London - 97 Great Russell Street
Yesterday at 8:45pm (Greenwich Time) I arrived in London. London airspace at least. It took another 45 minutes before the plane had secured a landing slot at Heathrow and touched down. Some people clapped, I didn't really care anymore.
After a train ride to Paddington station, I took a cab with my manager to Great Russell Street, where my hotel is situated. It is actually a much nicer hotel than the place I stayed last time I was in London, and I think the oil paintings at the entry area are very cool and surreal. They look like old renaissance paintings except that the subjects face is unfinished.
I feel inspired to do something similar someday.
After trading my inflated Canadian currency for the doubly inflated British pound, I feel much poorer and breakfast (at 16.50 pounds!) alone cost me enough that I may think twice about it tomorrow. Actually I'm taking a train out to Winchester and then a taxi over to Hursley tomorrow so hopefully things are cheaper out there. At least they were last time I went.
Besides tea, crumpets and whisky, does England have something I should be bringing back with me?
Labels: business trip, London, UK
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
As one of the perks of working as a reviewer and game journalist for The Game Chair, I received a free preview copy of Mario Hoops 3-on-3 for Nintendo DS.
I played through and posted my first "Progressive Review" on The Game Chair's website, you can
read it here.
It is a very cool game, and the method of input is so intuitive and cool. You don't use any of the buttons on the face of the DS, you just tap and scratch around on the touchpad to perform a variety of moves. I'll see if I can convince Beav to pick it up so we can face off this weekend in Cambridge.
Labels: The Game Chair
Hard Core
For each pursuit, there are those that are disinterested, those that dabble, those that hobby in it, those that obsess about it, and then you have the truly Hard Core. So Hard Core that it deserves two capital letters.
In fact I think that's this guy's name. So Hard Core (소핟커). The disciples just call him Mister So.
Watch as he and his protege engage in some seriously Hard Core archery (You Tube)What are you Hard Core about?
Terror at Dawson College
Today a horrific event occurred. A man with some kind of defect decided to walk down to Dawson College and open fire on students and pedestrians. Twenty people were shot, in addition to the suspect who was shot and killed by police officers. So far, only one of the victims has been reported to have died of their injuries although many are in critical condition - one victim was shot in the head, and another in the abdomen.
This isn't the first time that something so tragic has occurred in Montreal, one only needs to mention "Ecole Polytechnique" to bring back memories of the 14 women who were shot by gunman Marc Lepine.
Back then people were outraged and there were calls for gun control and increased security. Again people are asking themselves how can we prevent something like this from happening again?
My fear is that people will allow themselves to react in a knee-jerk sort of way, bringing about a poorly thought through "think of the children" response. What we do not need is a call to lock doors, install vast security camera banks, post armed guards, and start putting students and visitors through security checkpoints. And please don't even bother mentioning the gun registry. Do you think that helped prevent this? Do you think strengthening it would prevent this?
Honestly we need to realize that sometimes random acts of violence occur, and the best thing we can do is to try to educate and care for our citizens so that they do not grow up with an inclination to commit violent acts. Society needs to become more open, not more closed. If we reject the stranger syndrome that dense population centers foster and if we stay connected with our neighbours, we can recognize people who need special attention.
Let's not let people fall down or leave wounds in society to fester, but let's also think rationally and realize this tragedy for what it is.
If there materializes a concerted effort to attack students in our schools then I will change my opinion. Until then, I think that people need to understand that this is an isolated incident and resist the urge to panic and cry for increased security.
Tags:
Dawson College
Quake 3 forevar - tricking iT 2
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Awesome free style Defrag quake 3 video, awesome blossom tricks.
Brings back memories, and reminds me the many ways that gymnastic freaks kicked my ass.
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Taking Things for Granted
A friend of a friend from Toronto took a brief stop over in Edmonton before continuing on to Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, Nelson BC, Vancouver, and so on as she makes her way down to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It was useful for me to see Edmonton through the eyes of a tourist, I went to places and saw things that I hadn't visited for some 5 or more years. Like Fort Edmonton Park, West Edmonton Mall, Whyte Avenue, and even the University of Alberta campus.
We take things for granted when they're viable options, I think we just feel so comfortable having the freedom to do something that we don't actually feel the desire to do it. Like engaging in politics. How many women and minorities care about voting now compared to before they had the right to? How many women take advantage of their right to walk around topless in Ontario? How many times have I been to the
CN Tower or
Niagara Falls since both are within driving distance? Well 0 and 1 there. And I only went to Niagara Falls because my parents had come to Toronto and wanted to go there.
