Sunday, February 27, 2011
Angry Birds Are Angry (and addicting)
I spent most of my Sunday looking at school applications and messing around with cover letters AND playing Angry Birds. It's so addicting!!!!
Monday, February 21, 2011
One Of My Favourite Poems
I was just talking about poetry with one, Mr. Neptuni. When asked what one of my favourite poems were, I suddenly remembered one that always stuck with me. Reminds me of my Grade 8 teacher... he was awesome. Here's to you, Mr. D.
The Highwayman
The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, and a bunch of lace at his chin;
He'd a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to his thigh!
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle--
His rapier hilt a-twinkle--
His pistol butts a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred,
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim, the ostler listened--his face was white and peaked--
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter--
The landlord's black-eyed daughter;
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say:
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart; I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light.
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
He stood upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the sweet black waves of perfume came tumbling o'er his breast,
Then he kissed its waves in the moonlight
(O sweet black waves in the moonlight!),
And he tugged at his reins in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon.
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon over the purple moor,
The redcoat troops came marching--
Marching--marching--
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
They said no word to the landlord; they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed.
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets by their side;
There was Death at every window,
And Hell at one dark window,
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.
They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!
They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say,
"Look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
The tip of one finger touched it, she strove no more for the rest;
Up, she stood up at attention, with the barrel beneath her breast.
She would not risk their hearing, she would not strive again,
For the road lay bare in the moonlight,
Blank and bare in the moonlight,
And the blood in her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain.
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear;
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still.
Tlot tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment, she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight--
Her musket shattered the moonlight--
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him--with her death.
He turned, he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the casement, drenched in her own red blood!
Not till the dawn did he hear it, and his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down in the highway,
Down like a dog in the highway,
And he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
And still on a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a gypsy's ribbon looping the purple moor,
The highwayman comes riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred,
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, and a bunch of lace at his chin;
He'd a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to his thigh!
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle--
His rapier hilt a-twinkle--
His pistol butts a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred,
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim, the ostler listened--his face was white and peaked--
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter--
The landlord's black-eyed daughter;
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say:
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart; I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light.
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
He stood upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the sweet black waves of perfume came tumbling o'er his breast,
Then he kissed its waves in the moonlight
(O sweet black waves in the moonlight!),
And he tugged at his reins in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon.
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon over the purple moor,
The redcoat troops came marching--
Marching--marching--
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
They said no word to the landlord; they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed.
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets by their side;
There was Death at every window,
And Hell at one dark window,
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.
They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!
They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say,
"Look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
The tip of one finger touched it, she strove no more for the rest;
Up, she stood up at attention, with the barrel beneath her breast.
She would not risk their hearing, she would not strive again,
For the road lay bare in the moonlight,
Blank and bare in the moonlight,
And the blood in her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain.
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear;
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still.
Tlot tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment, she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight--
Her musket shattered the moonlight--
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him--with her death.
He turned, he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the casement, drenched in her own red blood!
Not till the dawn did he hear it, and his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down in the highway,
Down like a dog in the highway,
And he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
And still on a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a gypsy's ribbon looping the purple moor,
The highwayman comes riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred,
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
-Alfred Noyes
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Viva Las Vegas
"Las Vegas is sort of like how God would do it if he had money" ~Steve Wynn
Me: "K.Hi wants to go to Vegas for our 30th, but I'm not going to let her talk me into it".
(Famous Last Words...)
As she put it, it was the PRICE that talked me into it. K.Hi found a great deal on Expedia.ca one day and sent me an email. Flight and accommodations on the strip in Las Vegas for $280.36 each. Ummm.... sold.
We flew with Frontier Airlines. No one I talked to had ever heard of them before in Canada, but I found out later that the reason is because they are only a national airway company. Having been a little frightened at what I might be getting into, Frontier proved to be an great airline. The plane was better than the only other plane I've been on to compare it to. We were given complimentary drinks and cookies on each flight, as well as free direct TV because it was Superbowl Sunday.
