Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Mad Skillz
I don't have any "mad skillz", though I wish I did. I used to play basketball as a youngster - and could barely contribute to the D grade team I was in. I tried my hands (and feet) to cricket and football as well - and equally sucked (I think I only played one game of football before "retiring").
Early in high school I gave aggressive inline skating a shot (inspired by the X Games). I enjoyed skating a lot, but after learning to jump small stairs and grind easy rails I peaked and kind of gave up on it. I didn't break any bones while skating - so I guess I came out even.
The only other field that I've shown some level of achievement is ice / inline hockey. I dominate in C grade - then only contribute in B grade. It may be because I have less time to practice / work out lately - or just that my level of skill is somewhere between C and B grades.
Other than that, I've had to rely on my dashing good looks, charming wit and blatant use of sarcasm to get ahead in this world ;)
These people, however, have skills (found on YouTube):
Urban Ninja
I am a huge fan of Ninjas - top stuff
Robot Dance
Crazy, silly, fresh. Probably a bit of a nerd - but great to watch
Vasek 00 (Footbag)
While it appears that this guy knows what he's doing - I didn't see a single Doda or Dizzy Dean!
College Mario Brother
The whole of 1-1 from Mario Brothers - performed by college kids
Evolution of Dance
Keep with this one - it started meaning more to me from the 3 minute mark.
Christmas Lights Gone Wild
Amazing Christmas lights display
Canon on Guitar
Pretty incredible!
Yoyo man!
He needs gloves - pussy!
While I'm sure the following video does involve some form of skill - I am in no way jealous!
Korean Madness
Early in high school I gave aggressive inline skating a shot (inspired by the X Games). I enjoyed skating a lot, but after learning to jump small stairs and grind easy rails I peaked and kind of gave up on it. I didn't break any bones while skating - so I guess I came out even.
The only other field that I've shown some level of achievement is ice / inline hockey. I dominate in C grade - then only contribute in B grade. It may be because I have less time to practice / work out lately - or just that my level of skill is somewhere between C and B grades.
Other than that, I've had to rely on my dashing good looks, charming wit and blatant use of sarcasm to get ahead in this world ;)
These people, however, have skills (found on YouTube):
Urban Ninja
I am a huge fan of Ninjas - top stuff
Robot Dance
Crazy, silly, fresh. Probably a bit of a nerd - but great to watch
Vasek 00 (Footbag)
While it appears that this guy knows what he's doing - I didn't see a single Doda or Dizzy Dean!
College Mario Brother
The whole of 1-1 from Mario Brothers - performed by college kids
Evolution of Dance
Keep with this one - it started meaning more to me from the 3 minute mark.
Christmas Lights Gone Wild
Amazing Christmas lights display
Canon on Guitar
Pretty incredible!
Yoyo man!
He needs gloves - pussy!
While I'm sure the following video does involve some form of skill - I am in no way jealous!
Korean Madness
Monday, May 15, 2006
Merry (belated) Fishmas
I was cleaning out my camera phone (which I don't use very often at all) - and I found a few old photos.
Firstly, a bit of history. Apparently an Australian thing - my mother's been making Chocolate Ripple Cake for as long as I can remember. Very simple to do, you basically stick many chocolate biscuits together with a lot of cream, to form a long white cake (or "log"). A simple white log can get boring eventually, so my dear mum would make different letters / shapes out of the cake - to my varied amusement! For instance, she would bend the log into a giant "G" for my brother's birthday - and a huge "21" when it was his (or someone else's) 21st.
This practice must have struck a cord with me - because I remembered it all when Bell's mum asked me to help her with this year's Christmas deserts. I decided to make a tree:
Bell then suggested we decorate it - which turned out the be quite easy as her mum had every colour of sprinkles imaginable to man. Here's the final piece:
It's a pity I don't like eating Chocolate Ripple Log - as I doubt I'll get much of a chance to expand on my desert creativity!
Firstly, a bit of history. Apparently an Australian thing - my mother's been making Chocolate Ripple Cake for as long as I can remember. Very simple to do, you basically stick many chocolate biscuits together with a lot of cream, to form a long white cake (or "log"). A simple white log can get boring eventually, so my dear mum would make different letters / shapes out of the cake - to my varied amusement! For instance, she would bend the log into a giant "G" for my brother's birthday - and a huge "21" when it was his (or someone else's) 21st.
