MTNGoatOnWheels

2006-10-30T12:54:00.000-05:00

So a few days ago, I notice the MSN tagline of a friend. It said something about changing the name of Avenue Du Parc. At the time I wasn't up to date on current local events and thus I had no clue what was he talking about.
Today, I was just browsing on TV and I came up to a news brief saying that this city wanted to change the name of a major avenue to another.
Here is where the rant begins...
With pot holes being at their worst, the local economy is not excatly flourishing (I don't live in Alberta) and given the amount of resources needed to change the name of a city street; It makes me wonder what is the reasoning behind it.
Maybe just the city wanting to spend money on apparences instead of fixing some non cosmetic things. Idiots...

yay!

2006-09-11T23:50:00.000-04:00

spam comments... i love them!
keep em comming!!!

Slowly getting back into it

2006-08-26T13:37:00.000-04:00

Once one stops climbing it is like the climbing ability just goes the way of the dodo bird. I'm fighting now to get back into my old grades but it's a long hard battle. The hard climbs have teamed up with lack of motivation and they are all coming for me.
On the other hand, I've got a new ally. I met a new partner just recently. I can't stop saying how cool she is. Although she doesn't lead and is climbing soft grades, I'm sure she will improve and maybe will get the urge to climb on the sharp end.
Anyhow, summer is coming to a close rather quickly. I didn't spend a lot of time climbing outside this year (read lack of motivation). That said, I am looking forward to this year's ice season. I just need to get my tools back! I'm putting in a rule, something that I should have learned in thailand but I missed the lesson. Never lend out your gear!

I just noticed

2006-07-17T22:44:00.000-04:00

This blogk is one year old!
Happy birthday bloggy thingy!!!!11

Let me share...

2006-07-17T22:39:00.000-04:00

8 strawberries
3 tbl sugar (or honey, i don't have any right now)
1/2 cup orange juice (with pulp)

put all that in a blender and give it a whirrr...
add in:

10 ice cubes
1/3 cup of vodka

give it more whirrrr in the blender, until all the ice cubes are slush

pour into two medium glases
garnish with a cut strawberry

enjoy!

It's only wednesday

2006-07-12T10:24:00.000-04:00

But I feel like its Monday all over again!
I went to the gym last night; Climbing is a hard activity these days. I took my brother in law climbing (as my sister and her family are currently visiting my mom) as he'd never done it before. It was hyisterical! Its always fun to see newbies go climbing for the first time, it makes me realize just how hard climbing is! All in all it is a great activity.
I'm at the office now, I'm supposed to start on a new project that deals with taking a result set derived from a database, convert that into an XML document then, from that document, output a print quality PDF file. Its an interesting project, definetly something I have never done before. It is always cool to learn new things.

Meh, one more picture

2006-07-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

Pictures!

2006-07-05T21:06:00.000-04:00

Then the world goes upside down

2006-07-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

I can't even begin to detail how much things have changed.
Before life was routine. Things came and things went. Now, everything is new.
I guess to sum it up in one world would be: change.
One change that I'm happy about is me going back to the gym. I've been going hard this week at least. I'm so not at the level where I used to be and its kind of frustrating! The goal of climbing is to have fun and that is excatly what I do. Although my whole body hurts...

Some things never change...

2006-06-19T13:27:00.000-04:00

Some people are still very plastic.
To all of you that fit that bill:
From the deepest crevasse located in my heart... fuck you!

One last thing...

2006-05-30T19:35:00.000-04:00

Living with a roommate sucks... If said roommate was a chick and there would be a possibility she'd go to town with me, then maybe. Then again, that's a whole other can of worms. Living alone rocks.

Updates

2006-05-30T19:14:00.000-04:00

I got a damn pot belly! Bloody hell, I can remember a while ago wanting to be bigger, to have more volume to my shape. I got that covered now, mission accomplished. Now, guess what? I have over done it. In my close to 8 months of lazyness I think (because I've no scale...) I've gained about 20 pounds of pure shit in me. I have lost muscle, or it has mysteriously transformed into a jelly-like substance that seems to be in it's place.

So what now? Back to training. Pure and simple... I have to go through a lot of pain, like I did when I started doing excercise a few years ago. In fact, I started it the past weekend. Saturday was a tour in the gym (Horizon, I've not been there in over a year) and on Sunday it was a day trip to Val David (pics are up on the site) (no, not this site). During the approach walk, we got lost and ended up hiking for a good 2 hours or so. That heat, the pack and the trail killed me so much I dehydrated, but like a dumbass, I didn't notice or ignored it. When climbing my first route, I felt like it was the hardest route I had ever done! It was only a 5.9 on top rope. I was lowered down and it hit me like a ton of bricks. A lightheaded feeling, extremely weak and nasua: dehydrated. I drank my 1.5 litre nalgene throughout the afternoon and I didn't dare try to climb another route for fear that I would puke my brains out. I was pretty tired when I got home.

Yesterday, I did some weights working opposing muscles plus a few rounds on the hangboard doing pull-ups. After that I went for an evening jog. I've not counted how many blocks but it was a descent distance for a fat ass like myself right now, a shameful distance when I used to train. Tonight, I plan to do the same or at least a variation but definetly going to go for a run. I have to get back into my normal self... Because of how I want to feel, because I want to be healthy and because my goddamn clothes don't fit anymore.

One step at the time.

Spam rhetoric: A rant of sorts

2006-05-30T19:04:00.000-04:00

What is the use of going to a useless blog and hit up a comment trying to peddle whatever it is that you peddle? How effective is this type of marketing?

I realize that companies must send out mass mailings and do a lot of shady things to get noticed, that is the name of the marketing game after all. However, to make posts on a blog or sending emails to a list urging us to go to you for the cheapest meds, how much ROI are you getting back? The minimum cost of producing this would be a few hours of a programmer's time to set up a spider to place these posts. I do wonder sometimes if the increased business as a direct result of that little post is viable.

I've not come up with a single spam message that would make me want to buy their product. It's a question of ethics; If I would want to buy Cialis or Viagra, what makes the average spam dude thing that I will want to buy it when you spell it Ci@lis or V1@g@ in order to sneak by the spam filters of people's email reader of choice?

Man, the internet is a wonderful thing, but sometimes some kind of standard is required, or a certain level of marutiry of cominication skills. Just a rant.

So...

2006-04-25T21:44:00.000-04:00

My last post was about the Ant wars I'm forced to wager. The update on that is Ants are stronger than me. They are attracted to the cat's wet food I give him in the mornings. The dry food has no appeal to the ants whatsoever. This is a good thing, except for the cat. Since the remedy is to remove anything desireable to the ants, the cat food must go. So now, I am going to eventually train the cat not to get wet food and be happy with the dry. Maybe he'll get a good serving of wet food on the weekends, when I have ample time at home to remove the place once he has finished.
I'm going to try hot sauce on their entrance, let's see if that keeps them at bay for a while.

War has been waged!

2006-04-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

Between The Cat and I and the Ants.
It seems that I have some unwanted guests (not the human kind) living in my flat, Ants. It seems they have taken a liking to The Cat's wet food and have resorted to raiding it after he's done eating it. Yesterday was pretty bad! I laid out the food plate for The Cat at around 8:30 am. Then I went back to bed (as I was dead tired from the previous night's debauchery), about 3 hours later, when I woke up, I found a well established ant-highway going from the door of the kitchen (there is a crack there where I suspect the Ants have make an entrance) and The Cat's food plate. It was terrible! I sweped up maybe 50 of the little shits and flushed them down the toilet (what a way to end it all).
Anyhow, yesterday as I returned from work, I decided to clean the flat top to bottom. I dusted, wiped, swept and mopped all over, not sparing any pine sol either! And this is my triumph, at least I think (er, hope) it was. In the crack where the ants come in and out from, I cleaned it very well and I laced the walls (pertaining to the crack of course) with Tiger Balm. Now, the cracks have a nice mentholy smell, one that I can smell when I'm standing in the doorway to the kitchen. I hope that will be enough for the ants to wager against going to go eat The Cat's food. This is the first battle. The war has been waged.

I noticed something...

2006-04-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

Just coming back from climbing. I had a great time! Although, I'm pretty sore and I could have climbed a lot better than I was, but no matter, the important thing is that I'm back on the horse. I need to get fit!

But, as I was saying, I noticed something. I don't post as many pictures are before anymore these days. Well, my appologies for that. Without further ado, here is one picture!
This is a impromptu portrait session that I did in my new place.
This girl wanted a "indie" photo of her. She wanted a portrait, but not in a conventional sense portrait. She didn't want to smile, although, that is her nature; she is always smiling!
Anyhow, on the left you can see the result. I've yet to scan out one more roll of film from that session. All in all, I like how this frame came out.

Training is hard

2006-04-10T16:19:00.000-04:00

Let me just tell you about it, er, should I say whine about it instead?
Anyhow, this weekend was my return to the gym. Since I've started the moving into an appartment process, I've readily avoided the gym! I have become lazy over the past few months, so much so that I've even started to grow a belly! Not a huge spare tire thing, but it's not a ripped 6 pack!
Climbing on saturday with my long time climbing partner, it was fun! I got on some leads, but I realized that I am bad at it. I've lost so much in terms of climbing ability. But not to worry, I intend to get it all back and then some! Yesterday I went out running with the roommate (god, I hate that term; He is NOT my roommate!) I could only exhert myself for about 15 minutes... Now, I hurt all over! But it's a good hurt, muscles are coming back to life and soon I'll be able to push myself even futher, like before!
Until then, I'll just be walking a little slower these days.. ouch.

Daylight Savings Time

2006-04-03T08:47:00.000-04:00

I suspect there must be a large number of people who this morning woke up excatly 1 hour late. I am working from home today because I must make up one person out of that group.
So, while I'm here, I might as well tell you some news here. Saturday, I was supposed to go have dinner with this girl. Well, that didn't happen. I don't know excatly what happened but dinner never happened, instead, I managed to pick up a refugee.
My friend calls me on Saturday morning and asks me if I could let him in for a few days while he finds a new appartment. I reluctantly let him in with all his crap he was hauling. Well, I'm on day two of harboring a guest in my tiny appartment... I don't excatly know when is he going to leave but let's just home it's soon. I kinda liked my time alone and the experience of having a roommate is not appealing to me.
Well, those are the news. Which reminds me, I have to reply to my traveling friends! They are still in New Zeland somewhere. It's pretty cool they still write to me and tell me travel updates. It's going to be almost 6 months since I met them. I have to figure out a way to see them again.

Update

2006-03-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

I reckon it's time to give you kiddies an update as to what's been going on.
Well, I'm oficially in my new appartment. Living alone rules! So far, It's been pretty steady at my place, there is always someone coming over and doing stuff. Usually it's only my buddy coming to chill with a beer and a J before his hour long drive back home.
Last night, my music girl friend came over. There is nothing going down with that chick, as she is in another planet. She constantly talks to me about her latest love affair with a 20 yr. old virgin. I'm like, dude, do you really have to tell me this shit? Anyhow, We drank some wine last night, ate some indian food and just chilled. I took two rolls of film of head shots of her... let's see how they turned out. I'll have to develop them pretty soon though, if all goes well, I'll get to Photo Service on Saturday and I can come home and process them.
Well, besides that... not much else is going on. Life as usual, er, not really... but I'm looking upwards!