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| K.Hi & I @ the Detroit Airport |
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| The Classic Riviera |
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| Signature Room |
We got up bright and early on Monday and took the bus (THE DEUCE) down the strip and started at Mandalay Bay and traveled in and out of a dozen different hotels, casinos and shops. Mapquest shows the distance from Mandalay Bay to The Riviera as 7.5 km, but if you include all the walking in and around resorts, it makes for quite the distance and quite a long day. We stopped at Margarita Ville for lunch and drinks before we continued on.
That night (after a long rest), we got all dressed up again and hit Caesars and The Bellagio. The fountain show in front of The Bellagio was the most memorable sight of Vegas for me. It is set to music (different songs) and happens every 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure we watched it at least three times.
 |
| Fountain Show @ The Bellagio |
Tuesday we took the bus downtown to Las Vegas Premium Outlets. Unfortunately, my Burberry scarf at outlet prices was still too steep :( $295.00 - ouch! Needless to say, it wasn't purchased. Instead I bought a scarf at the Gap for $6.97! Success!
Tuesday Night we went for dinner at The Nascar Cafe @ The Sahara which has been seen on Man Vs. Food. No we did NOT order the 6 lb burrito; however, their portions were HUGE! I didn't even make a dent in my curly fries.
We also went to Paris Hotel & Casino where they have a half-sized replica of the Eiffel Tower. We spent the $15.00 to go up and it was well worth it. The view of the strip from all directions at 46 stories high was breathtaking. We were even able to watch the fountain show @ the Bellagio from atop the tower as it was right across the street. We also hit up the MGM Grand that evening where I won $68 on the penny slots!
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| The Eiffel Tower @ Night |
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| Fountain Show from the Eiffel Tower |
On our last day, we went for a late breakfast at The Queen Victoria Pub and then spent our last hour or so at The Riviera Casino. This is where I was luckiest. The day beforehand, I had won $30 off of $3 in "Pennytown" at the Riv. I decided I couldn't leave Vegas without playing a table game. I waited for the one dude to leave the $1 Roulette Table and put down $40. The minimum bet was $5. Black 6 was lucky for me as I won with it TWICE! My other bets were paying off nicely as well and stacks of chips were piling up in front of me quickly. When K.Hi found me, I had over $140 worth of $1 chips stacked in front of me. After my next win, I cashed out at $154. It's not a lot for Vegas, but I was psyched! 
For not having wanted to go to Vegas in the first place, it won me over. There is so much to do and see and the sights and atmosphere are amazing. I would go back in a heartbeat! THAT's how you say goodbye to your 20's!!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Constellations - Part I - The Big Dipper
When I was younger, I spent a lot of my childhood summers at our trailer in Ipperwash. I think it was my Uncle Gary who bought me a book, geared towards children, to help identify constellations. It was cool because the pages had glow in the dark stars of constellations so you could use it outside at night. Since then I've been able to find the Big Dipper, but wanted to learn more about them and more. Here is some info about The Big Dipper that I found interesting (and didn't have previous knowledge of):
- The names of the seven stars that make up "The Big Dipper" are : Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar & Alkaid
- Mizor (the middle star of the handle) is in the same line of sight as another star called Alcor, so if you look close enough, it looks like a "double star" that has been named "the horse and the rider"
- In 50,000 years or so, the Big Dipper will not look the same. The stars alignment will have shifted and be completely different. There will still be a handle, but the trapezoid will look different.
- If you use the furthest side of the dipper, and draw an imaginary line from the bottom to the top and keep extending it, it points directly at the North Star
- Tolkien's Middle-earth mythos refers to the Big Dipper as "Valacirca" (Sickle of the Valar) - a sign of hope signifying doom for evil.
- The Big Dipper and North Star are on Alaska's State flag
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| Source |
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The NHL "some" Star Game - 2011
Maybe it's because I was more impressionable and naive as a kid, but to me, the annual NHL All-Star game meant something.
