Origin Bakery

I've had some snacks at this bakery before, as my wife gets her dry cleaning done nearby at the big clock. Origin Bakery is a gluten-free place that makes tasty items, which is hard to do gluten free. Even their turkey, edam and cranberry sandwich is tasty. I've only been to their Pandora location but they have another in Colwood.

Lotus Pond

We were treated to a supper at the Lotus Pond Buddhist restaurant by a friend as a Christmas present. We have eaten here since shortly after it opened in the late 1990's. I always have a fantastic meal here, except for the buffet. Don't have the buffet. If you want to eat cheaply, have the Buddah's Feast Soup and it will fill you up with tasty goodness for $5.95 plus tax and tip. Their Szechuan Ginger B is the best and yet its not meat. Their hot pots are also very good.

Expand your horizons and give a vegetarian restaurant a try.

Out of Town and Out of Touch

I will be out of town and out of blog communication (love those work firewalls) until the 20th of December.

Once Back I will be posting about my trip to Tofino on Remembrance day weekend and other things. Stay tuned.

Helping Someone in Need and Good Communities

I received an interesting call this morning that shaped my day. It was my work letting me know that one of my subordinates was missing in the woods and that more help was being obtained to form a larger search party.

I was not surprised at the amount of people I showed up. Good workplaces instill a sense of family and camaraderie that create a group of people willing to help others because that's the thing to do. Its done for people that may be your best bud or "that guy down the hall". Its a great feeling when a crisis happens that prove the validity humanities basic nature in helping others.

Good communities can do that as well, which lead to good nations and hopefully...eventually to a great planet.

The fellow was found by the time I got to the police station used as the hub of the search, which is always a good result. Even better he was none the worse for wear for staying overnight in the woods. He'll get a ribbing tomorrow at work but it will be in good fun.

Pizzeria Prima Strada

Pizzeria Prima Strada is a wonderful little chain of local pizza places that use wood fired ovens and delicious ingredients. It comes close to the original Italian style that my wife and I remember.

They have two locations on Bridge street and Cook street and we've tried both. This time I ordered the Napoletana (tomato, garlic, anchovies, oregano, olive oil) and added arugula. It was delicious. Highly recommended.

Ca Va Bistro Moderne

As part of a gastronomic club of five persons, we went to Ca Va Bistro Moderne. It is new within the last year and my wife's bosses raved about it. It fuses classic French, modern Australian and Westcoast cuisines. The interior is nicely decorated and one side of the room is a chalk board which has the entirety of the menu.

I ordered warm sourdough bread, olive oil, zatar with the extra of creton and pickles for everyone. The creton had allspice added, which is different than other creton I have tried in the past and added a nice little zip (creton is ground pork slowly sauteed in milk or cream with pickling spices which is then refrigerated and served with toast or crackers. It freezes for a long time too.).

For an appetizer I had butternut squash ravioli with truffle oil and a warm fig with slivers of manchego cheese. Not as good as Zambri's butternut squash ravioli but very tasty.

For my main it was duck confit with pureed fennel, beans with chizoro and olive oil which was very delicious and filling.

For dessert, my wife and I shared a chocolate puree with pinot noir sorbet and fresh raspberries with a berry coulee. Very dense, intense and filled the last bit of my stomach up.

For a wine the others had wine from the tap. Its a relatively new thing and it provides wine by the glass, half-liter or full liter. The wine was a Pinot Noir, from the Eau Vivre winery in Similkameen Valley, BC.

As a note, they use as much local and fresh ingredients that they can, so the good stuff does not last long. They are also open for brunch and lunch. My wife and I would come back again.

Clay Pigeon Restaurant

The Clay Pigeon restaurant is a tiny little eatery that makes very good meals. It has Northwest style decor and is open seven days a week.

I started with the escargot in pernod garlic butter. They are harvested in Quebec and come in their shells, which reminded me of my trip to France earlier this year. Delicious. My friend had the fried pigs ear with sweet chili sauce and he enjoyed it.

For a main I had Chive Gnocci with eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and red pepper ratatou. It was very tasty but a little small. My friend had the Chicken Confit with orange , onion and star anise marmalade, grilled zucchini and parme. He also enjoyed it and it was a very healthy size.

