Another Shirt design

Well I've come up with another fantastic shirt desing for my Nerdy Computer T-Shirt store the all new "Programming Revoluton" shirts and stuff can be seen here: http://www.cafepress.com/ncomp.25312054

Man, I think I have too much time on my hands...

Hitchhiker

So I saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night at the Bloor Cinema. It was alright, I wish I had more to say about it in fact.

How would I rate that movie, well I'd have to give it, ummm let's say about 6 or 7 out of ten. It gets that rating because it's a generally fun movie, a fun space adventure, that is actually quite witty. Like the part in the beginning where it says that on earth Man has believed that it was the most intelligent creature whereas in reality it is the third, the second being Dolphins. Now I like that sort of stuff.

Other parts of the movie seemed a bit rushed, as though they didn't have enough time to set up some of the jokes.

I also liked seeing Tim from The Office out there doing something else, if you've never seen The Office, you should because it is fantastic.

So that's my short little review, now keep in mind that I have never read the books nor listened to the radio programme so I'm not as attached to it as others may be

Whoops forgot to mention

Hey I forgot to mention that after going to that rock concert yesterday I started to think about who our generations rock starts are. After a few beers I can up the solution, which you can find here: http://www.cafepress.com/ncomp.24707237

Savy.

Another Weekend!

So this was a pretty good weekend. Took it easy on Friday night, had a few beers with Fiachra but nothing much.

Saturday was fun as well, stayed home during the day and then went out for dinner with Marge, Fiachra, Danielle and Mary-Anne at the Green Room, service was terrible as always but the food was pretty good. After dinner went to the Paupers Roof top patio for a few more beers and then back to Marge and Fiachra’s for some terrible Trivial Pursuit.

Sunday was off to Toronto Island for a cool concert. Now what was the concert called? I’m not really sure, Olympic Island? Or is that just the name of the Island? Either way here is the main site: here.

Here are some photos of the bands that we saw:

Do Make Say Think


Metric


Broken Social Scene




Modest Mouse






Sadly the event only served Molson Canadian or Coors Light, uggggh.

SO the concert was a lot of fun, it was cool that Rod and Laura could make it up to Toronto for a blisteringly hot day to watch some band. Looking at my arms this morning I can tell that I managed to get a little bit of a tan, which is quite a feat for a stay at home programmer.

I would go into more detail except that Rod and Laura had to take of this morning at 6:00am, and I had to wake them up, so I am pretty tired. I think I might take it easy and see a movie this evening.

Live Monopoly update, or Welcome to Crapoly

Well turns out that I sucked yesterday at Monopoly getting a grand total of: $146,870,000, which isn't to great.

But today I have restarted and not I'm only 4 hours in and I already have: $144,580,000 which is sooo much better! Rawk!

Live Monopoly

Found this cool link: http://www.monopolylive.co.uk/

In a nutshell:

"Hasbro have fitted out 18 London cabs with GPS tracking devices, and hooked them up to a real time, real life game of monopoly. You get to choose which cab driver you want to 'play' with, and then pick which properties around london you want to put your houses and hotels, hit go, sit back and wait for the other cab drivers to land on your square and make you rent. You get 24 hours of your cab running around london, and you have to see how much money you can make in a day (my bet, put your property on wimbledon this week ;)"

I just signed up, maybe some of you dudes can sign up as well and we'll see who wins?

Has it been one year already?

So yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of me arriving here in Toronto, and what a year it has been. Actually I have ended up doing some cool things this year and going places that I have never been before. So here are the places that I went to for the first time this year (in no particular order):

• Windsor
• Detroit
• Kingston
• Ottawa
• Western-Quebec
• Frankfurt
• Berlin
• Warsaw
• Krakow
• Hof
• Bamburg
• Montreal Airport
• Waterford
  

And I think that's it, not the biggest list in the world but I still think that it's pretty cool.

During this year I have also been able to make some new friends, and become better friends with some people that I already knew, which is always cool.

Aside from the cool places that I have seen it's also been one year of living with Danielle, which has also been pretty cool. Granted I have to put up with the fact that she never wants to clean anything, or empty out the cat's litter boxes, but those are just some of the things about her that I have learned to love.

Anyways, that's year one as a Manitoban-Ontarian.