Almost done

2006-03-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, my brother came up to visit. I had planned for him to help me move into my new appartment. That was scheduled for the Friday... The actual move took about 2 hours. It was 2 van fulls of stuff and it was settled.
Next, we headed to IKEA to go do some damage to my financials. 1600$ later, I now have furniture! Everthing has been taken out of boxes and it somewhat put away. There is still a lot of stuff to be put into their place but it's coming along nicely.
I made my first home cooked meal last night.
I am going to like being out on my own.

What a weekend

2006-03-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

Of debauchery!
Here are the accounts... Saturday, I went to see a friend. I hung around his house for a while. We watched some videos and listened to some music. All week, I'd been trying to score some smoke but everyone I knew had let me down and since my other friend's kid was just born on Monday night, he wasn't around. Anyhow, I picked up my stash and headed home.
So, the weekend was my first official weekend in my new place! I didn't do much, as there is nothing in my appartment, but anyhow, being there alone and knowing it is my place just felt good. Besides, Saturday night, I was just too drunk and wasted to really do anything.
Sunday, different story. One of my friends, who has a station wagon was cool enough to drive me to Ikea so I can pick up some furniture. I ended up getting a sofa and a kitchen table with two chairs. The sofa is amazingly comfortable, it reclines a little back offering more room to sleep, well, me stoned, I just dosed off. It was grand.
Right now, it's Monday, at around 9 am. I am so repenting from my sins.. I'm litteraly just so tired that I can hardly focus. I think I'll make today an easy day for me. Bad part of all of this is that I am supposed to go to the gym tonight. I'm not sure I'll go that far, I can't see myself doing a workout while I feel like the lonely roadkill tossed on the side of the highway. Ugh, tired.. so tired.

I like this picture

2006-03-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

She Almost Did It To Me!

2006-02-27T13:24:00.000-05:00

My mother! She created a huge mess with the my internet company that it took a good 45 minutes on the phone, not to mention driving the customer rep up the wall, to resolve this issue.
Let me explain...

I've had cable internet with Videotron for about a year. The reason being as my mother doesn't use cable, instead she chooses to pay people to cook satellite cards for her, and I need the invoices under my name so I can expense them through my office. This situation has worked out fine for the past two years, I get my bill every month, pay the amount, then eventually expense the whole thing. Complications started about two months ago...

My mother got wind that Videotron offers, among their internet and cable television services, a telephony service (kind of a voice-over-ip deal). Their service is fairly cheap comparing it to the local phone company, so she got the brain wave idea that she would switch.
One day, I come home from the office and she tells me about her idea for switching. I knew I was going to be moving (didn't really know where, but I did know that I wanted to move) so I didn't put much thought into that, I just told her to wait. She, of course, didn't wait. She called around and tried to get the telephone service installed at any costs. I was relieved to find out that she couldn't add any services because the account was solely to my name. I again, told her to wait.

Eventually, a few weeks later, she some how managed to get everything installed. I didn't ask how, I just asked (and stressed) my internet account not to be messed with! I repeatedly asked if the cable TV and the telephony service was going to be under her name, basically ensuring that I was kept separate from any of this. She said yes, and kept saying yes. I guess I was satisfied with this response, as I didn't think much of it. I wound up with cable television in my room, as long as I wasn't responsible for it, I was pretty much happy!

Today, since I was calling all the utility companies to advise them of my change of address and to open accounts (gas bill, electricity bill..), I ended up calling Videotron and schedule a service transfer for two weeks from now, my moving date. This is how I find about the huge mess I was in...

Apparently, I had subscribed to all of their services, telephony, cable television (with the decoder box) and the internet. I didn't really question the claims, I just only thought "fuck, she (my mom) did it to me!!" Anyhow, I tried to cancel the extra services but I had been locked in a 12 month contract! So either I break the contract and pay the penalty fee or I just move with phone and all. I decided to move everything, after all where I go, I have to have an internet connection due to my work. So at that point, I was going to move with my mother's phone. She was not going to be happy. Oh well...

I call her, she had received a call from Videotron so she was up to date on what was happening. She freaked out... And I have no idea what did she do as they had assigned her a new phone number. I tried to ask her what had she done but, in her usual style of avoiding any and all blame to her, didn't tell me anything in detail. I decided to call back Videotron and straighten the whole situation out once and for all, lest I would be stuck with a 300$ bill at the end of the month. I wanted only internet service to be at my new apartment.

I reach a customer service representative at Videotron, I explain to her the situation in detail. I get put on hold as, I'm assuming, she talked to her manager. Eventually, she comes back and passes me to someone else. I again, explain to that rep the messed up situation and I ask her to please rectify it, somehow! After about 30 minutes on hold and answering small questions, I get a solution to my predicament.

What ended up happening, which is still in the process, is my mother will take control of all of the services for the time being. When the two weeks are up, and I am able to move, they will sever the internet service from her and place it under my name and address. This was the simplest solution they could come up with.

Anyhow, needless to say this was not a pleasant experience, and it not really over and done with, it will not be until I'm in my new apartment.

New Appartment

2006-02-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

I just signed my lease for my new appartment. I went and spend a lot of money on cleaning products and some kitchen supplies. Spent today cleaning like a motherfucker. No matter how much I scrub, no matter how hard I wipe, an old appartment just cannot look new again. But at least it will look clean!

I had a friend come over and help me clean, she was nice enough to do a kick ass job on cleaning the dusty kitchen. I cleaned the bathroom and I did the living room. I've yet to finish with the firdge, the oven (basicaly finish off the kitchen) and clean the bedroom and the vestibule area. I am hoping I will get a lot of it done tomorrow, then it's just to wait until the right time to move my stuff. I cannot tell you how anxious I am for the first night in my new pad.

I went to have dinner with my friend at a newarby restaurant, near by my new place, as I have literally 20 different restaurants in a 6 block line. Dinner was extremely enjoyable! One of the best Indian cuisine restaurants I've ever tasted! I will be definetly coming back again, hopefully next time I go there, I'll only have to walk 4 blocks and be in my home.

Something that I've wanted for a long time!

2006-02-20T15:54:00.000-05:00

Many moons ago, too damn many in fact, I moved back in with my mother to help her out financially. That turned out to be more of a commitment than I originally anticipated, as she came down with depression and some psychological issues. That was around 4 years ago! Now, she is a lot better compared to back then, she has been able to travel, she is relatively stable albeight ailing of all sorts, but that is to be expected when you are 72 years old. Fast forward...

My predicament has always been that I've not lived in my own home for a long time now. I've witnessed a lot of my friends move in and out of their places, arrange their homes in a certain way to please them and buy some decorations to put up somewhere. Meanwhile, I just sit in a corner admiring and secretly wondering what would I do if it were me who was living in an appartment.

My days of wonder are over! I have decided to strike it out on my own. To get an appartment for myself and to start my life as it's been pretty much put on hold for so long now. I will be awarded with some liberties in decorating my place as I see fit, to adorn the walls with my photos and do pretty much whatever I like.

I've started packing some stuff today, things as my books and DVDs are already in boxes, ready to be hauled into an appartment. I've yet to find a place, but that will not be very difficult, at least I'm hoping it won't. Just today, I'm going to call a place to arrange a visit. The price is good and the location is not excellent, but it will do. The complex is located near a major Montreal artery and it is close to where I have to be.

In the back of my mind, I am worried for my mother. Will she do OK without me? Is she ready to live alone? I know I am ready to live alone, I am quite anxious in fact. This is now a new chapter in my life. Turn the page.

Same same but different

2006-02-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Tuesday... My would be sliding down Mt. Royal plans were eviscerated yesterday, instead, I spent the night organizing and scanning some pictures of the wedding I shot back last October. It's about time I get that done. The plans are now to make a DVD picture show and give that to the newlywed bride. From those sets, we will sort out an album.
Tonight I'm going to the gym directly from the office. I l0ve my laptop bag as I can fit harness, chalk bag and shoes in there without the poor bag bursting at the seams or looking like a stuffed cannoli. The gym plans will be for tonight and tomorrow night. Thursday I have a dinner for a friend's birthday. We are going to an Afghan restaurant. Anyone out there ever had Afghani food?
*cricket* *cricket*
Oh well, I'll let you guys know how it goes.
One more thing, happy valentine's day to all you happy couples out there. You all make me sick.

Best of Craig's List

2006-02-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

Just surfing a tthe office on a Friday morning. I go on Craig's list, because I have no life and his "best of" is priceless sometimes.
Lo and Behold, I find this gem. Now, my definition of a perfect girl is one that can say all of this:

