U gotta hear it to believe it..

On this first day of December, "Environment Canada" are predicting the coldest winter in the last 15 years. This ice storm was the first I ever saw last winter(when it was especially mild, like the one before). In short we have been lucky so far and as we go into our third winter we can expect more fantastic sounds as the trees become huge windchimes, you got to hear it to believe it....

It`s like..3.00 flat

It`s like awesome dude, aside from http://skookumjoe.blogspot.com/ all you ever need to read is deadspin at http://deadspin.com/ from whence this fine shirt was found on one of the host of excellent links.
Back to fine dexterity, my zombie killing typing is 59 secs quicker than when last posted and now firmly in the grade D typing pool.....

North American Style

This week I am working out what kind of vehicle is convertible and carry the surfboard, and this is it, the motoring press don`t like it so thats almost a done deal..

Killer

This poorly placed pillow stood very little possibility of persevering against a pillaging poodle....

three 53!

Its finally happened, I can now touch type faster than just using two fingers, easily offing thirty zombies under the two finger record of 3 mins 59 seconds..........

It may sound trivial but this is a new skill, and if you ever saw me put needles in people, dexterity is is just a long word....

Not much in the News

Not much in the news now that Halloween is over and nobody noticed All Saints Day.

The NFL played a game in "jolly old England" as they insisted on referring to it, the announcers being particularly pleased that it rained for the entire game.

The canadian dollar is now at 1.06 on the greenback and all of Canada will be shopping in the states for Christmas.

The touch typing is coming on giving me shooting pains in the forearms and neck, it should be like that right? This is typed with two fingers, as the record for a thirty zombie kill on "typing of the Dead" still stands at 3 minutes 59 seconds with two fingers and an impressive 4 minutes 58 with all ten of them....

A long time of nothing may end here, inspired to break out of everyday pressures and get back to the blog by my three favourite blogs http://skookumjoe.blogspot.com/ and http://www.triplecrankset.com/http:/ /foljy.blogspot.com/
the first is wasted in a proper job and should write full time or at least be on the radio ,the second is second to none in sports,well cycling anyway, and the third is just great.
Above is me and the boy wonder GEORGE next to a large fibreglass apple conveniently located just off the middle of nowhere Ontario. We didn`t buy any apples and George was sick...................

11 hours from here

Going to book some time off for October, we always go away for our wedding anniversary in September but for the first time in 10 years WORK will get in the way.
This was last year in Long Island New York. Due to George and the fact that Canada is on the big side we will be driving North East for a few well earned days off.
It`s the last day of the "Taste of the Danforth" festival, and it will be good to get rid of the hoards, might wander down to see if any of the drinks promo teams are giving stuff away.
David Beckham is alledgedly injured again having managed 19 minutes last week in his debut, there is said to be a meteor shower tonight, so will look for the binoculars.
As the token English person in a workforce of rounders* supporters, I have been solicited to indulge in the football fantasy pool, apparently it`s August already, that means it`s nearly time for the other football and the Eagles, and bt Christmas we should know if Alberto Contador has joined Landis as the two men who may or may not have won the tour de France......
*baseball

Starbucks 171!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From U tube this guy answers the question, How many Starbucks stores are there in Manhattan, and can I visit them all in one day?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwYxuV2dVzw&eurl=

all of the cake

We have a basic cable tv package, which means that we don`t get HBO, CNN , Al jazera, or the first run of almost anything. What we do get is a good insight into US politics, far to much weather, some good Canadian programs that they wont bother with in the US or anywhere else.
HOWEVER, here in the ether I can listen to absolutley anything on the internet, watch a huge amount of stuff on U tube, read all the worlds papers( those published in my first and only language). So why bother with TV, hmm.............

going to hell in a handcart

just like one of the wicked witches I can feel myself melting, its is moving on to 35 and the heat warning is all over the tv again giving the local 24 hour news channel something to talk about bringing in countless weather experts to say , cominng up after the break its still hot.
The city is rapidly running out of answers for the huge amount of debt it is in. They considered taking overtime off the Police, closing one of the four subway lines , and have actually started closing the library on Sundays( UNLESS THERE IS A HEAT WAVE IN WHICH CASE OT WILL HAVE TO BE OPEN TO KEEP THE PENSIONERS ALIVE)..next it will be no more snow removal, but it still remains illegal to shovel your snow onto the pavement or the roadway or your neighbours property, I am not sure if the snow falling on my front "garden" belongs to me or the city as its their land......................

