Camping On The Patio

My tent from Australia was part of my recent shipment. Today I attempted to set it up on the patio. A few interesting notes...

Do not store your tent out on the balcony if you're living near the ocean. The zipper will rust to crap, and you will spend an hour with WD-40, screwdrivers, pins, and eventually a Stanley knife. In the end you'll probably rip the zipper in two, like I just did. You may also need to repair the bag, preferably with Duct tape.

The photo here doesn't do it justice, but this tent has a lot of space inside. Theoretically it has enough space to sleep 3 people. It has front and back doors, and lots of ventilation. It also has a padlock on the back door... and I'll be buggered if I know where the key for that went to... :(

Read the instructions. I had a puzzled look on my face for 10 minutes before realising how this front section was meant to be assembled. The end result is pretty good though. I'm very much looking forward to some camping this summer. :) Anyone else interested?

Sandal Burn

It was bright, sunny and windy today, so I went kite flying again. I put sun-screen on for most of my exposed body parts, but forgot about my legs and, in particular, the top of my feet left uncovered by my sandals. This is going to be painful for a few days...

On the positive side, I ran into a new couple who had just bought a Nexus kite. Very friendly, and we got along well. They were struggling a bit having never flown a stunt kite before. I gave them some instruction, and soon they were flying my Quantum kite with no problems.

Unfortunately, the Nexus kites are ultra-sensitive and tend to need more wind, making them very difficult to control and prone to dropping from the sky. I honestly don't know why they are recommended for beginners. They are much cheaper, but so incredibly frustrating. I'm planning to buy a Prism Snapshot 1.4 (a small dual-line power-kite) to play with myself, and for others to practice with.

300 Posts Later

This is blogpost number 300 and, coincidentally, my 28th birthday. It's also the first warm long weekend this year and, for those who are interested, 789 days since I left Australia for Canada. So how have things changed since blogpost number 200? Things have definitely improved...

• I've just been treated to brunch and a birthday cake by my friends at work, plus long distance phone calls from family, friends, and Emily
• I've moved to a great new apartment in the West End
• I've got most of my stuff shipped from Australia
• I've started making non-work friends (yay!)
• I've taken up kite flying again, and having great fun with it
• I've submitted my thesis, and am in the process of nominating reviewers
• I've stopped working so hard
• I've started going out more
• I've started exploring more of Stanley Park (did you know that Lovers Trail is one of the rockiest in the park?)
• Best of all, Emily is coming to Vancouver very, very, soon

Yeah, life is definitely moving forward. I'm the happiest I've been since I got here, and some of the guys have noticed.

Bizarrely, one thing hasn't changed since blogpost 200 - I'm sunburnt again. We had a nice change of weather, I went down to the beach, and suddenly I'm (lightly!) burnt all over. That's what winter does to you.

P.S. I'll post a photo of the birthday cake later. Right now, I'm completely buggered from walking, cycling, frisbee, badminton, and just generally doing stuff.

P.P.S. Technically, my birthday was yesterday according to Australian time. It's not like "a year" is an accurate measure of time anyway. :P

Finally Moved In

Well, I finally have all of my stuff. After 2 and a bit years in Canada, my boxes from Australia have arrived. Thanks to Tom at work, we collected the boxes from the warehouse this morning, and I got to have fun opening them this afternoon. Some were very heavy and quite a challenge to unpack. (How do you get a heavy crate out of a big cardboard box? Cut the bottom of the box and let it fall out!)

So far, I've found a lot of books. Lots and lots of books. And DVDs. And CDs. Who knew I had a licensed copy of UT2003? And cookbooks? I need to get a second bookshelf, and soon.

I've found a lot of random memorabilia. There's the corkboard I've had since highschool, the pencil case I've had since primary school, lots of coloured tealight cangles, my pizza stone, a jar of vegemite (use by 2007...), a little lantern, a set of Chinese hand exercise balls, a miniature laptop desk ornament, a set of photo frames, my cap from the Logic Summer School, the book I was reading when I left Australia (!), all my old tools, lots of kitchen stuff, a LotR boxed DVD set and framed poster, and my undergraduate degrees... I need to hang up a lot of this stuff.