I would come back again.

Irish Times Pub

The Irish Times Pub has been open for many years any I've gone there many times, just not recently. They serve Guinness from the keg direct from Dublin and clean the hoses each keg. Yum. The decor is fantastic and both the waiters and waitresses wear kilts/skirts.

I stopped here for lunch and had the crab bisque with Guinness cream and a salad which is not on their web menu, greens, fennel, strawberries, goat feta and a nice light dressing.

An excellent meal and pretty much everything is tasty and filling.

About Time - Movie Review

About Time is a movie that takes place in Britain about a young man who, at 21, is told by his father that the male members of the family have the ability to travel back in time during their lives. They can also change events that happened to them. With this premise, the main character attempts to find a woman to love.

I saw this film as part of a sneak preview offered for free from my Scene card membership with my wife. We have seen the previous films that the director/writer Richard Curtis has done: Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, several Mr Bean and Blackadder episodes...etc. We really liked the film and its attention to the development of the characters and its lighthearted humor. The thread of the theme "live your life to the fullest" weaves throughout the movie and the main character's manipulation of the people around him by restarting events does not come off as creepy.

Highly recommended as a date film.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 17 Oct 2013

Peanut Butter can be used to determine Alzheimer's: Very cool study that determines possibility of the disease through smelling peanut butter at different distances with different nostrils.

History and Literature reading list: This person made a reading list for well rounded literature.

Agostic bonds create different colored crystals out of the same substance: Very cool concept. The fact that its how things are put together not their parts that reflect why humans are neat beings.

Negative Refraction used to see smaller than ever before: Great outside the box thinking.

Windows that control the light: I've heard about this kind of work being done for a long time but have not seen it in the hardware stores. Perhaps this will do the trick.

Labyrinth Halloween costumes: The whole family is dressed up!

Language Learning made easy: If you want to learn a new language, this little Reddit comment chain may help.

Ulla Restaurant

We have come back to the Ulla restaurant a few times since my first. Again this place does not disappoint.

I started with a drink of the Cranberry Casablanca, my usual (green mint tea, cranberry, lime, cinnamon syrup) and an appetizer of scallop boudin blanc with potato, peas, bacon, and pickled lemon. The scallops were soaked in milk and butter for a while, then put in a bag and cooked low in boiling water (Sous-Vide style). They were then cut out and lightly fried on each side. I swear that if I had put my fork on the scallop and put a pepper shaker on it, it would have pushed through the scallop, it was that tender. The taste was unlike any scallop I had before, and I come from the Maritime Provinces! The little sauces and such on the plate were also excellent.

For a main I had duck breast ham & confit leg with beets, farro, cocoa, sorrel, and concord grape duck sauce. Also equally delicious.

A great meal and there was no room for dessert this time.

Itami Sushi

On 708 View street is a new Sushi restaurant, Itami Sushi. Most would say we don't need another Japanese eatery but these people haven't eaten here yet.

I ordered their special sunomono salad (with octopus, shrimp and fake crab), seaweed salad, 2 mackerel nigiri, 2 salmon roe nigiri and a BBQ Eel and avocado roll. All were excellent and tasted fresh. The sunumono salad and mackerel was particularly delicious. This is now one of my new favorite Japanese food places.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 10 October 2013

Group wants to put an observatory on the Moon: An ambitious project that would have immense benefits. Not only in the short term but it would prove that non-governmental ideas have potential in space exploration.

A physicist's paper and proposal mixed into one: A very cute way to incorporate one's passion with another.

Cat in mid grab for a treat: Cute and scary.

Cornstarch can replace Cyanide in Gold extraction: A very cool article, from the more scientific article in Nature here, on using a much much less environmentally harmful method to get gold out of the earth.

Angry Baby: I hope its not a sign of things to come.

Creation of a Heart for Human Transplant: Very interesting article on what it takes to make complicated organs for people.

A kid, a dog and a puddle: Very cute little video gif.

Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

I recently finished "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. I give it very high praise.

