033 - Universe Girls, Earth Hour

Photo: The icy water described in my previous entry.

I found out today that I actually know one of the 62 contestants competing for the 2008 Miss Universe Canada crown, or belt, or wand, or whatever it is the Miss Universe Canada wins. Kinda makes me wonder someday whenever we wander out of our backyard of a solar system and meet other alien races, how will they open up and even judge Miss Universe events. Especially if other species look less like Vulcans and more like, well...



Suffice it to say that I wish Agnes well. Je voterais pour elle s'elle me donne un bracelet!

Earth Hour went well I heard. Even though Prime Minister Stephen Harper's house was all lit up, Ottawa's power consumption dropped 4%, and Toronto dropped over 8%. I was working that night, but we turned out half the lights, the projector, and television and put on the fun and breezy Lilo and Stitch soundtrack. A few kept asking why the store was so dark. I like to think that we made someone happy, other than Kat and me, of course.

Once all the snow melts and school is done, I can finally go biking again! Today, I went and got my bike tuned up so that it's ready to go. Hopefully I'll get out more this year than I did last year... Which reminds me, I need to buy a great water bottle. And maybe a helmet.

032 - The Puddle and the Mannequin Army

I was walking home tonight along the sidewalk, and at a particular point, the sidewalk dips, creating a valley of sorts. Everyone knows to avoid this during the springtime, as all the snow melts, leaving a body of water more comparable to a lake than a puddle. It's always better to circle onto the muddy grass than to brave the puddle. Two guys were walking toward me on the sidewalk, about equal distance from the puddle. I sped up to avoid awkwardness of trying to pass along the grass path at the same time.

I made it to the other side with a few steps to spare. The two guys walk by; though I can no longer see them, I can hear them talking to one another. Suddenly to my surprise, I hear the sound of breaking ice. The sound of cracking is quickly replaced by the sound of shattered ice being stirred in the water, the steps becoming more and more wet. I think, "are they going through the water?" Just then a scream, "arrrgh!"

Silly guys.

Pictures: Rear View Mirror, Mannequin Army. Or at least gang of five-year olds.

031 - Beauty, Beast, and Mrs. Pot

Photos could be summed up with one phrase: Again with the eye pictures!

So I was thinking today about the words "once" and "ounce". They're so similar in appearance and lettering, but they sounds very different from one another. A linguist could probably tell you that the words are very dissimilar with the parts of the mouth and throat used to pronounce them, all because of one letter. Think of the difference U can make. It would be borderline remarkable if the English language didn't resemble what would result if you left a four-year old in a white room with a bucket of chocolate and a fresh set of Crayola markers. Or crayons.

Happy Easter!

I've managed to stuff all kinds of things into this long weekend: Smash Bros., babysitting, work, movies, and television shows. Some of these activities overlap. Weeds is a great show. I might dare to say fantastic. After watching the first season on a couple of sittings, I might have to buy it and the second season to add to my scifi-heavy tv-dvd collection. And third, and fourth apparently. And I've watched Pirates I, II, and III (minus the first hour for which I fell asleep). They don't wow and amaze me, but it is a fun ride while it lasts (the latter one lasts too long, i fear). My cousins are entertaining. And Smash Bros is grand.

Oh yes, and I've been watching Star Trek The Original Series Remastered Season One. I hadn't seen much of the original show, so the polished episodes and new, yet still retro effects are fun for me. Plus, it's a great way to examine just how television had changed in 40 years, everything from how people act to camera angles... I was telling my mom the other day how in the 50-minute episode The Enemy Within, Kirk's captain's log tell you right from the start what's happened - a doppleganger of sorts was created by a transporter accident, unbeknownst to anyone. If that were made today, that fact would be the big twist that you've been trying to figure out (or had figured out a good 25 minutes ago, depending on the writing and direction quality) that gets resolved in the last 5 minutes of the 42-minute episode. Huh.

The Children's Place announced recently (link) that as part of their effort to "strengthen" their "core business", they are exiting the Disney Store retail space. The Walt Disney Company might purchase back 2/3 of those stores. Interesting news indeed. I'm not yet sure what it means, but I'd love to work for a huge multimedia beast with it's hands in the gaming industry. And maybe I should dust off (well, figuratively. computer files don't really get dusty. Though maybe they should... maybe in MAC OS XI) my resume.

And I think maybe, if it's possible, I've had too many cupcakes today.

030 - Flavours of a Quarter

With Michele at LaserQuest.


Hog's Back on a winter night


Ho Ho Ho, Yo


Chicken Love


Busty


Lights through a glass


Wintery New Year scene


Giant Kaa's hypnosis


Bowling Ball Return


Granny Bowling


Bully and Me


Bully-- Buddy loves his picture taken


Surviving a Sister Attack


Halo Helmet


Master Chief in my Bedroom


I want to ride my icicle


Sidewalk through a snowbank

It's been too long since my last update! So I guess I owe everyone a happy Christmas, New Year, Groundhog Day, Valentine's day, Family Day (where applicable), reading week, and now, March Break. But I beat St Patrick's day... so that'll come in a separate entry.

I've noticed that the number of updates I make is somewhat proportional to how many days I got out with my camera. I haven't taken very many pictures this year so far. No particular reason why... I just haven't done a whole lot worth noting. Other than bowling to benefit children with and at risk of Autism, where I bowled an impressive turkey. It was certainly a highlight - that and the pancakes my cobowlers had afterwards. Haha.

I remembered that I wanted to get my bike tuned up while still taking advantage of my "one year of free tune-ups" that came when I got my bike March 31, 2007. Well, my year is approaching it's end! And if you take a look at the last picture that I posted in this entry, it's pretty clear that winter is still kicking around. I don't know how I'll get to the store just yet.

In other news, I won a Dalmatian canvas print! It's all that hard work that I do. My dvd collection has increased a bit (star trek ds9 seasons 4 and 5, stargate ark of truth, 101 dalmatians, toy story 2, pixar shorts collection, etc.....), as has my game collection. Professor Layton on DS is awesome. Zak and Wiki for Wii is awesome! Smash Bros Brawl's music is certainly the highlight of that whole package, which is saying something because it's a fantastic package to begin with.

And Sarah Slean is tooo awesome. Please listen to her songs: Go Home, So Many Miles, Notes from the Underground. I'm also eagerly awaiting Alanis' Flavors of Entanglement - first new Alanis in about 4 years? Watch the single video here: Underneath Video. That song itself isn't that exciting... but I can't wait for the album!

Oh, and everyone should have a giant Kaa.

I hope everyone is well! Look for more updates soon!