Squeaky cheese!

I had never had fresh cheese curds - and by fresh, I mean 'have been made that morning'. Until today. Fresh from Warwick Quebec, I had a small bag of Kingsley cheese curds - apparently the best ever. They were squeakin' awesome!

Be afraid....... be very afraid

The ultimate list of phobias. I don't know if they're all real, but it's a lengthy list.

Hands down the funniest scene in TV history

(Kramer casually enters, takes a few step toward the kitchen, and slaps a wad of bills onto the counter)
KRAMER: I'm out! (Kramer now has the attention of everyone in the room. Jerry's mouth is open in shock. A moment passes)
ELAINE: What?!
KRAMER: Yeah, I'm out - I'm out of the contest.
GEORGE: You're out?!
KRAMER: Yeah, yeah.. (Notes their reactions) what?
ELAINE: Well, that was fast!
JERRY: Well, it was that woman across the street.
KRAMER:(To Jerry) You know, you better be careful, buddy. She's gonna get you next. (Walks out, shutting the door behind him)
(Jerry, Elaine, and George all look at each other, reflecting)
ELAINE: ..And then there were three.

Yes...... those are nails through its feet......

I think I would enjoy owning this plush toy. It's the dead ummm...... sleeping parrot of Monty Python fame.

WARNING: Parrot stuns easily. This Norwegian blue has beautiful plumage, likes to sleep on his back, and loves fresh fish. From Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch comes this hilarious 6 1/2-inch plush. If it does not move, it's either stunned or tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk. It also sometimes pines for its native habitat, the fjords, so it is recommended to nail its feet down to its perch to prevent it from flying home. ADDITIONAL WARNING: Do no douse in water or keep awake after midnight!

I love a great storm

If you like great photos of bad weather formations, then you'll love Extreme Instability.

Victor (ious)

So my recent travels find me in Quebec City. Colleagues that had been here in the last year suggested I may want to give a particular burger joint a try - Chez Victor. So tonight we gave it a go. I was warned that the place isn't cheap. I'm picturing $25 meals. Uhhh...... no. It is a gourmet burger place and they range from $9-$13. Worth every penny. The burger is huge, well done, chock full of fixin's, and comes with home-made fries and various types of custom mayo for dipping. Verdict - yummy. If you find yourself in Quebec City and you enjoy a good burger, check it out. There's one downtown and in Ste Foy (an outskirt).

Nice... ummm.......... thong

This outfit is so wrong. His socks don't even match the rest of the outfit!

Wait 'til you see the rear view..........(last pic on the right - follow the link)

I almost invented blogs....

I know it goes without saying, but if you're relatively new to this blog, feel free to explore the archives. Start at the beginning (July 2004). They're scrumpt-blog-icious.......... err..... something.

R/C Skillz

It must take a lot of skill to operate a remote controlled plane like this..........

Via Cynical-C blog.

5 things I hate

Inspired by this blog:

1. Speed bumps
2. Places with no Internet access (like airports, for example....)
3. Cold food (that's supposed to be hot)
4. Negative people (Hahaha! Get it?)
5. When 'that' happens (think about it......)

Yes, I am qualified for small water craft

Those auto-flush toilets in various public places are pretty neat - under normal circumstances.

Today I encountered one that was akin to riding the white water rapids. This thing had a hair-trigger. When I say hair-trigger, I refer to the fact that it auto-flushes even if you just lean forward on the seat. Normally that wouldn't be anything to be concerned about. When this thing flushed, the water swooshed around the bowl so violently, it literally left puddles on top of the seat - assuming you were now off the seat......heh. That's not an exaggeration. Instinct had me looking around for a life jacket. I felt sorry for every poor soul that was yet to use that stall. Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'soaker'.

Who says only Hollywood makes good movies?

Here's a freaky independant stop-motion short film titled Android 207.

My favourite breakfast

Toasted English muffins with peanut butter and a big glass of milk. For added goodness, I float some jam on top of all that melted peanuty goo-ness.

What's yours?