This was my first Raymond Chandler novel and I find the language he uses to tell his mystery story very descriptive and engaging. The characters are flawed with noble traits that are just on the verge of being too unrealistic, which makes for an excellent read that makes you want to finish it in one go.

Baan Thai take out

I had come in from out of town and we agreed that we would order out, my pick. I decided on Baan Thai.

We had eaten in the Blanchard street location several times and ordered out before. Like most places, the takeout pales in comparison to the food served on site. The restaurant is crowded but cosy and the decor complements the food.

We had the moo tod (crispy and chewy pork pieces), Tom Yung Goom soup (slightly spicy with mushrooms and prawns), Pad Thai Goong (noodles with prawns, tofu, egg, sprouts and peanut sauce), Macua Pad Tofu (asian eggplant with tofu, long beans, carrots seasoned with basil and soybeans). We ordered the dishes at medium heat and I cooked some rice to go with the dishes. As always it was very good and we had leftovers for me to have two lunches.

Give it a try if you like Thai!

Gaming Posts have Moved

My gaming posts have moves to my new blog, Table Top Trooper. You can hit the link here or look at my feed on the right side. That way I can geek out more on the other site and keep this one for the other side of me.

Ferris' Downstairs Grill

Opening in 1991, this Victoria institution in dining is located downtown Victoria. Amazingly I have never been here so while downtown me and my wife went here for lunch.

Inside it is not very wide but very long with wood paneling, floors and antique bar. It definitely has a comfortable feel to the place. As a note, their web menu is out of date.

I started with a bowl of their soup of the day, Mulligatawny. Its bottomless between 1130am and 230pm. It was delicious and hearty with lots of ingredients and flavors. For my main I had a half dozen baked oysters, their specialty, flavored six different ways. Each oyster was firm and tasty with the baked ingredients adding to the oyster taste instead of distracting from it.

My wife had the pasta carciofi (artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, nicoise olives, capers, spinach and a hint of anchovy, with linguine, garlic, olive oil and grated parmesan). She shared a bite and it was divine. I'm definitly having that next time I eat hear and there will be a next time with the flavors and atmosphere of this place.

Try to sit near the bar to read the dog and pug quotes.

Blue Nile Restaurant

I have had East African food before, in San Francisco and Vancouver, an enjoy its spiciness and the soft spongy bread to mop the juices up. That and the fresh juices they serve.

Blue Nile Restaurant is no different. When eating in, there is only the buffet option but if ordering to go you have your choice of items. I was there for a going away dinner before playing a session of Only War Warhammer 40k RPG.

Everyone there was very happy with the food and we all went back for seconds. Especially the spicy chicken. Yum! I'd go back again.

Bistro 161

I like to eat at Bistro 161 when I am in Duncan. It has great tasting and reasonably priced food in a pleasant setting.

Today I had the Yam soup with crushed ginger and garlic with a sandwich of roasted vegetables, basil pesto and brie cheese on a ciabatta bread. Both were delicious and were what my body was craving.


Edit: Bistro 161 is now closed.

Gaming Crawspace Almost Finished

 I tidied up and cleaned out the crawlspace so it can be used for gaming and terrain building (the messy kind).

 I painted the door a few years back as a surprise for my wife. I still need to finish the elven lettering that says "Speak friend and enter".

 There used to be a desk that wasn't very usable. Now its some more shelving but there is still a little disarray.

 This is the to be sold area. Lots of GW and a few Warmachine models to be sold as well as a lot of book. Me and my wife are voracious readers.

This is the main area. I added in six LED lights for the ceiling. Cabinets for finished models on the left. On the left there is also a cabinet for RPGs and two open shelves for scenery. At the very back is general storage. Obscuring the board games and costumes are lots of various styrofoam and interesting plastic bits for scenery that i will hope to make. On the right are magazines, books and more scenery. In the middle is a four foot by six foot table (grey for city on one side and green for rural on the other. I want to make two four foot by four foot collapsible tables in the next while.

Still a work in progress but a lot of things have been accomplished so far.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 20 August 2013

Swedish Study finds exercise changes DNA: I've always said that regular exercise and moderate food intake can do wonders.

