Pandas

I had to post these pictures. These Pandas are in China, safe and protected. The photgrapher is a friend of a friend, although I did meet him via Skype. Amazing pictures and more on his site.

Check out his site Adam Martin.

You know...

I just cannot seem to get interested in much these days. I look at The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail but most of the articles have no appeal. I read the article on Pranknet and most of the comments as well. I also read the entire write up on The Smoking Gun as well. I am not sure what appealed to me about that story. The odd behaviour of the so called pranksters or the array of comments from the readers. Either way, I think, like most things it is a case of cause and effect or more specifically action and consequence. If you are going to trick people, be prepared for the backlash.

Still, for the most part I cannot get into reading the news. The political stuff just seems like the same old same old. Or maybe I just don't understand it. I also get tired of the same old debates. When are people going to get that we either have equal rights for all human beings or we don't? Right now we don't. It is that simple. Until we do people are going to fight for it, as we should. Why we don't is a mystery to me and leads me to conclude that we have not learned from our history.

The other thing I review is TMZ's website. I think that is a combination of boredom and the fact that it has small articles with pictures! I do this at work and short stories and pictures work well. I noticed this today on MJ and my friends and I are stumped. Who decided to have a MJ tribute concert in Austria? It seems rather random.

So, as I surf the web I feel very superficial. I cannot engage in all the debates over the economy (I am left wondering why we still listen to or care what the "experts" have to say. None of them had any idea of the obvious pending doom. And it was obvious. The timing may not have been the inevitability of it was. My friend and I figured it out about 6 years ago when we discussed sub prime mortgages). I do not really want to read about murders and yet another misuse of public funds. The strike is over so no more interesting things to read on that topic and that has left me browsing headlines and not finding much. Ho hum.

100 World Wonders

This caught my eye - Carlsbad Caverns. My Father liked caves and we once went to Ruby Falls. Which was cool for the falls, the cave and the fact that Ruby was one of my Dad's nicknames.

I am still checking out the 100 wonders to see before you die list. I do not think I have seen any of them....I have some work to do!

Update: I have been to 2 of the 100 places. Niagara Falls and San Fransisco.

Sunday at Work

When I have time on my hands I tend to do very little. I have spent most of the day, today, doing quizzes on the "How Stuff Works" website. I have only scored over 80% on one quiz, the tattoo quiz, which came as a surprise to me seeing as I do not have any. On the dog quiz I got 50%.....things that make you go hmmmmmmm, given my background. I did, however, score 80% on the dog breeding quiz, so perhaps that redeems me somewhat.

I have also looked at the pictures on Time Magazines website. They have some great pictures. It inspired me to want to go travel the world and check it out. Odd, because most of the pictures reflect the war and conflict that is going on; all those poor displaced souls in Pakistan.

Other than that I have been sitting here not doing much of anything. I am staying on top of things but not doing any thing that would propel me forward. I have two books with me but I do not feel like reading. One is on CSS, DHTML and AJAX. Not really up for studying. The other is a novel that is a bit tough to read so I am avoiding it - The Order of Good Cheer; I truly hope it gets better.

While I have been here it has poured rain and been nice and sunny. Makes me wonder what the walk home will be like. I am craving some good junk food from Noah's on Bloor. Not sure if I will wander out or not....maybe I will.

On Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting George Hunter and his Wife Pat. George is one of Canada's leading photographers and at 87 still has an iron hand shake. It was a great morning. My friend Barb, who brought me along, and I had the honour of looking through some of George's work. The man goes beyond talent (I have no idea what that means....what I am sayinig is I loved his work, truly incredible). He told us the story about his fall from an airplane. Lucky for George the struts on the airplanes wing saved his life. Despite falling out of the plane and finding himself caught by the struts, he did not let go of his camera! Both George and his camera made it safely back into the plane. My Father would have loved that story!




Check out George's website.

Oh the drama! When a business starts bugging you to pay up on your installments before it is due, or within a day of the due date, a little flag should pop up. I feel for the people impacted by this unscrupulous business woman but really, "she felt sick to her stomach and cried every day for a week after her less-than-ideal wedding." I guess it is really about the flowers and food!

Having said that, based on the Star's article Anna Parisotto is less than honest. If she was being upfront she would have called the Brides not sent emails - the cowards way. And she still could have offered her time to assist in finding supplies and help with the set up. I understand the stress of going out of business and the fine line that it sometimes creates. But like many things in life, how one handles these situations speaks volumes of our character.

Mental Note

Stop driving over 200 KPH.....

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/678241

I was stressed when I had to go and deal with a speeding ticket. I was caught doing 28 over in an 80 zone. This guy is facing jail time!