Can you tell I've been travelling a lot lately?

I don't understand airports. Like why do they have to wipe down my laptop looking for explosives residue, but they're apathetic about the cell phone, MP3 player and PDA in my jacket. Why do they insist I remove my Doc Marten shoes before walking through the sensor thingy, but some girl wearing shoes with heels so huge, they could be packed with enough hidden weapons to silence a platoon of Marines gets to keep hers on. A person can enter the secure area sober as a judge, but by the time they are ready to board their flight, they're suddenly drunk enough to berate the airline staff because their seat can't be changed from an aisle to a window with only 5 minutes left until departure. How can an airport can have an army of cleaning staff wandering the halls 24 hours a day, but they can't manage to keep a half dozen restaurants and stores open as long as there are flights waiting to leave. I don't understand why they choose the firmest, most uncomfortable seating for people to wait for their flights. Some airports have some nice chairs, but the ratio is usually 1 good one for every 50 bad ones. Certain airports can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the most modern, avante-garde architecture in their renovations or new building design - but they can't spend a few thousand on some frickin' wireless Internet!

Time to clean out the closet?

Here's something you could do once a year to give that rod in the closet a break:

Go through your wardrobe and pick out the clothes you haven't worn in 9 months or more (this allows for seasonal wear). Ask yourself - am I ever going to wear this again? Come on - don't use the excuse "as soon as I lose that next 10 pounds". Just be realistic and take out everything that you know in your heart is past its prime and donate it to the local charity. If you're not that charitable, bring it to a second-hand clothing shop and see if it sells. These places often give great returns if you spend your credit in the store.

Great tag line

Best tag line seen on a blog lately:
"Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or just a really cool opotamus?" -Mitch Hedberg

Decrypt this.....

Geekiest t-shirt slogan seen lately.

Don't worry if you don't get it - only geeks would get this one.
(If you must know - DeCSS is used to decrypt DVDs)

Music with visuals

If you have an appreciation for music, but you just don't 'get it', may I suggest you give this visual representation of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on a music animation machine a try.

There's another one, Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune. I don't know about you, but it makes the patterns in the music much more evident.

I heard a ruckus

This is an example of the kind of thing you hope doesn't happen at your home when you're not there. Imagine trying to explain to the neighbours that you have no idea what they heard coming from your place....

Truth in advertising

What would you expect to see if you visited www.purple.com? You won't be disappointed....

Pining for space

Of all the things I've seen in science fiction (that were plausible), there's one thing that I had hoped would have materialized by now - a modern orbiting space station. The kind like we saw in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Essentially a space-port / resort in space. Why? Have you seen what earth looks like from up there? No - me neither. But based on the pictures I've seen, I want to be able to see that - live - with my own eyes. All we have now is the 'ghetto in orbit' (the International Space Station). It's got so many problems, it's a wonder the thing is still in one piece. I think the only way we're going to get off this abused planet and explore the galaxy is to build an orbiting station that regular people can visit. Once they get the taste for space - they'll vote for further exploration.

Stylin'

In case you haven't seen.... err.. heard this yet - a soundtrack made entirely of old Windows sound wave files.

The boy's been around...

I was discussing American Idol with some people and the topic got around to one of the judges - Randy Jackson. Some wondered what his history was in the music industry. Turns out, he played bass with a hell of a lot of artists. Here's a partial list:

Aretha Franklin; Herbie Hancock; Blue Oyster Cult; Whitney Houston; Eddie Money; Joe Cocker; Lionel Ritchie; Kenny G; Journey; George Benson; Bob Dylan; Michael Bolton; Madonna; Jon Bon Jovi; Billy Idol; Celine Dion; Stevie Nicks; Roger Waters; Bruce Springsteen

Historical scientific trivia

Before they were filled with mercury, what were thermometers filled with (circa 1600's)?

Ants!

We've got ants in our yard. Lots of them. Luckily, they seem to be happy to stay outside. But they're everywhere. In the tree. All over the ground.

