Some of you know that a vast, powerful storm has been brewing for some time now. Well, due to unforeseen and sometimes unchangeable circumstances, the storm has had to abate and or shift from the area. All the while though, it has been gathering strength and material and growing ever darker and more forceful. Well, the time has come and, if you keep watch on the countdown timer to the right side of the blog, you will know exactly when the full force of the R5 storm will hit. The aftermath will not be pretty. It is going to change the landscape forever. There will be no going back and nothing will be spared.
There is only so much a dam can hold back and, baby, this damn is about to be filled, overwhelmed and f**ked up!!
Do stay tuned.
Ciao.
Oh, btw, the countdown timer is a wonderful little javascript supplied for free from this website:
http://www.hashemian.com/tools/javascript-countdown.htm
Editor's Note: It occurred to me on the way home that the correct tone was not being set. See, in ID4, there is love and joy and hope despite overwhelming odds. T3 - Rise of the Machines actually has the most correct bleak picture of the future and the hopelessness against an unstoppable force until one makes certain changes and realizations. That said, T2 has the kick ass title so I am going with that. Besides, Linda Hamilton in a jersey vest, kicking ass and then shooting the shit out of everything beats anything seen in T3 hands down.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I like to move it!
DW was nice enough to pass this on to me today. It is not the clip from the movie but rather the entire video from the soundtrack. I know some folks did not like the movie but I for one loved it and especially Mr. Cohen's character and rendition of this dance tune. Enjoy.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Father's Day recap and other stuff
A belated Happy Father's Day to all you fellow old farts. I had a great day with the family and with the BFE residents of Famine and family. The weekend started on a slightly sour note though. On Friday evening, we went to the local cineplex at Salem and Hwy. 2; PS (I owe you three bucks), MS, KJ, DW, TC and myself. Now, you're wondering if it was the movie or the cineplex that was the issue. How about both?
If you have ever gone to Scarborough Town Centre during the hey days of the multiple small room cineplex, you have an idea of the riff-raff, trailer trash, ghetto fabulous, and just plain ignorant entities that attends this place. The five dollars less per head is the only thing that makes this place tolerable for some movies, though the size and seating were actually both reasonable. We went to see the opening of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I wish we had gone to see something else. I love the Fantastic Four and used to collect the comics so imagine how pissed off and disappointed I was at the absolutely bastardized storyline of one of the greatest battles they ever had. You do not even get to SEE Galactus in the movie; and that was have the treat I was waiting on. The surfer himself was done fairly well but the rest of it I could have done without. The night did not get any better after heading to Montana's for dinner. While the service was decent, the main courses were not; that's a shame because we like the chain. I do not think we will be going back there any time soon except for maybe the delicious Antijitos (sp?).
Saturday was an early day with a run out to Timmies and then off to KJ's younger son's soccer tournament; her older son, my Godson, and his father were in Ottawa having a "cooler" time with LB and the lil' lad. The referees never showed up so the game was played unsanctioned after starting almost an hour late; very poor organization for an Ontario Cup game. After that, we left and hit my favourite former mom and pop electronic store, Canada Computers. I say former because they have been expanding like wildfire and much to DW's chargrin, are now local in Ajax. Suhweet. We went there because the new board (post to come on operation D2-PVR) refused to boot after a BIOS upgrade. Thankfully, I do not buy crap and after reading the box in the store again, I realized that I should be able to safely recover from the BIOS crash. We left there and went to the Grand Opening of the Ajax store for pizza and drinks and free stuff. I also introduced DW to my oriental doppleganger and namesake; he has dropped over two grand back into the store since starting there three months ago. Geeks rule.
We rushed home as we had to pack up to leave for Everett, where we were having dinner, hanging out and staying the night. I HAD to fire up the board and try the BIOS restore before we left though. Thankfully, it worked like a charm and Andromeda is back online. Yes, Andromeda, one of the many like named machines in the house; Orion, Osiris, Nemesis, Vulcan and more. We packed up quickly and headed out to grab some refreshing items from the local LCBO and The Beer Store. We then hit highway 401, got tired of the twits and traffic, and headed up the 404 for smooth sailing along the 407 to the 400. More traffic there, some dark clouds and even a quick drizzle, but the sun returned soon after. Going to Everett for us is like going to the cottage for others; there is grass, quiet, some swimming, and lots of eating and drinking. Thanks to Famine and Devoid and the two lads for a good time out as always. AND, for an amazing breakfast as always. Who knew I would like hollandaise sauce?
But, all good things must come to an end so we had to head home. TC had studying to do. I had to prepare for going back on-call the following day and DW had to relax before her weekly grind. The HD PVR is up and running though (thanks to our man Frank who was leaving BB and did not care that our raincheque was expired so we still got it at less than half price) so we can stop taping on the rental, clear it and send it back to Rogers. I cannot wait to mod this one though with a nice big internal hard drive. Pure HD taping.
Oh, lest I forget again, DW got me a nice gift (though she should not have as per our philosophy). It will seem very strange to those that really know me but I really hate my bitten nails and cracked feet and dry skin. I always say I will do a family spa day one day but we just have not gotten to it. Well, DW is tired of hearing it so she happened upon a place near us and i am going for my first ever pedicure, manicure and massage. Oh baby, I hope she is Swedish. Ahem, anyhow, it was a special that also included nine holes of golf. I play golf like that cheap cut of meat that not everybody likes: SHANK!! So, Skibum, when you are ready to endure my lousy golf, let's hit the links (and the 19th hole).
And how was your father's day?
If you have ever gone to Scarborough Town Centre during the hey days of the multiple small room cineplex, you have an idea of the riff-raff, trailer trash, ghetto fabulous, and just plain ignorant entities that attends this place. The five dollars less per head is the only thing that makes this place tolerable for some movies, though the size and seating were actually both reasonable. We went to see the opening of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I wish we had gone to see something else. I love the Fantastic Four and used to collect the comics so imagine how pissed off and disappointed I was at the absolutely bastardized storyline of one of the greatest battles they ever had. You do not even get to SEE Galactus in the movie; and that was have the treat I was waiting on. The surfer himself was done fairly well but the rest of it I could have done without. The night did not get any better after heading to Montana's for dinner. While the service was decent, the main courses were not; that's a shame because we like the chain. I do not think we will be going back there any time soon except for maybe the delicious Antijitos (sp?).
Saturday was an early day with a run out to Timmies and then off to KJ's younger son's soccer tournament; her older son, my Godson, and his father were in Ottawa having a "cooler" time with LB and the lil' lad. The referees never showed up so the game was played unsanctioned after starting almost an hour late; very poor organization for an Ontario Cup game. After that, we left and hit my favourite former mom and pop electronic store, Canada Computers. I say former because they have been expanding like wildfire and much to DW's chargrin, are now local in Ajax. Suhweet. We went there because the new board (post to come on operation D2-PVR) refused to boot after a BIOS upgrade. Thankfully, I do not buy crap and after reading the box in the store again, I realized that I should be able to safely recover from the BIOS crash. We left there and went to the Grand Opening of the Ajax store for pizza and drinks and free stuff. I also introduced DW to my oriental doppleganger and namesake; he has dropped over two grand back into the store since starting there three months ago. Geeks rule.
We rushed home as we had to pack up to leave for Everett, where we were having dinner, hanging out and staying the night. I HAD to fire up the board and try the BIOS restore before we left though. Thankfully, it worked like a charm and Andromeda is back online. Yes, Andromeda, one of the many like named machines in the house; Orion, Osiris, Nemesis, Vulcan and more. We packed up quickly and headed out to grab some refreshing items from the local LCBO and The Beer Store. We then hit highway 401, got tired of the twits and traffic, and headed up the 404 for smooth sailing along the 407 to the 400. More traffic there, some dark clouds and even a quick drizzle, but the sun returned soon after. Going to Everett for us is like going to the cottage for others; there is grass, quiet, some swimming, and lots of eating and drinking. Thanks to Famine and Devoid and the two lads for a good time out as always. AND, for an amazing breakfast as always. Who knew I would like hollandaise sauce?
But, all good things must come to an end so we had to head home. TC had studying to do. I had to prepare for going back on-call the following day and DW had to relax before her weekly grind. The HD PVR is up and running though (thanks to our man Frank who was leaving BB and did not care that our raincheque was expired so we still got it at less than half price) so we can stop taping on the rental, clear it and send it back to Rogers. I cannot wait to mod this one though with a nice big internal hard drive. Pure HD taping.
Oh, lest I forget again, DW got me a nice gift (though she should not have as per our philosophy). It will seem very strange to those that really know me but I really hate my bitten nails and cracked feet and dry skin. I always say I will do a family spa day one day but we just have not gotten to it. Well, DW is tired of hearing it so she happened upon a place near us and i am going for my first ever pedicure, manicure and massage. Oh baby, I hope she is Swedish. Ahem, anyhow, it was a special that also included nine holes of golf. I play golf like that cheap cut of meat that not everybody likes: SHANK!! So, Skibum, when you are ready to endure my lousy golf, let's hit the links (and the 19th hole).
And how was your father's day?
Monday, June 11, 2007
A Tickle Test
You can simplify your life by cutting back at work
Dtrini, you can simplify your life by cutting back at work.
You're a career-oriented person who's not afraid to log some long hours to get the job done — and done right. Your peers admire your drive and creativity and nothing feels better than hearing your boss or clients compliment your work. But, you know, if you glance out a window for a minute, you'll notice that there's a whole world going on out there, and you just might be missing a lot of it.
While it's great that you're so committed to your career, you've got to make sure you're not forgetting about friends, family, and fun. We know you've got bills to pay and goals to attain, but don't make work your whole life. And if you just can't figure out a way to scale back your hours, then at least make sure you're planning a nice vacation — without your laptop or cell phone.
How Can You Simplify Your Life?
Brought to you by Tickle
Monday, June 04, 2007
Genuine Loss
There will be no sarcasm, no smart-ass remarks, no jokes (though it would be welcomed and understood). Today, there will simply be some reflection and some sadness.
