Big Bike for Heart and Stroke

As mentioned a number of blogs ago, I signed up with the Rotary Club of Essex to ride the Big Bike for Heart and Stroke. Today was the day and as you can see we had a blast. Here is how we started:


A good time was had by all. It was quite a work-out but we succeeded.

It's now time to start preparing for next year, by the way.


Speaking of things, I shall have a blog about the Detroit Tigers tomorrow.

Supper rules irk churches

Lately the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has been in the news due to its zeal in cracking down on the GREATEST HEALTH RISK FACING CANADIANS. What is it, you may ask. Well, let's consider the list.

Is it; West Nile? Please
How about Avian Flu? Oh get over yourself
The increase of Sexually Transmitted Diseases? What millenium are you living in.

No, the greatest health risk facing the people of Windsor and Essex County is, wait for it, the Church Supper. I know, gasp, the horror. It's true, they are going after the church supper. What they have doen is:

the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has sent letters to all churches and fraternal organizations advising them the unit will require advance notification and an inspection before any special event where food is prepared and served to the public.

Let's think about a few things, the average home is far cleaner the then best restaurant in any city, have you ever watched Restaurant Makeover? The people cooking have an interest in ensuring the food is at its best. They are aware that if anyone gets sick it will spell the end of their supper. Plus if they cook in the same environment and with the same care as they feed their own family, things should be safe.

But this logic fails in the minds of the Supper Stazi, another example of bureaucrats inventing a new way to protect us from ourselves. Or should I say, making a crisis, or dealing with a crisis where none exists.

Essex Rotary Club-2006

Here is the Rotary Club receiving the Presidential Citation for Service over the year 2006. This is a great citation and it demonstrates the work of the Club in areas such as membership, vocation, internation and community.

Way to go all.

Transparent Toaster

 

 

It's what we have been waiting for, the transparent toaster.  A company called Inventables has designed the concept that is still a few years away from showing up on the shelves of Wal-Mart. 

The concept is simple, the glass heats up and browns the bread into toast.  I can see a number of positives for this devise, the main one being you are no longer dependent on your nose to determine if the toast is done.  Usually, when you can smell your toast it is too late.  Now a quick glance up from the newspaper will allow you to gauge the time left before you have the perfect piece or pieces of toast.

It is indeed what the world has been waiting for.

 

 

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Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 80% Superman 65% Spider-Man 65% Supergirl 63% Hulk 55% Wonder Woman 53% Batman 50% The Flash 45% Catwoman 45% Robin 40% Iron Man 40%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Sony Pictures - The Da Vinci Code

So I had opportunity to see Da Vinci Code on Monday. There was a good crowd in the theatre. So after sitting back I watched with interest the movie. Let me say I did read the book so I am familiar with the various points of historical controversy that were part of the whole Da Vinci Code.

Here is my thoughts of the movie: overall I was satisfied with it. The movie was true to the book, althought a number of scenes were cut out, but then again this is always expected with movie adaptions of books. Secondly, it is interesting to see the various misinterpretations of history, such as the whole pagan v Christian thing. While there was discussion that both sides were involved in atrocity, if you know the history of the early church it was usually the Christians that got it in the end, in fact it wasn't until 313 AD, with the Edict of Milan that there was religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire.

There was some interesting historical cutaways, one which showed the supposed court at Nicea where it was alledged they discussed the divinity of Jesus. What was funny was the showing of the delegates in ecclesiastic robes, which would have been something considering that official persecution had just ended, so likely robes of fine material was not part of the wearing apparel.

Oh yes, I thought the movie downplayed the evidence as found in the book, the whole "Last Supper" scene made the concept of Mary Magdelene being the disciple by Jesus almost foolish. It more disproved rather then brought up proof. Perhaps it was the way Sir Ian McKellen played his character but his evidence seemed far more circumstancial and only a theory and a poor one at best.

I though Audrey Tautou was the perfect Sophie and Tom Hanks was a good Robert Langdon. Tom Hanks did give the performance of a man that was being moved along by circumstances not totally under his control, which was the case.

The cinematography was brilliant with the various scenes of the book well portrayed. The ending was a delight, the interaction between Sophie and Robert, at the end removed the risk of an anticlimax.

I would say that if you plan to see the movie, do a quick search of Leonardo Da Vinci and the history of the early Christian Church to gain a good balance.

Skype is Free

 

Perhaps you got the information by reading digg.com.  If you did you know that Skype is now making it available for people to call any telephone in North America for free.  Yes, that is the word, 'free'.

 

If you go to the Skype site you can get all the information. This is what you need to do, download the software, have a computer with high speed internet and own a headset.  When you install the software, get it running, plug in the headset and start dialing.

