go stamps go...

don't touch the clicker, eh... but try some moisterizer...

deep fried cornmeal and alot of orange dye #72.

it can't get better than this...

before i settle down in front of the vid with a big bag of cheezies, i better make a pre-game prognostication for today's CFL western semifinal in regina.

ok, here it goes...henry burris, the on/off all-universe quarterback of the calgary stampeders, will be on today. we win 31-22.

back to my bag of cheezies.

when spell check goes wrong

figure 1. interesting species of fish/crustacean...

figure 2. i'll have what he's having...

during my travels i inevitably end up in some really bizarre traveler hangouts. the red sea resort town of dahab, egypt is not the least of them. local businesses such as restaurants cater to tourists from all over the world. in an effort to make their establishment more user-friendly, they are good enough to publish their menus in english, much appreciated by mono linguistic oafs like myself. however, sometimes their efforts go wayward as illustrated in the above photos. humorous, unless you actually contract the actual offending items. (photos courtesy of my very good friends sally and richard whom i shared 3 glorious weeks with in dahab. menus courtesy of the staff at the legendary 7 heaven motel and restaurant and grill located in the heart of the sinai. allah wa'akbah my friends. thanx for letting us play backgammon in your midst for 21 straight days while ordering absolutely nothing. my advice boys: get some beef shin on the menu.)

rant of the day...

the neighbourhood 7-11 is closing it's doors.

yup, the midnapore (a community just north of here) sev will be terminated sometime next year.

news of the shutdown brought tears to my eyes. i couldn't believe it. a man works like a dog, breaking his back in a dead end job 24/7, has one thing to look forward to at the end of the day: a giant big ass coca cola slurpee. now da man is denying him the most basic of human rights.

you 'd think it's the sev's parental unit, southland corporation, is at fault. oh no, the land the sev sits upon is owned by evil exxon. its gas station will be transformed into a super mini-mart complete with a tim horton's donut dispensary that will more than likely sell a unsatisfactory "slushy" drink. weak.

how pathetic. if i wanted a donut (i love donuts by the way), i'd walk across the street to a real full-fledged tim hortons outlet.

so, what am i really saying?

damn the man, fight the power and bring back the slurpee...

while i'm at it, damn suburbia...

video of the day...

you thought american football was boring? think again...

it's autumn in them thar woods...part 2.

a blurry silvery plant in fish creek park.

some extreme random deep thoughts:

the diagnosis is in (albeit a internet-based diagnosis). i have trochanteric bursitis (i.e. a sore right hip). i went to the doctor to confirm but was disappointed again. he almost never gives me a diagnosis (even though i was bursting at the seams to reveal the fruits of my internet research). he just handed me a wack of NSAID's (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and ushered me out of the office pronto. seriously, i described to doc the twinge i've been experiencing in the hip area. he thinks there might be nerve damage. i have to go get a x-ray done.

i find it amusing that one of steve h.'s henchmen is pressuring canadian retailers to lower their prices in light of the strong loonie. ha! ain't gonna work. whether prices come down or not will be driven by supply and demand. canadians, show your displeasure by not buying from gougers. case in point, i haven't bought camera equipment from a canadian vendor for quite some time. it's my duty to buy canadian but when the US price is so low (even when shipping and taxes are included) it's a no brainer as to where to shop. even in the days of the 63 cent loonie i would still save a tonne of money by shopping online. only stipulation is the NikonUSA warranty isn't honoured in canada. it's a major pet peeve of mine but i'll save that rant for another day.

here's a shameless segue. if you need to buy cheap camera/video stuff, consider purchasing from B&H photo and video of NY, NY. they've signed on a sponsor of the BTOG (the bigtubofgoo). ok, the BTOG is a new B&H affiliate. B&H is NOT a sponsor. personally, i order all my camera/video stuff from them. very reliable. very reasonable prices (and dropping fast thanx to the flight of the loonie). go ahead and click away. i know u want to... all proceeds will be rolled into the "buy bubba a beer fund" and spent wisely.

i still haven't figured out the results of the 2007 Calgary election. i can't for the life of me figure out why Pave bronconnier is still the mayor of our rather spread out city.

kudos to alberta premier Ed stelmach. he had the guts to open up the file on oil and gas royalties, not like his weak predecessor. i thought he was revealing his half baked royalty plans tonite on the vid. i wasn't watching but understood the 19 minute tv presentation (which cost taxpayers $124,000 CAD) was short on steak but big on fluff. disappointing. however, i'll be watching/listening carefully tomorrow Ed for the details. don't let us down Ed. show us da money... remember Ed, two words: fair share... you do the right thing and i'll vote for you in the next election...