On May 30th, 2007, Virginia "Gina" Marie Martin passed away after a long, hard battle with breast cancer. She would have been 47 on July 4th of this year. While I have had cancer touch my family in my ways, many times (my grandmother had it, my MIL had it and there have been various other occurrences of it through my family history), no one I know of, or have been close to, has succumbed to it and died of the disease... no one until Gina that is.
While not an immediate or blood relative, Gina and her husband Jeff are considered family to my brood. Two more genuine people you will not have had the pleasure of meeting. There has never been any pretense with these two; no agenda or hidden purpose and meaning. There was nothing in your face but there was truth and honesty and sincerity. I know it sounds like an unrealistic build-up of someone recently passed but anyone that knew her would tell the same. Gina was one in a million.
DW met Gina at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto almost 30 years ago and have remained friends since. In the same way DW had to meet certain people and pass the grade, so to speak, Gina was one of those people she was most nervous for me to meet because her friend's opinion meant that much to her. Thankfully I passed muster and we have had many a BBQ and various gatherings where we got together and enjoyed good times.
When Gina was diagnosed, she did not tell a lot of people because in that regard she was a very private person. Only when we asked her to be a part of our wedding did she finally have to tell DW what was going on as she was at the tail end of a treatment and may not have the strength for everything she would need to do and be a part of as a bridesmaid. Well, to ensure her friend's wedding was a great event, and that she was part of it, Gina worked very hard to make sure she was there and that she could enjoy herself; she was and she did. And we will be eternally grateful that even in the midst of her own challenges and pain, she thought of DW and I.
About a year and a half ago, we lost contact with them. We emailed, we called, we emailed some more; all attempts to reach them went unanswered. We knew that was a sign that things were not good and as much as we wanted to camp out and make her let us be a part of this part of her life, it was not our place to do so. So, we did not do the one thing we knew would make us get the contact we strained for; we did not go to the house. We had to respect her wishes and as much as it hurt us, we stayed away. Part of me wishes we had not, but I am satisfied that we respected our friend's final wishes. I am just saddened we did not get a chance to say goodbye.
Gina was in the hospital for about a month before finally losing her battle with cancer. A funny, witty, vibrant young woman taken in her prime. A loving husband left alone in the home they shared with an uncertain future as to what is next, including whether to stay in Toronto since "there is nothing keeping me here". Four older sibling, already without parents who both passed, now losing the gel, the light of the their incredible family. A co-worker that people would give part of their pay to have on their team. A friend that is always there when you needed her the most, someone who would not forget you and who you never had to guess about.
Gina was all of these things to a great many people. Our condolences to the entire Martin family and especially to Jeff. Words simply cannot heal the loss nor can it properly convey the sorrow in that loss. She will be remembered in our continued interaction as time rolls on. You've had a long road Gina, rest now and know that Jeff will be taken care of by all those who loved you. You will be missed greatly my friend.
Peace.
On May 30th, 2007, Virginia "Gina" Marie Martin passed away after a long, hard battle with breast cancer. She would have been 47 on July 4th of this year. While I have had cancer touch my family in my ways, many times (my grandmother had it, my MIL had it and there have been various other occurrences of it through my family history), no one I know of, or have been close to, has succumbed to it and died of the disease... no one until Gina that is.
While not an immediate or blood relative, Gina and her husband Jeff are considered family to my brood. Two more genuine people you will not have had the pleasure of meeting. There has never been any pretense with these two; no agenda or hidden purpose and meaning. There was nothing in your face but there was truth and honesty and sincerity. I know it sounds like an unrealistic build-up of someone recently passed but anyone that knew her would tell the same. Gina was one in a million.
DW met Gina at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto almost 30 years ago and have remained friends since. In the same way DW had to meet certain people and pass the grade, so to speak, Gina was one of those people she was most nervous for me to meet because her friend's opinion meant that much to her. Thankfully I passed muster and we have had many a BBQ and various gatherings where we got together and enjoyed good times.
When Gina was diagnosed, she did not tell a lot of people because in that regard she was a very private person. Only when we asked her to be a part of our wedding did she finally have to tell DW what was going on as she was at the tail end of a treatment and may not have the strength for everything she would need to do and be a part of as a bridesmaid. Well, to ensure her friend's wedding was a great event, and that she was part of it, Gina worked very hard to make sure she was there and that she could enjoy herself; she was and she did. And we will be eternally grateful that even in the midst of her own challenges and pain, she thought of DW and I.
About a year and a half ago, we lost contact with them. We emailed, we called, we emailed some more; all attempts to reach them went unanswered. We knew that was a sign that things were not good and as much as we wanted to camp out and make her let us be a part of this part of her life, it was not our place to do so. So, we did not do the one thing we knew would make us get the contact we strained for; we did not go to the house. We had to respect her wishes and as much as it hurt us, we stayed away. Part of me wishes we had not, but I am satisfied that we respected our friend's final wishes. I am just saddened we did not get a chance to say goodbye.
Gina was in the hospital for about a month before finally losing her battle with cancer. A funny, witty, vibrant young woman taken in her prime. A loving husband left alone in the home they shared with an uncertain future as to what is next, including whether to stay in Toronto since "there is nothing keeping me here". Four older sibling, already without parents who both passed, now losing the gel, the light of the their incredible family. A co-worker that people would give part of their pay to have on their team. A friend that is always there when you needed her the most, someone who would not forget you and who you never had to guess about.
Gina was all of these things to a great many people. Our condolences to the entire Martin family and especially to Jeff. Words simply cannot heal the loss nor can it properly convey the sorrow in that loss. She will be remembered in our continued interaction as time rolls on. You've had a long road Gina, rest now and know that Jeff will be taken care of by all those who loved you. You will be missed greatly my friend.
Peace.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Friday's funnies
Submitted by BT from MTL
-----------------------------
The cabdriver hit a parked car..
----------------------------------------------------
Two old guys, one 80 and one 87, were sitting on their usual park bench one morning. The 87 year old had just finished his morning jog and wasn't even short of breath. The 80 year old was amazed at his friend's stamina and asked him what he did to have so much energy. The 87 year old said "Well, I eat rye bread every day. It keeps your energy level high and you'll have great stamina with the ladies." So, on the way home, the 80 year old stops at the bakery. As he was looking around, the clerk asked if he needed any help.
He said, "Do you have any rye bread?"
She said, "Yes, there's a whole shelf of it. Would you like some?"
He said, "I want 5 loaves."
She said, "My goodness, 5 loaves...by the time you get to the 5th loaf, it'll be hard."
He replied, "I can't believe it, everybody in the world knows about this shit but me."
----------------------------------------
A flat-chested young lady went to Dr. Patel about enlarging her tiny breasts. Dr. Patel advised her, "Every day after your shower rub your chest and say, "Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies." She did this faithfully for several months and it worked! She grew terrific D-cup boobs! One morning she was running late, got on the bus and in a panic realized she had forgotten her morning ritual. Frightened she might lose her lovely boobs if she didn't recite the little rhyme, she stood right there in the middle aisle of the bus closed her eyes and said, "Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies."
A guy sitting nearby looked at her, "By any chance, are you a patient of Dr. Patel's?"
"Why, yes I am... How did you know?"
He leaned closer, winked and whispered, " Hickory dickory dock..."
-------------------------------------------------------
Latex Gloves
A dentist noticed that his next patient, an elderly lady, was looking very nervous so he decided to tell her a little joke as he put on his gloves. "Do you know how they make these gloves?" he asked.
"No, I don't" she replied.
"There's a building in China with a big tank of latex, and workers of all hand sizes walk up to the tank, dip in their hands, let them dry, then peel off the gloves and throw them into boxes of the right size." She didn't even crack a smile. "Oh, well. I tried," he thought.
But five minutes later during a delicate portion of the dental procedure, she burst out laughing."What's so funny?" he asked.
"I was just picturing how condoms are made!" she said.
(Gotta watch those little old ladies! Their minds may be slow, but they're always working."
----------------------------------------------
Subject: The surgeon and the blonde
A surgeon went to check on his blonde patient after an operation.
She was awake, so he examined her. "You'll be fine," he said.
She asked, "How long will it be before I am able to have a normal sex life again doctor?"
The surgeon seemed to pause, which alarmed the girl.
"What's the matter Doctor? I will be all right, won't I?"
He replied, "Yes, you'll be fine. It's just that no one has ever asked me that question after having their tonsils out."
---------------------------------------------
Submitted by JillyJilly
Why, Why, Why
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?"
Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
And my FAVORITE......
The statistics on sanity say that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they are okay, then it's you.
----------------------------------------------
Have a great weekend everyone. Keep it safe.
Peace.
-----------------------------
A couple was dressed and ready to go out for the evening. They turned on a night light, turned on the phone answering machine, covered their pet parakeet and put the cat in the backyard. They phoned the local cab company and requested a taxi.
The taxi arrived and the couple opened the front door to leave their house. The cat they had put out into the yard ran back into the house. They didn't want the cat shut in the house because she always tried to eat the bird. The wife got into the taxi while the husband went back inside to get the cat.
The cat runs upstairs, the man in hot pursuit. Waiting in the cab, the wife didn't want the driver to know the house would be empty for the night. She explained to the taxi driver that her husband would be out soon. "He's just going upstairs to say good-bye to my mother."
A few minutes later, the husband got into the cab. "Sorry I took so long," he said as they drove away. "Stupid bitch was hiding under the bed. I had to poke her with a coat hanger to get her to come out! She tried to take off so I grabbed her by the neck. Then I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from scratching me. But it worked. I hauled her fat ass downstairs and threw her out into the back yard! She better not shit in the roses!"
----------------------------------------------------
Two old guys, one 80 and one 87, were sitting on their usual park bench one morning. The 87 year old had just finished his morning jog and wasn't even short of breath. The 80 year old was amazed at his friend's stamina and asked him what he did to have so much energy. The 87 year old said "Well, I eat rye bread every day. It keeps your energy level high and you'll have great stamina with the ladies." So, on the way home, the 80 year old stops at the bakery. As he was looking around, the clerk asked if he needed any help.