 

There is a information page here. 

 

Again, let me say, you can call any telephone number in North America, either a long distance one or a local. 

 

You may be wondering what the reception is like, I called a friend and we had a very nice chat and I asked him how it was sounding, it said the conversation was fine.  I could hear him clearly at my end as well.  He asked if a person could continue to work on the computer as well as use Skype so we did a quick test.  I opened up a word processor (Microsoft Works) and did a bit of typing, he said he thought there was a slight delay for just a moment, otherwise he detected nothing.

 

So let me say, it works and its worth it.  Remember free is always a good thing.  Mind you its only until the end of the year, but still, that's a lot of phone calls.

 

I want to recommend everybody download Skype and get going.

 

 

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Happy Birthday Jo-Anne

 

 

It's Official

 

My lovely wife Jo-Anne is now 50.  Here she is getting 'pinned' by her older sister Maureen.  This act started the celebration.

 

 

The sisters, from left to right- Maureen, Barb, Jo-Anne, Kathy and Beverly.

 

 

Here they are, going through a scrapbook that contained information pertaining to 1956.  Had to be in book form, since most can't remember that far back.

 

Happy Birthday Jo-Anne.

 

 

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BEELEEEVVE IT

 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

East	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Boston	23	15	.605	---	11-6	12-9	17-10	Lost 1
NY Yankees	23	15	.605	---	14-7	9-8	10-7	Won 2
Toronto	22	17	.564	1 1/2	13-8	9-9	13-11	Won 1
Baltimore	19	22	.463	5 1/2	14-12	5-10	9-15	Won 1
Tampa Bay	16	24	.400	8	8-11	8-13	9-15	Lost 1
Central	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Chicago WSox	26	13	.667	---	14-5	12-8	16-8	Won 1
Detroit	26	13	.667	---	10-6	16-7	15-7	Won 6
Cleveland	19	21	.475	7 1/2	10-9	9-12	11-12	Won 2
Minnesota	17	23	.425	9 1/2	12-8	5-15	7-16	Lost 4
Kansas City	10	27	.270	15	8-8	2-19	10-16	Lost 5
West	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Oakland	20	19	.513	---	9-10	11-9	11-6	Won 3
Texas	20	19	.513	---	9-12	11-7	6-6	Lost 2
LA Angels	17	23	.425	3 1/2	8-11	9-12	6-8	Lost 1
Seattle	17	24	.415	4	9-13	8-11	6-9	Lost 2

 

 

This is a little off, because as I write this the Detroit Tigers have a one game lead over the defending World Series Champions, Chicago White Soxs.

 

Just meditate on that fact; Detroit, first place, best record in baseball.  Hard to imagine considering just two years ago they were the laughing  stock of the game.  An interesting bit of baseball trivia for all of you; whenever the Tigers have had a record of 27+ wins after 40 games, they have averaged 97+ wins for that season.  If this holds true the they will be in contention not only for the wild card but perhaps the Central Division title.

 

Now I know, there's still a lot of baseball to be played, and they have a challenging schedule but why can't we believe they can take the challenge on and do well?

 

By the way, for the record, Tigers have won 7 straight and have owned the Minnesota Twins, 6-0 at home and 1-2 in Minnesota.  Not bad, not bad at all.

 

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My New Sunday night Ritual

 

 

With the beauty of the Internet, I have a new ritual.  Each Sunday night, I make myself a bowl of popcorn, pour myself a glass of juice and fire up the computer.  I then start up the Media Center and start the new Doctor Who episode. 

 

I mentioned in an earlier blog I have found a place that shows the new episodes that feature David Tennant as our beloved Doctor and Billie Piper as his companion Rose Tyler.  So far this season, Rose's boyfriend Mikey, played by Noel Clarke has joined the crew but so far not as an equal.  He has felt a bit like the third wheel and really not that important.  By the way, the wikipedia article quotes from one of the British newspapers that (spoiler warning) Noel is leaving after the second part of the Cyberman episode.

 

I watched the Cybermen episode last night and it was a cliffhanger, the Doctor and his group surrounded by Cybermen who have decided they are to be deleted. 

 

The Cybermen are an interesting addition to a season which has seen the return of Sarah Jane Smith and K9 as well as reference to both Canada and a previous companion of the Doctor.  Also there is the setting of the stage of the new Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which will be interesting.  In last night's episode there was a one-off mention of Torchwood, it was just in passing and you had to listen close.

 

So I plan to keep this going until the end, which will be during the first week of July, and then in the Fall, I'll watch the series on the CBC.  Hold it, just found this information.  So June 20th, that's fantastic.