I didn't vote for either George Bush
April 2oth is my New Years
I don't tear the tags off my mattresses til I get home
I always stop to pet dogs outside of grocery stores
I'm likely to have a different hair color every time you see me
I'm slippery when wet
I only use the rail when I walk down the stairs 30% of the time ( I love to walk the line ya know)
I've never read Playboy for the articles
I'll make you laugh
I've never been in one of Tommy Lee's movies
I'll never under cook the eggs
I'll never drink your last beer
I can make a mean pot of chili
I'll pretend I didn't see you look at that chick with the big boobs
I'll always be impressed with how strong you are
I know that handcuffs aren't just for the cops
I've never kicked a boy in the balls
I recycle
I do know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop
I won't steal the vicoden out of your medicine cabinet
I'll take care of you when you're sick and sometimes just because I think you're the shit
I'll make fun of you
I come with my own set of ear plugs in case of snoring
I can give a kick ass back rub
I haven't been a house guest of O.J. Simpson
I like porn
I can't stand soaps
I've got a sweet 420 hook up
I don't care if you leave the seat up
I give road head
I think chicks are hot
I have my nipples pierced
I pump my own gas
I don't give a shit if I break a nail
I've got cookies
I don't chew tobacco
I take a shower every day, twice even sometimes
I like it when you pull my hair
I'll let you beat me at pool
I'll keep working until I chip away at your walls
I don't care that you go out with the boys
I don't eat crackers in bed too often
I think it's hot when you come home all dirty from playing hard
I like it when dogs sleep in the bed
I can't stand the mall
My tongue is pierced twice
I don't care what music we listen to in the car
I've never eaten a bon-bon in my life
My closet comes equipped with a shit load of hoodies
I'd never ask you to go to lunch with my mother
When you wash the dishes it turns me on
My heart will jump every time you walk through the door
I don't care if you cut your toe nails in the living room
I'll save everything you ever give me
I won't ever forget your birthday, and remind you when mine is coming
I can pee standing up (it's totally gross though)
I think Project Runway is fucking gay
You just can't stop reading this!
I've never even seen one episode of Dawson's Creek or Gilmore Girls
I always use my nails to scratch a lottery ticket
I know where to put in the oil, and have even done it it
I'll think you're just about the coolest person I know
My friends are hot
I don't have hardly any guy friends
I've never owned one pink thing
I think pizza and a game at the sports bar down the street is the ideal date
I won't fuck your friends
I won't fuck your brother
The kinkier the better
What the hell is "in the box"?
I always open a window when I paint
I've never been on Americas Most Wanted
The only drama I have any part of is on t.v.
I don't care if you watch my girly movies with me
I know how to make a fire
I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue
I've got secret tattoos
My kisses will take your breath away
I dig public sex
I didn't vote for the 25 ft smoking law
I don't care if you leave your socks on
You'll never have to do your laundry again
My best friend isn't a guy
I can't stand John Mayer
My burritos are the bomb
I never drive faster than 30 mph in a school zone
My weird habits you'll find adorable
You'll sleep better when I'm next to you
I have a membership at 3 video stores
I'd fuck Angelina Jolie too
I'll thank you every time you open the door
I'll never waste your love
I'll laugh at every joke even when it's not funny
I'd never give you shit in front of your friends
It gets better every time
Use as much salt as you want I don't care
I won't ever let you leave for work in the morning without your lunch
I'll help you find your keys
I don't stop and ask for directions either
I don't have a big brother, so you don't have to worry about getting your ass kicked ever
I've always got stoner food
I try not to pick my nose, or butt in public
We can watch your movie first
I've never owned anything Hello Kitty
I don't need batteries
I once ate a cricket
I eat red meat
I can kill my own spiders
I'll clean the house perfect every time your mom comes
I'll always have smooth legs
I like it when my hair gets messed up
I used to be able to put my feet behind my neck
I met Tom Green once
I got suspended in high school 3 times
My family is just as fucked up as yours
I don't want to get married
My kid already has a dad
I'll always want more
I like horror movies
I smell pretty good most of the time
I don't litter
When I can I give to charity
I can be ready in 30 minutes or less
I lose at arm wrestling every time
I've got dirty pictures of me on my computer
I look both ways before I cross the street
I have cable and HBO
I never look directly into the sun
I'll look cute in your shirt
I'm not a virgin
You're hotter and more hilarious than anyone I know
I'll show you my boobs at the store when nobody's looking
I probably have more porn on my computer than you
I old enough to remember when the space shuttle crashed
I still get carded almost every time I get booze
I won't ever leave makeup on your shoulder
I've never hung a pair of panty hose on the shower rack in my life
I like it when you call me a whore in bed
I can balance a check book
I'll help you not to forget your moms birthday
I would never yell "fire" in a crowded theatre
I"m really good at sneaking food into the movies
I was Branciforte Jr. Highs spelling bee champion 2 years back to back
I'll never say 'nothings wrong' when there really is
I know how to hold my own hair back when I puke
My fingers can spill out Mary Had A Little Dream on the piano better than Ray Charles
I've never cried over spilt milk
I have never stabbed anyone in the eye
I can count to 100 by 5's
I've never smuggled drugs out of the country
I don't care if you eat dinner without a shirt
I think it's hot when you masturbate
I never overload the washer
What else have you got to do?
I know that whipped cream goes on more than sundaes
I've never auditioned for American Idol
I don't eat yellow snow
I like it when you talk to your friends about me in bed
My sunday morning breakfasts will change your life
My chin fits 'just right' in your shoulder when you hold me close
I'll understand if you get jealous
I'm just that good
I never had sexual relations with Bill Clinton or anyone named Bill ever
I'm a pepper
You're getting very sleepy...
I've never been on Jerry Springer
I may have already won $10,000,000.
I have a subscription to the Herald
You won't be able to get me out of your head
I know that sticks are better than automatics
I'll let you drive every time if you want
I buy a new toothbrush every time the blue wears down
I know that objects in the mirror are bigger than they appear
I would never smoke the last bowl
I would never send you to the store for tampons
Flowers will get you laid every time
I've never gotten caught lip syncing on SNL
I have a $3.24 credit at PayLess Shoes
I have clean socks that you can borrow if you run out
I never leave the engine running while I'm pumping gas
I never run with scissors
I've taken the Coke/Pepsi challenge and won
Almost every time I have a winning bottle top
I know how to keep a secret
If you spell something wrong I just think it's cute
I've never failed a survey
I can almost every time find Waldo
I never put my fingers in the light socket
I'm a gemini
I have all my shots
It's okay I don't really expect you to last longer than 10 minutes anyways
I'm pretty damn funny
I'm not a doctor and I've never played one on t.v. either
I don't care if you eat off my plate
None of my friends are guys I used to have sex with
When you're sleeping I'll always try to be quiet
I have never run out of gas (well I just fucked myself there now, didn't I?)
I know the difference between they're, their, and there
You really kinda would dig having someone to cuddle with on the couch
I know how to get stains out of tshirts
I've seen every episode of "The Shield"
I've got rad hair
I know how to leave you satisfied and hungry for more every time
I'm really good at making lists
After reading this far you've already got too much invested anyways

Source

Pictures

2006-02-01T12:20:00.000-05:00

Here are two pictures from my weekend in Boston. They were taken at the Museum Of Science while visiting the butterfly exhibit:

White Flowers

Hidden butterfly

Bag saga.. again

2006-02-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

As of now, it still continues to unfold. I've just received a call from the Skyport, they were asking if someone would be at my house to receive my bag today. They will deliver it sometime this afternoon. I will finally have my candy! I'm still left wondering where my bag went to. Last night, I checked on the Air Canada website, to see the status of my bag. It was marked as being held at Skyport "as per problem" I'm wondering what that problem was. Did they empty my bag and remove my candy? Thankfully there is nothing of real value there, except for my climbing gear and clothing.

Today I feel very down... I'm not sure why, I just feel like I have no energy and no sense of direction. I'll probably be better once I get candy in me.

The saga of lost bags

2006-01-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

Continues... I checked on the Air Canada website, they have a little tracking utility that shows what is going on with your bags. Apparently my bag has been found and it is at the airport. It's going to shipped to me via Fedex and I'm supposed to get it tomorrow sometime.
Damn you Air Canada! I want my candy!!!

Air Canada Sucks

2006-01-30T20:56:00.000-05:00

ASS I tell you. They lost my one and only checked bag. I waited at the carrousel for about an hour before one guy came up to me saying that all the bags were off the plane. Oh wonderful... My bag is now on the way to who knows where now. I had to fill out a lost bag claim form and now all I can do is to wait. They are supposed to deliver my bag to my house, eventually, I hope.
I didn't have anything that I really need, besides my candy and my puff jacket and my climbing gear. I hope they do find it by tomorrow!
All I can tell you is that from now on, I'll try not to fly Air Canada. Man these guys suck on the luggage part.
More pictures from Boston later. I've not resized them or done anything to them.

Baoston

2006-01-30T15:13:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm at Logan International Airport awaiting my flight home. It's scheduled to start boarding in about 15 minutes, so this will be a quick post.
My weekend in Mass. went pretty well. My brother and sister in law took me to a few places around town. Visited the Museum of Science and saw a butterfly exibit. I'll post some pictures up when I get a chance to edit them, for now, you can look at the one above. It's the view from one of the windows in the museum. That is the Charles River and you are looking at downtown boston . Yesterday, we drove up to Maine to do a little bit of shopping and to find salt water taffy. I found the candy, bought something like 4 pounds of the stuff. We also went into an outdoor relailer/sports store outlet thing called The Traiding Post. I found an amazing deal on a leather jacket from Columbia. I bought that plus some other clothing items like a North Face windproof fleece thing. On the drive back from Maine Sunday night, my brother popped a tire. We pulled over and had to change that bad boy, so today, I was supposed to go climbing indoors, as I like Boston Rock Gym, we had planned on it. Instead, We were going to go shopping for 2 new tires for my brother's car. That was um.. Fun.
Well, this is a quick post, I'll update y'all some more once I get settled in at home. Right now I have to go find a damn bathroom before I get on the bloody plane!

Oh Fine...

2006-01-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

I'll put up a picture from the 2dn Annual Ice Climbing Weekend:
This is a climber placing an ice screw on a WI3 climb at Montagne D'Argent. This was an amazing weekend. To show you guys that I have the best friends in the world, they all piched in to get me this:As a belated birthday present. This is pretty much the best hangboard you can ever get. To all my friends, a huge THANK YOU!!! Y'all are amazing.

Perfect Laptop Bag

2006-01-21T01:31:00.000-05:00

In my never ending quest to find a good laptop bag, I went to MEC of course only to get a Nalgene bottle, but instead I believe my quest is over!
I picked up this baby up! Lots of pockets, huge mesh compartment inside, padded laptop compartment, this is simply the best bag I've ever gotten. And, at 49$ CDN you can't beat the price. This bag looks good when it is only carrying my essentials (laptop plus accessories) and also doesn't look like a stuffed taco when I fill it with other things, like 3 bottles of wine.
I'm very happy now with my bag. Even better than the Spire one I got last year.

2nd Annual Ice Climbing Weekend

2006-01-21T01:26:00.000-05:00

It's on!!!! Going for a weekend of fun ice climbing with good friends out at Montagne D'Argent.
Will have a trip report for you kiddies when I come back.
Maybe I'll even put up some pictures!
Maybe...

My Birthday

2006-01-20T01:05:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday, well two days ago actually, was my birthday. Funny thing, most of my friends remembered and called me to wish me well (as opposed to go to hell). One of them even sent me an unexpected card! Another one, sweet as she is, sent me an email saying hello and, again, wishing me well. Everyone pretty much remembered, although, ironically, my family didn't! They all chimed in today (the 19th) to say happy birthday. One of them had a sorta valid excuse, he was too busy to go and call. Another one simply forgot and, best one of all, is in denial with the concept of time. She claimed that today (again, the 19th) was actually the 18th and thus was calling. Oh well, to those of you and especially the two that don't live anywhere near me, a big thank you and a huge hug for you! I love you all!

Almost Friday...

2006-01-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

But not quite...
This week has been going fine, I'd imagine. Besides almost being suffocated to death due to this guy, who I never saw, warming up his beat up snow plow truck and spewing all the exaust fumes into my windowless office, this week has been going good.

I was at the gym two days in a row. First time that I've done that since I've returned from vacation. I am now sore, which is good since I've not felt like this in a long time. I do realize that I have to do more excercise as I'm in very poor shape! But, it's like riding a bike, it will all come back to me once I get into the swing of things.

Today I was supposed to call this girl to meet up for coffee. I dialed her number, but apparently it's a wrong number! I'm wondering if she purposely gave it to me wrong. More to come on this I'd imagine.

A little rant on one of my coworkers, at the trailer park. Since we've moved, this guy has been only showing up to work at best 3 out of 5 days per week. He comes in at 9 am usually with the shuttle then casually leaves by 3 pm. I don't know how he gets away with it! With taking the 9 am shuttle, it's reasonable to think that one will be taking the 5 pm shuttle. Not him though. Anyhow, someday, someone will notice his odd hours and say something. I hope.

On a last note... I'm totally addicted to reading about the Hoors. What a wonderful blog written by a talented writer.

Cuel and unusual

2006-01-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

Working conditions...
This post contains severe profanity, so kiddies, cover your ears.

Since the office move from the city down into the sticks, I work in a fucking trailer. Normally, I would not mind but when a dumb fuck hick motherfucker decides to warm up his gawdam truck right outside my office wall, I get his fumes!

I'm talking serious carbon monoxide fucking posoning here! Like it's bad enough that I smoke cigarettes, I really don't need the help from this fucker who, for some reason, feels he has to warm up his beat up Forn in 1 degree weather. I mean... HELLO?? It's above the freezing mark!

Oh fuck what wouldn't I give to have an RPG launcher and blow that piece of shit truck apart.
Any extremists care to help a brutha out?

Bloddy 'ell

2006-01-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

This is one funny blog...

My Neighbors are Hoors

A brand new reverso

2006-01-04T20:23:00.000-05:00

It has been released and I want one!!!
Anyone wanting to send me a gift...
This is what to get.
You can view the product's website here.

A brand new year

2006-01-02T15:41:00.000-05:00

And we are celebrating it with this useless post.
Not much has happened, then again, this year is only 2 days old. Tomorrow it will be back to work as usual, that means time to go back to more regular sleeping patterns. These past two weeks have been horrendous on my system, not because of the drinking but because of the staying up late doing useless stuff. But I degress.