Evil Baby: A very evil looking baby.

Toyota Donates Engineers to Food Bank: Seriously. Toyota donates engineers to increase efficiency in a food bank with fantastic results. Its thinking like this that makes me happy to be a human being.

High Five Cat: Super cool and cute.

Abandoned Walmart is USA's largest library: Very cool concept and implementation.

Birthday Candle Burning in Reverse: Cool!

Vanderbilt University Scientists Treat Anxiety:  They target the same receptors that are affected by marijuana. Seriously.

Storm moving into a City: Nifty.

Painting of a Different Sort - Kitchen

So my staycation has been taken up by cleaning the crawlspace, posting items on usedvictoria, gluing and priming models, and this...painting the kitchen. Above is the finished product.

 This is what we started with. Unlike the upstairs that was painted a dark beige (and several rooms still are) the downstairs is painted in a cacophony of colors. Don't get me wrong they are unique and happy colors but it is getting to be too busy.

 

 Here is the other wall.

 Here is the ceiling painted untinted white. This made a big difference.

 The walls were then painted in the untintinted white to cover the colors.

 

 The finished Kitchen from another angle. When it dried it looked lime green but it is loosing that tint as it dries.

 We used Benjamin Moore's Sundance tint (2022-50).

 Now for my last week I hope to finish in the crawlspace, paint models and watch some foreign sci-fi films I borrowed from the library. In other words...to relax.

Cold Comfort Ice Cream

I have been to the bakery several times before, Lone Tree Bakery, where Cold Comfort Ice Cream calls its home. I had not tried the ice cream yet, just the Chocolate caramel tarts...yum! Today I tried their coconut salted caramel ice cream sandwich. Extremely tasty and not a huge coconut milk flavor but it is subtly in the background. They may seem expensive but with a made local product with ingredients you can understand belong in your body, why get second best. I'd definitely try more ice cream treats from here again.

Fry's Sunday Pizza

A local bakery, Fry's, makes pizza on Sunday's and Sunday's only starting at noon. They have four pizzas to choose from and when the dough runs out, so do the pizzas. This is my second time for their Pizza's and they are very good and remind my wife and I of our pizzas in Italy. We both had the bacon Fungi pizza with local bacon, mushrooms and greens. Basic, fresh ingredients and not an overabundance of them, and great dough...all in a wood fired oven and the Ramones playing overhead. Who could ask for more?

So if you are in Vic West on a Sunday, try Fry's.

The Guild Freehouse Pub

No, this is not based on the web comedy series, about online gaming out of the game. The Guild Freehouse is a restaurant in Victoria and collaboration between the owner of Zambri's and Pig (both excellent places for different reasons). My wife and I ate there on a whim when downtown. Its set up like an English style pub with nicer food. I had the plowman's lunch (always a test for pubs with me) and my wife had the special of the day the lamb burger with mango topping. We both enjoyed our meals but my wife's was really good. She let me taste test it. We would definitely go back again.

Straight Razor Shave - First Time

As I have been on a stay in Victoria vacation, my facial hair has grown in the past week. Not only is it itchy but it has been preventing my wife from comfortably kissing me. I did some research and there are three barbers in Victoria that provide straight razor service: Cliff's in Vic West, Uomo in Fernwood and Victory downtown. I had been going to Cliff's for a few years for haircuts and their price is $27 with taxes. I phoned Uomo and they were $27 for a regular barber to shave you, $29 for the head barber and in the $40's for a double shave (to ensure a close shave). Victory's website had a shave for $35 and $45. I went with Cliff's because it was inexpensive and I try to be loyal to businesses I frequent.

It started with some skin moisturising liquid to open and lubricate the hair and skin, followed by a hot towel on the face. Then foam was applied to the face and in came the straight razor. I have to be honest but I got a little scared. The same kind of scared as with needles. I got over it and Martin proceeded to do an excellent job in removing all the hair from my face. He even did a double shave and the results was the closest shave I have ever had. He also foamed repeatedly as required and put some nice inoffensive smelling aftershave on my face afterwards.