This is a secret bunker I have whittled out of the sandy soil bebneath the house, looking carefully you can see all the tree roots that make the growing of plants in the front garden an impossibility.
There are plans to extend it the five miles to work to enable me to keep cycling in the winter..............

Roof

Apparently this shows the difference between DIY and the pro`s, at the junction between ours and the neighbour`s flat roof. The mistake there is flat roof, but he has dealt with it admirably ane we have a roofing guy coming around in the morning/
Still typing with one finger here but hope to go live with both hands before Christmas, asdf..................

At long last I have my hands on a copy of the typing of the dead, a quick test shows my one fingered skills to be at the dizzy heights of seven words per minute . Yesterday, whilst writing a report a superior ( and lets face it they are all superior to me) was struck dumb, but gathered to hide his embarassment by stating that he wouldn`t take me in his Dept.

Well aside from not really wanting to go there, I am now learning to type as previously wished for on this blog.

Twenty years ago I got to the dizzy height of actually being able to do it, however slow, but stopped practicing for a life , or at least a beer or two.

So If I have the muscles in there somewhere I am going to forget that I can write and spell without spellcheck and join the 1990`s ( my college work was written in a beautiful fountain pen in the mid eighties).

Off to relax my arms...............

The day after Canada Day

Yesterday was my second Canada day, marked by the fact that I had to work 12 hours and got very hungry.





Should we should be thankful to the government that it passed without any of the pesky terrorist trouble currently blighting the motherland?
We should be thankful anyway, and keep on trying to be a moderate multi racial country with great weather and a nice line in keeping our neighbours to the south sane.
The tree outside my house now has 4 baby racoons it, the tour de France starts on le weekend ( they even have a Canadian in it) the tomato`s are comming on nicely life is good.
If only I could eat at a civilized hour...........

Found Vice TV!

Spent an hour wandering around Vice TV, Canadian version, does that make it hipper than its US stock.

http://www.vbs.tv/

George eats things...

George likes to chew, anything at all. I got this back thing from the drug store when a bout of sciatica brought on by too much driving started to become a problem. Now George sleeps with his head on it and my back pain is assuaged by lots of walking with former.
He seems to be popular down at my local park , he stays on the leash as his popularity and general friendly nature mean he is a good candidate for just running off with someone else who will feed him or at least give him something to chew. My last dog once caught a baby sparrow , George harrasses squirrels and has mexican standoffs with some of the bigger neighbourhood cats. At 10.8 Kg he has just got to bulk up to 11 Kg for the vet. to be able to give him the full dose of medicine, consequently he had some pizza yesterday and is no stranger to ice cream...

One month of Apathy, broken by a smog advisory!

Over one month has gone by since the last post, too hot ,to tired to much time at work!
Well today is far too hot, so much so that I am stuck in the cellar ( basement to my Canadian friends) with George, who is acting up in the heat and covered in mud from digging in the garden after insisting on following me out to water the plants. We have no real inclination to get air conditioning (apart from last night when it was bastard hot, It was 28 degrees at three in the morning).
There is a "heat advisory" , paired up with one for smog and one for the humidex number.
We are now officially in summer having had the summer equinox, Canada started spring on May 24th then June 21st is Summer?
I was going to do an equinox blog when I saw the pictures of revellers in the rain at Stonehenge.
Today is either the first or second day of Wimbledon so it will be raining in London, and all is well with the world.
My colleagues at work are mostly on face book, but I am sure that`s just to be in with the in crowd, not my crowd at all, mine is the anonymity of a blog that attracts no attention like 99% of them which is as it should be. Some seriously good writing, eh skookum, goes largely ignored by the Canadian idol crowd .
Saw the bloke who started Vice. TV on " The Hour" last night, that`s the second time it has been mentioned in my prescence, enough to go looking for it..................