And there's lots of stuff I'd been missing. My Pound Puppies that I've had since I was really little (complete with a bandaid from their immunisation shots...), my body pillow to help my posture, a quilt cover set I'd worried was given away, and a big soft blanket for the Canadian winters. Plus there's my tent and sleeping bag, just in time for summer. :)

There's also a heap of shirts and other clothing. It all smells a little musty (hey, it's been two years) and will need a wash. I'm looking forward to using the bathrobe and wearing some of my old shirts again. There's also lots of other little souvenirs that I've picked up over my life, including random notes and cards and stuff.

I haven't finished unpacking everything yet. Still, I now have everything of mine from Australia (except for the stuff at Mum and Dad's house...). I have officially "moved" to Canada.

Broken String

There was a strong wind this morning, so I rode down to Sunset Beach to fly my kite. Noone else was flying kites, and this should've been a warning sign.

The wind peaked at around 40 kph, plus some slightly stronger gusts. My kite was howling, and the lines would squeal at times from the tension and wind. Still, I was having a great time, and number of kids and parents had stopped to watch. Unfortunately, my kite is rated to precisely 40 kph; while in a tight turn in the middle of the wind window, the right string snapped just near my hand. The kite then spun like a top on the left string until it hit the ground. Bugger.

So... anyone know how to fix Spectra kite lines?

Timothy

Timothy is Emily's brother, and I've always found him to be great fun to hang out with. More importantly, it makes you feel so good inside any time he achieves something new. I've rarely blogged about him before; I just never knew what to say. I think I know what to say now, but first I want to share some of the stories from times spent with him:

I bought a Wii when they were first released. I took it to Edmonton on a few trips, but then realised that Timothy might be able to make use of it than I had been. Emily bought the WiiPlay pack, and she found the perfect game for him - cow racing. You hold the remote sideways and tilt it left or right to steer, knocking over random objects as you go. He loved playing it, even though he never finished the race on time. :)

Emily's mum bought a side-by-side sit-down tandem bicycle a few years ago. It's quite well engineered, with a park brake, dual handle bars, independent gears, etc, though not the most stylish vehicle on the road. ;) Emily and I took Timothy for a ride up and down the local streets - Tim and I rode, while Emily walked alongside keeping an eye out for traffic and dogs. To begin with I would do all the steering, but at the halfway point I just took my hands off the handlebars and left it up to Tim. Within a few minutes, he was able to both pedal the bicycle and simultaneously steer us away from parked cars in the street. Even better, if I pointed left or right at an intersection, he would make the turn by himself! I was very impressed, and could even take a break from pedalling myself... ;)

Emily picked up a second-hand copy of Elebits for the Wii. Now, as far as Wii games go, Elebits is pretty sophisticated - the left hand is used to move the player around the level, and the right hand is used to control the camera and shoot targets. Emily realised early on that Tim couldn't handle both aspects at the same time, so she would move the player around the level, and Timothy would be left in control of the camera and shooting. Funnily enough, Timothy loves things that spin, so when he found a ceiling fan within the game he would keep directing the camera so that he could watch it! No matter where you moved in the level, he would consistently pivot the camera to watch the fan. It was cute, but more importantly demonstrated his increasing ability to control his movements within the game. When I visited Edmonton last, Timothy was controlling both aspects - player movement, and camera control. He even started hunting down Elebits, the way you're supposed to! :) I can only hope things continue to improve.

Timothy loves music, and is always asking for the music to be turned on when at home or in the car. It seemed appropriate to get a second-generation iPod Shuffle for him - they are nearly indestructible, have very few buttons, have a strong built-in clip, and can be volume limited in software. We set him up with his new iPod, pre-loaded with some of his favourite music, and we took him for a trip to his cousin's house (where, coincidentally, he got to play Guitar Hero with Emily's help). Nothing remarkable happened on the trip, though he did seem to enjoy his time with his cousins. However, when we got home, he ran straight to his mum and was singing the words of the music on his iPod. I had never heard Tim sing before, and that was one of those "so good" moments I mentioned. I can only call the iPod a success. :)

Timothy is a special kid. He'll always need someone there to help. I'll never be able to just sit down and make small-talk with him. But you know what? That's okay. I know that I still want to hang out with him. Timothy is special in so many other ways.

And I never liked small-talk anyway. :)

P.S. For those who are interested, Timothy actually has a blog and Facebook account that document his life and friends.

Back In The Saddle

Summer is approaching, so I'm back riding my bike, and I'm back in the kitchen. I know that, at my age, being able to cook my own food is expected. Still, I'm always happy when my plum chicken actually tastles like chicken. :)

Seriously, I am getting better. The chicken isn't rubbery anymore.