i feel the shame. i hang my head. shame on me. i went ahead and bought a bike computer. i've quantified the last bastion of unadulterated fun in my life. that's biking. i'm on the slippery slope of electronic quantification and surveillance. what next? procuring a cell phone? nooooooooooooooooooo!!!

i can't figure out facebook. it's not really that fun. the only buzz i get from it is when someone wants to be my "friend". but hell, if you're in my "friend's" list i know you're my friend without facebook. there are people out there who have thousands of "friends". i've got something like 30. does that make me a lesser "friend"? maybe... look, i'm desperate. if you want to be my friend, find me on facebook somehow or leave me a comment. i'll take on all comers. no questions asked.

i didn't know joe sports (a local sports broadcaster) died when i was in africa. that's very sad.

this morning i was biking around in shorts and t-shirt (something like 22 C). tonite there's a raging snowstorm on the canadian tundra. that my friends is a definite SNAFU.

it's autumn in them thar woods...

pretty orange leaves...

my cup of tea...

delicate, fluffy plants...

the gig is up, for now...

9 Oct 2007, 3:19 PM

Distance: 2.15 km
Time: 11:41
Pace: 5:24 min/km
Calories: 181

well, the above nike+ipod data says it all. i gave my ailing right hip two days rest then ran on tuesday. it felt ok for a while then i succumbed to my weakness. how embarassing... the plan now is rest it for at least a week rest then try again. i'm going to lose some endurance but there's no choice.

good news is that i can still ride a bike. i love biking. however, unless you bike at lance armstrong-type speeds and distances you won't get the same workout as running. maybe i should just leave the bike in the highest gear possible. ha!

now i'll have to buy a bike 'puter. yikes.

rant of the day.

they canceled the 2007 Calgary Santa Claus Parade. what the hell? too much construction happenin' downtown was the lame excuse. weak, i say.

why not run the parade down 4th Ave and or 3rd Ave (i'm sure the ho's approve)? nothing being erected or blow'ed up on them streets. am i right?

it just goes to show you what this city's priorities are. work, work, work... the all mighty buck. give it a rest, eh.

now the all the kids have to look forward to is a "party" on olympic plaza. nothing like watching santa traipse around on stage... i'm gonna be so excited the nite before the "party".

bubba's conclusion: to the organizer's of the former parade, screw'em...

happy thanxgiving 2007!!!

this song has been swirling in my head for weeks now. thank you steve jobs for killing me slowly... the consolation is the fact that the singer is the canuckistani version of bjork.

nike+ipod update...

here's the last run:

6 Oct 2007, 3:59 PM

Distance: 8.52 km
Time: 46:09
Pace: 5:24 min/km
Calories: 717

not a bad run. average. two problems: 1) i was 6K from home, and 2) i badly tweaked something in my right hip. i thought i could gut it out but it really hurt. i could not lift the leg.

it feels ok today. i haven't done much but give it rest for a couple of days. i may rest it or cut back tomorrow.

i am weak.

contrary to popular belief, i'm not training for a marathon. well, realistically, i'm not sure if i can get to that distance before snowfall. right now i'm at 14.5 km. that's before my little set back. a half marathon is definitely possible. 3/4 marathon in a month's time. that takes me into november. brrr... if i can run 2 complete 3/4 marathons in november, a full marathon is possible.

even if i did kill myself like that, i'll only run the sundance super marathon. that involves running loops around my neighbourhood and hiring a kid to take care of the drink table set up in the driveway. knowing the kids around here, he/she will hand me a hot coffee.

qtlibrarian update

is anyone tracking her progress to austin, TX? i have. she's a pretty tough cookie. i did not know the bikin' went into the wee hours of the nite...

my favourite quote so far: "I'm so tired I practicially fell asleep in my pancake this afternoon!" i'd probably be napping in my food as well. slobbering on my buns.

i am weak.

rant of the day...

major oil/gas companies in the alberta oilpatch like encana have predictably threatened the peoples of alberta with economic sanctions if royalties were to increase.

my verdict: screw'em. the multinationals, i.e.

have fun qt!!!!