England

There it is in the late autumn of 2005. This Is Hadrians wall built on the orders of the emperor Hadrian ( 76-138AD), the Northern frontier of Roman Britain for 250 years.
The left of the photo is Scotland, in it`s treeless splendour.
Weather here in Toronto will hit 30 tomorrow with a smog warning already in place, George is too hot to bite anymore, and another plus the tomatos and lone sunflower are feeling pretty solid.
Toronto FC host the might that was Benfica tonight , and still they wait for Beckham to cross the continnent from home in LA, due here in August!
Might go for a bike ride to see if the Don Valley trail to the waterfront is open yet, its taken over two years to fix about ten feet of path...............

It`s happened again. Last time the local radio station picked me as the winner of a free wine tasting for 15 people. The pimply youth at the radio station had to give the answer to the skill testing question when it became obvious to him that his day had ground to a halt watching me chew his pencil.

This time the prize is not in Niagara but here in town, tickets to the baseball which is just starting up again. It clashes with work for me and nobody else in the house wants to go, however next door are keen, so here we go again with the calculus...........

George arrives from the pound

George, a stray then adopted and returned for being a bit of a handful arrives................

What does the FC stand for, in Toronto FC?

Fantastic news ,as mentioned WAAY back Toronto has a football team, and not the Buffalo Bills getting pushed two hours down the road from sleepy Buffalo to the big city.
Toronto FC , a colleague actually asked me what the FC stood for , and the thought "it was kinda lame"
They`ve sold out 14,000 season tickets, and had a crowd of over 20,000 for yesterdays home debut against the not lamely named Kansas City WIZARDS.
CBC carried the game and had the good sense to have an English commentator to keep a lid on the tendancy of most North American commentators to get over reliant on statistics. I have to say they did a good job, the crowd did a GREAT job! I closed my eyes and it sounded like football, there is no other sound like it, even the weather cool and blustery added to the authentic product, I think we have a winner........................

This is Ninety

That was the aim way back, the first 90 days are the hardest. It has taken close to 290 , with many of them unreadable, still what do I care, it`s just an excuse to publish a picture of a dog which caused a great stir just by walking around town breathing............

grabbed from the ether

The word is there is something to be heard here, must consult the web guru to get it audible...

Typing of the dead

Way back on the 4th day of April, I mentioned the above "learn to type software" based on the living dead zombie film, you type what is in the boxes in lieu of shooting them and it has the same result.

It`s incredibly hard to get hold of though only published in 2001. I am convinced it must be sat in a bin somewhere for $1.99 along with countless other pc games which as well as being antiques of greater than 1 year are also not ps 5 , wii , are other blue toothed trends.

I saw an article entitled are dvd`s going the same way as cd`s? WHERE THE HELL have cd`s gone, the shops are full of them.

Here in Toronto you can buy cassette tapes and especially vinyl everywhere, mind you North America isa bit behind as not all cell phones have cameras.

For now I am still largely on one finger, waiting for easier keyboards or voice activated systems, and I still know several colleagues who were born into a world where owning a watch was just only necessary as fashion jewellry so they never bothered.

Search those bargain bins, the cheapest pc example on e bay is $110! this is at least $100 too much, happy hunting....

Nowhere to put it

Been really slacking off on the posts this year.

For the first three months I was away but there is no excuse for April -now that le Printemps is here.

The weather is glorious for a second day out on the deck , inside it is better for my sunburn!

We are looking for a pet from the local humane society and city animal shelters, the have websites but the accuracy of one is suspect , so every 48 hours I am down en velo for a check.

We have missed two dogs we both liked, both taken by more agressive people putting holds on them, now we know the rules!

Both dogs had poodle in them though were vastly different in size, both had a certain undiscernable factor.

Reading a book sent over by a dog loving friend all about the arctic wilderness, coincidentally I was reading it when I got burnt. Just got to the bit about the huskies. The photo`s confirm that some huskies do not have the piercing blue eyes . In the early days of the search we passed up a beautiful three year old with one blue and one brown eye. We shall keep looking, see a lot of them on the streets (presumably from breeders) strangely they are often wearing boots like 50% of the dogs here in deep winter, or is it just the ones in our yuppie neighbourhood?