He said, "Do you have any rye bread?"
She said, "Yes, there's a whole shelf of it. Would you like some?"
He said, "I want 5 loaves."
She said, "My goodness, 5 loaves...by the time you get to the 5th loaf, it'll be hard."
He replied, "I can't believe it, everybody in the world knows about this shit but me."
----------------------------------------
A flat-chested young lady went to Dr. Patel about enlarging her tiny breasts. Dr. Patel advised her, "Every day after your shower rub your chest and say, "Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies." She did this faithfully for several months and it worked! She grew terrific D-cup boobs! One morning she was running late, got on the bus and in a panic realized she had forgotten her morning ritual. Frightened she might lose her lovely boobs if she didn't recite the little rhyme, she stood right there in the middle aisle of the bus closed her eyes and said, "Scooby doobie doobies, I want bigger boobies."
A guy sitting nearby looked at her, "By any chance, are you a patient of Dr. Patel's?"
"Why, yes I am... How did you know?"
He leaned closer, winked and whispered, " Hickory dickory dock..."
-------------------------------------------------------
Latex Gloves
A dentist noticed that his next patient, an elderly lady, was looking very nervous so he decided to tell her a little joke as he put on his gloves. "Do you know how they make these gloves?" he asked.
"No, I don't" she replied.
"There's a building in China with a big tank of latex, and workers of all hand sizes walk up to the tank, dip in their hands, let them dry, then peel off the gloves and throw them into boxes of the right size." She didn't even crack a smile. "Oh, well. I tried," he thought.
But five minutes later during a delicate portion of the dental procedure, she burst out laughing."What's so funny?" he asked.
"I was just picturing how condoms are made!" she said.
(Gotta watch those little old ladies! Their minds may be slow, but they're always working."
----------------------------------------------
Subject: The surgeon and the blonde
A surgeon went to check on his blonde patient after an operation.
She was awake, so he examined her. "You'll be fine," he said.
She asked, "How long will it be before I am able to have a normal sex life again doctor?"
The surgeon seemed to pause, which alarmed the girl.
"What's the matter Doctor? I will be all right, won't I?"
He replied, "Yes, you'll be fine. It's just that no one has ever asked me that question after having their tonsils out."
---------------------------------------------
Submitted by JillyJilly
Three Old Ladies.....
Three old ladies named Gertrude, Maude, and Audrey were sitting on a park bench having a conversation, when a flasher approached from across the park.
The flasher came up to the ladies, stood right in front of them, and to their shock and dismay, opened his trench coat.
Gertrude immediately had a stroke.
Then Maude also had a stroke.
But Audrey, being older and a bit more feeble, couldn't reach that far.
Why, Why, Why
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?"
Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
And my FAVORITE......
The statistics on sanity say that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they are okay, then it's you.
----------------------------------------------
Have a great weekend everyone. Keep it safe.
Peace.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
No justice anymore.
OK. Let me see if I follow this. Excessive speed. Dangerous driving. Fatal crash. Dead cabbie. Left the scene. ALL of that and these two little rich kids get ZERO jail time?!!?? All because there is an uncertainty that they were actually racing each other? Uhm, two friends, in their parents' expensive Benzos and you question whether or not the fact they were both speeding, side by side, down the same street at the same time constitutes racing?!!??! Did they have to come out of the car and commit necrophilia on the dead cabbie's body while filming it and then upload the footage? Would that have resulted in jail time.
This is just one more slap in the face of innocent people. If clear cut crimes cannot get punished, what hope does anyone have of justice for something a little more vague? I think the judicial system needs an overhaul, and by recent cases, I would start with the entire judging staff. Either they are completely out of touch or they are lazy and clueless and incompetent. Either this gets fixed or they should retire these goons early and get some fresh blood in place to deal with the things that happen in our lives today.
The cabbie's family gets no justice, no fair treatment and are asked to bend over and take one again from these two idiots. Well, thanks to the judge, all of us may as well bend over because that could have been any of us. I know what I would do to ensure things were "even" at the end. I just won't say it because I am sure my poor ass would be sued by their rich ones.
Peace.
CityNews: Two Teens Avoid Jail In Crash That Killed Local Cabbie
This is just one more slap in the face of innocent people. If clear cut crimes cannot get punished, what hope does anyone have of justice for something a little more vague? I think the judicial system needs an overhaul, and by recent cases, I would start with the entire judging staff. Either they are completely out of touch or they are lazy and clueless and incompetent. Either this gets fixed or they should retire these goons early and get some fresh blood in place to deal with the things that happen in our lives today.
The cabbie's family gets no justice, no fair treatment and are asked to bend over and take one again from these two idiots. Well, thanks to the judge, all of us may as well bend over because that could have been any of us. I know what I would do to ensure things were "even" at the end. I just won't say it because I am sure my poor ass would be sued by their rich ones.
Peace.
CityNews: Two Teens Avoid Jail In Crash That Killed Local Cabbie
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Monday, May 28, 2007
A bit of cross-posting.
It's too long to post twice so mosey on over to DW's blog if you want to read about my day at the doctor's office. Things be a changing. :)
Thankfully, while there today, it was NOT Peanutbutterjelly time. Read the post and it will make more sense.
Ciao.
Thankfully, while there today, it was NOT Peanutbutterjelly time. Read the post and it will make more sense.
Ciao.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
For BB, LB, Hammy and a host of others who read my blog and watch Family Guy and love foolishness. This just simply tickles the fancy.
http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/733
Here is a Wiki entry giving you the history of the Internet and pop culture phenomenon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Banana
And for the Faimly Guy lovers, here it is:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuy6z_family-guy-peanut-butter-jelly-time
Ciao!
http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/733
Here is a Wiki entry giving you the history of the Internet and pop culture phenomenon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Banana
And for the Faimly Guy lovers, here it is:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuy6z_family-guy-peanut-butter-jelly-time
Ciao!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Updates, as seen in an earlier post.
OK, so while I sit in this doctor's office, I figure I would pass the time waiting with a little freely provided Net access. Oh, and watching the fish swim in their DUAL 250-gallon salt water tanks. Dang!!
Anyhow, to the updates.
(*&^(^)(*& Toronto Sports Teams -
Baseball, Blue Jays. Where there is hope and promise, there is crash, burn disappointment. The season has barely begun but once again we are stuck with overpaid underachievers, high expectation non-producers and plagued with injuries. And people who forget how to hit the round ball with the round stick. And people who forget that the plate is not for eating. Anyhow, while some series show the work management made to make the team better, other series (like when Boston hung our ass on the line and beat it for fun) not so much. The season is young but I predict we are right back where we were last year.
Football, Argonauts. I love Damon Allen. Next to Coach Clemons, he is the face of the team and why I love going to games. However, he made some major missteps last year and I am not sure we should try to win it all with him in the starting role this year. Training camp shoot be an all out rumble in the bronx for the top spot so that we have the best chance to bring the cup home AT home; yes, we are hosting both the Amatuer and Professional football classics in one year in one stadium. The best show we could put on for the city and the country is to win it all right here.
Futball (soccer for the rest of you), FC. May as well stand for F**K Canada because if you intend to truly make this franchise viable, then you have to field the best possible team you can. As the uncle of someone who can run rings around some of those on the roster, I can tell you that they do not. There is so much politics in this sport at EVERY level of the game I just don't know how they continue to function and be as popular all over the world; well, I do as it is the only sport that can be played by just about anyone that has two legs, and something round to kick between two stationary posts representing a goal. But, to win at the game, you need skilled players, skilled coaching and management that cares. I know this is our inaugural season but if this is what the future holds, kiss another experiment goodbye. BTW, my nephew will hopefully be learning a new language in the near future as someone is trying to get him a solid shot at making a team in Singapore; decent money, decent playing time, I am sure still a lot of the BS, but no one trying to hold them back as they want to win by any means necessary. Unfortunately, we still do not get that here. I hope he does well and comes back to buss dey ass!!! Best of luck , Hammy!
Basketball, Raptors. Sigh. Vince Carter. Again. Right? Wrong. Carter had some flashes but he is not the reason we lost. We lost because in the dying seconds of a game we should have won, young players made young mistakes and GAVE New Jersey the win and the series. If TJ Ford was in, there is no way that pass was made. If Chris Bosh was more epxerienced, there is no way he does not go to the hole, in the paint, and draw the necessary foul and/or score what would have surely been the winning basket to seal a game seven meeting back home in the T-dot. Instead, we are left to wonder what if and ponder what would have happened if we met King James and the Cavaliers in the final. I truly believe, having beaten them handily in the regular season, we had a great chance to fight for the conference title and possibly a chance to win it all. Instead, we are left to wonder what if and if onlys for another year. I hope the whole team is back next year as it was super fun. My family will there. BTW, congratulations to Bosh for making his first All-NBA Second Team, to GM Colangelo for being named NBA Executive of the Year and for Coach Mitchell on a well-deserved Coach of the Year honours. That last honour is especially nice since it is his peers that vote on who receives that award.
Lacrosse, Rock. Uhm, sadly, we have yet to make a game to see these guys play. Part of that has to do with the insane season pass prices they want for what amounts to two weeks of baseball games. We will probably go see one game and maybe get hooked but don't count on it unless there are deals. What do you guys think you play? Hockey?