i managed roll out of bed this morning (aside: damn it was cold. how do people get up in the dark, eh?) just in time to hoof it down to CyclePath South to bid qtlibrarian a bon voyage on her quest to raise funds for cancer research, cancer survivors and their fams.

she's very brave because the fundraiser is a marathon bike ride down to the land o'lance, austin TX to be precise.

if you have spare cashola on hand, give it to the cause by clicking here.

here are some pix i took at the party...


back row: cute lil' car, middle row: kick ass lance bike, nice bike rack, eh, front row: qtlibrarian looks pretty good in a uniform, eh?

if qt feels as good as she looks, damn she must be feeling really good.

qt chillin' in the chase van...

qt and groupies...

qt and team...

nothing like being sponsored by good carma...

the big team...

off topic: exciting to see mr. ski (a local celebrity) at the breakfast...

Sistas...

"edmonton" anyone?

i like playing badminton. not sure if it's an asian thang. i was playing the thailanders back in the day. damn they're good. i loved playin' with LG and LB the other day. it's a good way to bond with the young people. sisters!!

nike+ipod running update...

i reached another milestone. according to lance armstrong it's was my best performance yet. coming from lance, it means alot to me.

8 sep 2007, 11:28 AM

Distance: 9.85 km
Time: 52:38
Pace: 5:20 min/km
Calories: 460

i usually stop by the liberry along the way to pick up holds and gross the clientele out with my sweat drenched running ensemble. what the hell? it's only sweat. salty gatorade, eh...

after signing out the johnny cash at folsom prison CD i had on hold, i ran home.

8 sep 2007, 1:03 PM

Distance: 1.83 km
Time: 9:45 min
Pace: 5:19 min/km
Calories: 85

not a bad run. most impressive was the 545 calories burnt! hell, that's 8.38 christie's pirate peanut butter cookies or almost 2 (1.94) servings of cheezies (100g). or even better, that's an infinite volume of diet coke.!! wahoooo!!

further observations:

i know the exact route for the full and half marathons through my neighbourhood now.
i know that i'm weeks or months are away from either marathon.
i know the effort that it's going to take.
i know that you've got to include a couple of slow songs in the ipod mix.
i know that eminmem will kill you if he's the last song.

james bond vs vladimir putin...

007 meet vladimir putin, mr. putin meet james bond... dead ringers, eh?

movie: Casino Royale.

wow, what a movie! actor daniel craig, the "new" bond, is fantastic, bringing to screen a version of ian fleming's double O spy whose mean, detached, calculating, cold blooded, tough-as-nails, ego maniacal, and occasionally reckless. the new bond wreaks havoc just about everywhere he ventures. just what spies should be like.

the script is tight as a honey jar's lid, highlighted by the delicious razor sharp repartee between bond and his leading lady, vesper lynd (oh how i love that name), played by an even more delicious eva green.

what would a bond flick be without the thrills? not shortage here. the opening scene is delayed a bit but it just blows you away. i was just hooked big time after that and hung on for a really wild ride.

no worries, the future of the james bond franchise is secure and in good hands.

same, same... but different...part deux

phew... when i went away i thought politics in alberta would irrevocably change with the departure of HRH ralphie klein. just my luck. it seems this character craig chandler, a potential PC nominee in the riding of calgary egmont, has picked up the slack in the "i can't believe he said that" department of the PC party of alberta.

in response to the falling fortunes of the PC party in the polls and a less than positive door knocking campaign, craig wrote this masterpiece in an online forum:

"Firstly, Alberta is growing in a way that was never expected and many of the people coming here do not truly appreciate Alberta or even understand the history of this province or the relationship with the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. To those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. You came here to enjoy our economy, our natural beauty and more. This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created."

hmmm... it's like deja vu. or maybe a second coming of sorts.

thanx craig for bringing back the good ol' days. or should i say, the voters of calgary egmont thank you. especially those commie bastard constituents who migrated to alberta to partake in the economic boom.

alot of blood sweat and tears for a couple of cookies.

on my nano ipod:

January 21. 2000 5:12 PM
Distance: 5.87 km
Time: 31:50
Pace: 5:25 min/km
Calories: 274

Paula Radcliff says, "congratulations you've set a personal record for longest workout".

ha!

Update: Lance Armstrong today said, "congratulations, you've just set a personal record for the mile".

ed. notes.

1. normally i don't listen to muzak while i run but i really like this ipod+nike setup. the voices in my head are cool.

2. thanx bb.

3. what the hell's a "mile"?