Maybe it's the new set-up that has left a sour taste in my mouth. Who do I cheer for?! At least when the NHL used East vs. West, you knew exactly who you were cheering for. I was "lucky" in that Lidstrom was the only Detroit Red Wing player in the all-star game this year, (a captain, no less), so it was obvious where my loyalty fell. For many fans, players from their favourite teams were playing against each other!
Maybe it was the fact that Eric Staal was chosen as captain of a team over the many other deserving players that could have been chosen. That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the all-star game was held in North Carolina?!
MAYBE it was the fact that the all-star lineup lacked so many all-star players!!! A lot of star players are currently injured. I get that, but no Zetterberg? I'm not a big fan of Doughty, but not to be named in the line-up?!?!?! Instead Kessel, Hemsky, Karlsson!! C'mon!
I know they're injured, but an all-star game without Crosby, Datsyuk, Malkin just doesn't seem real. It's like an all-star game from my childhood without Yzerman, Gretzky and Lemieux.
MAYBE it was the lack of intensity and the overall choreographed plays. The defense barely moved and the goalies gave lack luster performances. The game was all offense, which led to such a high scoring game (most NHL All-Star games through the years have been FAIRLY high scoring, but the intensity of the playing was so much higher). I realize that the All-Star game is "for the fans", but it's like the players throw in the towel for a weekend and just do what they think the fans want to see. Point in case - this year's game had the first penalty shot during an all-star game ever (I think). Ovi's stick throw was obvious (ugghhh).
The skills competition was much more tolerable than the actual game. It was fairly entertaining. The NHL should leave the skills competition "for the fans". LET the goalies make weak attempts at saving on breakaway challenges! LET the choreography and conspiracies ensue for accuracy shooting competitions! LET Suban rile up the crowd by wearing a Carolina Hurricane's jersey! BUT for goodness sakes, LET'S see a real game on Sunday! As a fan I can tell you, I WANT to see the best of the best, pitted against each other in a battle for hockey supremacy!
Maybe it's the new set-up that has left a sour taste in my mouth. Who do I cheer for?! At least when the NHL used East vs. West, you knew exactly who you were cheering for. I was "lucky" in that Lidstrom was the only Detroit Red Wing player in the all-star game this year, (a captain, no less), so it was obvious where my loyalty fell. For many fans, players from their favourite teams were playing against each other!
Maybe it was the fact that Eric Staal was chosen as captain of a team over the many other deserving players that could have been chosen. That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the all-star game was held in North Carolina?!
MAYBE it was the fact that the all-star lineup lacked so many all-star players!!! A lot of star players are currently injured. I get that, but no Zetterberg? I'm not a big fan of Doughty, but not to be named in the line-up?!?!?! Instead Kessel, Hemsky, Karlsson!! C'mon!
I know they're injured, but an all-star game without Crosby, Datsyuk, Malkin just doesn't seem real. It's like an all-star game from my childhood without Yzerman, Gretzky and Lemieux.
MAYBE it was the lack of intensity and the overall choreographed plays. The defense barely moved and the goalies gave lack luster performances. The game was all offense, which led to such a high scoring game (most NHL All-Star games through the years have been FAIRLY high scoring, but the intensity of the playing was so much higher). I realize that the All-Star game is "for the fans", but it's like the players throw in the towel for a weekend and just do what they think the fans want to see. Point in case - this year's game had the first penalty shot during an all-star game ever (I think). Ovi's stick throw was obvious (ugghhh).
The skills competition was much more tolerable than the actual game. It was fairly entertaining. The NHL should leave the skills competition "for the fans". LET the goalies make weak attempts at saving on breakaway challenges! LET the choreography and conspiracies ensue for accuracy shooting competitions! LET Suban rile up the crowd by wearing a Carolina Hurricane's jersey! BUT for goodness sakes, LET'S see a real game on Sunday! As a fan I can tell you, I WANT to see the best of the best, pitted against each other in a battle for hockey supremacy!
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