Monday, December 31, 2007

My 12 Most Interesting Pictures of 2007



Hay SkyLife is StillFirst Macro ExperimentSo it begins..Lunar Eclipse with FlareWater on the Path
Another Road Side AttractionRibon CreekBright Field Dark SkyEternal Flame ParliamentKim ReidKeep Your Stick on the Ice
According to flickr on the last day of the year.

- Peace

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Done: 4000 KM in 2007

4000 km, Calvin and I
Well it's done, 4000 km in 2007. Thanks to Calvin for coming along for the final ride. Thanks to everyone who's expressed their encouragement , it means a great deal. 4200 is the goal for 2008 :)

- Peace

Saturday, December 29, 2007

3900 KM and Invite

3900 KM Twilight
Hit 3900 last night. Just under a 100 km to go now. Plan is to pass the 4000 km mark on Sunday the 30th. Some friends are coming along for the ride and some others are just coming over to the house for some hot drinks. If you're interested drop me a line.

- Peace

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas

Christmas Lights
- Peace

Saturday, December 22, 2007

On The Edge at 3800 KM

On the Edge at 3800 KM
3800 KM was my 2006 goal, 4000 KM is 2007's goal. Unfortunatley I broke my chain just past this point. Oh and we leave for SK tomorrow. Stay tuned...

- Peace

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Fist Post from My MacBook Pro


Holiday Mac/Pc ad. Posted from my new Mac Book Pro. Yes I've joined the cult.

- Peace

Friday, December 14, 2007

Trees of Light at 3700 KM

Trees of Light at 3700 KM

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Sufjan Stevens - Put the Lights on the Tree


Hope you enjoy this festive music video from Sufjan Stevens as much as I do.

- Peace

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Christmas Music in Uganda

Last June when I heard that Lisa was filling her new 30 Gig ipod with music to keep her company while in Uganda I managed to get about a half gig of Xmas music on there. Got some odd looks from friends when I told them what I up to. Got this from Lisa
Last night was my last night in my town of mbarara, and i had a great evening/Christmas party with my friends who live on the same compound as me. we made mincemeat tarts and listened to your beautiful collection of carols that you donated to my ipod. after 6 months of July, it started to feel a bit like Christmas last night.

And that made my day, cause that was the idea.

- Peace

Monday, December 10, 2007

Winter Riding at 3600 KM

Winter Riding at 3600 KM
Had an appointment this morning, so my ride into work was at noon with sunlight, that and fresh snow made it quite bright. This time of year I don't get much bright light while riding.

- Peace

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Vinyl Cafe Date

The Vinyl Cafe is in Calgary tonight and Kim is taking me :) Will update with a review after the show.

Update: Stewart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe crew put on quite a show, warm, friendly, smart with good music just as a packed room of CBC listeners would like to picture themselves. Live the Vinyl Cafe is almost as smooth as the Radio show, though the highlight of the evening was Stewart mixing up the words nozzle and novel. When he did get it right the crowd cheered so loud that he had to try again, only to mix it up again. If you're a fan of the show seeing it live worth it.

- Peace

Monday, December 03, 2007

Crossing Fish Creek at 3500 KM

Crossing Fish Creek at 3500 KM
First Ride in Dec and I'm playing catch up. A broken chain meant I didn't hit this point on Friday, so I have to do 518 km in Dec to hit my goal of 4000 km. We're headed out of town for Christmas, so really I have 22 days to do this, that's 24 KM/ day, every day. Wind chill this morning -27. Sigh.

- Peace

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

God's Art

God's Art
as seen from this bench in Fish Creek Park.

Rest A Moment With God's Art
I know nothing about Doris Flynn, other than what is on this bench. I love the fact that this simple dedication speaks of hospitality, rest and God as artist. I wish I'd had the chance to meet Doris.

- Peace

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Sky Over 3400 KM

Sky Over 3400 KM
Biked 40 km today, passed the 3400 KM mark in while in east Fish Creek Park. It' going to get cold this week, but I'm going to try to keep at it.

- Peace

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Cab Turning at 3300 KM

Cab Turning at 3300 KM
Passed 3300 KM last night, in the snow and the ice.

- Peace

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Solitude Together

Solitude Together a great term coined by Lisa

After walking for 3 hours with someone I have met twice before, I can feel more kinship than with many people that I have worked beside or gone to church with for years.
...
However we do it, I think it's essential to build more solitude together into our lives.


- Peace

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Elbow Blur at 3200 KM

Elbow Drive Blur at 3200 KM
Hit 3200 KM on the ride home last night.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Overhead at the Office

Overhead at the Office is quite funny. I really should blog some of the random things I hear as I bike around town.

Woman to man in Fish Creek Park
: Yeah I could deal with it that way, but then I'd be accused of being a slut.

- Peace

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Path in Shadow at 3100 KM

Path in Shadow at 3100 kmHit the 3100 KM Mark yesterday. This is on the north side of west Fish Creek Park as the sun was setting. Nine pictures to go :)

- Peace

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Portal


Played Portal on the weekend and finished yesterday. The video gives you a bit of an idea what it is about and it won't. It will capture the puzzle aspect of game but I don't think it captures the creepy humor. The game is narrated by an AI with emotional issues. It's done brilliantly. Funniest AI since Marvin the Paranoid Robot. So play for the unique puzzles and stay for the final AI swan song.

