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Friday, July 21, 2006

Bike Tour

This week, in my town, there is a bike tour called "La Tour d'Abitibi" 2006. It is a tour for juniors, but it is important in the fact that it is the only tour in North America where the points count towards ranking you for the Tour de France.

Luckily for me, the race against the clock brings the bikers right in front of my house. The best place for pictures, though, is at the top of the street. The bikers start the race at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft and must climb close to 400 meters on a 17% incline. It takes powerful muscles to make the climb, and often the riders with heavier leg muscles seem do do better in this race. The wire-thin guys tend to do better in the long distance races.

Look at how cool this bike is:



Imagine how this guy must feel. Every biker leaves at 1 minute intervals... you have one kilometer to go before getting back and the person that left behind you is already on your tail!



A biker from Sweden... you can tell by his socks! ;-)



And what kind of race would it be if there weren't some Canadian rider sponsored by Tim Hortons Donuts! :-D

Monday, July 17, 2006

a movie, the weather etc.,

Last post here was "Eternal Sunshine" and yesterday, I finally saw the movie that everyone was talking about 2 years ago. Now, I understand the well-deserved hype.

Now, don't ask me why I haven't seen the movie that probably just about everyone that has access to a movie theatre, to a DVD store or even a VHS machine has seen. I just didn't and now I have and I loved it.

So many times you see a movie that tries to do something in a different way ... but just for the sake of being different and often leaving the audience confused and not sure what's going on. Here, they took an interesting approach and kept us interested during the whole movie, without for a moment having to scratch our heads and go...whaaaatttt???? I felt that they guided us and glided us through the movie in a way, where we were surprised, delighted but always intrigued and interested.

Clementine, Joel's girlfriend is very different from the quiet and overly polite Joel and after a fight, impulsively decided to get all memory of him deleted by a company called Lacuna. Joel, after finding out what she did, has a knee-jerk reaction and does the same... but while unconscious... realizes that he actually loves her and does not want to erase her from his mind. He wants to keep small bits that were emotionally fulfilling to him, and then goes on a journey mostly in his own mind of how to hide her from the data deleting machine..which we really are not sure how it works, but we don't really care, we don't need the explanation ... just know what the outcome is.

We then see the couple when they refind themselves later and realize that both have erased the other and why. Joel for being boring and Clementine for being too outrageous and crazy. They made me think about 2 magnets, how at a certain point (when they are very close, but not quite touching) you can feel the tension almost pushing away but ultimately they cannot help but end up attached to each other. It makes us wonder what attracts us to certain other human beings... especially when we find out that the Lacuna receptionist, (Kirsten Dunst) after also having her memory of an affair with her boss erased, still finds herself extremely attracted to him. Without knowing what will happen in a relationship, we can be eternally optimistic, and even knowing, we may not care. It's part of the dance.

---

Remember last week when I came home and felt horrible because of being out in the sun too long? Yesterday morning, I left home on my bike to go to the bank. On my way, I met up with Soni... a girl that used to live at the corner of my street. I had not seen her for perhaps 2 years, and we just stopped a few moments to chat. All of a sudden she started feeling badly..and sat down on the curb. She said she was feeling very hot and light-headed.

I told her about my sun-stroke and she brushed it off, saying she would be fine... but she wasn't and was getting worse. I saw a man across the street and asked if he could bring some water. His wife, very bronzed (ok, too bronzed and wrapped in a teeny tiny towel) came over and brought her a glass. She drank very little and kept splashing it over her face.

I tried to get her to give me the number of her boyfriend, so he could come and pick her up... but she was not being very cohesive and wasn't answering. I then got her to move off the hot sidewalk and unto the cooler grass. We ultimately called an ambulance and they came by and checked her out.

The weather here had been very hot for a week without any let up in the humidity at all. Seems that people were falling like flies all over the place. They got called twice while attending to her. They took her b.p. which was 89/50 .. pretty low, but after a general check up said it was heat stroke, to get her home and to get her to drink...and rest and she'd be fine. I supported her across the street, and the tanned lady brought her cookies and milk and we called her sister who came with a shiny red truck to pick her and her bike up.

It was now later and much hotter than when I left, but I really needed to go to the bank, but I assure you my experience from the week before was on my mind and what happened her too.. so I stopped at a store and got myself a bottle of fruit-flavored water and made sure I drank it. I wasn't going to take any chances.

When I came home it had started to rain, but not hard and I could hear some distant thunder. Later that afternoon, we had a couple pretty strong thunder storms. Really helped cool off and lighten the air which is a very good thing because this week we have the "Tour D'Abitibi" where bicyclists from all over the world come to race here.
On Thursday, there is a race against the clock where they each leave from under the mine at 1 minute intervals. These racers pass in front of my house and I will (weather permitting, of course) take pictures and post a few here.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Idiots!