We plan to build a ground level wood deck in our back yard someday. I often wonder what effect that will have on the ants (or what effect they'll have on the enjoyment of our deck). Will they continue to flourish in the dark under the deck? Will they move away? Should I try to kill them first? Should I care? Does anyone have any insight on this?

My latest poster

Great ad campaign

A German ad agency created ads that stick onto the sides of vending machines. The theme is jobs you wouldn't want to be stuck in, by - you guessed it - a job placement service.

See this one (the entire ad) and more here.

Soul patrol gets it done

I didn't think America could do it, but they actually voted Taylor Hicks for American Idol. He certainly wasn't the best 'singer' in the competition, but he certainly was the best 'performer'. He's got the soul baby. I hope he manages to ditch the Idol production monkeys and make some great music on his own.

Atta boy Taylor..........

Awww............ poor l'il TV networks.....

I've been reading lately that the TV networks are none too happy about the ever-increasing phenomenon of Tivo and other PVRs (digital versions of your old VCR - but based on a hard drive). This is because viewers are now habitually skipping the ads. The PVR makes it quite easy to do. Networks are planning inventive (and annoying) ways to counter this ability. I say it's just another example of the entertainment industry not getting with the times. I even have a solution for them. They've probably already thought of it - so I'll present my idea as a prediction instead.

Product placement. They already do it in movies. If you haven't noticed, you haven't been paying attention. I say just start using product placement on TV, but take it to the next level - get the actors in on it too. Think about it. Dr House is insulting his latest patient, then he chides them with the line, "Here's a prescription for some Tylenol. I'd give you Advil, but it's too easy to swallow...." Or Horatio from CSI Miami ripping his trademark shades off his face and stating, "Only Oakley's for this face mister..." All kidding aside, it's a natural evolution - ditch the commercials - have the TV actors do the endorsements instead.

Do you recognize these original band names?

Do you know what these bands are known as now?
Answers in the comments

The High Numbers
Tom and Jerry
Chad Allan and the Expressions
The Backyard
Feedback
Caesar and Cleo
Angels and the Snakes
Cap’n Swing
Wee Johnny Hayes & The Bluecats

Thanks to 2Spare

There should be a law....

What a nice wedding. Too bad someone had to walk by and ruin the picture.........

There really is no colour......

Holy smokes! Wanna see a really cool optical illusion? I already knew why it does what it does - but seeing the effect is unreal.

This is pretty lame.....

So, as was predicted, the Oil & Gas cartel has reacted to Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. They have hired the Competitive Enterprise Institute to commission ads countering the global warming claim with their own spin. When I read about this on BoingBoing, I thought they were joking - the tag line is: "CO2, some call it pollution, we call it life". I'm not making this up. You have to see the ads to believe them.

I seriously hope they don't actually think Americans are so dumb as to actually believe the counterspin. Are they? Please say they're not! Their logic is akin to someone suggesting that mould all through your house isn't a bad thing by using the tag line: "Mould, some call it a health hazard, we call it penicillin".

Canadians embrace Firefox

It seems that the alternative browser Firefox has decent Canadian market penetration with 16%. That's the highest percentage in the world. Microsoft's Interet Explorer is still in use by 77.5% of surfing Canucks. It's OK. They just don't know any better..........

It's a martian!

One picture from Mars has a rock that looks an awful lot like a skull. Let the conspiracies begin!

Corniest joke read on another blog this week

Actually, it was in the comments:

".....if it weren't for venetian blinds, it would be curtains for us all...."

The pictures don't do it justice

Darlene and I went for a drive to Kananaskis Country today. For those not from Alberta, this is the easternmost mountain valley in the Rockies near Calgary, known for its ski resorts, wildlife, lakes and trails. I decided to try my hand at another few panorama creations using my stitching software. Check them out here, here and here.

Köstlich

If you're ever in the Calgary area and want to enjoy some superior quality European food, you must go to Bragg Creek and try the cuisine at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant. It's the place I often pick for my special birthday dinner. The reason is simple - the food is fantastic. Rich, made from scratch, Charlie creates some dishes that will have your mouth watering every time you think about the place. His staff are friendly beyond description. One time I called to make a reservation and the woman recognized my voice and asked if we would be wanting the usual dishes.