Cafe Press

After talking about Cafe Press with Rod over the wany hours of driving this weekend I decided to setup a store last night, mostly just for the heck of it.

So I spent some time last night coming up with some ideas, and created my stores. What surprised me most about the process was how I actually enjoyed creating these stores.

Store 1:
http://www.cafepress.com/selsine

Store 2:
http://www.cafepress.com/NComp

Now I don't really think that I will ever sell any of these, but it was a neat experiment.

Regarding the Rafting...

Alright, apparently my last post wasn’t detailed enough, so I’m supposed to re-hash ye olde weekend.

So, at around 5:15 or 5:30pm on Friday Danielle and I had finished loading the car (she did most of it) and we headed over to Matt and Natasha’s to pick them up. We picked them up and headed out on the road. About five minutes later the pasta salad and dried fruit was taken out because it was time to eat.

Three (or so) hours later we picked up Rod just outside of Kingston and continued on our way to Ottawa. We got into Ottawa at about 11:20pm and stayed at Matt’s cousin’s house, they were visiting Toronto so it was very nice of them to let us stay.

Then after a crappy sleep on the floor it was up at 6:00am and off to Quebec. Approaching the outskirts of Ottawa my speakers blew for some unknown reason so now I have not music in that car of mine. Then it was over the bridge and my first venture into Quebec (except for the Montreal airport).

I really enjoyed being in Quebec because everything was in French, it was neat going to the bathroom and having all the signs be in French.

At about 8:45am (after a few wrong turns) we arrived at this small hotel to meet with the company that was taking us rafting. We went to meet up with the people inside the bar, and there was this French man halfway through a pitcher of beer! I mean it was 8:45am on a Saturday morning. (After talking to a woman that works at Esprit that is apparently not that strange at the local hotels.)

Then it was a bus ride to the put-in and it was time to start rafting. Danielle was quite nervous about the rafting and so was I. Everyone else seemed alright with it, Matt and Natasha had both been before and Rod just seemed excited.


It was hard not to feel cool with all the gear on.

We lucked out and got two guides in our boat and were able to stay together without anyone else joining our raft. I think that this helped me to relax since I already knew most of the people on the boat.

I started off in the middle of the boat with Rodney since both of us had less experience paddling then Matt and Natasha. Danielle was behind me because we had an odd number of people. The first trek was down the middle channel for some easy rapids to get us used to the raft.

Going through the first couple of rapids really helped me to build up my confidence and start having fun with what we were doing. After about 5 rapids we stopped for some pasta and some apple cider.

Then it was a bus ride back to the put-in where everyone had to introduce themselves and tell a joke or something. This one gentleman told an absolutely horrible joke; if you ever want to hear it, ask me for I fear that it has been etched into my brain.

Then we went back in the water, except this time it was Rod and I at the front of the raft. I was excited about this at first, sine when you are at the front you get the brunt of most of the water and the chances of falling out are the greatest, and I sorta wanted to fall out. It wasn’t until the second or third rapid that I noticed that I was doing most of the work at the front of the raft. Every time we went through a rapid Rod seemed to think that it was acceptable behavior to simply lie down in the middle of the raft on his back and take a break.

But that’s just not my style, realizing the Rod lacked the strength to meet the might Ottawa river head-on, I unleash both guns and picked up the slack. Needless to say I kept this information on the down low so as to not embarrass Rod.

Not wanting to take too much fun away from Matt and Natasha Rod and I gave up our seats at the front (well Rod did a paper, rock, scissors with Matt) of the raft as we headed to the Coliseum. The Coliseum is (apparently) the second largest commercially rafted rapid in the world, which is pretty freaking cool.

Not knowing that I had relinquished my seat at the front of the raft the guides picked our raft to go through first, I guess the guns did their job. We went right through the rapid without flipping or loosing a single member of our crew.

After that out boat was used as the rescue boat incase any of the other rafts had any problems, which mean that we had to paddle up to the start of the rapids and wait while the other rafts went down. If one of the rafts were to flip of too loose anyone it was our job to paddle like mad and try to pick up as many people as we could.

I really enjoyed this part, even though it kicked me and the gun’s ass. We managed to pick up a few people (I save two myself), I think that three of the other rafts flipped, and most lost at least one person.