Hockey, Maple Leafs. SIGH!! Not to float stereotypes but as a young, black youth one simply was not pushed to play the white man's sport. We played basketball, baseball, soccer, cricket, all sorts of things and yes even a little street hockey. But, we did not see black players promoted in the NHL. We did not hear of heroes in the game that we could relate to. So, how does one gain that interest with so few opportunities? Simple, join Scouts. I was a Cub Scout when one of our field trips was to watch a Maple Leaf game in the hallowed hockey shrine that was Maple Leaf Gardens. Next to Montreal's Forum, no other hockey building held as many championship teams and as fierce a competitive spirit. I was hooked and have been a "Leafer" since the mid-seventies because of the one trip. Fast forward to today and it disgusts me that year after year, we exude futility and nothing gets done about it. We pass on Gretzky, Messier, Roberts, Pronger and others but we throw money at a whole slew of names that were not worth it or should have retired before they signed with us. As a former top executive put it, "They don't NEED to win; especially not when they are clearing THREE million a game." Don't NEED to win. that is it in a nutshell. From the embaraasing days of Harold Ballard to the current embarrassing days of overpaid underachievers, the stands of the Gardens and now the Air Canada Centre have almost always been filled to the rafters with rabid fans eager to cough up ridiculous prices to see losing effort after losing effort, year after losing year. What other franchise would have survived this long a bout with futility without having to make drastic changes and pay cuts? NONE. But this is not a franchise, it is an institution. It is a way of life. It is a reason to get up in the winter for some. It is the life's blood of this city. It is a crying shame because as we continue to back this team and this organization no matter what crap they do and put on the ice, they continue to make fistsfull of money and never feel the pinch that tells the owners we need to do something. Leaf fans will always be there so we just need to keep the feeling of hope alive, for with it they will come. I tried to boycott hockey very recently. I lasted until the first game I hear in a Boston Pizza prompted me to look at the screen on a Sturday night. The boycott was over and I was scrambling to get tickets from a friend kind enough to let me have some at cost because he knows I am a true fan. I am a Leafer. And every year I help kill the hopes that Lord Stanley's Cup will ever return to this fair city. Sorry. :(
Anyhow, to the updates.
(*&^(^)(*& Toronto Sports Teams -
Baseball, Blue Jays. Where there is hope and promise, there is crash, burn disappointment. The season has barely begun but once again we are stuck with overpaid underachievers, high expectation non-producers and plagued with injuries. And people who forget how to hit the round ball with the round stick. And people who forget that the plate is not for eating. Anyhow, while some series show the work management made to make the team better, other series (like when Boston hung our ass on the line and beat it for fun) not so much. The season is young but I predict we are right back where we were last year.
Football, Argonauts. I love Damon Allen. Next to Coach Clemons, he is the face of the team and why I love going to games. However, he made some major missteps last year and I am not sure we should try to win it all with him in the starting role this year. Training camp shoot be an all out rumble in the bronx for the top spot so that we have the best chance to bring the cup home AT home; yes, we are hosting both the Amatuer and Professional football classics in one year in one stadium. The best show we could put on for the city and the country is to win it all right here.
Futball (soccer for the rest of you), FC. May as well stand for F**K Canada because if you intend to truly make this franchise viable, then you have to field the best possible team you can. As the uncle of someone who can run rings around some of those on the roster, I can tell you that they do not. There is so much politics in this sport at EVERY level of the game I just don't know how they continue to function and be as popular all over the world; well, I do as it is the only sport that can be played by just about anyone that has two legs, and something round to kick between two stationary posts representing a goal. But, to win at the game, you need skilled players, skilled coaching and management that cares. I know this is our inaugural season but if this is what the future holds, kiss another experiment goodbye. BTW, my nephew will hopefully be learning a new language in the near future as someone is trying to get him a solid shot at making a team in Singapore; decent money, decent playing time, I am sure still a lot of the BS, but no one trying to hold them back as they want to win by any means necessary. Unfortunately, we still do not get that here. I hope he does well and comes back to buss dey ass!!! Best of luck , Hammy!
Basketball, Raptors. Sigh. Vince Carter. Again. Right? Wrong. Carter had some flashes but he is not the reason we lost. We lost because in the dying seconds of a game we should have won, young players made young mistakes and GAVE New Jersey the win and the series. If TJ Ford was in, there is no way that pass was made. If Chris Bosh was more epxerienced, there is no way he does not go to the hole, in the paint, and draw the necessary foul and/or score what would have surely been the winning basket to seal a game seven meeting back home in the T-dot. Instead, we are left to wonder what if and ponder what would have happened if we met King James and the Cavaliers in the final. I truly believe, having beaten them handily in the regular season, we had a great chance to fight for the conference title and possibly a chance to win it all. Instead, we are left to wonder what if and if onlys for another year. I hope the whole team is back next year as it was super fun. My family will there. BTW, congratulations to Bosh for making his first All-NBA Second Team, to GM Colangelo for being named NBA Executive of the Year and for Coach Mitchell on a well-deserved Coach of the Year honours. That last honour is especially nice since it is his peers that vote on who receives that award.
Lacrosse, Rock. Uhm, sadly, we have yet to make a game to see these guys play. Part of that has to do with the insane season pass prices they want for what amounts to two weeks of baseball games. We will probably go see one game and maybe get hooked but don't count on it unless there are deals. What do you guys think you play? Hockey?
Hockey, Maple Leafs. SIGH!! Not to float stereotypes but as a young, black youth one simply was not pushed to play the white man's sport. We played basketball, baseball, soccer, cricket, all sorts of things and yes even a little street hockey. But, we did not see black players promoted in the NHL. We did not hear of heroes in the game that we could relate to. So, how does one gain that interest with so few opportunities? Simple, join Scouts. I was a Cub Scout when one of our field trips was to watch a Maple Leaf game in the hallowed hockey shrine that was Maple Leaf Gardens. Next to Montreal's Forum, no other hockey building held as many championship teams and as fierce a competitive spirit. I was hooked and have been a "Leafer" since the mid-seventies because of the one trip. Fast forward to today and it disgusts me that year after year, we exude futility and nothing gets done about it. We pass on Gretzky, Messier, Roberts, Pronger and others but we throw money at a whole slew of names that were not worth it or should have retired before they signed with us. As a former top executive put it, "They don't NEED to win; especially not when they are clearing THREE million a game." Don't NEED to win. that is it in a nutshell. From the embaraasing days of Harold Ballard to the current embarrassing days of overpaid underachievers, the stands of the Gardens and now the Air Canada Centre have almost always been filled to the rafters with rabid fans eager to cough up ridiculous prices to see losing effort after losing effort, year after losing year. What other franchise would have survived this long a bout with futility without having to make drastic changes and pay cuts? NONE. But this is not a franchise, it is an institution. It is a way of life. It is a reason to get up in the winter for some. It is the life's blood of this city. It is a crying shame because as we continue to back this team and this organization no matter what crap they do and put on the ice, they continue to make fistsfull of money and never feel the pinch that tells the owners we need to do something. Leaf fans will always be there so we just need to keep the feeling of hope alive, for with it they will come. I tried to boycott hockey very recently. I lasted until the first game I hear in a Boston Pizza prompted me to look at the screen on a Sturday night. The boycott was over and I was scrambling to get tickets from a friend kind enough to let me have some at cost because he knows I am a true fan. I am a Leafer. And every year I help kill the hopes that Lord Stanley's Cup will ever return to this fair city. Sorry. :(
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Happy Birthday.... to me!
Yes, today I am one year shy of the big 4-0. I was up around 4:30AM not because of birthday jitters, not because I was awoken for birthday relations with DW (still waiting) but because the house we are in is up for the one year inspection and I had to write up the sheets, scan them in and get them sent off to the realtor for the owner. Yep, birthday fun begins early.
Add to that the fact that I am on-call and received a wonderful call about a PITA client and a degraded circuit issue that needed attention, then another brush with incompetence as I am told that, yet again, a pertinent update to the ticket was NOT called in fifteen minutes after I called, and you have the makings of the beginning of a BEAUTIFUL day.
Well, so far I have received greeting from my father, whom I thought would not have done so this year, but as always, just before 5AM I got my birthday call commemorating the time of my birth. At one point I thought I was getting too old for it and it was a bit corny but I actually thought about it five minutes before he called so I guess some things, as small as they are, mean a whole lot.
Next, I received a birthday greeting from Hallmark courtesy of DoubleD and family. It was one of those animated ones and had me shooting at all the ills of getting old in hopes of reducing years off my age. The tagline: If only it were that easy. Yeah, I hear ya!
Next, DW came out as the alarm went off at 6AM as usual. Tired, hot and sweaty, she went back to bed since I was already up. No birthday greeting. No lifting of the clothing and enticing relations. Sigh, maybe next year.
Next, my neice passed by, scrubbing mask or some other shite on her face, headed downstairs and returning with an armful of clean clothes she had hung up. I got a good morning greeting but no birthday greeting. No worries, it will come to her and I will make her feel guilty as only I know how.
Next, TC was dressed and coherent and gave me huge birthday hugs. Again, the simple things mean the absolute most. Considering the last couple of years, having my wife and child in the same place with me on the morning of my birthday is a priceless gift that I hope continues for a long while. Well, at least till we either ship TC off to school so we can travel, or we expand the household with some little ones.
Birthday mornings could come a lot worse so I will say thank you, fell honoured and blessed to be alive and healthy, and will no amount of stupidity ruin my day today as I am off to shower, get dressed and head into work with a cloud of utter joy and contentment shielding me from today's ills.
Peace.
Add to that the fact that I am on-call and received a wonderful call about a PITA client and a degraded circuit issue that needed attention, then another brush with incompetence as I am told that, yet again, a pertinent update to the ticket was NOT called in fifteen minutes after I called, and you have the makings of the beginning of a BEAUTIFUL day.
Well, so far I have received greeting from my father, whom I thought would not have done so this year, but as always, just before 5AM I got my birthday call commemorating the time of my birth. At one point I thought I was getting too old for it and it was a bit corny but I actually thought about it five minutes before he called so I guess some things, as small as they are, mean a whole lot.
Next, I received a birthday greeting from Hallmark courtesy of DoubleD and family. It was one of those animated ones and had me shooting at all the ills of getting old in hopes of reducing years off my age. The tagline: If only it were that easy. Yeah, I hear ya!
Next, DW came out as the alarm went off at 6AM as usual. Tired, hot and sweaty, she went back to bed since I was already up. No birthday greeting. No lifting of the clothing and enticing relations. Sigh, maybe next year.