 

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Qumana

You may have noticed the little comment that this is powered by Qumana.  Qumana is a desktop blog editor that provides tools for blogging.  Not only can you type and edit a blog, you can also add advertisement and tags.

 

There is an interesting overview of the software and what it does.  You can configure it so that once completed you can post your blog to your favourite blog site by just clicking on a link.

 

It's interesting and may be something you want to use.

 

 

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Family Fun

Okay, first of all the names are being changed to protect the innocent.

 

Stephanie may figure the story out.  It has to do with two of her nieces, let's call them Lynnkate and Chelra.  It seems Lynnkate and Chelra were having an argument at the dinner table.  Lynnkate who is the eldest of the children was telling the younger she was stupid and couldn't do anything.

 

Chelra who is indeed the younger responded by saying there was one thing Lynnkate could not do.  This brought the response from Lynnkate that she could do everything.  Chelra looked at her sister and said the one thing Lynnkate couldn't do was "shut up".  This brought about a spasm of comments from Lynnkate to which Chelra calmly stated, 'see, you can't shut up'.

 

The parents of course couldn't respond as they could, but the father said they both laughed once the daughters left the table.

 

Chelra is a very smart little girl and it is a good thing she uses his wisdom for good.  However I fear she may be seduced by the dark side of the Force.Technorati Tags : family, one-liners

 

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I found this excellent article from Encarta.

Enjoy

10 Reasons Baseball Is a Weird Sport
Baseball is the American national pastime and many people take the game rather seriously. In our earnest dedication, we may sometimes lose sight of some of the game's striking peculiarities. So let's take a step back for a moment and review the top 10 reasons baseball is one weird sport.

1. If a batter fails two-thirds of the time, they're still considered an excellent batter. It's too bad this standard isn't applied to everything else in life.

2. It is legal to "steal" in this game. This is, perhaps, a questionable example for children.

3. If you aren't such a good hitter, you can have a pinch hitter bat for you. If you aren't such a fast runner, you can have someone--a pinch runner--come in and run for you. At what point, you might wonder, is a team entirely comprised of "pinch" players?

4. There's a rule preventing pitchers from spitting on the ball. They can spit anywhere else they like, apparently.

5. If a batter walks with the bases loaded, he is credited with an RBI (Run Batted In). That's right: even though he didn't hit the ball.

6. The game is played on dirt and grass, but if the ball gets dirty, it is replaced with a new clean ball.

7. If a batter accidentally hits the catcher when swinging, it's the catcher's fault, even if the catcher gets injured. The batter is awarded a base. The catcher gets an apology, if he's lucky.

8. The coaches and managers wear the same uniforms as the players.

9. When a pitcher walks a batter, the batter jogs to first base. Incongruous, but it is a nice show of effort.

10. The 7th-inning stretch makes baseball the only sport where spectators must take part in calisthenics.

It's a easy as eatin' a pancake

That quote, and photograph comes from the Space: Above and Beyond episode Ray Butts. This was another one of Fox's science fiction series that they managed to screw up. A forerunner if you wish of Firefly. The show centered on the lives of five Marines, members of the 58th Squadron, also known as the Wildcats.

Earth was at war with a mysterious race only called the Chiqs. Each week the show examined the lives of the five and their interaction with each other, other soldiers and the Chiqs.

The series only lasted one season and it certainly deserved more.

Big Bike Ride for Heart and Stroke

 

 

A few blogs ago I mentioned I was going to participant on the Big Bike for Heart and Stroke.  I gave some information but I don't know if it was correct. 

 

Here is the email they suggest for use:

 

I am participating in the Big Bike for Stroke in support of the Heart
and Stroke Foundation. You can help me raise funds for the Heart and
Stroke Foundation by sponsoring me online. Just click the link at the
bottom of this e-mail to access my secure pledge page.     

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is committed to protecting the health
of millions of Canadians.  With almost 40% of Canadians expected to
develop some form of heart disease and stroke over their lifetime, the
Foundation’s leadership in understanding the root causes of these diseases,
and in the development and delivery of health education and advocacy
programs, is critical. The majority of funds come from people like you
and these initiatives couldn’t continue without your support.

To make your pledge online, click the link below to access my secure
pledge page.  An electronic tax receipt will be sent to you immediately
via e-mail. 

Thank you for your support.


https://ww2.heartandstroke.ca/Secure/Page.asp?PageID=1450&RecordID=73825

so click on the link and support.

 

thanks

 

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Tigers Finish April with 16 Wins

 

As you know, my daughter Stephanie has been blogging about the Detroit Tigers.  As one of her favoutite teams, she's actually never grown up and seen them have a good season, until now. The Tigers have just finished a very nice month of April.  If you want to know the particulars, the won 16 games, the most wins in the month of April since the glorious 1984 season, when the team went 35-5 and won the World Series.  They also enjoyed 5 shut outs, which is the most ever.  When you think of the long history of the Tigers that is amazing.