After that it was one more small rapid and back on shore. We did get to jump out of the raft during one section, where the river opened up, and just float for a while with the current.

Whew…then it was to the resort where we rented some tents that were set up under small wooden structures to keep out the rain (it looked like it might rain, and it had poured the night before) and time to relax with some beer.

Sheesh this is a really long post now, and I’m running out of steam…basically after that it was your standard night out by a lake beside a bonfire, except for the fact that it we were server great food.


The sunset was nice...

White Water Rafting

So this weekend I went white water rafting, now if you have never been white water rafting and ever get the opportunity to do so...I would recommend it, it is great fun. I mean it's pretty awesome.

You can read Rod's blog (follow the Blogging Rodney link to Out of the Archives over there on the right) for a blow-by-blow account of this weekend. Needless to say I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. It was nice to get out of the city and sit around a campfire with a beer and some friends.

One neat thing I found on the Internet is another rafting companies rafting videos. This isn't the company that we went through but you can look at these videos for a little taste of what we went through: here. It was cool. The third video is the coolest.

We went through Esprit, they seem like a pretty cool company, plus they have locations all over the world, incase you need to raft in Northern India.

Neil Young, Randy Bachman and their amazing radio...

Hey-Ho Weekend

Hey Ho, seems that the weekend is fast approaching from the view of a mn sitting at his desk at 1:00pm. Yeah that's right, I'm reading Blindness by Jose Saramago, and it's creeping into my dreams...I dreampt that I was surrounded by a whole bunch of blind people last night but I was the only one that could see.

I really really enjoy the writing style that he uses in the book, I think it really captures the idea that all of these people cannot see, that all of the voices are comming out of nowhere, and you don't really know who's speaking except by what they say.

I'm going white water rafting this weekend...but first I have to drive for 5 hours this evening, ow joy...Quebec here I comeHey Ho, seems that the weekend is fast approaching from the view of a man sitting at his desk at 1:00pm. Yeah that's right, I'm reading Blindness by Jose Saramago, and it's creeping into my dreams...I dreamt that I was surrounded by a whole bunch of blind people last night but I was the only one that could see.

I really really enjoy the writing style that he uses in the book, I think it really captures the idea that all of these people cannot see, that all of the voices are coming out of nowhere, and you don't really know who's speaking except by what they say.

I'm going white water rafting this weekend...but first I have to drive for 5 hours this evening, ow joy...Quebec here I come.

Detroit and Windsor

So I went to Detroit for the first time this weekend, and to Windsor for the second time. It was pretty cool and I had a good time. Sadly I forgot my camera so until I get some pictures e-mailed to me there will be no photos.

Crossing the border was an experience that I hadn't had in a while and it still makes me nervous. Plus the border crossing south of Winnipeg definately wasn't as difficult to cross as the Winsor Detroit border or the Sarnia border.

Either way we were able to make our way into and out of the good old US of A with little or no hassle. Went to the Detroit Institute of Art, which has the fifth largest collection in the States. It was under repair so most of what was there wasn't being displayed. We did see the Diego Rivera mural, which was cool. It covers all four walls in an atrium just inside the museum. After that a nice lady from the museum took us around for a tour.

After the museum we walked around a bit, got a bit to eat and then drove around Detroit to get to the Heidelberg project. It was pretty cool, here's a neat 3d tour of the area: here. (warning about the 3d tour, on my computer it wored but wouldn't stop running so I had to quite FireFox) It's located in what appears to be a not so nice area of Detroit. The weird thing about Detroit in that in these residentail areas, you will have city blocks with an abondonded house, two empty lots, a house that is lived in, and then another abandonded house.

In the past these citry blocks would have been full of houses but now so may of them just lie empty or falling appart. It was one of the strangest things that I have ever seen. Take a look at this site: The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit. This site is a bit difficult to Navigate, but you can see some pretty cool stuff if you take the time.

So that was Detroit, other then that spent the rest of the time in grande olde Windsor with Christine and her friends. Got to see her new apartment, which, had I brought my camera, you would be seeing right now as well, but since I did not you will have to wait.

Last night and early thismorning

Well, I went to Clintons last night to watch a bit of the basketball game and to see a friend of my brother's band (The Telepathic Butterflies) play, as part of NXNE. It was pretty cool and they put on a really good show.