Next, my neice passed by, scrubbing mask or some other shite on her face, headed downstairs and returning with an armful of clean clothes she had hung up. I got a good morning greeting but no birthday greeting. No worries, it will come to her and I will make her feel guilty as only I know how.
Next, TC was dressed and coherent and gave me huge birthday hugs. Again, the simple things mean the absolute most. Considering the last couple of years, having my wife and child in the same place with me on the morning of my birthday is a priceless gift that I hope continues for a long while. Well, at least till we either ship TC off to school so we can travel, or we expand the household with some little ones.
Birthday mornings could come a lot worse so I will say thank you, fell honoured and blessed to be alive and healthy, and will no amount of stupidity ruin my day today as I am off to shower, get dressed and head into work with a cloud of utter joy and contentment shielding me from today's ills.
Peace.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Review: Windows Vista Ultimate - Part deux
Ok, as a glutton for punishment, I had to explore what other machine (i.e. types of hardware) I had laying around that might allow the Vista experience to install. DW's old case was still sitting there as her desktop was upgraded from to a ASRock motherboard running a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 CPU. As always, a gig of RAM, two drives bigger than 250GB, the Lightscribe LG drive, built-in sound and the AIW 9700 Pro. This unit kept freezing during the install and simply refused to allow Vista anywhere near it so I had to start over and it sits content (mostly) with Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005.
So, her old box, a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 was sitting socketed into a Soyo P4X400 motherboard with a gig of 333MHz RAM, a US Robotics fax modem, a Sound Blaster Live! sound card, but without an optical drive, a hard drive or a video card (as these were all transferred to the aforementioned new desktop). I decided to see just how bad Vista would run on this unit, if at all. First, I added a hard drive to the removable tray, added our old Pioneer DVR-104 (a 2x DVD writer unit), and a positively ancient nVidia MX400 32MB AGP video card.
The install actually went better than I thought it would; better than anyone looking at the spec sheet would have imagined. Vista Ultimate installed without so much as a single hiccup!! It did not freeze once. It never spontaneously rebooted. It just plain worked as advertised! Yeah, my jaw was on the floor too. Surely there had to be some negative thing I could slam it for, right?
Well, yes and no. Creative Labs has decided, like many other manufacturers have, that it will not support certain older hardware under Vista. Pretty much, than means all non-Audigy chip owners are being told by Creative to either use the on-board audio chipset attached to their motherboard (which I ended up doing) or to upgrade to an Audigy-based card. Uhm, spending more money? Not. So, with sound installed, I just need it to recognize the "PCI input device" which turned out to be the modem. I did not even have to search the net or 3Com for the drivers; Windows found them and updated the system and that was that.
Everything installed and working right and all available drivers installed properly, I started to add items and check out what worked well, what was slow as ass and what, if anything, was broken. If you install Vista, there is a simple and effective method to point you to where you may find issues. Remember that performance indicator from the first system where I had a 4.9? Well this system has a 1.0!! And when I went in and checked the details, it was the graphics subsytem that had produced the pathetic score. The performance rating is based ont he lowest subscore so even if the CPU on this box produced a 3.9, the overall system rating is still a 1.0. I expected this in any case because the system requirements tell you that the grpahics treats (i.e Aero, Flip, Flip 3d, etc.) will be turned off if the card is deemed to not be able to handle it. Thus, no visual toys are working on this box. That would be upgrade number one.
While a gig of main memory is basically okay for operating, I think that any system running Vista (any flavour) will benefit from a second gig of memory as the first necessary upgrade. Memory is cheap these days so don't skimp on it. Video cards that can run Vista's visual treats are also cheap if you buy realistic to what you want to do. Any AGP or PCIe video card with 128MB of memory or more should run Aero and the other graphical items. If you want to run many windows, the visual treats and the Media Center component, I would recommend at least 256MB on the card. And, if you want to run games (do I need to say this?) you are going to need a modern video card to get the best textures, fluid motion and rich colours at the high resolution that new snazzy monitor you bought delivers.
I know, I know. You are being freaked out by me complimenting and giving props to the evil empire's latest devil spawn. I cannot help it though. I find myself not wanting to work on any other machine in the room (except for the Mac mini, naturally). I think a lot of the criticism comes from unrealistic promises made by Microsoft and their partners. If they had marketed with some realism (i.e. not all your shit is going to work with this new OS so stop your whining and upgrade the components as necessary) and they had put in a better price point, I think this would have been as much a success that Windows 95 and 98SE were when they were launched.
No, you do not have to go and buy a brand new machine unless the technology and speed represented by such a purchase warrants the cash outlay. Yes, if you go the Vista route with your crappy, hoopdie system, you may find some things broken and you will have to pay to fix it. Such is life in the progress lane. Live with it and move on. As the old adage says, if it aint broke, don't fix it. So, if your XP install is running stable and doing the job, stop watching the commercials and reading the "WoW" ads and continue on as usual.
But if you are one of us who just gotta have it, be prepared: research, read forums and reviews, ask a friend (like me) and download and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. It will tell you where your current system is lacking and will suggest where improvements may be required or is desired. Oh, one thing I read about is a sensitivity to bad memory. You might want to run Memtest86+ to test your current system's memory (a good test for all our systems). Also, run chkdsk /f on all your hard drives and do a defrag of them as well. Best to avoid any kid of hiccups during the install. Finally, with hard drive prices so freaking low now (i.e. Canada Computers has 500GB drives for $160 and the 750GB drives are dropping close to the sweet spot of 32 cents per GB as more Terabyte drives enter the market), make your life easy and install Vista on a clean, new drive. You can transfer your old files (but not old applications, those have to be reinstalled IF they are compatible in Vista) and use the old drive as a backup or secondary storage drive (i.e. for media only).
Enjoy.
So, her old box, a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 was sitting socketed into a Soyo P4X400 motherboard with a gig of 333MHz RAM, a US Robotics fax modem, a Sound Blaster Live! sound card, but without an optical drive, a hard drive or a video card (as these were all transferred to the aforementioned new desktop). I decided to see just how bad Vista would run on this unit, if at all. First, I added a hard drive to the removable tray, added our old Pioneer DVR-104 (a 2x DVD writer unit), and a positively ancient nVidia MX400 32MB AGP video card.
The install actually went better than I thought it would; better than anyone looking at the spec sheet would have imagined. Vista Ultimate installed without so much as a single hiccup!! It did not freeze once. It never spontaneously rebooted. It just plain worked as advertised! Yeah, my jaw was on the floor too. Surely there had to be some negative thing I could slam it for, right?
Well, yes and no. Creative Labs has decided, like many other manufacturers have, that it will not support certain older hardware under Vista. Pretty much, than means all non-Audigy chip owners are being told by Creative to either use the on-board audio chipset attached to their motherboard (which I ended up doing) or to upgrade to an Audigy-based card. Uhm, spending more money? Not. So, with sound installed, I just need it to recognize the "PCI input device" which turned out to be the modem. I did not even have to search the net or 3Com for the drivers; Windows found them and updated the system and that was that.
Everything installed and working right and all available drivers installed properly, I started to add items and check out what worked well, what was slow as ass and what, if anything, was broken. If you install Vista, there is a simple and effective method to point you to where you may find issues. Remember that performance indicator from the first system where I had a 4.9? Well this system has a 1.0!! And when I went in and checked the details, it was the graphics subsytem that had produced the pathetic score. The performance rating is based ont he lowest subscore so even if the CPU on this box produced a 3.9, the overall system rating is still a 1.0. I expected this in any case because the system requirements tell you that the grpahics treats (i.e Aero, Flip, Flip 3d, etc.) will be turned off if the card is deemed to not be able to handle it. Thus, no visual toys are working on this box. That would be upgrade number one.
While a gig of main memory is basically okay for operating, I think that any system running Vista (any flavour) will benefit from a second gig of memory as the first necessary upgrade. Memory is cheap these days so don't skimp on it. Video cards that can run Vista's visual treats are also cheap if you buy realistic to what you want to do. Any AGP or PCIe video card with 128MB of memory or more should run Aero and the other graphical items. If you want to run many windows, the visual treats and the Media Center component, I would recommend at least 256MB on the card. And, if you want to run games (do I need to say this?) you are going to need a modern video card to get the best textures, fluid motion and rich colours at the high resolution that new snazzy monitor you bought delivers.
I know, I know. You are being freaked out by me complimenting and giving props to the evil empire's latest devil spawn. I cannot help it though. I find myself not wanting to work on any other machine in the room (except for the Mac mini, naturally). I think a lot of the criticism comes from unrealistic promises made by Microsoft and their partners. If they had marketed with some realism (i.e. not all your shit is going to work with this new OS so stop your whining and upgrade the components as necessary) and they had put in a better price point, I think this would have been as much a success that Windows 95 and 98SE were when they were launched.
No, you do not have to go and buy a brand new machine unless the technology and speed represented by such a purchase warrants the cash outlay. Yes, if you go the Vista route with your crappy, hoopdie system, you may find some things broken and you will have to pay to fix it. Such is life in the progress lane. Live with it and move on. As the old adage says, if it aint broke, don't fix it. So, if your XP install is running stable and doing the job, stop watching the commercials and reading the "WoW" ads and continue on as usual.
But if you are one of us who just gotta have it, be prepared: research, read forums and reviews, ask a friend (like me) and download and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. It will tell you where your current system is lacking and will suggest where improvements may be required or is desired. Oh, one thing I read about is a sensitivity to bad memory. You might want to run Memtest86+ to test your current system's memory (a good test for all our systems). Also, run chkdsk /f on all your hard drives and do a defrag of them as well. Best to avoid any kid of hiccups during the install. Finally, with hard drive prices so freaking low now (i.e. Canada Computers has 500GB drives for $160 and the 750GB drives are dropping close to the sweet spot of 32 cents per GB as more Terabyte drives enter the market), make your life easy and install Vista on a clean, new drive. You can transfer your old files (but not old applications, those have to be reinstalled IF they are compatible in Vista) and use the old drive as a backup or secondary storage drive (i.e. for media only).