- Peace

Monday, November 05, 2007

Driving With Miss Melissa


As previously mentioned I got to ride with Miss Melissa in her new 1999 VW Beetle. After Xalt I set up my Pentax K10d in the car with the trip pod and took pictues as Melissa drove me back home. Shooting in multi frame mode, I filled my 2 Gig card. Flipping through the shots made me think of doing a movie, turns out Picassa can take a set of pictures and generate a movie. I then used Windows Movie Maker to add music and credits. Enjoy.

Part of my personal joy in doing is that it reminded me of the Wizzard of Space and Time from 1983.

- Peace

Sunday, November 04, 2007

The City of Words

The 2007 Massey Lectures will be broadcast this week on CBC's Ideas. I've enjoyed the Massey Lectures in the past, when I've caught them, but this year's description caught my attention.
The end of ethnic nationalism, building societies around sets of common values, seems like a good idea. But something is going wrong. In the 2007 Massey Lectures, writer Alberto Manguel takes a fresh look at some of the problems we face, and suggests we should look at what stories have to teach us about society. “How do stories help us perceive ourselves and others?” he asks. “How can stories lend a whole society an identity...?” From Gilgamesh to the Bible, from Don Quixote to The Fast Runner, Alberto Manguel explores how books and stories hold the secret keys to what binds us together.
Emphasis is mine.

- Peace

Saturday, November 03, 2007

VW Melissa

VW Melissa
Melissa came by with her new car last weekend, gave me ride and let me take some pics :)

- Peace

Thursday, November 01, 2007

School at 3000 KM

School at 3000 KM
My homework, 1000 KM by the end of the year.

- Peace

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tim of None the Wiser

Tim
Got to see None the Wiser at the Cabin on Sat.

- Peace

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Finale

Finale

- Peace

Monday, October 29, 2007

Now On Facebook

OK so I finally broke down and joined Facebook, mostly for professional interest. Right now my CEO writing a post on my wall. Lunch time at a start up:)

- Peace

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Yesterday 2900 KM Today the Train

Yesterday
Yesterday 2900 KM

Today
Today I'm taking the Train

- Peace

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

They say this a good picture of me

Dave
Like most photographers I hate having my picture taken, but at a flickr meetup it's just one of the risks. Blame for this shot goes to Ian.

- Peace

Monday, October 22, 2007

Photo Weekend

Smile
Spent Saturday at Tim's place west of Millervile, shot some friends and a skull. More and the skull later. Sunday joined the Calgary Flickr Meet on Noes Hill, pics from there to follow. Thanks to Teresa who agreed to take to the swing while I took shots.

- Peace

Friday, October 19, 2007

Path at 2800 KM

Path at 2800 KM

- Peace

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Thank You

To the very kind person who turned in my keys to Calgary transit yesterday, thank you!

Yeah I know the chance of that person reading this is 1% or less, but isn't it good to know good people are out there?

- Peace

Monday, October 15, 2007

Watch Me at Work

New Gig
You can catch glimpses of me at work on the Cambrian House Web Cams.

- Peace

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Canmore at 2700 KM

Canmore at 2700 km
Had a great time biking Goat Creek trail today. Though at the end I came up just short of 2700 KM. Clement and Marina were kind enough to help me out. Clement dropped Dave and I off near the goat creek trail head and Marina drove the Element back to town so I could get in the extra distance I needed to hit 2700 KM :) This is Canmore from above, Dave and I were back in town in less than 20 minutes, average speed was around 32 km/h, top speed over 60, at total rush!

- Peace

Friday, October 12, 2007

2600 KM in our back alley

Gravel at 2600 KM
Heading out to Goat Creek tomorrow and I'd love to pass the 2700 km mark on that ride. It's 40-45 km so that means doing 60 km today just to be safe.

- Peace

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

My Family

My Family

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

2500 KM

2500 KM Left on Dalhousie
Passed the 2500 KM mark after work today on the way to Tims. Started my new gig today, more on that once they get my profile updated.

- Peace

Friday, October 05, 2007

Last Day Keeping the Lights On

I don't blog a great deal about work. In fact in four years I've only mentioned the AESO by name once. I talked about my code setting the price of power back in 2004. I made on oblique reference to keeping the lights on in a poem. Today is my last day working to keep the Alberta Power Grid on line at a fair price. I'll admit I quite enjoyed knowing that there are people who's entire job is tracking and reacting to a number my code calculates. After today friends won't be able to bug me when their power goes out. I'm going to miss looking at the lights and telling people my code must be working.

- Peace

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

CTrain Over Fish Creek at 2400 KM

CTrain Over Fish Creek at 2400 KM
Passed the 2400 KM mark last night.