I don't use aftershave myself as I have dark memories of several Christmases getting "Blue Stratos" in my teenage years. See the ad below for what I mean. It smelt absolutely horrible.

Overall the experience was interesting. I would not make it a habit but perhaps if I has a week or two of facial hair I would do it again and have it done at Cliff's.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 07 August 2013

New Antibody offers Cancer Treatment: Stanford scientists discovered that cancer cells give off the CD47 protein that tells other cells not to eat them. By having a modified antibody attack cells exuding this protein the cancer was effective in mice. Clinical trials start in the UK soon.

A lovely Sunset: Just a nice sunset.

Gene Activity Test for prescribing Antibiotics: By testing the response of 18 genes, scientists have been able to determine if the subject is affected by a virus or bacteria. If it is bacteria then antibiotics can be prescribed. The test also would help determine the virus. The difficult step now is to reduce the several day test to a shorter timeframe.

Animal Skull in Heavily Salt Water: A calming gif of waves lapping on the shore as a salt encrusted skull sits there.

HERPES virus blasts into cells: With a pressure eight times more that a car tire, the herpes virus blasts its DNA into healthy cells. This discovery, if found to be universal for viruses to spread, can lead to a way to prevent this activity or even cause the virus to activate prematurely. Hopefully with no result like the head exploding scene from the classic Canadian sci-fi film by David Cronenburg, Scanners.

Snow falling by a Waterfall: A nice gif.

Sleepy puppy and kitten: Awwwww.

Hook and Special Teas

I was downtown and waiting for my wife outside of Special Teas, a supurb tea shop, and was hungry. Next door was a new place that had opened called Hook that I had not tried yet. Inside there was mostly smoked salmon items with various flavors. I tried the smoked salmon sandwich. My wife came in and got a maple salmon chunk. We were both very impressed by the taste and consistency of the fish. We would both get items form here again.

My Staycation Plans

So I am now on vacation for three weeks an a day. This time I am staying in Victoria. A staycation if you will. It is a good time to catch up on projects around the house.  Here is a small list:
-Paint our bathroom and kitchen,
-Organize basement and crawl space by selling/getting rid of unwanted items and making gaming tables,
-Some yard work.

Some fun things to do are:
-Create terrain,
-Bike to Sydney, the Sooke potholes, and ghost town,
-Lounge in a hammock and fall asleep while reading.

I will post about them and models that I will paint too.

Wine Club

I belong to a social group that gathers to sample wines, as well as food pairings, under a theme. I am not a wine expert by any stretch but my wife has a better palette. I have found it to be a very good way to be introduced or become more acquainted with different wines.

How it works is that every two months, and every month in the summer, someone hosts a wine tasting. So far it has been by type (like chardonnay ) or region (like beaujolais). The host then provides the food that goes best with the wine and a bottle. Everyone else brings a bottle, couples can bring one from the two of them but should be more expensive than one. We use $20 as a single and $30 as a double. We start at 2pm and a bottle is opened with light appetizers and finger food. A bottle is opened about every five to ten minutes and comments and conversation had by all. Once all the wine has been sampled, its a free for all and the more substantial food is brought out. People talk, converse and have a chance to sober up. The event generally ends at 6pm.

We have twelve people in the club, which is a good variety. Even though my palette has not improved by an amount I do enjoy the food.

First Time at the Rollerderby

When I was first asked if I wanted to go to the rollerderby by a friend, I was not interested. I had seen in 1989 a pilot show called "Rollergames". The show had wrestler like theatrics, gimmicks and rock acts at half-time like Deborah Harry and others. I was growing out of the wrestler thing and didn't see another episode. That tainted the offer to see the local roller derby.

I did more research and found that roller-derby's it started in the 1930's and was televised in the 1940's. The televised events drew more to the live events and it has grown to over 1200 clubs worldwide, including Egypt and Dubai. The sport is more self-empowering for women and girls than I realized as I was worried about the objectification of women that I remembered in the Rollergames TV show.

The league name is "Eves of Destruction" and last night was started by the junior local team "Rotten Apples vs the away team of the "Honey Badgers". The junior team is made up of girls aged 13-18. The headliners were the home team of the "Belles of the Brawl" vs the away team of "Hula Honeys". The sport is non-profit and every person is in it for the fun of the sport.