Since acquiring my new iPod video, 30 gig none the less, I've been hooked on podcasts, more specifically video podcasts. I found one particular one which deserves special attention: Tiki Bar TV. This is extremely hilarous! The show is set in someone's appartment that has been turned into a bar. The comedy skit is always about some sort of dilema or theme that can be cured by the doctor prescribing a phenomenal cocktail, to which they show the ingredients. I urge you to watch this even if you don't have an iPod. By going to their website, you can download their episodes.
Oh by the way... Lala is absolutely hott! hott I tell you!

Xmas prezzies coming!

2005-12-29T00:09:00.000-05:00

iPod, an Agent 18 case, 2 CD's from Amazon and an extra laptop battery coming in the mail for me!
Ok, the iPod came in today... still missing the other items. They will come sometime in the new year.

Tis the season

2005-12-29T00:07:00.000-05:00

To be ice climbing. Today the I opened up the season with a great climb at Mt. Tranchant with some good friends. The ice was thin and very hard to read. It was sugary at some points and dead hard brittle at others. So brittle that when on my first route, I sunk my ice ax and a huge block of ice dinner plated right on my face. Yay for the 1 inch cut above my left eyebrow. Ow....
I got pictures, but I an't a posting them.

Christmas

2005-12-26T00:23:00.000-05:00

Has come and gone. It sucks as usual.
I keep wondering if it will ever not be just another day.
Maybe...

Going on another trip

2005-12-23T02:19:00.000-05:00

I redeemed some of my accumulated travel points today. I exchanged them against a plane ticket to Boston to visit my brother, round trip none the less. It took a lot more points than I anticipated, but a free trip is well worth it. I'll be leaving for the last weekend in January. My departure is on the Friday and I'll return on the Monday evening. I will write up a trip report on that long weekend. Yes, I know I still owe my Thailand trip report as of writing, but I am working on it. I don't know how many pages I've written, but it's over 52 thousand characters long and it will only get longer! This next trip report will be shorter and since I'll be traveling with my laptop, I'll be able to write it as I go along.

Busy weekend!

2005-12-17T23:58:00.000-05:00

Well, sort of. I went gym climbing today. My first since I got back from Thailand. It was a painful event! I had not been so arm pumped in a long time and it just goes to show how badly my phisical shape is turning out to be.
I've started scanning my films last night. The whole process is taking quite a bit of time. I managed to scan and do the post-scan manipulation of one complete film just today. The picture in this post is just a sample of the images that I'll be posting soon.
Meanwhile, my trip report is slowly being typed up. It's quite tedious to write down every detail, or almost every detail. I'm not quite sure how good of a read will it be, but at least the effort will be there. Sorry it's been taking so long...

Snow!

2005-12-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

We got blanketed with 30+ cm of fresh snow here in the city.
I had to go pick up my films in this weather.
Here is a pic:

Railay West

2005-12-15T18:16:00.000-05:00

Here is one image from Thailand. I will receive some more next week, well, tomorrow actually but I have to scan negatives. Trip report is also coming soon... Get ready kids, it's going to be a long and boring one.
On to the picture!

Let it snow!

2005-12-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

But at least let me wear proper footwear. My 5.10 Tennies with the super sticky C4 dot tread sole does absolutely nothing for traction in the snow. So little traction that I feel like I'm walking in a skating rink! To prove that, I took a huge wipe out as I was walking down a hill on the sidewalk on my way to drop off films at Corlab.
Here is a picture of what I face when I step outside:

office xmas party

2005-12-11T03:15:00.000-05:00

It was amazing as always.
I probably have some good picutes but I'm too drunk to get the right now.
No big names showed up like last year but it was a blast.
Pictures on the way... I promise.
Also the Thailandtrip report is on the works. It will be a long read I promise that!
Night, I need to go to bed and I'm probably in shit because I got a coworker drunk, great he drinks and I get the shit for it. Go figure. I'll give him hell on monday.

** EDIT:
Ain't no way I'm posting pictures of this night.

Thailand bound

2005-11-11T10:28:00.000-05:00

I guess this is my last post before I leave on vacation. As I've reapeated a few times during the past few weeks, this is my first real trip anywhere. I mean, a trip where I go alone to a strange country, not to mention across the world. Honestly, I'm a bit scared but very excited as well. During my 3 weeks out, I will try to document my travels in a notebook I'm bringing. When I return I will transcribe them all here, or at least, that is the plan.

I couldn't be leaving at a better time. I kinda feel an itchiness build up in my throat, which only means that I'm starting to come down with a cold. In a few days, I'll be in a warm country surrounded by sights and sounds that I've never experienced before. My cold will wither away like melting butter, well, the beginings of my cold at least.

A few days ago, I replied to a call for volunteers to the Alpine Club of Canada. I taked with the person responsable of rounding everyone up. I got a position (I think) of social events coordinator. The duties of this position include for me to plan social outings for the club. I don't know how well I'll live up to the task, but I will try my best. For now, I have some ideas, like a monthly bowling night. Depending on the quality and quantity of pictures I bring back from Thailand, maybe I could also host a slide show showing all the pictures. When I return, I'll put my head to the grinder and come up with some ideas, right now, I am not in the mnindset of planing anything concrete. Besides, I don't have the position as of yet. That will come at their General Meeting held November 29th.

Right now, I'm off to MEC to get some last minute items like chalk and a Lonely Planet guide book. Funny thing, I was told to bring extra amounts of chalk as they don't sell the good stuff there. Good thing to know!

Tonight, or this afternoon, I plan to visit the gym one last time. I met a new girl at the gym the other night and she is pretty cool! At least she has a great attitude about climbing, with is a huge improvement over my travel companion slash climbing partner. I have to give her a call later on.

With that... I'm off. I'll see you in 3 weeks!

The smell of vacation!

2005-11-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

This is my last work week before my vacation. I am pretty excited, and a little nervous. I keep trying to run things over in my head to see if I have everything, if I've not overlooked something, but so far, everthing seems to be in order. I take off this Saturday at 8 am.
I talked to a friend who will be driving me to the airport (hopefully) so there at least I'll save on my cab fare.

Over the weekend, I went to do some night photography with my coworker, er, manager. I had managed to borrow the company's D70 to play with. The guy in charge of it lent it to me in hopes of convincing me that digital was better than conventional film photography. Not a chance! Although, I managed to get some shots that I'm pleased with, I'm not overall happy with my exposure. I realized that from all my time shooting with slow film during long exposures, I had been accustomed to really long exposure times. The result was that I got an over exposed negative. Almost too dense to be scanned by my film scanner (the piece of shit it is). I am sure, where I to have access to a conventional darkroom, I could print something worthwhile. I got very, very good shadow detail captured but the scanner is not powerful enough to penetrate the highlights. It seems that thing will scan better if I tell it that a color negative is being fed instead of a black and white one. Anyhow below is one picture that I'm happy with:

nicely surprised

2005-11-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

As I walked into the office this morning, my manager was already in the office. My first reaction was: "What? Someone fell out of the bed this morning?"
Apparenly, he's gotten the conscious bug in him again. At least he cannot say anything towards my hours as I've been actually pulling a 40 hour week today. Granted, I did take 1 1/2 lunch hour today but hey, they (manager and coworker in my department) were pulling 6 hour days all this week so far.

On another note... Here is another picture of Max that I like:

Some pictures

2005-11-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

I guess it has been a while since I've posted pictues.
Here are two that were taken last weekend. One of my cat, the infamous Max, and the other of a bench near Old Montreal. I guess on the eastern side of Old Montreal almost on the outskirts of it. Boy would I like to live in that area. One day.
Without further ado:

Max posed on my (or his, depending on who you'd ask) desk chair. You have no idea how hard i is to get him to pose. Everything is done on his terms and if I was able to get a somewhat good shot of him, it is because HE let me.

A park bench in Old Montreal. A new perspective on something that most people would not give a second glance to. I like this style of photography.

A broken window. Walking along some where in the Old Port, I came by this window. I found it pretty interesting but I'm not convinced of it's photographic value. What do you think?

A late post

2005-11-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

I tried to write this a few days ago but circumstances which I'll explain prevented me.
So, here are the news... Break out the pop corn... As if you cared.
Anyhow...
Last Friday our office got some very distressing news. We were told we had to vacate that office and move to the office in the south shore. This is following some TV interviews and some unwanted publicity that has been going on for some time. The result is that we (the people that used to work in our former office) have all moved to the south shore building and are sharing a conference room. We've arranged the tables around to make use of as much space as possible and we are all crammed up in an 8 foot by 12 foot office, all 8 of us. So, as you can tell, I've not the time to pull up blogger and start ranting like I used to. Besides, I don't want people to know what I write here, it's comforting to be able to write this anonymously.
So how do I feel about the move? I actually think it's great! Not the cramped quarters though but the fact that I'm closer to my user base and I can write better applications for them. Besides, I get less bored at the office now that I actually have activities to do, activities as going to talk to people on a face to face basis and find out what their needs are for software development. On the downside, I have to actually do an eight hour day, no exceptions. Since I don't drive, I rely on the office's shuttle service which picks people up from the metro station at 8:30 am and drops me off at that same metro station at 5:15 pm. I do get home generally about 15 minutes earler so that I a good thing, although I kinda miss getting to work at whatever time I got into work. I've yet to figure out what to do when I have to go pick up films at Corlab though, but I doubt that will be a problem as I could just leave the office at 3 pm. The rest of my department is barely pulling in a 6 hour day. I can't help but to think back to a certain "talk" my manager had with our department (all of 2 people) about coming in early. One guy is coming in past 11 am and my manager, how lives 10 minutes away, only comes in maybe 30 minutes earlier than him, meanwhile, I've already put in 2 hours at the office by the time they show up. Ironic, isn't it?
So, that is what has been going on at work... I guess more news to come.
But, not before I leave for my vacation. As of now, I have 8 days to go until I'm in Thailand. Since the last attitude fit my climbing partner pulled, I've lost any respect of us being a team. Now, I'm getting into my head that I'm going alone to Asia and I'm determined to make the best of it. I am sure to meet other climbers while I'm there, so I'm not worried. And If I don't make any climbing, my secondary goal is to take pictures. That I don't need anyone to be with me, in fact, I prefer being alone to be able to do that. It will definelty be something I will remember. My first vacation abroad! Certainly not my last, I so want to go see Germany. So far, my biggest worry is once I get into Bangkok, how do I get to Krabi from there? I will soon find out.
Hopefully, (but realisticly not likely) I will find a way to post something on here while I'm abroad. If not, then I do plan to keep a handwritten journal. When I come back, I will data entry all of those stories on here. After all, this is supposed to be a chronicle of my life. Is someone reading this?

yay me!!!!

2005-10-27T15:26:00.000-04:00

I took a cholera vaccine (second dose of Dukoral) and I don't feel sick! I do feel very tired though, kinda sleepy, but not the dizzyness and weak-in-the-legs feeling of last week. I guess that means I have protection against the shits.

On another note, M the climbing partner I think has given up gym climbing. Yesterday was the first wednesday that we've not climbed in a long time. Hmm, I guess some people take things a little too serious.