We both want one with character, we can train it not to pull (too) much but will probably keep it on a leash all the time we are here in the city. I have seen a lot of people running with their huskies and think I could really go for that as I have to run anyway and the local gym is expensive , I can think of a lot more things to do with $70 a month.

Off to check the web sites.........

Cycling season back!

While it never goes away, even here in Canada, it came back yesterday with my first ride of 2007. I didnt realise how much I missed it whilst being mired in work for three months.
Many years ago a friend cycled from London to Australia , it seems barely credible, but I was there( in green ) to witness the start.
Since then lots of training a few short triathlons and a short stint as a bicycle paramedic, brought me to Canada, a year of grinding to work, the only bit of a tedious job I enjoyed, and NOW it`s back to fun a hopefully a summer of cruising to work in the big city......

upskilling, is that a word?

Back when I could understand algebra, calculus and differential equations, I knew nothing of their value.
Now understand some of their value, I can`t do them.
I learnt French at school , dropping it for German at the first opportunity, years later I had to do French all over again in order to emigrate to Canada. Since arrival I have barely bumped into anybody who can speak it( including all of the recent high shool graduates, who presumably dropped it for chinese or something more relevant), and thouh several TV channels are exclusively French they seem to be Quebecois which is different again.
I sat an exam recently with a whole section of simple algebra, the algebra has not changed in X years but my brain is full of more useful stuff like jingles for Sleep Country Canada, and I wonder why buy a matress anywhere else?
The new job has dragged me into the 1990`s , writing reports on keyboards, my mid twenties colleagues have use of all ten digits at bewildering speed, rather humbling my" index finger of the other hand if I want to look good" style.
Many comments later, we are going back in time to university were at one point, after about 20 free lessons, I tentatively , could slowly, TOUCH TYPE!
I am going to buy "Typing of the dead" on e bay , from which the excellently small graphic.
Essentially it`s killing zombies by typing the on screen digits before it takes your head off.
Moving into the digital age..................

SPRING

Spring came to southeast Ontario on Friday afternoon, so much so that even the smokers couldn`t taint the air as I sipped my coffee, sitting outside doing nothing in lieu of studying.
It`s exam time again, and as usual some people are doing less well in their heads than in reality.
Constant studying, not sleeping, no exercise, worrying about promotion prospects if they get that difficult question that comes up once every three and half years ( everyone knows the answer , but it`s prescence is taken as a sign that the crops will fail).
A few of us have taken to the executive workout, 20 mins pretending to swim, then 20 mins in the sauna!
Back in the day, I used to walk the dog in lieu of studying, now, sans dog, I sit in the sauna thinking about getting a dog.
Exactly the same as last year, and not withstanding global warming, it is gorgeous outside the bulbs are comming up, but the trees are on an eight week hold cycle until MAY 24th when Canada suddenly screams into spring after the last snow.
The papers In the UK are full of a new kind of cannabis that is much stronger than before due to selective breeding and growing techniques. We grew this sunflower, we still have all the seeds, this year its going to be BIG. Next weekend Project Sunflower begins with an indoor forced air, rotational positioning operation, or I may just get a pot for it................

Father Ted week

Foljy@blogspot.com for the best swearing priest ever, go on go on go on go on, its St patricks day next weekend, and if you are just using it as an excuse to drink lots well this is why people drink...

something to do with the government

The question was asked how many of you have had the flu shot?
The show of hands was entirely what I expected, but a bit of a shock to the nurse apparently!
Most of the workforce from 18 to retirement apparently thought it uneccesary, when asked why, someone at the back of the room mumbled the government but was unable to say exactly what they meant by that. Well I know what they meant. Far too much of the nanny state in the UK, and Canada may be worse.
I once worked for a doctor who was dead against having anything given to him that was uneccessary, seemed entirely reasonable to me. They give you a combination vaccination of all the nastiest versions of last year`s flu (usually the top three) then you get ill, and it costs!
There is clean and hygenic and personality disorder. Most people stay well ,or get ill and get over it. So I `m having a glass of warm beer with the sediment in the bottle, and when the summer comes around I will be found wandering the garden eating things straight from the plants and just watch me live forever.............

