Monday, June 30, 2008

from the "I see dead people" dept.

A little more than a week ago I made the long trip out to my storage facility in Delta.

I have a big crate there, one that is jammed full of my stuff. Looking at it 18 months after sealing it up has made me realize how much of the contents are crap.

But amongst the crap hides some important stuff: business papers, video tapes of days-gone-by, thousands of photos and my bike.

My bike is the reason why I went out to Delta in the first place.

Unfortunately, when I packed my storage container, I was stupid. Instead of thinking ahead and asking myself what items would I want access to first -- and then packing those items last -- I just tossed everything in. The first item in was my bike.

It took about an hour of pulling all the crap, photos, papers and video tapes out, just to reveal my bike. Then I had to search for my tools, gloves, water bottle, helmet, etc. And then I had to stick it all back in.

Not fun. But, I had my bike.

As luck would have it, the weather has been great for cycling. I've been getting out on an almost daily basis. I am hoping that by getting back into cycling, I'll shrink in size and become healthier. At my ripe old age, I need to get serious.

But here's the thing: during two of the last three rides, I've seen dead people. I kid you not.

Apparently, the south end of Vancouver's Granville Street Bridge makes for a great place to kill yourself. I reckon a 6-story plunge to the South False Creek cycling route is fool-proof -- as evidenced by the yellow tarps surrounded by slowly moving first responders.

So I'm 2 for 3. And on the ride where I didn't see a body, I actually did see the -- how to put this -- stain from the first suicide.

This begs the question: Why are so many people killing themselves on beautiful summer afternoons? How do you explain it to the kids in the nearby park? Or the tourists. Or the cyclists.

If, as the B.C. government tells us on a daily basis, this is the best place on earth, then what the hell is wrong?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

from the "but what I really mean" dept.

George Carlin died last week. His passing didn't receive anywhere near the coverage that the death of Tim Russert did. He should have received double.

You may not have liked his language, but his comedy/observations certainly hit the nail on the head... each and every time.

Here's his riff on euphemisms. Priceless.



[h/t Dot Dot Dot]

from the "iDisappointed" dept.

Yay! The iPhone is finally here! And for a reasonable $199!

Boo! Rogers voice/data plans are outrageous. And there's a 3 year contract.

Mad as hell? Click below to let Ted know.

RuinedIphone.com

Cheers!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

from the "get up in the mornin'..." dept.



I don't know if Mr. Clock Radio (grinning, above) is funny, odd or just plain scary. I'm leaning towards the latter. And personally I think he's the evil spawn of Mr. Microphone and Big Mouth Billy Bass, the singing fish.

Check out the little dear in this promotional video.

Imagine that thing waking you up every morning. Pretty creepy, no?

Cheers!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

from the "monkey business" dept.

I'd never heard of the Trunk Monkey until today. He appeared in a series of commercials for an American auto dealer. They're funny as hell. And almost as disturbing.



Thanks, REW!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

from the "one minute warning" dept.

Bill O'Reilly is an idiot blowhard and Faux Nooze is little more than right-wing propaganda for the wankery of a failed administration.

What? You've never watched Bill-O? You can't watch Bill-O? You won't watch Bill-O?

Well, here's a solution: Bill-O's entire show in a minute.

After watching this, there's no reason to watch his show... you've seen it all.



Cheers!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Saturday, June 21, 2008

from the "happy feet" dept.

You may have seen Dancing Matt dance his way around the world a few years ago in THIS video. Or maybe THIS one.

However, Matt hasn't stopped travelling. In fact, he's picked up a few friends along the way.

Matt's latest video captures the joy and wonder of travel. And, it makes me want to run off and hop on a plane...



Cheers!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

from the "a foot in cold water" dept.

UPDATE from CBC.ca:

6th foot found in B.C. not human, says coroners service

Remains found Wednesday in a shoe near Campbell River belong to an animal, the BC Coroners Service says, describing the incident as a "reprehensible hoax."

The latest finding comes as investigators try to unravel the mystery behind several human feet found in shoes on the province's south coast.

The rest of the story is HERE.

from the "footloose and fancy free" dept.

There's something weird happening out here on the West Coast: Severed feet keep popping up on local beaches. The sixth one just yesterday. And the count so far? Five right. One left.