It's Thursday! Weekend is almost here. Thank God!

quick post

2005-10-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

To vent...
Firstly, let me say that I've not posted in a few days. Life sucks, deal with it.
Now on to the venting part.
I'm at the gym, third day straight of hard climbing so I'm not at 100% but I'm doing easy routes or routes that I'm used to. No big deal.
My climbing partner is having an average day, or so it seems. At one point, near the end of the sesson, I simply suggest she get on the black route. A rather hard 5.11 climb. Well, since grades mean shit at the gym I go to, it's probably a hard 5.11 or a hard 5.10D either way, it's a hard climb who has handed many their ass on a platter. Her limit, I think, is about a 5.10 so this climb is above or at her limit at best. She decides to go for it. Cool, I'm on belay and I'm a pretty safe belayer so no worries about her killing herself. I even offer to clip the first few draws for her, she declines. She is on the climb, first clip, no panic. She goes up a few inches and high clips the next draw, smart move as it does wonders for the mental game. I'm thinking falls now are going to be relatively safe, still nasty as it's only the second clip but way safer than the first or no clips. Her next clip, because she chose the easy line of clips, has a bit of a runout to it but the moves are solid and as long as the climber keeps the shit together it should go fine. She does the first few moves but doesn't trust her shoes to hold onto a small hold, a very important hold at that too. She backs down and calls a take while being a few inches past her clip and off to the right. I pull in the rope tight and I see her tie-in points come very close if not at the clip. She lets go of the wall and does a minor swing, knocking her off balance a bit. It didn't look pretty but she was on the rope and safe. She asks to be let down and I do so without hesitation (usually I leave people up there to work the route). She is not pissed. SO mad in fact, she starts coiling her rope and about to go home. Not saying a word to me, ovbiously mad as hell. She commented to another climber friend that she will always stay at 5.5's with a detremental tone. Bad attitude, many times I've mentioned that the best climber is the one who has the most fun, who cares at what grade is that. But anyhow, she is steaming mad and going home. Now, I don't really give a flying fuck about her attitude but the fact is that I'm going to Thailand to climb with her. I'm just afraid she is going to pull something similar and leave me dry without a belayer, which will suck. But anyhow, I'm not overly worried. I'm pretty easy going, I climb reasonably hard so hopefully I won't have trouble making friends while overseas. I just wish she wouldn't take that attitude as it really takes the fun out of climbing. But, I'm going to deal with it and when I get back from Thailand, I will surely get rid of this partner. I don't need to climb with anyone who doesn't enjoy climbing.

One of the best all time songs

2005-10-17T14:52:00.000-04:00

Love will tear us apart

When routine bites hard
and ambitions are low.
And resentment rides high
but emotions won't grow.
And we're changing our ways
taking different roads.

Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Why is the bedroom so cold
turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed
our respect run so dry?
Yet there's still this appeal
that we've kept through our lives.

Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Do you cry out in your sleep,
all my failings expose?
Gets a taste in my mouth
as desperation takes hold.
Why is it something so good
just can't function no more?

Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again...

- Joy Division

That was

2005-10-16T00:16:00.000-04:00

A very boring saturday...
I could have gone climbing, but I just couldn't be assed.
That is all.

It's about time

2005-10-14T10:07:00.000-04:00

That I posted something. It's been a while, I've not been feeling very cheery for the past few days, that, I blame the weather. It's going to rain, rain, rain for the whole weekend and probably will spill into next week.

So, what's been going on?

Germany got MSN last week, so I've been steadily talking to her, which is cool as conversation with her is actually interesting. Right now, she is on a two week vacation in Greece. I'm supposed to receive a postcard from her at some point.

I've received my films back from last weekend's wedding. They turned out ok! Well, almost. I made a few mistakes but I do think I have enough shots to cover, although it sucks. If it weren't for my mistakes, that wedding would have been almost perfect, considering that I've not taking anything pro for about 6 years. I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. I've got some pretty decent shots, I've yet to count them, but I do think I have enough to make the album. I shall scan a few over the weekend, very under the radar like.

I'm scheduled to go in for my vaccinations next Wednesday. They are going to be pretty expensive, but none the less needed. The last thing I want is a permanent reminder of my long overdue vacation to Asia.

In a month, I shall be in Thailand. I am looking forward to taking pictures and seeing the sights. This will be the first vacation I ever take for myself. I'm being very careful not to have anything go wrong before I leave. That definitely includes dealing with my mother. She is getting a bit restless these days but I'm holding up. My climbing/travel partner is not looking as good as a few months ago. She does have this attitude on her. It doesn't bother me, I'm not feeling guilty because she gets all worked up and depressed because she cannot climb as she'd like to. Well, welcome to the real world where things are hard. Anyhow, I'm not worried. I'm going on vacation with her, but it pretty much looks like I will be independent. My aspirations for Thailand have shifted from being the climbing bum, to taking pictures, being a photographer.

Brother has been acting a bit strange lately. A few weeks ago, my mother and he must have gotten in a quarrel. I don't know why as he has not told me anything. I tried to ask him about it, but he has shut everyone out. Fine with me. If he doesn't want my help, well, I'm not going to offer it anymore. I'm pretty much tired if being the glue that is keeping my family (what little of it is left) together. I've come to realize that he definelty want to break all ties, which is fine with me, as I can take care of myself. My mother is old, and unfortunately will not be with us for ever, but she is one strong woman. Albeight, she is dead set in her ways and often does not give way to others. I've decided now to live my life as best as I can given the space I have. What other choice do I have?

Well, in a nutshell, those are the news. As you can probably tell from the tone of this post, I'm not feeling very cheerful, but that is life, sometimes you don't get to see the clowns perform at the circus.

Yes

2005-10-11T10:41:00.000-04:00

I'm still around, although I don't feel like writing much these days...
I'm waiting for my films to return from the lab, they are from M's wedding last saturday.
I'm so nervous...

And here we go

2005-10-03T11:31:00.000-04:00

It's Monday. Start of a new week. I'm in my office wasting time since my dear coworker does his job half assed. I would really like to know if I'll get the work I requested on Friday by today, mind you, this work should have been completed of Friday. But anyhow, I don't give a hoot. I've just finished editing and posted my pictures from the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend... I went to Photo Service to pick up chemicals and black and white film. As much as I appreciate Corlab, I definetly want to get back to developing my films. Firstly because I develop them as soon as I get home; none of this waiting 2 days to go pick them up cross town. Secondly because, well, to develop one black and white film I think costs me somewhere of 1.50$ in production costs. But, thirdly, I want to do black and white because it's a more expressive medium than color is. It's true, color film make everything look "pretty". With black and white, one really has to concentrate more on texture, composition, the general feeling of an image.

Saturday, after having picked up all my chemicals and my film loaded into their cassettes, I grabbed my grey card, tripod and camera. I set up a basic scene outside on the patio. I had to make a film test in order to determine how the combination of the camera's meter, the film processing (agitation, chemicals, hardness of water) and the camera's metering system will work. I had done this previously with other films, but not with the final medium being a scanned image. Well, before now, my medium of choice was paper! Well, it still is, but circumstances being what they are, I don't have the option of setting up my enlarger. For now, the scanner and my computer (or my website) will have to do. Here are the results of the film test:

With test in hand, lots of film in my pocket, on Sunday I set out to take pictures. I didn't really plan on taking pictures, but I got stood up for climbing. Anyhow, I headed towards Old Montreal in the afternoon. As usual, I started walking around but, since I'm not working with color, I was seeing a bunch of new images appear to me. I've walked pretty much every square foot of the Old Port and I can always make a different picture. I started out like my previous outing. Getting off on the outskirts of the downtown business district and headed towards the river and the Old Port. Turning on alley ways and little cobble stone streets, which is the charm of Old Montreal, you know, life in the 1800's. It was an amazing day. Nice and warm without a single cloud in the sky, which was not entirely good for me as I would have liked some texture in the sky lines. But I'm not complaining, I take what I can get.

Before long, I get to the real tourist section of the Port. A large crowd is gathering up surely to watch a street performer do his show. I go and join in, poking my lens between the people standing. Sure enough, it's a street performer. I had seen him previously, he is quite good. His show consists of comedy, fire juggling and riding a unicycle. The crowd is rather large around him and he looks to be enjoying what he is doing, after all, he is an artist and to have a crowd like that come and watch your work is pretty satisfying. Unfortunately, I had gotten to his show a bit on the late side. I did not have a good vantage point on him despite of circling the crowd to find a little hole I could squeeze in. I decided to go on with my tour. I was going to go along the boardwalk and see if there are any shots worthwhile. I did manage to find a few! I also saw a guy who sets up an outdoor climbing wall. It looked to be about 30 feet high, no texture on the wall and dead easy. I would figure at best a 5.7 in difficulty. I didn't bother to take any pictures of that, in fact, I had to crop that structure out of a frame. Mind you, that picture did not make the final selection. I kept walking. I arrived at the over pass, well, at least I call it an over pass. It's this second level walkway overlooking the port. Boats are docked on the water and people keep strolling by. To tell you the truth, it's a pretty relaxing walk! Granted, I've never really walked there just for the sake of walking. Most of the time I've always had a camera in my hands.

Coming to full circle from where the street performer was, I decide to go mingle with the crowd. A bunch of people walking around is bound to be interesting, besides, I needed people close up in my frames. As I'm walking, I hear that same performer start screaming: "Show is about to begin!" I think to myself: "Rad!" as there was no one around him. I snap a picture of him. He did notice me taking pictures, but he didn't mind at all, he was actually pretty easy going. Not like the "free hugs" guy from a few weeks back. I take a place and squat down on the floor. I was not going to miss this show. I take a few more frames. Now, the crowd has gathered around him. Like before, there is a bunch of people but this time, I have a front row seat. I quickly check the frame counter on my camera and I notice that I'm at around frame 20. I figure, at best I have 10 shots left. I decide to sacrifice them and change the roll for a fresh one. Now, film loaded, I begin to snap pictures! I try not to burn film, but instead I was selective to the frames I snap off. As I mentioned before, I had noticed this performer before, on previous outings, but I don't think I had ever sat through one of his shows in it's entirety. I did on this one. The guy is pretty good! He uses comedy, he engages with the audience and, of course, he has his stunts going. The show lasted for about 10 minutes, the finale being him riding a unicycle and juggling pins. The crowd dissipated and I went on my merry way to finish off the roll of film I currently had in the camera. I had a great Sunday afternoon, even better, getting home and getting right to processing my films. It's the beauty about working with black and white. It's a do-it-yourself'er.

workplace rants

2005-09-29T22:13:00.000-04:00

Here is the scenario: A user, knowing absolutely nothing about software development, asks a developper to create an application that will do this, whatever this may be. Developper goes and creates something to suit the user. User is happy and can do her job. End of story.

Enter our part time CTO (or as close as we've got to one in our office). Downtime was suffered on Sunday, a total of 6 hours worth. Bad, very bad. CTO has a manager's meeting every Tuesday and apparently in that meeting someone peed in his corn flakes.

The result is him being pissed off at the developpers for making a database core to the functionality of the business. Now, that database did not just sprout overnight to being a crucial machine because, as I recall, I made an IT person drive into work on Christmas eve last to go reboot/fix it. If that IT person is forgoing his Holiday celebration to go do CPR on a machine, you bet that machine is pretty important. But, to the CTO, who had his head buried in the sand, suddently we are a bunch of rogue programmers creating a single point of failure for the company, dispite of all attempts to inform IT management that machine needed a hot backup.