Ice storm wind chimes

I never properly appreciated the phrase until last week. The weather warmed up to around freezing point and it rained for the first time in months.
Instantly freezing , it was difficult to stand up next to the car, and once in it, things were best described as "interesting". Staying away from the roads the trees became covered in thick coat of ice and as the wind blew they rang like wind chimes , truly magical.................

It`s a long way from 1979

Its a long way from 1979 but in a small business on Bloor street as the snow piles up I was able to replace the old TDK 90 casette with a piece of real vinyl for only $3.99, which is much less than it cost in pounds back in the day!
I got a few more, to add the 50 or so pieces of vinyl that came with me when we moved.
Looks like vinyl is the way to go again.
I paid 17 pounds ( $ 36) for a triple album by RUSH -RUSH archives , without even knowing they were a Canadian band at about the same time in the late seventies.
Bay Bloor Radio , which is pretty big here in TO can set me up with a gramaphone player NEW for about $400, so it`s time to start saving...............

Kyoto, .. that rings ..erm, give me a minute

At last some decent snow here in TO, in keeping with common wisdom it had to warm up a bit first reaching a balmy -5 today.

Last week I hit another on planet record of -20 with a windchill to -30, for reasons I wont go into we were outside at night for what should only be described as too long.

I have learnt that it is possible to have extreme pain from windchill alone, I may grow a beard next winter! I raced around this morning to do some remedial shovelling with the inherited shovell only to have the handle break off, it still works.

David Suzuki made an appearance at last nights Bare Naked Ladies concert that I was fortunate enough to have tickets for.

He has been a very famous environmentalist here in Canada for about 30 years and only this last year have they stopped ridiculing him. The local paper has put forward its own list of expectations for TO`s environmental obligations as the mayor and other officials plan fact finding committees and other political dead ends .

The conservative pm is following his southern opposite number in spirit, the US never signed KYOTO, Canada signed then went on to more important issues like coffee and donuts!

Canada can do better, at least we can do better than the states? no seriously we can..........

no time to blog

Dreaming of saltwater...............

Now its cold enough to do this outdoors

Returned my rental car after spending most of yesterday shopping in China, well Markham at a mall there that is exclusively Chinese, great fun after eventually bullying our way into a parking space!
Today is yet again another record for my time on the planet(mycoldest ever day), -15 at 9.30am with a strong wind putting the windchill at -27. The hockey players have finally got their wish.
It was so cold that on the 15 minute walk back I had to stop at two shops to get rid of the pain in my skin and accompanying headache, another week away beckons spiced up by tonights super bowl....

http://citizen146.blogspot.com/2007/01/warmest-january-5th-on-record.html The more you see the more you realise they are lying to you!

Sponge bob on the loose

The local paper managed to lead with this shot of some child being scarred for life.

It`s the weekend again and I have a lot of blogs to catch up on: skookukumjoe.blogspot.com

sandrascanada.blogspot.com

foljy.blogspot.com

Unfortunately NO TIME.

As has been commented on by the media all over Ontario its "freeking cold."

Thursday night was my coldest night on the planet, easily beating last years measly-13 C in which I rode my bicycle to work through the snow.

This year it was -17 C in my bit of southern Ontario, some friends and I went jogging around 8 pm , the fool wearing the balaclava having ice form on his upper lip with each breath.

Not owning a car still making me feel smug in this weather.

Did a plus 42.5C once in Perth Western Australia and 106F in Death Valley California, as expected the hottest I have ever felt was in Vietnam at plus 30 C and about 200% humidity ( indoors it was about the same watching Apocalypse Now Redux at the Hyde Park Cinema in Leeds).

Watched Babel last night at the cinema, twas a good reminder of the range of experience available on planet earth. I was transported back to trips we have made as "rich Western tourists" to Morocco, Egypt, Vietnam, China, and India. I saw that "world as a village" thing this week(it`s all over the net in various forms) this is one . It reminded me of how fortunate I am to own a computer. I haven`t time to look up the millions of spin offs , but I bet there are some fantastic ones out there , ?% of the world has never had a hangover/is allergic to spam or saki or their workplace.......................................