This practice must have struck a cord with me - because I remembered it all when Bell's mum asked me to help her with this year's Christmas deserts. I decided to make a tree:
Bell then suggested we decorate it - which turned out the be quite easy as her mum had every colour of sprinkles imaginable to man. Here's the final piece:
It's a pity I don't like eating Chocolate Ripple Log - as I doubt I'll get much of a chance to expand on my desert creativity!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Travel Log - Day 9 (Best NHL Game Ever!)
Upon waking up on Day 9 we discovered that our New York hotel room was still shithouse - and the early morning (noisy) construction work didn't help. When we originally went to Statue of Liberty on day 3 we decided it was too busy - and I'm glad we did. We ended up encountering very few lines - and it was a much nicer day weather wise this time around.
We shared the ferry over with around 100 school kids (the coolest excusion I can remember was Parliament House - wow!), and I tried my first authentic American pretzel. I really didn't like it - but I don't know if that had something to do with the fact that I bought it from a canteen on a ferry.
I was bitterly disappointed to discover that the tour wouldn't involve going inside "Liberty Enlightening the World" - but I had already assumed that it would be the case. The museum in the pedestal turned out to be really enjoyable - but if they ever open up the inside of the statue, I'll be back there in a minute.
The original torch. "Hey lady - you got a light?"
A full-scale replica of the face - I'm sure I'm not the only one that found this a little freaky (and sexually appealing)
For some reason this picture reminds me of Sarah Ferguson. "... noone's watching"
The photo didn't come out too good - but this was a nice cross section of the statue
There was windows on the roof at the top of the pedestal - so we could see the staircase we weren't allowed to climb
Been a while since washing day me thinks
I was amazed that I was so close to an icon that I had seen all my life
After getting back into the city - we bummed around for a bit. While shopping at Virgin we noted that Paris Hilton was doing a book signing. I'm not 100% - but I'm pretty sure she did a similar thing at Eastland a few months ago.
I also marked off another "must eat in America" item when I found some Philly Cheese Steak (in pie form - thankfully it was delicious). Onion, green peppers, steak, cheese - lovely! I might have to look for recipes! Then, after a brief nap at our hotel, we walked down to The Garden.
Finally - an NHL game!
I was so pumped to be going to a hockey game I didn't mind that most of the good vibes around The Garden was directed towards the Rangers. I wore my Penguins away jersey and I bought one of the Rangers' third jerseys (I love the logo design) for Bell to wear - which just happened to be what the Rags were wearing that night. I figured that at least Bell wouldn't be beaten to death my the mad New York fans. We got there very early, but I didn't want to miss a minute of the game (or warmups etc), so I stared at an empty rink for a fair while.
Our viewing angle - not too bad, but I had hoped we might be a little closer
Then, without much fanfare, the two teams took to the ice for warm ups. My mouth was gaped open for around five minutes while I watched players that I've idolised skate around the rink. The start of warmup probably got more of a reaction from me than the start of the game, as it's was the first time I'd seen NHLers take to the rink.
Warmups - Fleury's yellow blockers make him easy to find
Warmups - Caron was backing up - and you can see Crosby skating in (on the right)
Warmups - Bell like this bit, when they were all taking many shots from in close, it did look kinda funny
I'm sure the full description of the game would be boring for most - so I'll go bullet points:
Just before the puck was dropped
Whitney's first NHL goal
After watching my first complete game - I would estimate that the NHL is about 1000% better in person than on television. Even if I wasn't a hockey fan, I'm sure I would have enjoy watching an NHL game in person. Bell really enjoyed it too, and got into the game a little more than I did (I was grumpy because we were losing).
We shared the ferry over with around 100 school kids (the coolest excusion I can remember was Parliament House - wow!), and I tried my first authentic American pretzel. I really didn't like it - but I don't know if that had something to do with the fact that I bought it from a canteen on a ferry.
I was bitterly disappointed to discover that the tour wouldn't involve going inside "Liberty Enlightening the World" - but I had already assumed that it would be the case. The museum in the pedestal turned out to be really enjoyable - but if they ever open up the inside of the statue, I'll be back there in a minute.
The original torch. "Hey lady - you got a light?"