The pun and sly humor of the names of the participants, including referees, were hilarious. Some of the names of the local team "Belles of the Brawl" are Sixty Hurts, Taj MaBrawl, Slaya Patra, Jack Widow, Dalai Slamma and Maux Faux to name a few. Some of the Hula Honeys names are After Bertha, Assauted P-Nut, Daisy Chainmail, Impailor Moon, Kay Boom, and Pippy Longstalker.

The night was fun but the seats were not. I'll have to bring a cushion to the next event I go to. I won't become a seasons pass holder but I do respect the sport much more and the women that compete in Rollerderby than I did before.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 24 July 2013

Blocking overactive receptor in Alzheimer recovers memory loss: AT McGill university in Montreal, they have blocked the B1R receptor responsible for inflammation in the brain and in all persons with Alzheimer's. By doing so in mice they have seen significant cognitive improvements. This research can also help other who suffer swelling in the brain and the disorders that are affected by it.

Useless Box: Great ingenuity!

How Cancer Spreads: This article explains the new findings for how metastasis (how cancer spreads) works. The healthy cells move away from the cancer cells. In the "running" they give off a trail that the cancer cells use. In effect the healthy cells spread the cancer. Now all they need is a way for the healthy cells to ignore the cancer cells until the cancer cells can be dealt with. Science begins with small steps to a solution.

Spider-man house: This building is built around optical illusions and mirrors to make it seem that you are doing impossible things. Designed by Leandro Erlich. Cool!

Cheaper and easier to install Carbon scrubbers: Researchers at MIT have designed a system that can be cheaply and easily retrofitted to existing power plants. It uses amines that bind to CO2. It uses less power than current systems and captures 90% of the emissions.

Canada builds human powered helicopter: Propose a problem and ask people to solve it. What better way to stimulate thinking! University of Toronto students, alumni and volunteers helped to bring this achievment from concept to fruition.

Camera attached to stick. Introduce dog: Let the fun begin!

House Number Art

I wanted to share this art from my neighborhood. It showcases all the pets (four cats and a dog) that live at this address. Done in a Star Trek kind of theme its imaginative and original. Its also a great way to show the number for people to find.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 17 July 2013

Depression linked to an Abnormal Circadian Rhythm: One of the many interesting articles that I've read of where researchers were investigating one thing and discovered something else that is as or more important than the original research. Scientists discover that they can determine the death of a person by studying the amount of on or off state of particular genes in the brain. In a depressed mind it is skewed as the genes used to determine death are based on proper sleep cycles, something depressed persons usually do not have. This led the scientists to determine that light activity and better rest could reset the cycle, as it does for those with jet lag, and help with those who have depression break the cycle.

Alligators can help Dentists: Because of the regenerative ability of alligators to make new teeth, scientists are working on using the three stages of tooth growth (tooth, replacement tooth and dental lamina) to see if the same can be done for humans to regrow healthy teeth. They are also trying to see if this can be applied to bone growth in general.

Awesome Rug: I'd really like a rug like this.

Ancient Roman Concrete better than Modern Concrete: By using volcanic ash Roman concrete used less heat and chemicals to make their concrete. It also has withstood over two thousand years of use. It is also extremely durable in water. Volcanic ash is also ever renewable on the surface of the Earth.

Changes in Brain Chemistry Sustain Obesity: A study at Brown university found out why obese people have such a hard time loosing weight. Its because their brain chemistry changes to prevent the hormone that allows the burning of calories and curbing of the appetite. This hormone is Leptin and although they were able to break the cycle with drugs, these drugs are not approved for human use because of possible side effects. Give the pharmaceutical companies a few years and there could be a cure for obesity. For those who are not there yet studies have shown that moderate eating, moderate exercise and good sleep habits go a long way to keeping people fit and healthy.

Kitten smelling flowers: A very cute picture.

A new type of wheel: Inventor David Patrick took an idea of making a better wheel into a full concept with the help of Kickstarter. He is getting more funding by making skateboard wheels but this could have far reaching implications for all vehicles to better navigate all types of terrain and conditions. This is because the shape of the wheel allows it to be more stable.