What happened was on Sunday, an IT rep was called with problems. He misdiagnosed the root of the problem (database being unresponsive) and twirled his thumbs for god knows how long until someone with two extra brain cells decided to call the DBAs for help. Now, I'm asking myself questions like: "How come the developpers are now rogue in creating these apps dependant on that database?" or "How come IT is not properly versed in diagnosing the applications we use? (they are not new! Neither the apps nor the people)" or "How come no blame is put on the support group, namely the brain dead idiot who didn't escalate this problem?"
Helas, we will never know the answers to those questions. All I know is that I'm part of those "rogue" programmers and as such I'm a bad person. Or maybe the CTO is playing ostrich?

dropzone.com

2005-09-29T22:05:00.000-04:00

Since rc.com has merged with dz.com, I have to share this beauty of a thread here:

Knowing that males are more than shameless about when and where and how body odor is distributed (it is obvious that women are more courteous by far), I was wondering if any men had experienced any interesting moments with their partners (this poll could be reversed easily and I’m sure more accurately from a female perspective, reflecting I suppose a more frequent occurrence. But since it should be an immeasurably less frequent occurrence from a male’s perspective that is the one we’ll take for this poll and damned the political correctness.

In order to protect the innocent(?), disclosure as to whether or not the idea for this poll was derived from actual events will be withheld.

So…

The background…
You are in a budding relationship. You know... that stage when you’ve disclosed to each other a limited number of your more endearing “quirks”, but not yet those that may result in restraining orders. She is confident and independent yet delicate, feminine and gentle. In your eyes she is too attractive to be with you, yet she is. You both desire a progression in the relationship. All is fresh and exploratory and good.

The scenario…
You are engaged in pleasing her with mouth and tongue… her favorite time of intimacy. A few minutes into the endeavor, she involuntarily (you hope and pray) releases intestinal atmosphere.

This release is not one of those minor little puffs of odorless effervescence that we imagine are all that is possible for these angelic creatures… …no, this is one of those “truck-driver-after-a-week-of-beer-and-chili” liberations. This is the big bang that seems to last as long as the age of the universe, where time slows down and each second seems to be a year. This is the one where you are immediately rendered deaf and are positive that the damage is permanent. This is one where you begin to think about finding a plastic surgeon for grafting new skin over the 3rd degree burns you feel you must have suffered. Your tear ducts produce fluid like fire hydrants… and it’s not enough. You know the foundations of buildings for miles around the epicenter have been compromised. If you could still hear, there is no doubt that car alarms for blocks are screaming in outrage.

She looks down at you, smiles demurely and responds in a sweet, somewhat strained voice “Oops. Sorry” (you garnered this from lip-reading of course).

Questions bounce around in your head, orbiting the ringing from non-functional ears…
Was it deliberate, and if so was she being malicious or being playful? If she was being playful, could I survive malicious? Will my eyebrows grow back? On a more positive note, will I ever have to trim my noise hair again? Could I have suffered irreparable DNA damage due to immersion in what may be radioactive molecules with eon-spanning half-life? Is her voice strained because there’s another on its way…. my god, could the next one be bigger?

The poll questions how you would react to this life-changing (if not life threatening) event. Do you:

1. tell her you like it and thank her for giving so much of herself to you?
2. die immediately?
3. wish you were dead?
4. think about it and then die?
5. see dead people?
6. compliment her about her knees?
7. have a religious epiphany and join a Tibetan monastery?
8. recite biblical passages in Latin?
9. open the windows (or roll down the windows if you’re that cheap), crawl back and finish the activity as if nothing happened?
10. begin singing the Hungarian national anthem?
11. leap up so hard you crack the ceiling plaster, change into all black clothing, run from the room to the nearest freeway and lie down in the high speed lane?
12. offer your own personalized scent so she knows you’re comfortable in sharing?
13. wonder if the next time her stomach growls, you will suffer a massive seizure?
14. look for solids?
15. check to see if you’ve lost any fillings?
16. compliment her about her eyes?
17. stick fingers from both hands up your nostrils to the elbow and continue without the use of those hands?
18. recall that you do this on a fairly continuous basis and finally come to understand that this may be one of the reasons why she cries after sex (not necessarily the only reason)?

Yeah, ok...

2005-09-26T11:16:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, er, more like two weeks ago, my boss gets his knickers in a twist about us (two guys in this us) coming in late. You can read from this rant. Anyhow, I wondered how long that would last, this coming in before 10 am business, turns out it never even made it one month!
Today, both my boss and the other coworker stroll in at 10:30. I'm averaging the times because one came in at about 10:40 and the other I think about 10:25 or so.
Now, what I've decided is to keep coming in early, that way I can leave the office before 5 pm and make it early to the gym. But what really kills me is the hypocrisy that is being demonstrated, but then again, it doesn't concern me, in fact, I do find it quite funny.

To change subject... The rescanning of my site is almost complete. I've gone through all of my negatives and pulled out the scan worthy material and have gone through it. I'm still getting hard learned lessons about scanning but I am making progress. That said, let me tell you what happened on Saturday. I go through an entire film binder pulling about 19 images to scan. It takes me nearly 1 1/2 hours to scan all of them and save them as photoshop format onto the computer. That done, I had post processing work to do, of course. Most of the work was cropping images, retouching dust particles and resizing the images to fit on a computer screen. Not really complicated hard work as it was tedious, it nearly took me 2 hours to complete the whole batch scanned. I was at the last step, which is to convert everything from photoshop format to JPEG in order to upload to the site. Well, playing around with automation in PS, I inadvertently made all the master images thumbnails! I had just crapped on 4 hours of work in a matter of seconds. Thankfully, I had some JPEGs already converted from that batch, I was able to upload them to the site but I did lose all of the master copies. I might have to go and rescan that entire batch. Moral of the story is to double check everything before doing anything!

Ugh

2005-09-23T10:57:00.000-04:00

So tired, so tired... and my knee hurts from climbing last night
I need a nap.

Photo critiques

2005-09-21T12:25:00.000-04:00

I am still taking a beating at this critique site I joined a few days ago. After the fiasco of my cat and my obvious lack of scanning abilities, I am finaly on the positive ratings mark. There is one picture that surprised me. I would have thought my picture of the boy and the dog would have gotten better reviews, but as it turns out it was a picture of a ski hill. I admit, it's a nice image and i need to get it enlarged but I never thought it would have come out stronger. Anyhow, I'm still learning. I have to produce new images pretty soon. I also need a way to wiggle myself in a studio again. It's been so long. I miss it.

Leaving on a jet plane

2005-09-21T10:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I headed for the travel agency my climbing partner found (in the yellow pages, let your fingers do the walking). I settled account for my trip to Asia coming up in November. I will be out of town for a total of 3 weeks. I am now looking forward to this, even though it will put me deep in the red, in terms of financials, but how I'm seeing it is that I never have taken a vacation like this before, so why not. As my friend from Germany would put it: "Was los?". Speaking of her, I've not heard from her in a good while. I've just sent her an email saying that I'm feeling neglected.
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand. Going to Thailand. Planned, I want to take pictures... lots of pictures. I have my photo gear in order so all I need to do is make sure it comes back with me in one piece. The second thing that I'm counting on doing is to climb. I've been hunting for climbing pictures from there and they look cRaZy hard. Well, I'll have to try them. I've been going strong at the gym for the past few weeks, and the gym I go to is notorious for making really hard climbs. Hopefully I will not get my ass handed down to me that bad. As for my climbing partner, well, I fear she will be a whiney bitch all throughout. Not that I care, but I just get a bit demotivated when she goes on her tantrums. Anyhow, I told her yesterday, if she starts up while over there, I will tie her off to a tree until she calms down. Either you do the climb or you don't. There is no whining. Go figure, she works as a shrink... I swear all those people-types have mental issues.

Learning new things

2005-09-19T12:33:00.000-04:00

Apparently making small pictures is a cardinal sin...
I will have to go rescan all of the pictures I have up and make them larger.
This will probably take me the better part of the week.

I can't resist

2005-09-18T00:26:00.000-04:00

Posting the following picture:

Meet Max, AKA Shitball, this was taken in my old apartment. He must have been no older than 1 year old. Kittens are the cutest thing on this planet. Let me tell you the story of how I got to own this cat.

It was 1997. I had just moved into my new place, my first apartment. My GF at the time put the idea in my head that we should get a pet and since both of us worked and spent little time at home, getting a cat was the logical choice, being they are very independent and all. We trekked to the SPCA to choose one. As I walked in the holding room full of cages containing little kittens, I was dumbfounded at the amount of animals being held there. There were just too many of them. I saw this black and white one in a cage near the door. Didn't think much of him and I proceeded to look at the others. I turned my back to look around and this cat reached out a paw and dug his claws into the back of my neck! I turned around and he meowed. I didn't need to look around any longer. I had met Max. 8 years later, he still is with me.
Updated pictures will surely follow.

Walking in Old Montreal

2005-09-17T14:30:00.000-04:00

Last week, I went walking in Old Montreal. I have to admit it's one of my favorite things to do. Grabing my camera and just heading with no place in mind.

The photo at the left was taken in the Old Port. It is a train track used in the 19th century to transport goods coming in via the boats. Since Montreal was an port town back then, merchandise was ferried to inland cities via train.

These days, the port of Montreal is not used much except for tourists and to hold various festivals/expositions during the summer months.

Just testing

2005-09-16T16:14:00.000-04:00

Just testing…
Blogger offers this nifty add-on for MS Word. It allows you to compose a post using Word and then click to post it.

This is a good thing for people who live out of MS Word. I’d love to find one that works form a command line interface, or better yet, to get a peek at their backend API and I would write my own client. It would be done in vain as this word processor is pretty advanced making anything that I could write seem pretty rudimentary. In either case, it would be fun to write an application that would post to blogs, if only for my own usage.

Feast your eyes

2005-09-16T16:04:00.000-04:00

On this little thing:You can read more about it here.
And it's waiting for me when I get home. Finally will I be able to scan my slides/negs and post them up on my site. It's been a while since I put up something new up there anyhow.

Feel the progess

2005-09-16T15:46:00.000-04:00

At the gym, still working on my 5.10D project...
Last night I got the closest I've ever been to sending that beeyotch. I did it with only one fall, and that was taken at the crux. I think next week will be the day that proj will fall under my belt.
Although, I climbed Wednesday and Thursday, yesterday, since I was able to cut work early (office people were out playing golf and I'm supposed to sit caged to my office? No, I no thinking so) and was able to take a good nap before going to the gym. Nice and rested, I went to the gym to kick ass.
Did I mention that climber girls are so hot?

So here we are...

2005-09-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

This morning's excursion to the lab was a bust. I was pretty disappointed with them not having my films ready. I asked for processing and contacts to be drawn up. I've never received this bad service from them before. Back in the day when I religiously went to them, they used to do E-6 processing in 3 hours. Now, well, let's just say that I'm not happy. It will be another early treck there tomorrow morning.. again.
Now, if that dissapointment wasn't enough, my boss gets the sudden guilt conscious happening. The week of the hurricane, it rained cats and dogs here. I decided to work from home, and I duly sent an email stating that. Now, the copycat coworker, does the same, even though he drives and will not get drenched in the hail mary deluge that was going on. Well, my suspicions are that the HR person asked the boss what had happened and he being the spineless employee, decided to crack down on us. Now, it's at the office by 10 am. I wonder how long will that last.

It's always a good day

2005-09-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

When your fingertips and hands burn from rock climbing the night before...
It even hurts to type this!
Ok, going to the lab to pick up the films from the weekend.