A full-scale replica of the face - I'm sure I'm not the only one that found this a little freaky (and sexually appealing)
For some reason this picture reminds me of Sarah Ferguson. "... noone's watching"
The photo didn't come out too good - but this was a nice cross section of the statue
There was windows on the roof at the top of the pedestal - so we could see the staircase we weren't allowed to climb
Been a while since washing day me thinks
I was amazed that I was so close to an icon that I had seen all my life
After getting back into the city - we bummed around for a bit. While shopping at Virgin we noted that Paris Hilton was doing a book signing. I'm not 100% - but I'm pretty sure she did a similar thing at Eastland a few months ago.
I also marked off another "must eat in America" item when I found some Philly Cheese Steak (in pie form - thankfully it was delicious). Onion, green peppers, steak, cheese - lovely! I might have to look for recipes! Then, after a brief nap at our hotel, we walked down to The Garden.
Finally - an NHL game!
I was so pumped to be going to a hockey game I didn't mind that most of the good vibes around The Garden was directed towards the Rangers. I wore my Penguins away jersey and I bought one of the Rangers' third jerseys (I love the logo design) for Bell to wear - which just happened to be what the Rags were wearing that night. I figured that at least Bell wouldn't be beaten to death my the mad New York fans. We got there very early, but I didn't want to miss a minute of the game (or warmups etc), so I stared at an empty rink for a fair while.
Our viewing angle - not too bad, but I had hoped we might be a little closer
Then, without much fanfare, the two teams took to the ice for warm ups. My mouth was gaped open for around five minutes while I watched players that I've idolised skate around the rink. The start of warmup probably got more of a reaction from me than the start of the game, as it's was the first time I'd seen NHLers take to the rink.
Warmups - Fleury's yellow blockers make him easy to find
Warmups - Caron was backing up - and you can see Crosby skating in (on the right)
Warmups - Bell like this bit, when they were all taking many shots from in close, it did look kinda funny
I'm sure the full description of the game would be boring for most - so I'll go bullet points:
- New York got out to an early lead - scoring while Dick Tarnstrom was serving a double minor for High Sticking. The first ever NHL goal that I witnessed was by Maxim Kondratiev - I hope he's proud!
- Early in the second period Fleury made an incredible save, and I could sense that the Penguins took a bit of jump from this. Shortly after, Ryan Whitney scored his first NHL for the Penguins - tying the game at 1. It was good to be able to see the way a play develops, something I wouldn't have picked up on TV.
- New York scored later in the 2nd period, to stay in front for the rest of the game.
- Fleury was incredible to watch - some of his saves were awesome!
- Unfortunately both Crosby and Lemieux were pretty much non-factors in this game. Crosby was shaking off a foot injury from a few games ago.
Just before the puck was dropped
Whitney's first NHL goal
After watching my first complete game - I would estimate that the NHL is about 1000% better in person than on television. Even if I wasn't a hockey fan, I'm sure I would have enjoy watching an NHL game in person. Bell really enjoyed it too, and got into the game a little more than I did (I was grumpy because we were losing).
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Travel Log - Day 8 (New York, New York ... again)
Probably the least interesting day of our honeymoon - I'd probably skip this entry if I were you
Well, after being served breakfast by an authentic Canadian (the curtains matched the drapes) we decided on a less adventurous breakfast for day 2 in Canada. The Starbucks in the hotel lobby provided us all of the Chocolate-Chip Cookies and Almond Biscotti we required for a balanced breakfast.
We were actually getting much better at packing our bags by this point - so we were waiting for our New York train for a fair while. While we were waiting, we saw the first few flakes of snow that we had ever seen. Sure - it was no blizzard - but it was exciting to us.
A licky boom boom down
More of the white stuff - the most we had seen at this point of the trip
The train ride back to New York was much more boring this time - but did offer a brief distraction. I had mentioned that the trip up to Canada involved a scary "border check". Turns out the Canadians are a lot more relaxed when it comes to these things. Our American border-check assistant was a little more thorough with questions such as "Which bags are yours?", "Why do you need so much luggage?", "Why are you going to the U.S.?". Much more nerve-racking than the simple "fill in this form" from the way up. He seemed to calm down when I said we were on our honeymoon - and had picked up many souvenirs. The chick that was sitting opposite us was not so lucky. She was asleep when border-check begun - so her answers weren't as confident at the beginning of the conversation. It went something like this:
After what seemed like about a half-hour of interrogation our Canadian friend resumed her seat. She seemed a little shaken up (definitely more awake). I, once again, said a silent thank you that our "interrogation" was tame, and didn't involve in-depth questions of my specific plans for our honeymoon (I got enough of those questions from Bell's father).