Enjoy.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Software review: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
OK, I am warning those that know me well to sit down because I do not want you to fall over when I say this: Vista is not that bad! Actually, to be perfectly honest, I like Vista. I like it a lot! Now, still keeping it real, I have installed a copy of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate that will time out in thirty days as I simply wanted to know if any of our equipment was up to snuff or would we be forced to upgrade our hardware across the board. The answer to that question is mixed, as I will explain in detail. I will say this though; there is no f**king way that Bill and the boys will get me to cough up $400 to install Ultimate on each of our machines. I may buy a new machine and work out a premium to move from Vista Premium to Ultimate (a price difference of about $141 retail) or I will install it on one main media machine and leave the rest on XP Professional as they are now. Anyhow, let me tell you what the install process is like.
I started with DW's machine as hers was acting up and was getting a reinstall and a transplant into a different case anyhow. I cleared a hard drive and booted off the Vista Ultimate DVD (yes, it is so large it requires a DVD to hold it all now as ALL versions are supplied on a single disc). I recommend that you do a clean install on a drive that has nothing you would be upset at losing. The install process is so much less involved than XP's; it is a welcome change from the multitude of assinine questions you are typically asked. The transfer of the files and the initial setup is the easy part of the process, as I was soon to learn. The hard part comes when it tries to initiate the video subsystem (i.e. produce a picture) and when it renumerates devices (i.e. figures out what the heck you have and the drivers it needs to install). And that is where I ran into issues.
No BSDs (blue screen of death) here. Instead, just similarly annoying pretty screen freezes. LOTS of them. I had to Google(TM) a number of different items that cropped up. Found out that video is a big issue with Vista installs. Another one is not having any USB devices plugged in (I had an external DVD writer doing the install and had to unplug it to move forward). No matter what though, and three days of trying did not change things, I could not get it installed on a P4 2.6GHz, ASRock motherboard, 1GB of memory, an ATI All-inWonder 9700 Pro, an LG Lightscribe optical drive and a Western Digital 320GB hard drive. In no way a sloth of a system but it refused to get to the inital login screen. So, consider this a failure and move one; which we did. DW's machine is now running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 and the Xbox 360 connects to it and sees the media files just fine.
OK, so we now had a dead media machine sitting in its aluminum Antec P160 case (mine does not have the acrylic window as seen in the link). The Asus PC4800-E Deluxe motherboard has been a bit suspect from the start and as we wanted faster conversion for the video we record (this is our PVR machine with four TV tuners), we were considering upgrading this unit to a Core 2 Duo motherboard, CPU, new memory and PCIe video card. However, that is a near thousand dollar upgrade that we simply should not (but can) do right now so I decided to try Vista on what used to be a flagship motherboard from stalwart Asus.
Andromeda, as she has been named for some time, is a large aluminum tower. It needs a new power supply as the Antec 550+ that used to reside in it had some issues on teh 3.3V rail and was causing stability issues. One thing, fellow system builders, to always keep an eye on is clean power to all system parts. Anyhow, with the P4C800-E, the machine has a P4 3.0GHz HT CPU, 1GB of Dual Channel PC400 memory, a Pioneer DVD-115 DVD-ROM, a Pioneer DVD-110D dual layer DVD writer, an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, almost 1.8 TERABYTES of storage across five hard drives (almost all full), sound/network/firewire/usb/RAID/ are all integrated in this great motherboard, two Hauppauge PVR-500 MCE dual-tuner analog TV/FM tuners, one DVB-TV digital tuner and all of that showing up on an HP f2105 monitor.
You would think that should be enough firepower to run Vista, right? Damn skippy! Now, while I did get the Operating System (OS) installed successfully, it was not without a decent share of issues, trials, concerns, tricks, caveats and cursing. I know you are laughing at me Famine, but you KNOW I have to try things out myself.
So, in a nutshell, Vista Ultimate installed just fine, I created my login and everything was good. I marvelled at the super clear, very vibrant visuals. The Aero interface is a marked improvement over the XP interface as much as that one was over the Windows 98 interface was. However, pretty things are typically shallow on the surface and I was to learn painful lessons very quickly. My nephew was over and I had him fire up the Xbox 360 so we could connect this as an MCE server. Shortly afterwards, it hung and I had to reboot the system. I was watching a movie clip on Windows Media Player 11 and playing with the sound level and it hung, requiring a reboot. I was performing some updates and it hung, requiring a reboot. I stopped counting after a dozen hangs and while it was annoying that it was doing this, it was not unexpected.
See, I understood going in that anything older than today's current hardware was a crapshoot at what works and what does not. Some things work wihtout issue and somethings do not. Our monitor, printer and video falls in the former category while the motherboard, sound chipset and scanner falls in the latter category. Honestly, if the TV tuners did not have Vista drivers, I was not even going to bother attempting the install on this box and would have simply forced the need for the upgrade on it. As it seems to be sitting stable (I wrote all today's posts on it and have been catching up on some old Y&R while I work in the office), I think we can safely put the upgrade on hold until after the garage sales.
So, as a final note, would I recommend Windows Vista? Yes and No. If you are buying a new machine anyhow AND ALL the peripherals you are connecting to it have certified Vista compatibility, then I say you should absolutely go ahead and get it. Enjoy the new interface (oh yeah Flip-3D is super sweet), the better security (though UAC is a PITA), better visuals and various updated pieces. If, however, you are looking to upgrade your existing system, STOP and do your bloody homework before you do anything else. You will avoid much frustration and heartache getting your new install working. Vista Ultimate, if you have a TV tuner, is the only version I consider worth the hassle but I simply do not see coughing up the cost of a stereo receiver for it. If it is a matter of adding $150 to upgrade your new system from Vista Premium, I say it is money well spent.
And just one last tweak. The $400 you may think about spending on Windows Vista Ultimate could (and should) be considered as almost halfway to the cost of upgrading to a Mac Mini Duo Core machine with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) installed and the ability to dual boot with XP or Vista if you should choose (using Bootcamp in 10.4 or its integrated cousin in 10.5). The OS will have more features than Premium and about on par with Ultimate minus the MCE component but plus iLife '06/07, Core Animation and Time Machine (think Flip 3D on steroids as you "flip through previous versions of documents).
Good luck.
I started with DW's machine as hers was acting up and was getting a reinstall and a transplant into a different case anyhow. I cleared a hard drive and booted off the Vista Ultimate DVD (yes, it is so large it requires a DVD to hold it all now as ALL versions are supplied on a single disc). I recommend that you do a clean install on a drive that has nothing you would be upset at losing. The install process is so much less involved than XP's; it is a welcome change from the multitude of assinine questions you are typically asked. The transfer of the files and the initial setup is the easy part of the process, as I was soon to learn. The hard part comes when it tries to initiate the video subsystem (i.e. produce a picture) and when it renumerates devices (i.e. figures out what the heck you have and the drivers it needs to install). And that is where I ran into issues.
No BSDs (blue screen of death) here. Instead, just similarly annoying pretty screen freezes. LOTS of them. I had to Google(TM) a number of different items that cropped up. Found out that video is a big issue with Vista installs. Another one is not having any USB devices plugged in (I had an external DVD writer doing the install and had to unplug it to move forward). No matter what though, and three days of trying did not change things, I could not get it installed on a P4 2.6GHz, ASRock motherboard, 1GB of memory, an ATI All-inWonder 9700 Pro, an LG Lightscribe optical drive and a Western Digital 320GB hard drive. In no way a sloth of a system but it refused to get to the inital login screen. So, consider this a failure and move one; which we did. DW's machine is now running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 and the Xbox 360 connects to it and sees the media files just fine.
OK, so we now had a dead media machine sitting in its aluminum Antec P160 case (mine does not have the acrylic window as seen in the link). The Asus PC4800-E Deluxe motherboard has been a bit suspect from the start and as we wanted faster conversion for the video we record (this is our PVR machine with four TV tuners), we were considering upgrading this unit to a Core 2 Duo motherboard, CPU, new memory and PCIe video card. However, that is a near thousand dollar upgrade that we simply should not (but can) do right now so I decided to try Vista on what used to be a flagship motherboard from stalwart Asus.
Andromeda, as she has been named for some time, is a large aluminum tower. It needs a new power supply as the Antec 550+ that used to reside in it had some issues on teh 3.3V rail and was causing stability issues. One thing, fellow system builders, to always keep an eye on is clean power to all system parts. Anyhow, with the P4C800-E, the machine has a P4 3.0GHz HT CPU, 1GB of Dual Channel PC400 memory, a Pioneer DVD-115 DVD-ROM, a Pioneer DVD-110D dual layer DVD writer, an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, almost 1.8 TERABYTES of storage across five hard drives (almost all full), sound/network/firewire/usb/RAID/ are all integrated in this great motherboard, two Hauppauge PVR-500 MCE dual-tuner analog TV/FM tuners, one DVB-TV digital tuner and all of that showing up on an HP f2105 monitor.
You would think that should be enough firepower to run Vista, right? Damn skippy! Now, while I did get the Operating System (OS) installed successfully, it was not without a decent share of issues, trials, concerns, tricks, caveats and cursing. I know you are laughing at me Famine, but you KNOW I have to try things out myself.
So, in a nutshell, Vista Ultimate installed just fine, I created my login and everything was good. I marvelled at the super clear, very vibrant visuals. The Aero interface is a marked improvement over the XP interface as much as that one was over the Windows 98 interface was. However, pretty things are typically shallow on the surface and I was to learn painful lessons very quickly. My nephew was over and I had him fire up the Xbox 360 so we could connect this as an MCE server. Shortly afterwards, it hung and I had to reboot the system. I was watching a movie clip on Windows Media Player 11 and playing with the sound level and it hung, requiring a reboot. I was performing some updates and it hung, requiring a reboot. I stopped counting after a dozen hangs and while it was annoying that it was doing this, it was not unexpected.