Danielle did not join me however, because she was feeling ill, but I did meet another of my brother’s friends at Clintons. He's in town for three months doing an internship.

Needless to say it was a relatively late night, I got home at about 2:30am, then I made my night later by reading information on Apples big switch (here and here) for about an hour. Then I was awoken by my doorbell ringing at 7:20am. Well it really wasn't my doorbell ringing that woke me up, it was Danielle informing me that the doorbell was ringing.

So I got up, put Danielle's housecoat on and trundled to the door. Turns out it was an Ontario Hydro (or whatever company) dude looking to check the water meter downstairs. He was supposed to meet my landlord, but my landlord hadn't shown. So I went inside and got my key to the basement and took the gentleman down there.

Moments later my landlord arrived so I was able to leave with all the dignity a man in his fiance's housecoat can muster and head back to bed.

Ahhh Standard Lager, how I've missed you.

Some hot dude at a social in Winnipeg, probably hollering at some beautiful ladies…man what a player.

What to do when you are forced to give a speech at your jack and jill wedding shower.

How I missed the smell of Dylan's place...

Whew

Whew, so that's the entire travel journal. Didn't take me that long to write (on the trip) and since I was rushing a lot of it didn't make sense when I went back to type it up. Hopefully I changed most of it so that it makes sense in the end, but I'm guessing that some not-so-sensicle stuff made its way in.

Ow well, after the trip was in Toronto for about 24hrs, and then off to Winnipeg for a week of showers and socials. It was a pretty good time, nice chance to see my family and my friends and stuff like that.

I had all this good stuff to write during the time that I was uploading my journal and now I have forgotten all of it. I didn't want to break the continuity so I waited.

Hmm nothing much else to say here really, heading to Windsor and Detroit this weekend. Been to Windsor before but I've never been to Detroit, should be cool.

Maybe I'll just upload some pictures of my time in Winnipeg now, rather then talking about it...

May 4th 5:30pm (German Time) (11:30am Montreal Time)

Pulling into Montreal, I am so tired right now, but I guess that' what happens when you go for 9 days like a bunch of crazy people.


Montreal airport

I beg for sleep at this point. We were in Bamberg yesterday and Frankfurt last night. Up at 5:30am (German time) and then on the road again.


Bamberg


Bamberg is a medieval town


Nice knocker(s)!


Frankfurt

I'm starting to feel sick, I think that my body is rebelling. After Montreal, 2 more hours and them home.


Home

May 2nd 7:20am

Sitting in a hotel room in Hof Germany, which is as far as we got with the driving, which means that we did not get all the way to Bamberg. Too much time spent in Auschwitz (Oswiecim), a few wrong turns, and Polish highways means a day spent in a car and not getting to Bamberg like we wanted.


Auschwitz


Polish roads

When we got to Hof last night we booked a pretty pricey room in this small hotel and then went out to get something to eat. Now since the hotel is pretty small, the keys (old style thick keys( had a large brass knob attached to it, and the front door to the hotel is locked after 11:00pm, the man at the front desk gave us the key to the back door and told us to leave out room key on the front desk, which we did.


Our original room Hof

Then we came back at 12:15am (after eating at a small cafe) to find that our key was not there. So we spent a whole hour trying to find the man that was working the front desk (we assumed that he slept there) or our room key. In the end we found neither so we just took keys to different rooms and then went to bed.


The free breakfast in Hof was pretty sweet


Church door, Hof

May 1st 11:52pm

Krakow old town at night

The night is over, said goodbye to Bennett and Sandy. Went to the Wieliczka salt mine today which was fin and interesting. We met Bennett there, he knew we were Canadian thanks to the Canadian flag on the back of Rod's backpack. After the salt mine we went to the brew pub that server the big tubes of beer found in the earlier entry.

After the second tube of beer Danielle and I went shopping, leaving Jeff and Bennett alone with the third tube of beer. Needless to say the third tube went straight to everyone's head. Then we went to a grill for some meaty-meat-food where Danielle and I had some grilled veggies, which were pretty good but not great.


Jeff and Benett, far happier then the rest of us.

Then out for more beers and home, well by home I mean the hotel. Danielle is showering now, I must read and then go to bed. The bartender in the last bar that we were at said that my Polish was so good that she almost thought that I was a native. I guess sometimes it's just in your blood.