A great read

I have just finished the final book in Jack Whyte's eight-book series called A Dream of Eagles (the last two are from the Golden Eagle series). One of the best sets of books I have read.

The series is about the days of the decaying Roman Empire, the legions of Britain struggle to preserve the ancient principles of loyalty and discipline-virtues embodied in the Roman general Caius Britannicus and his friend Publius Varrus, an ex-soldier turned ironsmith. Whyte re-creates the turbulence and uncertainty that marked fifth-century Britain and provides a possible origin for one of the greatest artifacts of Arthurian myth-the legendary sword Excalibur. Strong characters and fastidious attention to detail make this a good choice for most libraries and a sure draw for fans of the Arthurian cycle.

If you have the slightest interest in King Arthur or learning about Britain when it was part of the Roman empire, read these books!

Click here to learn more.

Owls are cool ... if they're real!

In an earlier posting, Owls are cool, I mention seeing an owl on the roof of my local library. The other day I saw it again in the exact same spot. I got out of the car to get a closer look and realized it's fake -- it's an owl decoy. There must be a reason for it being there since it's not terribly obvious to the human eye.

Relief!!

When I awoke today I felt 30 pounds lighter. Why? It was the first day in almost three weeks in which I didn't have a pain of some sort shooting through my head, neck, shoulders or back.

Since Christmas, my schedule has been quite full. I'm assuming all the busy days has led to muscles tightening in my neck and shoulders thus causing me headaches ... every bloody day!

I received an hour of massage therapy the other day and although I'm a little sore from the treatment, I can feel that it has relaxed me a great deal. I'm going back for another treatment within two weeks to remove all the knots and tightness in my muscles ... and I use the term muscles very loosely.

The massage therapy, along with stretching, anti-inflammatory medication from my doctor (yes, I visited him to make sure the headaches weren't anything serious) and learning that I don't need to ram 73 things into one day, should alleviate my itis* and make me feel somewhat normal again.

*itis = a term used by our clique meaning a general malady. Politely borrowed from medical terminology meaning "inflammation of."

Sand Art

Using only her fingers, this woman draws with sand on a glass table. Take a look at this website to see her amazing talent.

http://sandfantasy.com/

HOV lane filled with assholes!

Not that it should be a shock to anyone but the Hwy 404 HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane, that begins at Hwy 7 and ends at Hwy 401, is constantly being driven by assholes who have no one else in the car with them. I considered not using the word asshole but no other word describes a person who can't wait in traffic like everyone else and thinks that rules are for other people. Do you see the number "2" on the car on the sign? That means how many people must be in the car to drive in this lane, not your IQ, jackass!

Yes, I'm angry! On the two nights a week I have to drive to George Brown College using the 404, at least 25% of the cars in the HOV lane have one person in them. If Mother Teresa herself were to use the HOV lane, let's call it a carpool lane, while she was alone in the car, then she'd be dubbed an asshole ... no one escapes my wrath.

Listen buttface! Get back in toe with the rest of us schleps before some freak (no, not me) spasms with road rage and opens up a can of nasty on you.

I suggest that the government install 407-type cameras overlooking these lanes and ticket the nerds who violate. The trillions that would be collected could be used to pay for these cameras and repair our pothole-filled roads. Or, just open up the lane for the rest of the world. I'm into saving/preserving the environment but if twelve cars use the lane during rush hour, and four or five of them have only one person in them, the HOV lane is wasted and the concept for naught. The problem lies with the lack of carpooling opportunities. Unfortunately, I have no answer for this.

It really does make you feel better when you can get things off your chest!

Update:
When I travelled the 404 this past Thursday, there were a lot more carpoolers in this HOV lane so I was very pleased and a lot less angry! I've decided to live a lot longer by not getting stressed with the jokers who use this lane illegally ... they're not worth my time ... until they try to merge in at the end of the lane; then I don't let them in!

Woah!

This is Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose. This photo was taken by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was one of two in the litter. Its sibling was born normal and healthy.