I'm not one to easily call people idiots, especially a whole group of people...but today is the exception.

Many of you may not realize this, but when American Idol ends in the U.S., Canadian Idol starts here and carries us through summer. I must admit I had not followed it before, and this, the fourth season of the show was my introduction to the Canadian version of it.

To my surprise, there were some very interesting contenders and I and my guy would download and watch it a day or two after it aired. They started the whole the shebang pretty much the same way the American version does, showing us the cream of the crop and, of course, the deluded bottom of the barrel.

They quickly whittled the list of contenders down to 22. These were now separated into 2 groups (male/female) from which they would ultimately choose the final 10. It was really fun watching the process and we got to really root for certain singers that not only sang well but had a quirky fun side that made them capture our hearts.

This morning we watched the last elimination that let to the final 10 players.

Of these 14 hopefulls, 3 in my mind really were awesome talents and deserved to not only be in the 10 finalists but I could easily see them as the last three standing.

Chad Doucette is one of the three I really liked. He's this small guy with jet black hair and always clowing around, making funny remarks etc., When he auditionned he said: I like to sing in the bathroom, I want Canada to be my toilet. It sounds cheesy, but from this guy it was cute. He did surprise us though, by singing with such sincerity and a truly gorgeous voice. He has a really unique timber and tone which makes him sound very different.

He made the final round and is the only reason that I would continue to watch the show, hopefully to see him blow all the others away and get the final prize... a recording contract.

Keith MacPherson is a red-headed, a bit geekish looking young man that just seemed to always get it right. He seemed very down to earth and smart. I'm no music expert, but my boyfriend says it's called unpretentious singer/songwriter pop and I think that's a great label without trying to actually put a label on this guy. He just has the skills, is laid back and so pleasant to listen to. He also projects a sincerity when singing, as did Chad, that I really appreciate when listening and watching someone sing. Well, here is where my feelings about the Canadian Idol voters start to get shakey. He was voted off! Yes, these people are idiots. The only thing that I can say is that at least people got to hear him and will look him up on the net.

Several years ago he created a duo with Renée Lamoureux called Easily Amused. I strongly suggest you follow this link and discover this talented pair for yourself.

Last but certainly not least, Nancy Silverman. Here's is where I want to call all Canadian Idol voters IDIOTS (yes, in capital letters, no less). Quirky, smart, unique but most of all, the most kick-ass talented female singer I've heard in a long time.
She was certainly my favorite and my boyfriend's also. She was perhaps the judges pet also, but with good reason. She was simply fabulous! She had her own groove, exuded confidence without being arrogant and I just loved how she moved her body... no fakey moving around the stage and pandering for the camera.... it is more like the vibration is moving throughout her body looking for an outlet!

Here's a link to a Nancy Silverman My Space.com webpage. There are 4 of her songs there that you can both listen to and download. Please, please go and get these. You will not regret.


The judges on the show, who I would say always gave very fair and although sometimes not easy to hear advice to the singers, would often tell them to try and choose songs that they could actually see themselves singing. With all this advice, we've seen everything from 40's musical songs to country-western remakes... but these 3 always had their act together. They have a good sense of self and projected this when they sang. No hokey-pokey songs from them... only the real deal. Unfortunately, for Keith and Nancy they will not go on to the finals.

So..yes, I'm sorry but to all the Canadian Idol voters who by-passed these unique gems, you are all IDIOTS!

If I had a note to give the producers of the show it would be change the way that you allow people to vote. Do not make them vote for their favorites. They may think one person is safe and vote another that they wish to see go onto the finals. The smart way to do it would be to get people to vote for the singers they want to leave... this would always leave the cream of the crop until the end.

/rant

Thursday, July 13, 2006

eternal sunshine or sunny side up

The day before yesterday, I decided to go to the duck pond and take pictures. The day was looking good, it was about 16C out... not hot, not cold, but nice for biking.

I usually take a certain route that passes partially through town and the rest beside a railroad track. I decided to hit the railroad tracks at an earlier point. Bad decision. I entered the route and everything seemed fine but then the craggy rocks started appearing. I thought it was surely just a short distance, but they just continued coming. There were also places where tree branches were down, that I had to get off my bike and lift it over them. There were bits of old railway tracks here and there, left over from a sloppy repair job. This new route had put me on an obstacle course. I finally got to a point where the path was hard packed sand and it was again as before.

