Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies
On the bike ride in to day I noticed seven semi-trailers around the MTS Center. The trailers contain the gear for Cirque du Soleil who have brought their Delerium show to Winnipeg. Apparently the IBM box has a “restricted view” for this show, so there may be some free tickets with a bad view to be had. I’ve seen two Cirque shows in Las Vegas, and they are unbelievably good.
UPDATE: I’ve got tickets!
Technorati Tags: circus, Cirque du Soleir, Las Vegas, Delerium
We had a great weekend at the lake with Gail, Gord, Crag & Kim, a very relaxing time of enjoying the lake atmosphere, chatting and even dreaming a bit about some new plans for the cottage.
You may have noticed that most posts are accompanied by a thematic photograph of some recent event, but not this one. There were several opportunities for a great picture. There was the Friday night sunset which was one of the most spectacular ones in recent memory, perhaps ever. There were pinks and purples, reds and oranges scattered across the vastness of the sky both in the suns direction and also in the east. It was a virtual whole sky sunset. But there are no pictures.
Then there was the pirate ship sighting. Yes, that’s right a pirate ship, complete with a water canon, pirates and flying a very official looking Skull and Cross bones flag above a make shift sail with a emblazed with a Canterbury Cross. But there are no pictures.
Today was quite windy and there were several big sailboats out in the area. But there are no pictures.
Why where there no pictures? Well, the family camera was otherwise occupied. 🙂
Technorati Tags: pirates photography lake sunset
This is the second time my photo from a visit to the Kennedy Space Center has been used in a NowPublic article. Who knew that posting photos to flickr would get used in this way.
Just to give you a sense of scale, the NASA logo is 6 stories tall. Also, the panel discolorations are a result of repairs after the 2005 hurricanes damaged the building.
NASA approves August 27 Atlantis launch | The News is NowPublic.com
NASA managers unanimously picked August 27 for the first attempt to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to resume construction of the international space station – but two precariously attached bolts securing a crucial antenna could delay those plans.
Technorati Tags: NowPublic, flickr, NASA, Kennedy Space Center
This is the goal that I have posted on the wall in front of my desk in my home office. Somewhere back in March I decided to make a change and this series of numbers came to me. I wanted to weigh 210 lbs., have a 34 inch waist, in 10 weeks, which meant I needed to lose 3 lbs a week to make it all happen by June 1, 2006.
Well, today it was achieved! It took a little longer that expected, but then perhaps 3lbs a week was a little too aggressive. Still, it feels great and the changes have been worth it. I appear to have motivated a few other folks as well, so that’s good too.
Now for the next goal, maintain and oh yeah…
all I want for Christmas is a six-pack. 🙂
I promised more on the Pirate Ship sighting, so here is the straight goods. There are pirates roaming the bay in front of our cottage on Lake of the Woods!
Last Sunday we spotted their ship and took our own ship out for an exploratory mission. As we approached the pirate ship, which was flying a very official looking Skull & Crossbones flag, we were greeted by several young pirates on board looking quite friendly any waving at us to come closer.
As we slowly approached the excitement on their ship seemed to increase. Were they really that glad to see us? Then we could hear whispers, “wait until they get a little closer”, what could this mean? Then, with a flurry of action a towel was whipped off what looked like a turret mounted machine gun on the fordeck and the sounds of a gas powered water pump roared to life. The machine gun was actually a water canon and we were under attack! After getting quite soaked we beat a hasty retreat, obviously over powered by superior fire power. As we returned to the dock we started formulating plans for our response to the pirate ship. Perhaps as British Man of War. Hmmmmm.
Lake – Good Times – Tempus Fugit
Then there was the pirate ship sighting. Yes, that’s right a pirate ship, complete with a water canon, pirates and flying a very official looking Skull and Cross bones flag above a make shift sail with a emblazed with a Canterbury Cross. But there are no pictures.
A friend’s blog introduced me to TED, Technology, Entertainment & Design. You can learn more about TED here.
What is really cool is that you can see the videos of many of the presenters at the conference. They are very interesting and very well known folks such as Nicholas Negroponte, Rick Warren, Tony Robbins & Al Gore. I’ve watched these and plan on watching a few more they are all very interesting. I was especially facinated by Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 One Laptop per Child Education Program.
At 18 minutes a segment they really pack in the content and deliver a solid message.
Some have been reviewing the presenters for their presentation capabilites, and while that’s certainly important and makes the presentation more interesting I prefer to focus more on the content and the message. Lots of food for thought here.
It was a quiet day around the cottage today. After 23+ years of wood bench seats I installed these comfy deluxe seats and we took them out for a spin. It was a little choppy, so we didn’t go far. Out around the south end of Sotty’s Island, up the Second Channel and back down Kewatin Channel to home. We investigated some nice properties and some unusual constructions under a warm and sunny sky.
The day wound up with a little reading on the dock, painting one more side of the tree fort, dinner and a movie.
While we were out in the boat with Debbie & Craig this afternoon a water bomber made a low level pass over Henan Point head and then circled around to pick up a load in the bay in front of out cottage. Very shortly another plane came in and made another pickup run. It seemed like there were two planes making loops of about 5-8 minutes to fight a fire in the area. They made perhaps 5-6 passes and then they were gone.
In each pass the plane picks up 6137 litres (1621 US gallons) of water in 12 seconds! The full specs and capabilities can be seen on the Bombardier CL415 site. A great video of the CL415 fighting fires in Northern Ontario is here, and another video of forest fire fighting air traffic control with multiple planes can be found here.
UPDATE: A reliable local source told me they were bombing a fire at the intersection of the Jones Road and the railroad line. Apparently, a train triggered a small fire which was quickly contained.
We’ve been summer residents for over 23 years and this is the first time I’ve explored Tunnel Island and it’s almost in the heart of Kenora.
This is some of the best hiking and biking in the area, very similar to the Minaki trails only more technical and difficult. I rode two basic loop, one to the east of the trail head road and one to the west. I posted a route map here.
The east loop took about 1hr with lots of stops to get over fallen trees that we too big to hop, at least for me, and some un-ridable sections, again for me anyway. This photo is at a spot called the Voyageur Lookout on a high spot on the island looking over the Winnipeg River.
The east loop took about 1.5 hrs and was even more challenging. This must be where all the local hard core riders come out to play. Part way around this loop I fell and whacked the camera pretty hard, but it still seems to be working OK.
The trail provides some excellent views of the Norman Dam, a railway bridge and the Winnipeg River system. There are also bald eagles nesting on the island which are visible from the trails.
It was a great ride on a very hot day. It definitely rates a return visit.