What has done this for the Tigers has to be the pitching.  I know what you must be thinking, Pitching amd Tigers isn't the combination most think of when thinking of the Tigers, yet it's true. Right now the Tigers have a combined team ERA of 3.35, which is the best in the AL and the second best in MLB.  If you want to compare, last year the team's ERA was 4.51 and in 2003, when the only won 43 games it was 5.30, so in the space of three years, their average has decreased by almost 2 runs per game. 

I know some will say that there's still a lot of baseball to be played and certainly that is true, but on the other hand, they've played 25 games and they won 16 of them and that's 16 wins they don't have to try and get at another time of the year.

Go Tigers

 

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while on the subject of Television shows such as Doctor Who, another one I've been re-introduced to is one from the 60's. The show in question is The Time Tunnel. Each week the adventure would start with the following narrative:

Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time

That is the premise, two scientist decide to test the new invention, the time tunnel to see if they could travel back and forth in time. The problem being, they were able to enter it and travel but to the end of the series, they couldn't get out. They were lost in time, as it were. Each week the viewers would witness history through the eyes of the travellers and the crew working on the Time Tunnel. The hope was always rescue, but it never worked. They could get them out of the situation but they couldn't bring them back to the present.

The show was the work of Irwin Allen, the man who gave us Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space and other television science fiction shows. He became equally famous in the 70's for disaster movies by the way.

I've only watched a few episodes and I must admit I am impressed; considering this was the 60's the sets are quite elaborate. The adventures are interesting enough and are enjoyable. I do remember watching some of the episode, I'm sure I saw all of them when it was running way back when, so it is rediscovering an old favourite.

So do your own google and do some time travelling of yoru own.

BBC - Doctor Who - Tooth and Claw - Starring David Tennant and Billie Piper

The beauty of the Internet is the fact it does transcend both time and space. What I mean by that is a show broadcast in the UK and not available until the Fall can be found. Case in point, Doctor Who; the BBC has just commenced showing the new season, which does feature David Tennant as the new Doctor. Those of us who are fans caught his introduction with the The Christmas Invasion.

I have to admit I am a huge fan of Christopher Eccleston who brought the character of the Doctor back in a big way. He gave life back to the Doctor and made the first season a tremendous success.

I am not going to post any spoilers but let me say, David Tennant takes the role and makes it his own. We are introduced to some new characters and some old 'friends', yes Billie Piper is back as Rose and the first episode shows us another side to her, after she encounters an old 'friend'.

The second episode is fantastic, a period piece and there is something for fans of the second doctor as well as Canadians, and if you find out what both of them are, you can email to me.

I just saw upcoming for the third episode and it looks like another treat.

The Doctor is Back!

APPLE'S NO. 1 HIT By TIM ARANGO - New York Post Online Edition: business

No kidding.

The Recording Industry has to capitulate. If they had decided to say "we're not going to work with you Steve". Steve would have simply said "That's fine". Remember Apple once had as its slogan "Rip, Mix, Burn". That was for the owners of Apple computers, but to the recording industry, the slogan was taken to mean 'screw you'.

So the bottom line, there's a whole lot of ipods out there and they will get filled with music. The source of that music will depend upon whether the industry and demonstrate it does possess a modicum of brains. Either from Apple iTunes Music Store or from the Internet. The owners of all those ipods probably don't care where the music comes from; the majority would like it from the Music Store. But if the industry plays stupid there's always Limewire or the various newsgroups, or chat, or, well you get the idea.

Welcome to Thru the Bible Radio--The Bible Study Program Taught by Dr. J. Vernon McGee! - Thru the Bible

This has been a special week for those who enjoy the radio ministry of the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee. His radio program "Thru the Bible Radio" is starting another 5 year series of going through the Bible. As they like to say, the Bible Bus is just starting to pull out of the station and start another journey through the entire word of God.

I've been a listener for over 20 years and this is a very exciting moment.

I don't listen to Dr. McGee on the radio anymore, since I don't know what stations broadcast him in my area, but that doesn't matter. Thanks to the Apple iTunes Music Store I can download the program to my iPod Mini and listen to the programs at my convenience. As well, the programs are also available for listening on my computer so again I'm not limited.

So, if you want a good solid study of the Bible, this is a good place to start. His approach is straight-forward and clear. As he enjoyed saying, he always placed the cookie jar on the bottom shelf where the kiddies can get some. What he meant was this, a simple approach which appealed to the long time student of the Word and the first timer.

Give him a listen.