There were 4 Amerindians just along side of the tracks having a morning beer and cigarettes.. They called out.. hi, miss! Good Morning. I'm not sure if they ride the trains and just drop off here and there... this was not anybody's backyard and there was no patio.. we were out in the woods. I felt a little apprehensive, but I guess the early morning hour sort of gave me confidence and I smiled, said hello and said the path was really bad. They laughed and said there was a different road I could have taken... went all the way to Chibougamou... yeah, like 200 miles away. They had really interesting faces, burnt by the sun, and my photographer's eye wished I could have sat with them and taken their pics... but even at this early hour, just me and 4 strange guys drinking in the wild... not the best idea.

When I finally got to the duck pond, I decided to go a bit further and visit the Maison Gabrielle. It's a home our town built a little over a year ago for people who were about to die. Yes, the only criteria for getting in, is that you must be diagnosed as terminally ill and going to die within the next 3 months. It's on the pond.. with the ducks etc., and trees. I thought I'd go and look at the small waterfall they have there. It is not really a waterfall, it's a tiny water drop... it's man-made and the water is deviated there and then passes into the woods. I took some pics and then went back to the duck pond.

Usually when you start throwing bread into the pond.. they come rushing over, but today was very quiet... very few ducks, even the gulls were rare. There were a couple of kids there with someone who appeared to be their grandmom, but then an even older lady arrived and they called her granny too, so who knows. They didn't have lots of bread, and I had tons of it. I freeze all left over ends from sandwich bread that everyone leaves in the bags and brought them all. They are still fresh when defrosted and it was cute to see the younger of the little boys ( a 15 month old) eating it instead of throwing it in the water.

There were a couple owners with dogs running around and I took my time and watched the kids, ducks, dogs and just relaxed. At one point I just took my sandals off and sat with my feet up on a bench and took in the sun and the pretty day.





After a while though, it started getting extremely hot. There were no clouds in the sky and I was starting to feel a little light-headed. I decided it was probably a good time to leave. After riding up the hill, I started feeling worse and met Martin, a guy I know. He was on his way to the Maison Gabrielle because his mom had died a couple of weeks earlier and he wanted to thank them properly. I was really not feeling good and hopefully not too rudely, told him I really had to go... I was now feeling even worse and by the time I got to town I was starting to feel nauseous and jittery. I just couldn't wait to get home. I was breaking out in a cold sweat and by the time I got home I had to lay down as I now was shivering from the top of my head all the way down my body. I lay covered in a blanket and still was shivering and felt absolutely horrible.

Lots of water and 2 hours later and I was feeling fine. I guess I had a touch of sun-stroke but I'm fine now. I had brought a bottle of water with me, but had already drank it earlier and it went by quickly.


Yesterday was very hot and warm... and today is even worse... it's crazy, stifling hot.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Cutesy Barcodes.

I love it when you take something that is normally boring, necessary and practical and give it a whimsical spin. It doesn't stop it from being practical, but can be a sweet surprise.

What's this all about? Barcodes! Yes, pain ol' boring barcodes. Well, boring no more if this design firm has it's druthers.



I was just reading this article on Springwise.com and thought the idea was very cool and wanted to share it with you.

There is a design firm in Japan called Design Barcodes that just won the Titanium Lions award in Cannes this past week for innovative thinking in Advertising.

Imagine, buying ramen noodles..and the barcode is chopsticks with noodles folded over... or an umbrella with the barcode raining on it.



I just think it's very clever and I think it's the kind of thing I would actually collect.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Toy Story

There is a fun photo technique that is all the rage on the net right now. It's taking photographs and making them look like fake models by making them look like close-up macro shots. Furthering the look is playing with the curves to make them bright and plastic looking. Now, does this have any really important applications? No... Is it art? Probably not... but it's really easy to do and lots of fun.

There are several websites that explain how to do this. Receding Hairline is such a site.

I haven't gone out and specifically shot for this type of image so you could probably do a better job than I did, simply by making sure your shots were taken from a higher vantage point, which would, of course, help with the illusion, as we would tend to look at fake models on some sort of table and standing up.

Still these were definitely fun

A picture of a train ... geez, how I wish I had the whole caboose.. too bad, maybe another time.

toy train

This one is of a small house in the mining village. It's cool to know what it looks like and to see it looking almost plastic.



The last one is of these funny contraptions in front of the old mine. I'm sure someone who has worked in a mine could tell me what they actually are as I have no idea. What I think works about them, even though they are pretty much eye-level is the fact that they are freshly painted.. which helps with illusion of them not being real.




One thing is for sure, I'm most certainly going to run a "Bonus Contest" on Worth 1000 very soon, just because I think it's a fun thing for everyone to try.