I'm goosebumped when I look at it yet I can't take my eyes away.

Weirdo

Yesterday night was the first class in a Photoshop course I'm taking at George Brown college. Halfway through the class, we take a break and when I return from my little jaunt down the hall, there's a dude sitting at the computer beside me who wasn't there earlier. I assume that the guy is late but as the class proceeds, I peek at his monitor from the corner of my eye and I notice he's not following along with our lesson -- he's doing online banking! I'm dumbfounded! A few minutes later I take another quick peek and he's reading an online job posting for TD Bank. I look over to the guy beside him, to see if I'm the only one who notices this stranger, and he shakes with head like, "What's his dealio?"

For the remaining hour of the class, the dude continues to toggle between reading the same online job posting and looking at his online bank account. How I managed to follow the lesson is beyond me. This guy had me captivated. I imagined that at anytime he was about to stand up and open up a can of crazy on the unsuspecting class. Obviously, nothing happened. The class ends and the dude remains there, surfing the web.

The funny thing about the whole thing is that I wasn't sitting at the back of the class -- we we're sitting in the middle of the room. Also, no word of a lie, the guy is about 6 feet, 3 inches tall and between 250 and 300 pounds. He doesn't blend in with the crowd so easy. However, he's under a bit of cover in the darkened classroom so we could to view the instructor's lesson via a projector.

Freak! Next time use the college's library where you have access to a plethora of computers and you don't have to sit in the middle of a Photoshop class to do your online banking while others are watching you and wondering what asylum you have escaped from. He's a little offside or he's got stones the size of planets.

Go Raptors!

Break up the Raptors! After yesterday's win against the Rockets, the Dinos now have won five in a row and are a very respectable 10-7 in their last 17 games. This after their woeful 1-15 start to the season. There's talk in the newspapers about the playoffs! Now that they have their confidence back, they might challenge for a post-season spot.

I may not be the biggest basketball fan and am pretty fickle when it comes to the Raptors, but they seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses.

I may have to watch a game now!

Flex cars

I found an interesting article in the Financial Post's Business magazine which discussed innovations in the auto industry. One of them was vehicles that run on ethanol.

Basically, sugar cane powers Brazil's most popular cars. They are flex cars and they run on ethanol, gas or a combination of both. In August 2005 alone, flex cars accounted for 62% of all new car sales in South America with makes and models coming from manufacturers such as Ford, Volkswagen, GM and Fiat. Ethanol can also be made from corn, beet root and wheat. At $2 a gallon, ethanol-blended fuel is half the price of regular gasoline.

Another cool innovation is the Xebra, an all-electric model that hits the US market this month. Check it out by clicking here.

Brilliant Louis, just brilliant!

If you go to the Google site today, you'll notice their heading is different. It's because today is Louis Braille's birthday. Yes, the guy who created a world wide system of embossed type used by blind and partially sighted people for reading and writing.

Click here for more info on Monsieur Braille.

Here comes the sun? When George! When!

Do you remember that orange sphere in the sky that brings light and warmth? I know it's been a while but try hard to remember -- before this never-ending gloom that has forsaken us. Sure, we're not getting snow and the temperatures are quite acceptable for January -- but I miss sunny days. It's starting to get to me!

Goodbye Pasquale

I hate to have my first post of 2006 be about death but I'm not sure anyone knows about this.

Pasquale Carpino, better known as the Singing Chef, died Friday of complications from surgery at age 69. I will always remember him breaking out into song as he mixed ingredients together. His Italian cooking shows have aired around the world since the 1970s.

He emigrated from Italy in 1958. Arriving with only a few dollars in his pocket, he started out as a dishwasher at a Toronto restaurant. He moved up the ranks to chef and saucier. A job at Toronto's Waldorf Astoria followed. Simultaneously, he studied opera at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

"(Music) was his first love, but sometimes you can't make a living with love," his wife, Evelina Carpino, said.

Carpino is survived by his wife of 39 years and his daughters, Beatrice and Lisa.