The Missing Homeware Store

I have a favourite little homeware store called Benix. I highly recommend this store to anyone recently moving to Canada and who wants some decently-priced homewares. I would have recommended it earlier, but I could not remember the name or the location! For the record, it's at Metrotown, middle floor, next to Poster World, at the midpoint between Chapters and Superstore.

For example, I picked up this set of wood-handled barbeque tools for $10, and a rather nice set of oil and vinegar dispensers for $6 (mobile phone included for scale). In the past I've bought a tall, free-standing wooden photo stand (holds 5 8x10" photos) for $25, and many other smaller items. Some of their stuff isn't cheap, but if you stick to the sale/bargain items you cannot go wrong.

The Gobbledok

2day FM in Australia is running an ad-hoc competition to come up with a new flavour for Smith's crisps. Right now, the front-runner seems to be "spaghetti bolognaise", with perhaps a side of "Parmesan cheese" flavour.

They also mentioned the Gobbledok, and a quick flip through Youtube dug up these classic old ads:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vIaCXCkkrs
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY_wdytNqhI
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twUbDDhB2sE
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc0EUP6wtjo

Make sure you watch through to the last one. :)

Boxes Are In The Country

My boxes have arrived in Canada. I know because on Friday I stood at the office window and photographed the boat they were on.

Unfortunately, my boxes have now been moved from the docks in downtown Vancouver to a warehouse in (relatively) remote Surrey. I have also been given an invoice for the following:

• Advance Commercial Information: $25.00
• Dewey-Decimal Classification: $28.49
• Security surcharge: $15.00
• Handling charge: $115.00
• Dock fee: $35.00

I'm also relying on a friend from work to help me pick them up, else I'd be facing more charges.

P.S. The above photo is in the Golden Ratio proportions (ie. 1 pixel high for every (-1+sqrt(5))/2 pixel wide, or approximately 1:0.618). This is the ratio used in a lot of classical buildings, and is meant to be the most appealing of all ratios. I'm only commenting on it because I noone would notice/care otherwise. :)

Samarabalouf

I went out last night with a friend to see Samarabalouf. It took almost the entire show, but I think I'm starting to understand jazz.

Samarabalouf is a (gypsy) jazz trio from France. To the uneducated like me, I would describe three-quarters of their songs as "super-fast, DIililililililiiDI" guitar music. You can see a sample video on YouTube. It's the kind of music I've struggled to find any use for in the past - it's too fast to get any kind of "emotional" involvement, and so often comes across as random noise. I can appreciate the technical skill of the players, but is that really what the music is about? Luckily for me they also played 2 slow songs last night, and they really opened my eyes (ears?).

The first came around the 30 minute mark. It was introduced as "a song I composed... in my kitchen... while grating carrots". The music itself starts with the band lead doing some tricks on his guitar, producing a musical version of a carrot grating (surprise, surpise :). The music then transformed into something very sexy and sensual, an amazing sound, before blending back into the carrot grating. I could not believe my ears - this song was brilliant.

Funnily enough, it reminded me of a Bruce Dawe poem that I liked called Homo Suburbiensis; both attempt to to show that, even in the most ordinary of circumstances, we are alive and there is much to celebrate.

The second came around the 90 minute mark, and I wish it had been earlier. It was introduced as "a song for the little girls...", and they named one in particular. The trio dropped their playful attitude and it became an incredibly sad piece of music. Underlying it though was a small note of triumph... again something to be celebrated.

At this point I had a realisation - all of these songs, even the fast ones, were celebrating something about life. I could understand the slow songs because they gave me time to think. The fast jazzy songs celebrate intense feelings, emotions and experiences. Songs that get faster and faster are screaming "there are no limits to this - we can always get more intense". This was a mind-opener for me.

My normal way of celebrating something has been to sit still, be quiet, and practically 'meditate' on what's at hand. For example, I like to sit and cuddle quietly, listen to birdsong, watch the waves rolling in at the beach, or sit through a thunder storm. I focus my mind and get sheer simple pleasure from what I'm thinking about, in all its fine detail. Fast gypsy jazz music doesn't give you time to think and appreciate fine detail like that. It's a celebration of all kinds of pure, intense experiences in life. Approaching the music that way, by the end of the show, I found myself wanting to scream "yee-hah!" with Samarabalouf too.

Except it sounded way too Texan. :)