More picture taking

2005-09-11T19:15:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon, nothing on TV but golf, it's 3pm and I decide to load up the camera and go out walking, on the hunt for more pictures. I get to the outskirts of Old Montreal and I start walking down the bike path. My idea is to take pictures and eventually make my way down to Corlab so I can drop off my films. I went into areas I had never been before, well at least walking.
I ended up shooting 2 rolls of Fuji Press 400 and managed to drop them off at the lab. I should pick them up on Tuesday morning before work.
Eventually, I will need to get a film scanner. I'd love to post some of the pictures on here. Granted, the scanner will not come for some time unfortunately. For now, I will just develop them and have contacts printed.

Late into work...

2005-09-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

For the crappy day this is turning out to be, here is something that arrived in my mail box that is sorta making it worth while:

A WEEK AT THE GYM: ONE MAN'S STORY...

Dear Diary:

For my fortieth birthday this year, my wife (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still In great shape since playing on my college football team 25yrs ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the Club and made my reservation with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26 yr. old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swimwear. My wife seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:

Started my day at 6:00am.

Tough to get out of bed, but it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She was something of a Greek goddess -- with blonde hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!!!! She took my pulse after 5 minutes on the treadmill. She was alarmed that my pulse was so fast, but I attributed it to standing next to her in her Lycra aerobics outfit. I enjoyed watching the skilful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring, Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, Although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!

TUESDAY:

I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air, and then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:

The only way I can brush my teeth is by lying on the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered the other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whines that is VERY annoying. My chest hurts when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other shit too.

THURSDAY:

Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a Half an hour late; it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to workout with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the men's room. She sent Lars to find me, then, as punishment, put me on the rowing machine - which I sank.

FRIDAY:

I hate that bitch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anaemic little cheerleading bitch. If there were a part of my body could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the *&%#(#&** barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:

Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY:

I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year, my wife (the bitch), will choose a gift for me that is fun like a root canal or a vasectomy.

Humpday

2005-09-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

So I get up early, which was suprisingly easy consideting that I went to bed last night at 10 pm, and I go to the photo lab to pick up my negatives and contact prints. I had dropped off 4 rolls, 3 being from a contract and one being from Old Montreal (see the post from Saturday). I was really worried about one roll of film from my contract as I had overexposed it about a stop. I had changed rolls and missed updating the ISO rating, end result is I shot a 1600 film at about 640! No worries, I asked the lab to cut development one stop and all was good with the world. Lookoing at the contacts, the pictures look over all.... good! I gave the sheets to my friend (who I'll be taking photos of at her upcoming wedding) and she was almost jumping up and down with glee!
It makes me feel good to know that I can still be a photographer.
I'll put up some pictures of Old Montreal when I get then enlarged and scanned... It might be a while, so hold tight!

Pretty disturbing

2005-09-05T04:27:00.000-04:00

It's reading shit like this that makes me close my computer and walk away from it.
To give you a gist... Teen girls in Japan are using kotex pads in order to avoid changing their skivvies. Oh my god!

More pancake bunny

2005-09-05T03:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, so apparently I have nothing to do at 3:45 in the morning than to go google the pancake bunny. And who can blame me? I mean look at the pic in the previous post!

As I found out, Oolong (the bunny's name) balances more than just a pancake on it's head, he has the uncanny ability to balance a number of items on his head. It is indeed a very unique rabbit. His owner, Hironori Akutagawa, is from Japan, as I understand it, from Hokkaido, which is the northernmost island of Japan. Oolong has now passed away and gone to bunny heaven on January 7th, 2003.

The bunny's popularity spread like wildfire in the Americas, mostly due to the fact, er, well, the bunny has a pancake on his head! This went as far as the bunny appearing in an article in the New Your Times. I can see why the popularity grew for this bunny, the picture in my previous post says it all. "I have no idea what you are talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on his head". Just the imagery of that sentence is enough to make someone go huh? Just in the same manner you go huh? when someone is talking to you and you have not the faintest clue what they are saying.

Here are a few links devoted to the late Oolong:

Now, the owner, being the true bunny lover he is, had to replace Oolong with another, just as cute, bunny:
This new rabbit's name is Yuebing. Cute as he is, he doesn't do any "tricks", although the owner has tried. Turns out, the bunny likes to eat the props rather than to balance them on his head.

Pancake Bunny

2005-09-03T23:46:00.000-04:00

Went to take pictures

2005-09-03T19:46:00.000-04:00

Pictures, pictures, pictures... In Old Montreal
With my new lens.. pictures, pictures, pic pic pic pictures!
Goddaim there were a lot of weddings going on. It's like, like everyone is getting married!
Pictures!

I did it!

2005-09-02T23:10:00.000-04:00

I went into debt!
This is my new baby:

Here is an article on this amazing lens.
I've not yet shot a roll of film with it yet, that is planned for Monday when I (weather permitting) will be doing a photo shoot for an upcoming wedding I will be shooting.
I am very happy right now.

This post is dedicated

2005-09-02T23:05:00.000-04:00

To the people of New Orleans.
My heart and thoughts are with them through this crisis they are going through.
A huge part of me would like to be there to help out, to take pictures and document this tradgedy. I hope their government will do something to help. For all the people there, have courage, take heart and do not lose hope.

Here is a list of charities:

· American Red Cross, 800-HELP-NOW (435-7669) English, 800-257-7575 Spanish.
· America's Second Harvest, 800-344-8070.
· Adventist Community Services, 800-381-7171.
· Catholic Charities USA, 800-919-9338.
· Christian Disaster Response, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554.
· Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-848-5818.
· Church World Service, 800-297-1516.
· Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998.
· Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522.
· Mennonite Disaster Service, 717-859-2210.
· Nazarene Disaster Response, 888-256-5886.
· Operation Blessing, 800-436-6348.
· Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283.
· Salvation Army, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).
· Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, 800-462-8657, Ext. 6440.
· United Methodist Committee on Relief, 800-554-8583.

Foamy is my hero!!!

2005-09-01T12:32:00.000-04:00

Go watch this... quick!

"Hello! Tech support, I'm having a problem with my smell brand computer, I need a bit of help here. This fucker is acting up like a trouble child on crack"

Princeless!!!!!

A new month!

2005-09-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

Septermber, I guess, marks the start of the end of the year. It does feel like things are coming to a close. Students go back to school, the fall season arrives, everyone is back from vacation, all of those things seem to start in September.

This coming weekend will be the last long weekend of the summer. Just my luck that it seems that I will be stuck in the city. All of my climbing partners are out climbing, my regular partner is doing a leadership course for the Alpine Club, my regular gym partner is out... It just seems that everyone is doing stuff this weekend but me. Oh well.

This staurday, if I can swing it, I will be getting my 17-35 f/2.8 lens for my camera. More news on that to come.

I feel very blah today... no reason I guess, just one of those days. Maybe I'm just tired, climbing 5 days straight does put me in a mellow mood.

To Realize

2005-08-30T13:20:00.000-04:00

A friend sent this to me:

To realize
The value of a sister
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a still born.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to Meet.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one-second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident.

To realize
The value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

To realize
The value of a friend:
Lose one.

Monday Funny

2005-08-29T11:26:00.000-04:00

Because Mondays are NOT funny....

A man woke up one morning to find a bear on his roof. Distressed, he looked in the yellow pages and sure enough, there on page 271... an ad for "Bear Removers." He called the number excitedly. The Bear Remover calmed the man down and told him, "I'll be over in 30 minutes. Everything's going to be OK."

The Bear Remover, himself a large, bear of a man with a curly shock of brown hair, arrived promptly after thirty minutes. He stepped from his white Ford Econoline cargo van, gazed up at the bear and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Then, he pursed his lips and strode confidently to the back of his van, opened the doors and removed a ladder, a baseball bat, a shotgun and a pit bull. As the perplexed homeowner watched, the Bear Remover led the pit bull to center of the front yard and said sharply, "Sit!" which the obedient dog did without hesitation. He placed the ladder against the side of the house, handed the confused homeowner the shotgun and kept the baseball bat for himself.

"Oh, my God... What... What are we going to do?" asked the now terrified homeowner.

"I'm going up that ladder and onto the roof," began the Bear Remover. "Then I'm going to knock the bear off the roof with this baseball bat." He hefted the bat for effect. "When the bear falls off the roof, the pit bull is trained to grab his balls and not let go. That's what pit bulls do. The bear will then be subdued enough for me to put him in a cage I have in the back of the van."

"What the Hell am I supposed to do with this?!" The man whined as he indicated the cannon in his hands.

"If the bear knocks me off the roof," explained the Bear Remover calmly, "shoot the dog."

The weekend is here!

2005-08-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

Friday night, as usual, I'm at home... TV is sucking hardcore but I can't find nothing better to do. The weekend is here and I'm going climbing. For a nice change, I won't have to wake up at no 5 am in the morning. My partner and I are renting a car to go cragging 2 hours from Montreal. We are going to St. Alban. I've been there last summer. It's a great place to climb. Last time I was there, I had a pain in my shoulder and I couldn't climb my fullest. There is this crazy roof that I'm dying to try. Now, with my shoulder not in pain, my hands nice and caloussed and, most importantly, my brain in the right set of mind, I am going to jump on it!
I'll bring back pictures!

Terror at 40 feet

2005-08-25T15:40:00.000-04:00

There was an accident at the gym last night.
A climber was going for the top of a route when he took a leader fall, catching his belayer unprepared to catch it. The belayer lost control of the rope and the climber fell aproximately 40 feet to the ground. The two climbers are not new to the sport, they have been partners for a good while, at least since I've known them both. The accident was due to belayer error. Instead of dropping both hands below the belay device while managing the rope, the belayer held one hand above the device while the brake hand slipped to feel rope. What must have happened was the climber fell at the exact moment the balayer relaxed his grip on the brake side, causing the rope to slip at an incredible rate. The balayer tried to hold on with his top hand, but the force was too strong so he ended up with rope burns on his palm.
I didn't witness the event for myself, as I was belaying my partner who was on another route. This was a mistake that can happen to the most seasoned climber. One gets too relaxed on a routine climb, the lesson in this accident is not to cut corners and get lazy while being on belay. Always keep a locked hand on brake side of the rope.
I wish the climber a speedy recovery.

My brain

2005-08-23T18:49:00.000-04:00

Is saying: "Go climb!"
My body is saying: "SLEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Browser wars

2005-08-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

Internet explorer, holding 90% of the browser market....
Sucks hairy, smelly, rauchy ass!!!!

Read this: http://www.xs4all.nl/~peterned/csshover.html

For God's sake use FireFox!

Shopping!

2005-08-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

I wake up this morning and, to my surprise, it a gorgeous day! Sun bright in the sky, a slight wind, low humidity and perfectly warm. The forecast called for rain all weekend, thus I didn't make any plans to go climbing. What a shame...

Instead, I went to MEC and got some gear!
First on the list, I got a new string!

It's the same rope that I had before: Mammut Eternity 10mm non-dry. It's a smooth rope and the handling is like butter. I can't wait to try it out tomorrow. Although, my model is the triosafe blue. Which means it's marked at 20 feet from the ends as well as the middle. The one in the picture above is the bi color duosafe.