I won't bias your experience by telling you what we like - you just have to go and find out what you like for yourself. Bring a good appetite and a good bank balance - our meals typically run to $80-90, without tip or booze. But it's worth every penny. They have a saying on the wall, "We will serve good food, at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always good food".

When spanking just won't do.......

Let me state first of all that I do not under any circumstances condone this type of treatment of children. But ya gotta admit - it's a funny picture..... and I hope to God it was created with image manipulation as opposed to being a real photo......

Don't forget Lard

Nice vehicle window sticker.......

Space is far out, man!

If you're into astronomy at all, you should check out the Hubble Space Telescope's archive of photos. Incredible images of space. Too bad we can't go see this stuff for ourselves.

It's all a lot of hot air......

Not all politicians dismiss the concept of global warming. Al Gore (whom you can read about in the latest issue of Wired magazine) believes it, has data to support the concept - and will release a documentary called An Inconvenient Truth, which opens May 24. The oil companies are not too happy about what the movie has to say and will be airing ads to counter the movie's claims. It will be interesting to see what finally deflates the oil & gas cartel's grip on our energy production, because nothing has succeeded yet.

Follow the link above to see the trailer. Thanks to BoingBoing for the lead.

Aaaaarrrggh!!

One of the manifestations of human nature that we could all do without is stress. We stress out over a lot of stuff. Some things are worth getting concerned about, but many are not. I read the following from a great little book a few years back and it is so true:

Stop to consider the thing you're currently stressing out over. Now try to project out 6 months. Ask yourself, will this thing matter in 6 months? If the answer is 'no', there is really no reason to stress over it because it will obviously pass.

This is good advice to share with a friend who is freaking out about something minor. It's an attitude that you may not be able to master overnight. In time though, you can learn to stress less over things that matter little.

You can be friends with the management...

There's one unfortunate aspect of military life that I thought I would have shaken when I retired, but alas it was not to be. There are two sets of ranks structures in the military - the Officers and the rest of us. It's been that way forever and it is unlikely to change. What's the difference? Think of the officers as the management - university graduates with (one would hope) the leadership skills needed to organize and motivate troops into battle. The other ranks can be anything from the grunts (infantry) and apprentices (trades) to the foremen (as it were) and the seargent-major. Officers are molded into the belief that they are special and should not socialize with the other ranks. Even if this is not entirely true, it certainly comes across that way to the other ranks. There are many officers (some of whom I know very well) that have been ostracized for socializing with their troops anyway. But us 'other ranks' respect that. A lot.

I have seen a few of my peers get university degrees and join the officer ranks. Some of these people, whom I considered to be my friends at one time, have changed. After their transformation, they have been known to treat the rest of us as strangers, lesser people. That's unfortunate. I am in a career right now where I work with people who used to be (or in some cases - still are) officers. Some I work 'with', some I work 'for' - but in every case they do not pull the rank thing on me and I respect them for that. It's a shame that some people have to shun years of friendship when they become 'in charge'.

I'm just sayin'...........

Trivia question

Guess what industry uses 90% of the licorice imported into the USA as flavouring?

Fun with construction signs

You can sleep when you're dead

I don't really like coffee that much, but I found this poster to be entertaining. It also reminded me of my adventure in Pearson Airport the other night.....

Time well wasted

It'll lose its interestingness after a few minutes, but you need to see this thing in action just for fun. You'll be presented with a picture. click anywhere on that picture and watch what happens. Keep clicking.

Neat huh?

It's true

I just turned 45. Like - I don't mean 'just' - I mean sometime in the recent past.

I don't look a day over 50..........