http://users.gazinter.net/melan/Warn/Warnenu.htm

November in Whitby 2005

Continuing the only at weekends blog, which is probably just as well as am too busy to think these days, and therefore have nothing interesting to say.
Whitby is a costal town in Yorkshire Northern England, where Captain Cook lived and the novel Dracula was set and written., but as far as I am concerned it is where I learnt to surf!
So here I am in the fading light of an early winters eve, its 3.45pm the lights from the funfair on the promenade are on, and the ferris wheel is doing a brisk trade
Sat even just a few yards from shore the experience is surreal. The moon has risen over the castle on the cliff top, and the waves are just big enough to get up on, it's a long way from California, but I've been there and its just as cold! Only those in Hawaii surf in skin, the rest of the planet has boots, gloves, hats and attitude.
This was the last time I was in the water, but I feel a trip coming on in the Summer, which surely to God must be here soon................

Beckham moves to TO, and it`s snowing at last.

Not much blogging as I am only "home for the holidays" on the weekends.

In a few hours my lift will arrive and we will drive south for a few hours, back to course work for another five days.

That is of course if the weather is playing ball. It has just started to snow, I took the above and since then it has continnued to snow , making a much better picture if I could be bothered to set up the lighting rig again.

This is the first of the season, though a new friend from Thunder Bay says the -28 which they got on Friday is normal for this time of the year. Here it continnues at about -2 and even rains on occasion. The garden was looking particularly vast , what with the lack of plants and everything, but the 8 foot christmas tree carcass which arrived yesterday, in the centre of the composition, makes it appear a little poky!

I am so tied up in course work, and the tv only gets one channel, that it took a while for the momentous Beckham news to filter through. Apparently now he has signed for LA he will appear in Toronto at some point in the "Soccer" season. Toronto have a new soccer team that some wag suggested they call Toronto SC as football is already taken. The season tickets have sold very well here, where during the world cup us "immigrants" shamed the loal population with a impressive show of fervour" for our Portugese/Italian/Greek roots.

Ps The eagles were robbed last night .......................................................

Warmest January 5th on record

We were having a few drinks with our neighbours last night. Once again we were told how lucky we are to be having a winter like this... thats what everyone said last year.

Two days ago they had the warmest Jan. 5th on record nearly plus 13, beach weather for Leeds.

Today is cooler but still mild, and as I look out of the window a troop of squirrels is munching on the heaps of maple seeds I swept onto the garden in December( a very sucessful recycling measure). We have some asparagus in the front garden that has sprouted up again and it looks like the snow shovel is redundant.

It`s so mild that my new bird feeder has been largely ignored by the fantastic array of finches the packaging promised, how we cheered when it looks like it actually does keep the squirrels out, although should the feet of snow return they may band together and start building seige engies..............

Mona lisa

like La Gioconda this man knows something!
Sunday afternoon the Philadelphia eagles take on the New York Giants at home in the first of three knockout games that would end at the Superbowl.
Just for the record I am not one of those deluded people who believes the league when they add "World champions" to the Superbowl winners. If you dont know, it only plays in US, they wont even let the CANADIANS play for fear of getting embarrassed.
I will unfortunately be sat in a car travelling, and am hoping to bribe the driver with lots of Tim Hortons (coffee flavoured liquid) to listen to the game play by play on the radio.
If you think that sounds boring, I once "watched" an entire play off game on msn(ie just almost live updates for three and a half hours).
I have my official shirt with a certificate of authenticity which attests to it having been worn in training by ND Kalu who at 330 plus pounds and 6 feet and five iches was somewhat taller than I (I can wear it as a dress), just got to find my hat to look somewhat like Andy........................................

je ne comprend pas! 100/2x3 +45 -103

Appologies for using beaker again but this is one of my default images when there is no time to upload any photos and I need to get a blog out in order to sleep at night.

Things I cannot believe:

1. Its January already.

2. Its plus 9C !

3. The eagles are NFC east Divisional Champions .

4. My snow shovel has had no use whatsoever.

5. I won a wine tasting for 15 people in a radio competition.

6. I was unable to do the skill testing question for the same! Seriously the rogers video guy had to come over and say not to worry about it the answers 92, having initially said there is a skill testing question but it is very easy!

100/2x3 + 45 -103 I must have a mental block for this sort of stuff, now I start the year feeling more stupid than normal..................