See, I understood going in that anything older than today's current hardware was a crapshoot at what works and what does not. Some things work wihtout issue and somethings do not. Our monitor, printer and video falls in the former category while the motherboard, sound chipset and scanner falls in the latter category. Honestly, if the TV tuners did not have Vista drivers, I was not even going to bother attempting the install on this box and would have simply forced the need for the upgrade on it. As it seems to be sitting stable (I wrote all today's posts on it and have been catching up on some old Y&R while I work in the office), I think we can safely put the upgrade on hold until after the garage sales.
So, as a final note, would I recommend Windows Vista? Yes and No. If you are buying a new machine anyhow AND ALL the peripherals you are connecting to it have certified Vista compatibility, then I say you should absolutely go ahead and get it. Enjoy the new interface (oh yeah Flip-3D is super sweet), the better security (though UAC is a PITA), better visuals and various updated pieces. If, however, you are looking to upgrade your existing system, STOP and do your bloody homework before you do anything else. You will avoid much frustration and heartache getting your new install working. Vista Ultimate, if you have a TV tuner, is the only version I consider worth the hassle but I simply do not see coughing up the cost of a stereo receiver for it. If it is a matter of adding $150 to upgrade your new system from Vista Premium, I say it is money well spent.
And just one last tweak. The $400 you may think about spending on Windows Vista Ultimate could (and should) be considered as almost halfway to the cost of upgrading to a Mac Mini Duo Core machine with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) installed and the ability to dual boot with XP or Vista if you should choose (using Bootcamp in 10.4 or its integrated cousin in 10.5). The OS will have more features than Premium and about on par with Ultimate minus the MCE component but plus iLife '06/07, Core Animation and Time Machine (think Flip 3D on steroids as you "flip through previous versions of documents).
Good luck.
Niece update!
I will say it publicly. Wonders never cease. I absolutely have nothing to retract from my previous postings on the topic of my niece but I do have some interesting news: we think she's got it!
By "it" I refer to "a clue". When we reach a certain age, there is not a lot we want to hear from older folks and not much we think our parents and family can tell us. A does of reality and truth is almost always like swallowing a tablespoon of Buckley's; "it tastes terrible but it works". In her case, the truth was that it was time for her to be on her own, doing her own thing and taking responsibility for herself. The reality is that it is a hard step to take, it is not an easy transistion and it is that much harder to resist falling back on the old staple of living with the parent(s).
To her credit, as depressing DW and I made her, as frustrating as her quest for a home has been, as disillusioning as her new job has been, she has been determined to struggle through it all, to stick to our contract and to make it work. Yes, she is particular about where she wanted to live and how much she wanted to pay for that lifestyle. Reality quickly set in though when a place she liked, and wanted, and applied for and was told to submit her money in for, then turned around and rejected her because they liked the other candidate more. She was not a happy camper but came home and was back on the Internet hunting for new prospects.
I felt a little pride in seeing how much she has matured since our last fiasco-filled co-residence experiment and while she still has some seasoning to do, I can say to her now "welcome to adulthood". On top of that, the other day her, TC and I were in the kitchen and family room area discussing something and she told TC something that evoked a rare occasion; I was speechless. She had at one point turned to TC and told her that when she grew up, her father was not there for her so she had no real father figure. However, I was there for her and her brother so I was her father figure.
:O Oh yeah. Nothing I could say there and I had to turn away, change subject and eventually leave the area so they did not see the tear welling up in my eye. You think sometimes they just don't get why you do what you do or are they way you are. And then sometimes, occasionally, they let you know that you did make a difference. That is all I could ask for. That is all I wanted to do. And to know that I did, that I continue to do for her and her brother (who should be playing on the Toronto FC if not for some berucratic fuckery), gives me a great feeling. I am sure LB can say the same as he took up the torch as he grew older to be "Good/Fun Uncle" while I was ass-kicking uncle. Now we both are fun and we both kick ass. Tee hee.
So, just to close out, I am proud of my niece, and I hope she continues as she is going and she takes our "from experience" financial advice to heart. We will keep an eye on her as she moves into her new place June 1st and starts her new journey.
Peace.
By "it" I refer to "a clue". When we reach a certain age, there is not a lot we want to hear from older folks and not much we think our parents and family can tell us. A does of reality and truth is almost always like swallowing a tablespoon of Buckley's; "it tastes terrible but it works". In her case, the truth was that it was time for her to be on her own, doing her own thing and taking responsibility for herself. The reality is that it is a hard step to take, it is not an easy transistion and it is that much harder to resist falling back on the old staple of living with the parent(s).
To her credit, as depressing DW and I made her, as frustrating as her quest for a home has been, as disillusioning as her new job has been, she has been determined to struggle through it all, to stick to our contract and to make it work. Yes, she is particular about where she wanted to live and how much she wanted to pay for that lifestyle. Reality quickly set in though when a place she liked, and wanted, and applied for and was told to submit her money in for, then turned around and rejected her because they liked the other candidate more. She was not a happy camper but came home and was back on the Internet hunting for new prospects.
I felt a little pride in seeing how much she has matured since our last fiasco-filled co-residence experiment and while she still has some seasoning to do, I can say to her now "welcome to adulthood". On top of that, the other day her, TC and I were in the kitchen and family room area discussing something and she told TC something that evoked a rare occasion; I was speechless. She had at one point turned to TC and told her that when she grew up, her father was not there for her so she had no real father figure. However, I was there for her and her brother so I was her father figure.
:O Oh yeah. Nothing I could say there and I had to turn away, change subject and eventually leave the area so they did not see the tear welling up in my eye. You think sometimes they just don't get why you do what you do or are they way you are. And then sometimes, occasionally, they let you know that you did make a difference. That is all I could ask for. That is all I wanted to do. And to know that I did, that I continue to do for her and her brother (who should be playing on the Toronto FC if not for some berucratic fuckery), gives me a great feeling. I am sure LB can say the same as he took up the torch as he grew older to be "Good/Fun Uncle" while I was ass-kicking uncle. Now we both are fun and we both kick ass. Tee hee.
So, just to close out, I am proud of my niece, and I hope she continues as she is going and she takes our "from experience" financial advice to heart. We will keep an eye on her as she moves into her new place June 1st and starts her new journey.
Peace.
Movie Review: Spiderman 3
So, it is not usual that we have the time, and money to have all three of us go out but on Saturday, it was one of those times. We joined two friends for dinner and then two more at the Colossus in Woodbridge to see Spiderman 3 in the IMAX theatre. I had seen those nature films in there before but never a full feature movie. It's more expensive but well worth it for the right movies. On the visual side of things, this was one of the right movies to see it on the huge screen (and I really want that sound system in our next house). However, visuals are only part of the movie and won't carry it to blockbuster status if the storyline falls short. A lot of people will disagree with me but, for a former comic collector and current comic book lover, this simply was not up to snuff of either the first two.
Spiderman 3 (don't worry, no spoilers here) essentially takes up where it left off in the second movie. Harry is pissed off with Peter, Peter is romancing MJ and Aunt May is sweet and oblivious to everything. The guy that plays J. Jonah Jameson should get his own movie he is so good in that role. The problem with the story is that it tries to introduce too many new elements, tries to intertwine the new and the old and then attempts to wrap it all up at the end. The Spidey-verse is simply too well known and far too large for that to happen like they hoped so, in my opinion, they did a lot of interesting and neat things but none of them great. So, in the end, the movie is a bit disappointing for me.
That said, if you are not a stickler for details, and you know nothing about Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy and the Secret Wars saga, go have yourself a nice night out with everyone's "every guy" superhero and be amazed at how far CGI, green screen and good old fashioned wire work has come. It is verging on a visual masterpiece though not as awe-inspiring as watching Doctor Octopus walk up the side of a building or that amazing subway fight sequence on the train.
Ciao.
Spiderman 3 (don't worry, no spoilers here) essentially takes up where it left off in the second movie. Harry is pissed off with Peter, Peter is romancing MJ and Aunt May is sweet and oblivious to everything. The guy that plays J. Jonah Jameson should get his own movie he is so good in that role. The problem with the story is that it tries to introduce too many new elements, tries to intertwine the new and the old and then attempts to wrap it all up at the end. The Spidey-verse is simply too well known and far too large for that to happen like they hoped so, in my opinion, they did a lot of interesting and neat things but none of them great. So, in the end, the movie is a bit disappointing for me.
That said, if you are not a stickler for details, and you know nothing about Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy and the Secret Wars saga, go have yourself a nice night out with everyone's "every guy" superhero and be amazed at how far CGI, green screen and good old fashioned wire work has come. It is verging on a visual masterpiece though not as awe-inspiring as watching Doctor Octopus walk up the side of a building or that amazing subway fight sequence on the train.
Ciao.
I'm no prude, but...
Something has seriously gone astray after my generation, and even LB's generation, grew into adulthood. And, please, don't come at me with the bullshit excuses about TV, movies, books, music, videos, marketing or any of the other bullshit parents and critics like to throw about because they are too *&^%(*& lazy to take proper responsibility themselves.
Witness my last week driving TC to school. This morning, H-O-T young lady walking up the road, deep V-neck exposing a hint of D-cup sized bosoms, fitted to the waist and a jean skirt with that look like the hem was ripped out and I believe high heels.
She was going to high school!!! This would be the public school down the street from TC's Catholic high school. Over the last week, I noticed (how can one not?!?!) all manner of young ladies in the later grades, on their way into the school, in shorts that I would say had more to do with the beach that comfortable learning attire. Ladies know what I am talking about when I say "nanny riders". Added to the shorts are sandals and an assortment of too tight, too short, too clingy, too see-through or all of the above type tops. Did I mention that most of these young girls are getting out of their parents' cars? In this cultural climate, WHY would you promote that? Is it because you think you daughter is hot and you are living vicariously through her now that your old ass is not?
I remember once that a girl in my elementary school, who had blossomed ahead of all but another girl, that was sent home to change when she came in a tube top that she had to constantly be pulling up so as to not give everyone a show. In high school, it was a constant battle between the administration and the students over the uniform as the girls would roll the waist, pin the hem, or (as a number of my friends did) simply flaunt the rules and cut the kilt up to "there"! The difference then is that in my time, they had no problem sending your ass to change into something else or to call your folks to send you home to change.
