remarkable achievement. It’s also the end of Canada and Great Britain’s importing of Jamaicans to win track and field gold. Seems they do better staying at home.
Usain Bolt earned a triple-triple of sprint gold medals and world records today, an unprecedented Olympic feat that elevated him alongside Michael Phelps as the stars of the Beijing Games.
Ah, the memories of Ben Johnson “I never took no stereos” of 20 years ago! The above picture is also tremendous...beautiful lighting and amazing clarity.
EclectEcon: Women in Art and Film
A cool entry showing some neat transition photography.
I don’t watch or blog many YouTube videos, but these two are spectacular [h/t to MA]. The transitions are just amazing.
Five Amusement Parks that are No Longer Amusing
Having just been to Canada’s Wonderland, I find this Neatorama article fascinating.
There’s something fascinating about large structures that have been completely abandoned.
The Biggest Hole in the World
This is neat...from Neatorama of course.
The Biggest Hole in the World
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Global cooling now?
When are the environazis going to stop? Now we have global cooling.
According to recent news reports, a top observatory that has been measuring sun spot activity predicts that global temperatures will drop by two degrees over the next 20 years as solar activity slows and the planet drastically cools down.
When is the green fad going to be over? I can hardly wait.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Why everyone’s getting Type 2
A great read on an epidemic more dangerous than AIDS.
We all know by now that type 2 diabetes is an epidemic. We’re seeing words like crisis and runaway all over the news and in the journals. Heart disease rates have been cut in half since the staggering margarine days of the 1980s, but diabetes has swiftly risen to fill that gaping void and meet the challenge of Completely Unnecessary Disease Epidemic.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bodies of slain soldiers return home
For the first time, I decided to welcome home #89 and #90 as they came home along the hiway of Heroes.
The bodies of two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan have returned home to Canadian soil.
A somber occasion to be sure.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Blast from the past
Anyone old enough to remember the Mississauga fire of 1979 must have been worried about this today.
Although it was a miracle that thousands escaped unscathed from a series of massive explosions in the city’s northwest end early today, a firefighter has died and at least one other person is unaccounted for.
Holy Catchphrase, Batman: 16 Famous Catchphrases in TV History
Remember these TV sayingsÉ
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Amazing show
No one can deny the incredible opening ceremony last night at the Bird’s Nest. Here is the guy who did it all.
Not only was the show spectacular, but it was scary in a way too. The military precision that the 15000 performers (2008 at a time?) carried out their art was intimidating. Apparently they were even told to smile.
One can’t help but wonder how long it will take China to over most commerce in the world with their attitude and work ethic. I can hardly imagine any other nation on earth that can mobilize an army-like force to put on a show like the opening ceremonies.
To say you better learn Mandarin or Cantonese is really not an understatement. It will be even more necessary in 50 years than now.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Lightning in Toronto
It’s been a shocking summer in Toronto so far...here is a good article explaining it all.
Only one in 10 die, but most people hit are never quite the same
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Bus cowards
I don’t know what I’d do if I was a fellow passenger on the bus, but Debbie thinks that they’re all cowards, including the police who came to the scene later.
Most troubling to me is that, instead of pouncing on the beheader and stopping him from murdering an innocent person, the passengers on the bus all fled like cowards.
Have to agree with her on this one. The whole thing is sick and sad at the same time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Truck Nutz
How many of you driving down the roads these days have seen these swinging from pickup truck trailer hitches?
What will they think of next?
Toronto Zoo
My Toronto Zoo pass expires this month. I am not renewing it. I have had one for four years. The only good thing I can say about having one is that if we got to the Zoo and it was a madhouse, we could always turn around and come back another day without feeling the pressure to stay.
The Zoo is not cheap. It costs $8 to park and then (if you’re unlucky enough not to get a close spot to the entrance), you haul yourself to the entrance to pay another $20 per adult (age 13+) and $12 per child. You have to ask for a map if you want to know where you’re going once you’re in there (they are not offered to you nor are there any to pick up once you get in) and then you’re in with acres of land to trek to see (if you’re lucky) a few animals. Oh, you also have to pay for anything “fun” once you’re in on top of what you paid to get in (the Zoomobile [$7/person], camel rides, pony rides, etc. [$6/person]). And let’s not even talk about the price of food in there (many moons ago there used to be a McDonald’s which was affordable - apparently that was a bad idea).