- Peace

Monday, October 01, 2007

JavaScript is the New Metal (Again)

Hearing Scott Davis and David Geary talk about Google Web Toolkit at Calgary's NoFluffJustStuff this weekend, I was reminded of one of last year's bloggable quotes: JavaScript is the new metal. The difference is Scott thinks people need to get down to the metal and David thinks the GWT Java to JavaScript compiler is trustworthy. I'm with David GWT is very cool.

Was also impressed with Brian Sletten's take on NetKernel and the the power of emerging semantic web tools.

- Peace

Friday, September 28, 2007

The Foxhole Manifesto

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The city at 2300 km

The city at 2300 km. Passed 2300 KM on yesterday morning's ride. Obviously my pace has fallen well short of 200 km / week.

- Peace

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Lisa and Matt

Lisa and Matt

Monday, September 24, 2007

An Amazing Weekend

As previously noted: Blue Man Group Friday Night.

Lisa and Matt Arrived Friday Night.

Caught the tail end of the Debbi and Dave's going away party Sat Morning as we picked up Kevin and Clement to go hiking.

Hiked King Creek.

Enjoyed the fund raising dinner & silent auction with friends from Xalt. All three of my photos were sold. One to a woman I'd never met. The three pictures were picked based on feed back here and on flickr. Would never had the confidence if not for all of you :) The pictures raised $100.

Skipped the flickr hike Sunday due to lack of sleep and poor weather. We played Power Grid and Guitar Hero II. Matt ruled the grid and Sarah ruled the guitars.

Xalt Sunday Night. Post Xalt dinner with Dave & Debbi and 11 others :)

Friday, September 21, 2007

Blue Man Group: How to be a Megastar Tour 2.1!

White Man in Blue
It was a miracle whip liturgy of a post pop culture. I liked it.

The above photo is not an official Blue Man Group picture. Obviously.

- Peace

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

It's Snowing

An office mat just pointed out that it's snowing. Ah life in Calgary, snow in early Sept.

- Peace

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Monday, September 17, 2007

Modern Cowtown Art

Modern Cowtown Art
The Calgary Flickr Group got together Sat Night and took some shots downtown. I think the cow is my best shot from the evening.

- Peace

Saturday, September 15, 2007

U2 & Mary J. Blige - One


Thanks To: Sivin Kit’s Garden

- Peace

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Kid's Got Talent


From Sarah's trip to France in March. She finally finished posting her best pics to Flickr.

- Peace

2200 KM Arch

2200 KM Arch
Trying to get back into the 200 KM / Week rhythm.

- Peace

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Clean Water

Father Raphael Mponda At Xalt Sunday night we heard from Father Raphael Mponda of the Anglican Church in Malawi. He's taken training her in Calgary from CAWST, he and his team can now build Household Water Treatment filters for about $30 in Malawi. These filters can last up t o 30 years. Decades of clean water for less than I spend on lunch in a week.

- Peace

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Life is Still

Life is Still

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Of Torture and Cowardice

Reading the story of The Man Possessed by a Legion of Demons at Xalt a couple of weeks back I was struck by this
What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!
Here's what the demons had driven him to:
Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
Yet when Jesus comes they cry out not to be tortured. Cowards!

- Peace

Thursday, September 06, 2007

A Shaky 2100 KM

A Shaky 2100 km
Trying to get back in the grove after vacation and being sick. Asthma make ridding a challenge to say the least. Way behind schedule. sigh.

- Peace

Time

8:00 AM The hotel alarm clock didn't go off as expected. It reads 8:00. I noticed the dot indicating PM. Sigh, I should have left a wake up call. No problem, I'm not meeting Kim Reid till 9:00 and it's just a couple of metro stops away. Must not have slept well, I feel tired. Hotel beds. Or maybe it was the call my wife got on her cell, someone looking for Alex at 10 PM Alberta Time, Midnight in Montreal. Shower, Dress.

8:30 AM Out of the hotel, find the Peel Metro Station get directions to Atwater Station. Off at Atwater. Kim said look for the old Montreal Forum, now an AMC Movie / Pepsi building. Look for Eggspectation. Found the forum, the Canadians' C Logo on the sidewalk. Circle the block.

9:00 AM Can't find Eggspectation. No sign of Kim. I have his cell number. That's odd my cell says 7:00 AM. Must have flipped back to Alberta time, it was having trouble sending text messages last night. Leave Kim a voice mail, wondering where he is.


9:30 AM Still no sign of Kim. Walked around the block a couple of times. Leave Kim a voice mail, something has gone off track but would still like to get together while I'm in Montreal. Head across the street to Mc D's.

7:42 AM I notice the receipt for breakfast says 7:34 AM. My phone isn't on Alberta time. Kim's not late, I'm two hours early. I'm tired cause I got up at 6:00 AM not 8:00, the clock was off fourteen hours not twelve. Must have messed it up setting the alarm. I have no idea what Montreal should look like at 7:00 AM vs 9:00 AM. The amount of sunlight, the traffic and people patterns mean nothing to me.

9:00 am Kim shows up, we have breakfast at the old forum. He was wrong on the name of the place. He laughs as I explain the voice mails. We have a good conversation till well after 11:00.

- Peace

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Spider

Spider on Yellow
As found by Mark in the Coopers' backyard.

- Peace