Anyway - we finally made it back to New York, and checked into the worst hotel of the trip. More expensive than our initial New York hotel, The Gershwin was an absolute dive. I didn't have a tape measure handy, but I think our whole hotel room could have fit in our bed from the Sheraton room. The big selling point was how much "art" was on display at the hotel - as well as the interesting guests (their website boasts "We attract opposites. We welcome all kinds of human flora and fauna. Snappy dressers tingle our g-spot, but we open doors to shabby neo-romantic Ostro-Goths as well."). I would have traded both of them in for a room that we didn't have trouble fitting our bags in.
The crappy room at The Gershwin did piss us off a bit, but thankfully we were only there for two days - and we didn't spend much of that time in our room. I guess we'll never be a pair of neo-romantic Ostro-Goths :(
As there are only two photos for this day - I thought I'd post a pic of some of the toys that were bought earlier in the trip
Well, after being served breakfast by an authentic Canadian (the curtains matched the drapes) we decided on a less adventurous breakfast for day 2 in Canada. The Starbucks in the hotel lobby provided us all of the Chocolate-Chip Cookies and Almond Biscotti we required for a balanced breakfast.
We were actually getting much better at packing our bags by this point - so we were waiting for our New York train for a fair while. While we were waiting, we saw the first few flakes of snow that we had ever seen. Sure - it was no blizzard - but it was exciting to us.
A licky boom boom down
More of the white stuff - the most we had seen at this point of the trip
The train ride back to New York was much more boring this time - but did offer a brief distraction. I had mentioned that the trip up to Canada involved a scary "border check". Turns out the Canadians are a lot more relaxed when it comes to these things. Our American border-check assistant was a little more thorough with questions such as "Which bags are yours?", "Why do you need so much luggage?", "Why are you going to the U.S.?". Much more nerve-racking than the simple "fill in this form" from the way up. He seemed to calm down when I said we were on our honeymoon - and had picked up many souvenirs. The chick that was sitting opposite us was not so lucky. She was asleep when border-check begun - so her answers weren't as confident at the beginning of the conversation. It went something like this:
Scary Border-Check Guy: Are you a Canadian resident?
Sleepy Canadian Chick: Yes.
SBCG: How long are you going to be in the U.S.?
SCC: 4 days.
SBCG: Can I see your passport again?
[passport is um'd and ah'd about for a while]
SBCG: Why are you traveling to the U.S.?
SCC: I have a funeral to attend.
SBCG: Who's funeral?
SCC: My grandfather's.
SBCG: What was the cause of death?
SCC: [pause followed by mumbled answer]
(I was trying not to make it obvious I was listening)
SBCG: We're going to need to interview you in the back carriage.
Please come with us.
After what seemed like about a half-hour of interrogation our Canadian friend resumed her seat. She seemed a little shaken up (definitely more awake). I, once again, said a silent thank you that our "interrogation" was tame, and didn't involve in-depth questions of my specific plans for our honeymoon (I got enough of those questions from Bell's father).
Anyway - we finally made it back to New York, and checked into the worst hotel of the trip. More expensive than our initial New York hotel, The Gershwin was an absolute dive. I didn't have a tape measure handy, but I think our whole hotel room could have fit in our bed from the Sheraton room. The big selling point was how much "art" was on display at the hotel - as well as the interesting guests (their website boasts "We attract opposites. We welcome all kinds of human flora and fauna. Snappy dressers tingle our g-spot, but we open doors to shabby neo-romantic Ostro-Goths as well."). I would have traded both of them in for a room that we didn't have trouble fitting our bags in.
The crappy room at The Gershwin did piss us off a bit, but thankfully we were only there for two days - and we didn't spend much of that time in our room. I guess we'll never be a pair of neo-romantic Ostro-Goths :(
As there are only two photos for this day - I thought I'd post a pic of some of the toys that were bought earlier in the trip