You’d think with all the money it costs to get in a do things, the Zoo would be top notch. Ha!!! The place is as rundown as it can be. According to the Zoomobile tour guide, this is called “letting nature take its course”. Uh-huh. This is called “let’s spend the money on anything but the Zoo”. My eldest daughter’s class adopted a snow leopard last year (the Zoo is big on people “adopting” their animals - more money!). The day after they adopted it, the Zoo sent an E-mail to their teacher, telling her that the 2 year old leopard had died. Did they get their money back? No. Wonder what happened to it? They certainly didn’t get a shot at another, more robust, animal.
Like I said, I’ve had a pass for four years. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen certain animals in the Zoo during those four years (and we went fairly often - to get our moneys worth out of the pass, not for the love of the Zoo). This year, we were invited (being Members) to a “sneak peek” of the stingray exhibit. Guess what? It cost money to get into! No mention of that in the invitation. Of course, being a Member, I paid a whopping dollar less per person than Joe Average, but still. All we did was stand there and look at the rays (since the deaths of the rays in Alberta, no one’s allowed to touch them anymore). I saw larger rays in Florida for free. In their own habitat! Imagine that.
The entire Americas section is under construction. Does anyone know that? Of course not. There’s no mention of it anywhere in the Zoo. Poor people are slogging around to the back of the Zoo (which takes quite a while to get to since it’s laid out so crazily) only to find that there are no animals. Lots of machinery, though. You’d think they could put up a sign at the entrance telling people not to bother going back there. I suppose that would take some money which they don’t seem to like using (at least for Zoo purposes).
I am not renewing my pass. Sorry Toronto Zoo. You just don’t utilize yourself well enough to deserve my money anymore. If we feel the need to see some animals, we’ll go to the Bowmanville Zoo. It’s not large, but it makes up in size for the proximity and number of animals. They deserve my hard earned money (plus they do a show that you don’t have to pay for!). Gotta love that.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Why Kyoto is a failure
Mainly because countries like China aren’t part of it.
China is considering even more stringent measures to control pollution as Beijing continues to be shrouded in smog less than two weeks before the Olympics.
Apparently China has or is about to pass the US in total pollution output. Hopefully the world will see this in the Olympic coverage.
Amazing wrongful conviction
Howard had a great story about Michael Pardue, who was apparently wrongfully convicted, released, and is now struggling to survive (and get some sort of compensation).
In 1973, just a few short years after Dylan’s beat generation anthem was a national hit, Pardue was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 1997, all charges against him were dropped. This story should have a happy ending by now but on the Richter scale of justice, this one is off the charts. In a logic-defying decision, Pardue remains behind bars for another crime: escape.
Remind me not to get wrongfully convicted in Alabama.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Amanda Seyfried can really sing
This girl has the voice of an angel. Who knew she was one of those actresses that didn’t actually think she could sing!
Friday, July 25, 2008
nuclear NIGHTMARES
A powerful photo shoot of the Chernobyl disaster.
I didn’t remember that it was a deliberate act started by Moscow.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Demise of Michigan
The low level drug industry is replacing the auto industry, not to mention the burgeoning prison industry.
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On 16 hectares once used by Chrysler to house automobiles sits Ryan Road’s best-kept property, more than a dozen buildings bordered by four-metre fences topped with coils of razor wire and five gun towers.
A new approach is needed. Watching the show DEA/Detroit is one of the most depressing, yet boring shows. Same old huge DEA officers busting low level black men drug users/distributors in abandoned houses around the city. I guess they go away for 10-20 years unless they turn state evidence. There must be a better way, but stopping the police/prison industry once it gets rolling is probably very hard to stop.
Let this be a warning to Canadians - Michigan and NY State treat drug offenses VERY seriously. Don’t even think of crossing the border with even a whiff of a controlled substance.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Controlled olympics
Amazing pictures of the Chinese getting ready for the Olympics.
I will be watching just to see how a dictatorship can run a world-staged event. It’s amazing what you can do when you control that many people.