If you are in Edmonton, I encourage you to see Fort Edmonton Park, it has changed for the better in the last 5 years - the steam engine was upgraded thanks to the new Brad Pitt movie "The Assasination of Jesse James" that was shot there, there is now a 1920s style hotel that you can stay at, but beware that it is true to the time period and you will not find any ammenities that were not around in the 20s. That means no TV and no Internet.
If you have been to the CN Tower, let me know if it was worth the $40 to take the elevator up to the top. I might just go before I leave Toronto.
Reunion on Whyte
Last month I missed my 10 year highschool reunion. It was unfortunate, but I guess I have a couple excuses. Living 4 hours away by $700 roundtrip flight is a big one. Another would be that I heard about it the same day that it was going to happen.
In any event I did want to indulge my curiousity about how my classmates had changed and fared over the years. Last night that curiousity was satisfied very unexpectedly.
I was walking along Whyte avenue, coming back from a nostalgic trip to the University of Alberta, when who but Peter Wong called out "Warren?!". I turned around and ... ok I already mentioned it was Peter, but hey he was wearing a smart navy suit and shiny (mildly) red tie. He mentioned that he was going to see Karr-ming and Owen Jung at "Steeps", a new tea house by 112 street and 82 avenue. So of course I was interested in joining them. Peter and I walked up 112 street trying to find the elusive tea house when we happened upon none other than MistaLobo himself!
Well shiver me timbers and call me BlackBeard! What a series of coincidences.
Fresh from a drug-dealing exam (pharmacy) MistaLobo joined us at Steeps. For something completely unplanned, it was a pretty decent gathering of Vernon Barford alumni.
I wish I had taken a photo or something to prove just how cool Owen looks now, I think he said he was a male escort for Ashley Madison or something. Damn smart black shirt and "boy-toy" hair. With him as Peter's wingman, I can't help but feel sorry for the trail of broken hearts they're going to leave in their wake.
So yes, all the guys there were still single, one girl was engaged, and there were stories of many of our old classmates who had tied the knot and settled down. Now that I'm experiencing some knot-tying preparations first-hand, it's becoming all too clear: we are all getting older.
Not that anyone there really looked any older.
And it was said that they couldn't recognize me at first because of my whiskers. Well we can't all stay cherubic forever now can we? Besides some girls might like men that look like they have enough testosterone to activate facial hair cells or something. On the other hand I wouldn't want to get whisker-burn if I was a girl, but then again I'm not. So what do I know?
PS - Owen didn't want us to know what his job was, but if
his LinkedIn is correct... he works as a trucker / railroad conductor.
Jasper - Cliffhanging
A lot of people do stupid things when they're in nature and out of the big cities. They approach and try to feed bears, they naively cross "do not cross" lines on the glacier (a child died in 2001, January 4th, just metres from the "do not cross" line), and hang off the side of cliffs (a boy died this year falling into a waterfall).
Today I climbed up an unmarked trail to get a better look, a better view, and hell even some better photos at a beautiful waterfall I spotted with Indesin on our way from Jasper to Hwy 11.
It didn't seem so dangerous until I tried to get back up the cliff edge... then I realized I was only inches away from slipping over the edge.
Jasper, Hinton, Mercoal - ATV Adventure
Suffering from mild jetlag, I set off to Jasper, then Hinton to pick up some ATVs. From there Indesin and I rode all the way out past Mercoal. We did get hung up a couple times in boggy marsh like areas, and I got high-centered on fallen tree trunks, but the winches worked beautifully.
It was quite interesting to see some old abandoned and decaying log cabins in the woods, where pioneers had once set up camp to cut down timbers for coal mine construction. Of course, coal was like the Internet-dot-com business of yesteryear. Prices fell, the industry burst, and companies folded.
Yesterday at 8:45pm (Greenwich Time) I arrived in London. London airspace at least. It took another 45 minutes before the plane had secured a landing slot at Heathrow and touched down. Some people clapped, I didn't really care anymore.
After a train ride to Paddington station, I took a cab with my manager to Great Russell Street, where my hotel is situated. It is actually a much nicer hotel than the place I stayed last time I was in London, and I think the oil paintings at the entry area are very cool and surreal. They look like old renaissance paintings except that the subjects face is unfinished.