Caught in the airport 'vortex'

Well sports fans, for the first time I am dealing with a huge travel delay getting home from a business trip. I finished my work day at around noon Wednesday and had to kill a few hours waiting for my first flight to depart at 5:20pm. Well, it's amazing what a little weather can do. When it snows in Toronto, they call in the Army (heh..... sorry, I couldn't help that dig). When a thunderstorm comes through, they shut down the airport. That wasn't a dig. The problem is that once the flights resume, it takes forever to resume normal operations again. I never did leave Kingston until 10:30pm. Once we landed in Toronto, we still had to wait for our turn to park at a gate. The airport was bedlam - even as late as midnight. I won't be finishing my trip until Thursday morning, by which time I'll have been up 29 hours. I write this post at 12:45am from Terminal 1 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I am not posting it live because......... Pearson International Airport - the largest in Canada - does not have Internet access. Can you believe that? If you listen very carefully - you can hear the sound of Pearson sucking. Oh - but they have a Tim Horton's open 24 hours a day..... yes they do. At 2:00am, airport security booted us all out of the secure area (where the gates are) for some stupid reason. We were told we could come back (through security) after 4:00am. The area outside of security was perfect for sleeping. Bright lights, a blaring P.A. system, the smell of fresh wax in the air, hard chairs...... good times. If you did manage to get some shut-eye, the test of the fire alarm system made sure that didn't last too long.

Well, at least now I can say I spent the night in an airport. But I'll never do that again.

Why change the sign?

I'm in this city on business. I spy a previous (now closed and vacant) location of a fast food joint (can you guess which one based on the photo?). The sign has been somewhat modified to obscure the original logo. Yeah that worked real well, hey? So I'm thinkin' - whoever buys this piece of real estate should just open a place and call it [deep voice bellows] "The Big Black Dot" [deep voice no longer bellowing]

"Pop" goes the button..........

The possibility of a wardrobe malfunction while on the road is indirectly proportional to the number of wardrobe items of a particular type you happened to pack for said trip. The ratio doubles if you conveniently decided to pack light for "this trip only". For example, the likelihood of work pants malfunctioning is practically guaranteed if you only pack one set......... "this trip only".

Speaking from experience......

Complimentary turn-down service

At the hotel I'm staying at, I asked if the parking was complimentary. "No". I then inquired if I could get a free room upgrade. "No". Free breakfast? "No". Internet? "No". I did get something free............

Now go back and read the title.......

Attention LTMHS Class of 1978

Now that I have your attention, I just thought I'd give something a shot. I'd like a copy of our year's Mantle (yearbook). I know spare copies are pretty much non-existent. I don't necessarily need to keep it. I'd be willing to read it (maybe scan it) and return it to its rightful owner.

Like a record baby..... a broken record

So like I was on the bus yesterday. No really - I was. I had dropped my car off to get some stuff done. The bus had a group of teenagers onboard. This one girl was so loud! Holy! My cell phone rang - it was the place working on my car trying to reach me - and I could barely hear them because this chick was so loud.

OK, so like I'm totally out of touch with the teen scene - you know - no longer having any at my house or my work and stuff.... so I ask you, my readers - is this normal? Do teens talk extra loud just to impress each other these days? It didn't impress me much. Because now I had to listen to some inane blabbering about the song 'you spin me round' by Dead or Alive. It just went on and on. I shoulda brought my Zen (mp3 player) along......

On another note - do you ever notice how many mentally handicapped people there are on buses? I have a theory. They weren't always this way. They went nuts listening to teens blabber about inane stuff on the bus all the time.

TV trivia

What actor was offered the role of Archie Bunker in All in the Family but turned it down because it was too controversial?

The role eventually went to Carroll O'Connor.

No cheating....... do you know?

P.S.: If you were born after 1970, you may have no idea what TV show I'm talking about - it's OK.

Wow...... that was easy!

Best exam answer ever!

Thanks to Look at this blog.

Now this is magic...

I found this funny. The magic of Daniel Chesterfield. I kinda do something like this myself - as I approach those doors that open automatically, I wave my hand as if I'm doing one of those Jedi tricks. It drives Darlene crazy. Yes, I am mental.