My next purchase is a replacement for an underperforming piece of gear. My backpack. My former backpack is a fully zippered MEC Spirit 40. Which, in the past year of me taking it out cragging, I found it very unaccomodating. It doesn't have enough room for my first aid kit, rock gear, harness, water and food. The rope goes attached on the outside and the helmet clipped to where ever it can be hooked to. I've been wanting a larger one for a long time, especially with the ice season around the corner. So, I found this little beauty:
I've loaded it up and found it to be very roomy! There are a lot of possibilities for packing this guy. What I tried so far is to throw everything pelle-melle and I found that I had at least enough room for a LOT of food and 2 liters of water. I even managed to stick my helmet inside the pack. Definetly 65 liters is roomy. The fit is even more comfortable than my old one, the waist straps do take in at least 70% of the weight and the adjustment straps offer a variety of options.
Again, I can't wait to go cragging! Next weekend... Maybe.

Climbing

2005-08-20T20:44:00.000-04:00

Hurts sometimes. Right now, I feel like my hands have been put through a vise grip and hit repeatedly with a hammer, you know, just for fun.
I did have a good session. I finally linked the black 5.10 route I've been working on. I talked to some people today, and they would rate that climb as a 5.10D, so I guess I'm working on that!
I realize today that I need to retire my rope. It's been a good friend for the past year and 7 months. We've been outside, inside and have seen our share of partners come and go. It's time for a replacement. Tomorrow, I'll go to MEC and pick one out.

Here comes the rain

2005-08-20T11:09:00.000-04:00

Unlike last weekend, there is no escaping the rain this weekend. This means no outdoor climbing. Since I've met my new climbing partner, I've yet to go outside with her. There are still a lot of weekends left in the season so I'm sure I'll get a chance to head out cragging before it ends.
She has been persuading me to take a trip with her to Thailand, for a vacation/climbing trip. I think it's possible, I'll go into some debt with the trip but the way I'm looking at it is that a trip like that with a climbing partner I enjoy, will be a trip of a lifetime. I don't think I should pass up on the opportunity. Besides, I've never taken a real vacation with a friend. The trip is supposed to be held in November, the entire second half of that month actually.
More news to follow... Right now, I'm going to the gym to climb!

Climbing A Mountain, Crossing A River

2005-08-17T13:19:00.000-04:00

Here is some good reading:

Climbing a Mountain, Crossing a River
by Liu I-ming

When you climb a mountain, you put forth effort with every step, not resting until you reach the summit. When you cross a river you take care with every step, not relaxing your attention until you reach the other shore. Even if you have climbed a mountain nearly to the summit, if you leave off that last step to rest your feet, you are still on the way, not yet there. Even if you have crossed a river nearly to the other shore, if you take a single careless step, there is still danger.

What I realize as I observe this is the Tao of physical effort to carry out the Way.

The Great Way is hard to know, so you are lucky if you come across it and know about it, and your efforts should be to really put it into practice, to actually tread the Way to its completion, thereby repaying your debt to whoever taught you about it.

Do not let a little bewilderment make you change your mind, do not let a little experience of its effect induce you to relax your work. Do not let a little material hardship divide your mind, do not be discouraged that your strength is insufficient. Do not have false imaginings about attainment of the Great Way, do not fear that the road is long. Keep going with steadfast determination, keeping your attention on the Way, going straight forward, and naturally a day will come when you arrive.

This is like putting out effort every step of the way when climbing a mountain, finally to reach the summit; like paying attention every step of the way when crossing a river, finally to reach the other shore.

Blah day

2005-08-16T20:15:00.000-04:00

Ever had a day where you wish you didn't exist?
I don't know if it's due to the physical fatigue, as I've been going hard at the gym these past few days or if it's just me being a lazy ass.
I was supposed to meet up with a friend who was flying back to Germany from PEI. I feel so bad about not going to see her but, this morning, I asked myself what will I get out of it? And I couldn't answer that question. I probably won't see her again ever, I've only met her once although we've exchanged emails back and forth for a while, I don't have any connection to her.
I made the decision to blow her off. I spend the day pretty much doing nothing instead. I do feel really terrible about not going to see her. I hate days like this.

Compte Rendu on the Weekend

2005-08-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

So here are two little stories on my antics this weekend:

Saturday:

I wake up late. I wake up thinking that my friend, who has never climbed outdoors, has changed her mind and will not call me. As I look out the window, I see a beautiful day, nice and warm totally a perfect day for climbing. Anyhow, I go on about my morning, just glad that I got to sleep in. She calls me at around noon saying she will be going to her parents to pick up the car so we can go. So, I'm thinking great! I don't have to trek in a bus with my gear to go get a car, which was most probably at her parent's house. I am not keen on meeting her parents (Not that I'm dating her or anything). I call her back, set things up and I go on wait mode as she would be passing by my place at around 3 pm.

A little after 3, she arrives to pick me up. To my surprise she is decked out in girly wear, pink pants with little cute straps from their pockets and these totally obnoxious glasses that are way too big for her face, not to mention the pretty thong flip flops. I think to myself: Oh God, I'm going cragging with a family member from the Sopranos.

I decided to take her to Rigaud since I am pretty familiar with the climbs there and it's rather close to the city so the late start to the climbing outing would not be a problem, besides, the approach walk is not that hard compared to Val David. Once the car was parked, to my relief, she starts to change her pants for something more suiting for the wilderness. Well, at least the pair she changed into didn't have the gay ass strappy thingies hanging from the sides. Although, she was stuck with her flip flops.

Talking to her, asking her about what did she think cragging outside would have been like, I realized that she had some pretty misguided conceptions about climbing outside. The thing that hinted me to the fact was when I asked if she had a helmet, she replied by asking me if there would rent them at the rock wall. I tried not to be sarcastic about that, but further more, she admitted to me she thought climbing outside was something akin to parking your car and the wall would be two or three feet away, with people tending to them and valet services. To that, I let my sarcasm loose and stated that climbing outside is the wilderness. No rules, no accommodations, you are going out in the bush!

The climb itself went fine. We didn't do many routes simply because she doesn't climb well enough to do many routes. I was slightly nervous about her belaying me on lead, but I picked a route where I would not fall and I took the time to anchor her down and to show her how to slack the rope. I climbed up a route and set up a top rope anchor, with that same station, we were able to climb two easy routes that were next to each other.

After doing the routes a few times each, we decided to head back home, this was a short climbing trip anyhow. We pack up the gear and head on the trail towards the car. The trail has two main sections: the rocky part and the smooth part. Coming from the crag, we have to start with the rocky part of the trail, which simply means walking over little boulders encrusted in the earth. All along, I'm walking ahead and rather slowly, every now and then, I'm looking back to see if she is still with me and how far back is she. I'm talking, making jokes and generally enjoying my hike back, something unusual for me, as anyone who knows me will attest to that.

Things are going fine so far. Until the last boulders before coming up to the smooth part of the trail. At that point, I hear a thump and I look back, she is not there anymore. I look on the ground and she is picking her self up. As it turns out, she had slipped on a boulder, probably had not placed her footing as best as it could have been placed, and fell between two boulders. She ended up with very minor larcerations on her right heel and a pretty nasty scrape on her left thigh. I managed to clean the wounds on her heel and bandage the foot, to prevent dirt from going into the wound. Her thigh, I left her to tend to that as she had to pull her pants down to show me the damage.

In general, she got away light from her introduction to wilderness. It could have been a lot worse, such as a broken/sprained ankle resulting from her little slip. But I think a valuable lesson has been learned. When going venturing in the wilderness, be prepared and wear the appropriate clothing. Certainly don't dress like you are on a Sunday stroll out in Bevely Hills.
Also, I learned a valuable lesson... Be weary of fucking n00bs!

Sunday:

First off, for some unknown reason to me, I couldn't sleep on Saturday night! I honestly could not fall asleep after watching Stealth (good movie by the way, I know it's cheese but hey! I liked it!). I managed to get the equivalent of 1 hour of sleep, if that.

The alarm rang at 6 am, I was being picked up by my friend (my regular climbing partner) at 7 am. The idea of canceling, making up some excuse why I couldn't go, danced in my head for a bit, but I managed to convince myself climbing would be good, besides, this would have been my first weekend where I climbed both days! Never the less, I was tired and I could feel that I was not going to be 100% that day, regardless I patiently waited for my friend to arrive.

I go outside on my balcony and I notice a slight drizzle of rain happening. Oh no! It can't rain! The forecast the night before called for rain in the afternoon, not the morning! I call my friend to ask what did he think about this. He was gung-ho about climbing, and besides, it wasn't raining hard. We decide to stick to the plans, we are going to climb in Montagne D'Argent!

On the drive up, which is about a 1 1/2 hour ride north from Montreal, it rained steadily, at times it was more than a drizzle but full out rain storm. We are still optimistic though. We were to meet up with other friends to climb at around 8:30 in the morning at the parking lot of the crag. One of my friends was supposed to come join in two hours later. Now with the rain going on, we weren't sure anyone would show up anymore.

We get to the parking lot and surprise surprise... There is no one we know. Well, we do run into a climbing instructor we know. He was also waiting for people to show up. We get out of the car and we go talk to him for a while. We hadn't seen him since we took an ice climbing course.

The first thing we notice is that it's not raining!!! The dirt on the ground feels pretty dry so we are assuming the rock is dry as well. All in all, it was looking to be a beautiful morning. We got lucky in persevering on the drive up there, optimists to the core!

So, the next item after decided we were going to climb, was to wonder where were the rest of the people we were going to meet. No signs of them yet. By some miracle, I manage to receive a voice mail on my cell phone. I go hunting for a reception but it yields no fruit. We then get into the car and drive out a little up the road and I manage to check messages. It was my friend saying that it looks like rain and she called off her climbing day. With that, we figure everyone else had done the same and proceed to go climb.

We ended up having an amazing day! Even though I was so tired from badly sleeping the night before, what ever little sleep I attained that is. We climbed with a rock instructor, I managed to get a few tips out from him. All in all, it was a wonderful day out on the rocks.

After climbing, my partner checked on his cell phone and he had a message waiting. He checks and it was other people that were supposed to rendez-vous with us to climb. They had driven out about halfway and saw it was raining, so they turned back. Too bad for them, missed out on a great climb.

Weekend here I come!

2005-08-12T16:22:00.000-04:00

It's almost time for me to go home. Today, work was very mundane; I don't like days like this, but other times, I revel in the thought of coming to work and not doing much.
I made some small changes to the work site in progress. Not much granted, just added a feature that will allow a client to retrieve a lost password. That was the extent of my day.

I spent a better part of my day reading Paulo Colehio (read the previous post). There is a lot to learn in this world. I can only hope to get a small glimpse of it before I pass on to he next.

I got approved for a credit line! I'll have to collect some documents, sign them and sent them in order for the line to activated. I'd like to use this one for security purposes. If I get in a jam, I can always draw on this to get me out. And, besides, having debt is good. Just make sure you pay it all.. or at least that you pay on time.

Ok, it's about 4:30... I think I can safely take off out of here. I'm going to go climb tonight at the gym. Tomorrow, a friend wants to go rock climbing for the first time outside. I'll have to bring her to an easy place, maybe Val David. Sunday, again rock climbing outside. This time it will be with a new partner I met at the gym. Not sure where we will go as of yet, probably Montagne D'Argent. Anyhow, where ever it may be, I'll be just glad to be outdoors. The downside of both days is that I'll have to trek somewhere in the city to meet these people. I'm thinking I really need a driver's license. I know I've talked about it before, but when it comes to climbing, the need for it arises pretty often. I'll have to get my ass in gear.