Here's the CBC.ca story from Thursday:

6th human foot found on B.C. south coast


A sixth human foot was found in the south coast of British Columbia Wednesday following the discovery of a fifth just two days earlier.

A Campbell River resident walking on a beach on Tyee Spit found the foot around 10 a.m. PT and reported it to police, the RCMP said.

The rest of the story: HERE.

Cheers!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

from the "fame, fortune and creative commons" dept.


One of my pix made it to the Gadling travel blog as their photo of the day.

Check it out HERE.

Cheers!

Monday, June 16, 2008

from the "pant, pant" dept.

Hello. It's me. It's been a while.

Sure. I've been posting.

Links.
Pictures.
Videos.

But little in the way of user generated content. Or is that citizen journalism in today's 'connected' vernacular?

Regardless. I'm alive but have been working ever day since returning from Europaland. Today was day 15, for those of you keeping count. And the days have been long. 26 hours of OT last weekend, half of that at double time.

It's good for my fiscal things but bad for my summer enjoyment.

That said, the end is on the horizon. After 12 hours at work today - working on a big internal project - we almost have a 'lock'.

That's after 4 days of shooting and 6 days of editing. Straight. No breaks.

We deliver Tuesday, methinks. Me hopes!

Three smaller projects follow, all of which must be delivered Thursday. Simple, I also hope.

And then a lazy Friday followed by two glorious days off. I envision summer days and toes testing the water.

Or a BBQ.

Or a pint on a patio.

Dreams that soon will be come reality. And to follow? The smiles that come from fat pay packets. Yum!

Cheers!

from the "oils swell" dept.


The Times of London has a story that seems to point to a cure for our high priced oil. Stop using it? Nah. Get bugs to poop it!

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil. [ MORE ]

Could oil pooping bugs be this century's electric car? Only the oil companies know for sure...

Cheers!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

from the "vote me" dept.

Screw it! I'm running for President!

from the "if wishes were votes" dept.

Unfortunately I cannot vote in the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. But if I could, I'd vote Republican. Why? Let me count the reasons:



Vote early and vote often!

from the "tune of the day" dept.

An oldie but a goodie. Reminds me of Halifax every time I hear it...


Blue Rodeo
5 Days in May

Pilot


Pilot
Originally uploaded by borderfilms (Doug).

More fun with Photoshop. Time for a course, methinks.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

from the "McBush" dept.

After 7 years of bad leadership and deaf ears, let's hope this clone doesn't become the next leader of the "free" world:



[via Crooks and Liars]

Saturday, June 07, 2008

from the "second thoughts" dept.

More changes in the Vancouver television market. So much for local production...

Canada AM cuts West Coast edition

Canwest News Service
Saturday, June 07, 2008

Canada AM is returning to its original format and getting rid of its West Coast edition, CTV announced yesterday.

The veteran morning news show debuted a West Coast portion in January in an attempt to bring a more local perspective to Western viewers.

"It was an experiment, and we hoped to keep a western version," said Tom Haberstroh, vice-president and general manager of CTV BC. "Viewers told us they wanted the national version back."

No layoffs will result from returning to the original format on Monday.

Haberstroh said viewers won't see many changes in the show, especially since a producer moved out to Vancouver to produce western stories will continue in his job and will send material to Toronto.

The West Coast edition of Canada AM aired for six hours on CTV Newsnet and was anchored by veteran journalist Mi-Jung Lee, who will remain with CTVNews, and Omar Sachedin who returns to Toronto's CP24.

The original, national version of Canada AM is hosted by Beverly Thomson and Seamus O'Regan.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

from the "just cuz" dept.

At first I thought the whole "lolcat" thing was kinda stupid. But since discovering that it's actually old skool, I'm learning to lighten up and laugh:



More HERE.

Cheers!

Tractor (Tibor's)


Tractor (Tibor's)
Originally uploaded by borderfilms (Doug).

Another one!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Closed


Closed
Originally uploaded by borderfilms (Doug).

Another Ukraine photo...

from the "bag man" dept.

How's this for a tune of the day:



Little Green Bag
George Baker Selection

from the "comedy, comrades" dept.

Need a laugh? Here's the brilliant SCTV parody of Soviet Television: CCCP1. Hilarious... but the best is at the end... Tibor's Tractor:



Cheers!