I look at the so-called "uniforms" that TC's classmates where and there are no rules in that school. If a girl is getting out of a vehicle and the kilt is barely touching the site as she sits IT IS TOO F**KING SHORT!! Again, she is leaving the vehicle her dumbass parents are dropping her in. TC wears a different colour pants or is dressed down and I am on her like white on rice. What is wrong with these parents today?!?!? Another girl, you can see what she is thinking no matter what direction you view her from because everything she is wearing is short, open or tight. Another one has not a stitch on her that is official uniform wear. By the school charter, she should be sent home, yet they come and go as if nothing is amiss.
And with it being an all girls school, I think a testosterone sensor should be on everycorner of the property. There is the all boys school down the street so naturally, they gravitate over to where the girls are like bees to the flower. Some of the girls are more venus fly trap, a lot of them are giant sunflowers. You just want to get out of the car and slap them all. One thing I will say for the boys though is that they steer clear of vehicles with fathers in them. Smart boys. Don't want to be losing your bollocks so early in life.
Anyhow, DW will tell you that I will look with the best of them and I will do what it takes to see hers on a regular basis. I just don't think under 18 girls need to be displaying their wares like this when they should be concentrating on getting a good education and being all that they can and want to be. Fellow fathers, as Chris Rock said, our job is to keep our daughters OFF the pole. At least until they can make that career CHOICE later on in their adult life when I will do my utmost to finance them one fiver at a time.
Ciao.
Witness my last week driving TC to school. This morning, H-O-T young lady walking up the road, deep V-neck exposing a hint of D-cup sized bosoms, fitted to the waist and a jean skirt with that look like the hem was ripped out and I believe high heels.
She was going to high school!!! This would be the public school down the street from TC's Catholic high school. Over the last week, I noticed (how can one not?!?!) all manner of young ladies in the later grades, on their way into the school, in shorts that I would say had more to do with the beach that comfortable learning attire. Ladies know what I am talking about when I say "nanny riders". Added to the shorts are sandals and an assortment of too tight, too short, too clingy, too see-through or all of the above type tops. Did I mention that most of these young girls are getting out of their parents' cars? In this cultural climate, WHY would you promote that? Is it because you think you daughter is hot and you are living vicariously through her now that your old ass is not?
I remember once that a girl in my elementary school, who had blossomed ahead of all but another girl, that was sent home to change when she came in a tube top that she had to constantly be pulling up so as to not give everyone a show. In high school, it was a constant battle between the administration and the students over the uniform as the girls would roll the waist, pin the hem, or (as a number of my friends did) simply flaunt the rules and cut the kilt up to "there"! The difference then is that in my time, they had no problem sending your ass to change into something else or to call your folks to send you home to change.
I look at the so-called "uniforms" that TC's classmates where and there are no rules in that school. If a girl is getting out of a vehicle and the kilt is barely touching the site as she sits IT IS TOO F**KING SHORT!! Again, she is leaving the vehicle her dumbass parents are dropping her in. TC wears a different colour pants or is dressed down and I am on her like white on rice. What is wrong with these parents today?!?!? Another girl, you can see what she is thinking no matter what direction you view her from because everything she is wearing is short, open or tight. Another one has not a stitch on her that is official uniform wear. By the school charter, she should be sent home, yet they come and go as if nothing is amiss.
And with it being an all girls school, I think a testosterone sensor should be on everycorner of the property. There is the all boys school down the street so naturally, they gravitate over to where the girls are like bees to the flower. Some of the girls are more venus fly trap, a lot of them are giant sunflowers. You just want to get out of the car and slap them all. One thing I will say for the boys though is that they steer clear of vehicles with fathers in them. Smart boys. Don't want to be losing your bollocks so early in life.
Anyhow, DW will tell you that I will look with the best of them and I will do what it takes to see hers on a regular basis. I just don't think under 18 girls need to be displaying their wares like this when they should be concentrating on getting a good education and being all that they can and want to be. Fellow fathers, as Chris Rock said, our job is to keep our daughters OFF the pole. At least until they can make that career CHOICE later on in their adult life when I will do my utmost to finance them one fiver at a time.
Ciao.
Who else loves Mondays like I do?
So, I am sitting here at my desk, on vacation, more tired than when I was normally at work. I've been up most the night cathcing up on some work I have due AFTER the child has gone to bed from working on a disastrous affair of a group project. I tell you, I remember high school vividly and with few exceptions I enjoyed my five years at Libermann. The wildest things I witnessed (or was a part of) was not as twisted, dark, negative or just downright nutty like what happens at TC's all girl school.
And I am not even touching the whole lack of uniform policing there. Ok, I touched it so let me say this: when the VP is outside talking to one of the girls and the girl cannot climb the front stairs without holding her kilt down, IT IS TOO*&^%*&^%(&^ SHORT!!!!
Anyhow, the child is ready to go to school now. We both slept in. Well, I woke her at 6:30, as I inadvertantly did the niece (her alarm did not go off), and then crawled in beside DW for a quick nap which turned into an hour and a half of her trying to wake me back up permanently.
Off to the wonderful parking lot I love to call the 401 Westbound.
Ciao.
And I am not even touching the whole lack of uniform policing there. Ok, I touched it so let me say this: when the VP is outside talking to one of the girls and the girl cannot climb the front stairs without holding her kilt down, IT IS TOO*&^%*&^%(&^ SHORT!!!!
Anyhow, the child is ready to go to school now. We both slept in. Well, I woke her at 6:30, as I inadvertantly did the niece (her alarm did not go off), and then crawled in beside DW for a quick nap which turned into an hour and a half of her trying to wake me back up permanently.
Off to the wonderful parking lot I love to call the 401 Westbound.
Ciao.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Hello all
Much to the chagrin of many, I am sure, I have not disappeared, simply gone on a mini-hiatus. I had so many topics to hit but not everything is fit for printing and I have been a bit lazy at the keyboard, and we had the last two of our main machines decide to act up and die (no, not a virus) and, well, life kept interrupting.
Coming soon:
Oh yeah, stop reading this and go work and/or enjoy the lovely warming weather.
Ciao.
Moi
Coming soon:
- Trials of a wannabe mechanic
- Trials of a wannabe system/network administrator
- The niece grows up
- The Child. Nuff Said.
- Adventures in Baby Making
- Ghetto car accessories
- Television reviews
- Vista installation review
- Aging parents
- The Art of Charity
- My next upgrade project
- Mega-Garage sale 2007
- Pros and Cons of buying a Sony Playstation 3
- I love Max
- The state of my industry
- *&%*(&%* Toronto Sports Teams
Oh yeah, stop reading this and go work and/or enjoy the lovely warming weather.
Ciao.
Moi
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Today's Quirk
Sort of a funny, sort of a lesson. There is the famous book "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" which explains why it is important to be grammatically correct or risk your statements to be misinterpreted. Here is a different example of misinterpretation.
Go to http://maps.google.com
Click on "get directions"
Enter "Halifax" in the from field and "London" in the destination field.
Observe the instruction given on the 24th step of your journey.
Now, change the destination field to read "London, ON" to see the difference.
Strange, eh? :)
Go to http://maps.google.com
Click on "get directions"
Enter "Halifax" in the from field and "London" in the destination field.
Observe the instruction given on the 24th step of your journey.
Now, change the destination field to read "London, ON" to see the difference.
Strange, eh? :)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Today's funny
Subject: Marriage
You have two choices in life:
You can stay single and be miserable, or get married and wish you were dead.
At a cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?"
"Yes, I am. I married the wrong man."
A lady inserted an ad in the classifieds: "Husband Wanted"
Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."
When a woman steals your husband, there is no better revenge than to let her keep him.
A woman is incomplete until she is married. Then she is finished.
A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?"
Father replied, "I don't know, son, I'm still paying."
A young son asked, "Is it true, Dad, that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?"
Dad replied, "That happens in every country, son"
Then there was a woman who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married, and by then, it was too late."
If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say -- talk in your sleep.
Just think, if it wasn't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.
First guy says, "My wife's an angel!"
Second guy remarks, "You're lucky. Mine's still alive."
AND NOW FOR THE FAVORITE !!!
Husband and wife are waiting at the bus stop with their nine children. A blind man joins them after a few minutes. When the bus arrives, they find it overloaded and only the wife and the nine kids are able to fit onto the bus. So the husband and the blind man decide to walk. After a while, thehusband gets irritated by the clicking of the stick of the blind man as he taps it on the sidewalk, and says to him, "Why don't you put a piece of rubber at the end of your stick? That clicking sound is driving me crazy."
The blind man replies, "If you would've put a rubber at the end of YOUR stick, we'd be riding the bus ... so shut the hell up."
You have two choices in life:
You can stay single and be miserable, or get married and wish you were dead.
At a cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?"
"Yes, I am. I married the wrong man."
A lady inserted an ad in the classifieds: "Husband Wanted"
Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."
When a woman steals your husband, there is no better revenge than to let her keep him.
A woman is incomplete until she is married. Then she is finished.
A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?"
Father replied, "I don't know, son, I'm still paying."
A young son asked, "Is it true, Dad, that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?"
Dad replied, "That happens in every country, son"
Then there was a woman who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married, and by then, it was too late."
If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say -- talk in your sleep.
Just think, if it wasn't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.
First guy says, "My wife's an angel!"
Second guy remarks, "You're lucky. Mine's still alive."
AND NOW FOR THE FAVORITE !!!
Husband and wife are waiting at the bus stop with their nine children. A blind man joins them after a few minutes. When the bus arrives, they find it overloaded and only the wife and the nine kids are able to fit onto the bus. So the husband and the blind man decide to walk. After a while, thehusband gets irritated by the clicking of the stick of the blind man as he taps it on the sidewalk, and says to him, "Why don't you put a piece of rubber at the end of your stick? That clicking sound is driving me crazy."
The blind man replies, "If you would've put a rubber at the end of YOUR stick, we'd be riding the bus ... so shut the hell up."
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