Vancouver - University of British Columbia

UBC is located on the Western side of Vancouver and has been established since 1908. We were in Vancouver to attend a birthday celebration and for National BBQ day. We were in UBC, in particular, to see my Aunt and Uncle for the second time this weekend as they were staying on Campus. I had not been here since the early 1990's for VCON, a science fiction and fantasy convention in Vancouver. Above is the rose garden at the Northern edge of the Main mall pedestrian walkway.

They had these very nice flowers there too.

This is where my Aunt and Uncle were staying at. It was built in the early 1900's but has been very nicely remodeled inside.

The merging of nature with architecture and art was impressive.

 This is the Chinese symbol of Yi, or righteousness. It means: to be unbiased and impartial, to conduct matters in an appropriate manner, to respect people of virtue and to be tolerant toward others, and to be upright and selfless.

 This is a statue of Rabindranath Tagore, of India (1861 - 1941). He was the first non-European to win the Nobel prize for literature in 1913. One of his quotes is: "I do not put my faith in institutions, but in individuals all over the world who think clearly, feel nobly, and act rightly. They are the channels of moral truth".

 This is looking up in front of his statue.

 The Nitobe Japanese garden is regarded as one of the best in the world. Unfortunately it was closed s I sneeked a picture above the wall. I'd like to come back some day.

 Even the parking garages are one with nature.

 This waterfall is at the First Nations house of learning.

This is on the Xwi7xua (Squamish nation word for echo) library. It represents the framework for a traditional Squamish dwelling. It is the only First Nations University library in Canada.

 Another nice building and greenery.

 What would a University be without debate. The Zeitgeist movement advocates an end to currency and a movement of a resource based economy and sustainable energy. Anarco-capitalism is unfettered capitalism that supports institutions by their own volition and advocate an end to nations and states.

This motto was in front of the Law school. It says let justice be done though the heavens fall, meaning when the going gets tough justice still must be carried out fairly and without bias.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 10 July 2013

Protein reverses heart disease: Not for humans yet but this protein GDF-11 may help our aging population with heart disease with a simple regular injection.

Ideas don't have rights. People have rights: A solid statement. Applicable not only for human rights but also for the right to make generic drugs, grow crops, create innovative technology...etc.

Child demands another Smurf: Hilarious image.

Mental Health reclassification: I'm of two minds (pun not intended) after reading this article. I do believe that humanity is over-diagnosed and medicated for various disorders that mental health issues that can be cured by helping the person help themselves. This can be done through mental strengthening exercises, psychiatry, self-analysis, exercise, meditation and good rest. Another side of me knows the human brain a wondrous and surprising thing that continually baffles and amazes people for what it can do, hence my support for the reclassification of mental disorders after valid and solid research.

Star Trek Audi commercial: I'm sure Zachery Quinto and Leonard Nimoy had great fun doing this.

Creepy doll in water: Sends the chills down your spine. Reminds me of the shortest sad story: "Yard sale. Baby clothes. Never used."

List of key words the NSA is watching for: No idea if this list is accurate but creepy and confusing for some key words: Freedom, privacy, dictionary, zen...the list goes on and on.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 03 July 2013

Sign against Child Abuse: This clever sign is designed so that adults see one sign and children 10 and younger see another, based on height and angles of vision. Clever.

Roots and Evolution of Language: Take the basic words we use today and compare them to other languages as they trace back in time. Even though they may have changed, the tone and pacing of them would be familiar to our distant ancestors. That's what this article talks about. Seven language families were cross examined and found that even separated by distance and written language the roots join together using speech analysis.

Paper Horror Movie Cutouts: Talented art!

Missing Heat of Global Warming trapped 700 meters below ocean: Interesting article that led me here and here. I know from my career in the Navy that there are layers of temperature that reflect sonar in the oceans which submarines use to hide themselves. For such a warm layer it would also affect the sea creatures who called that layer home as well as what is or isn't passing beyond it.

Eugene Whelan, the Canadian whose tardiness ended the Cold War: True story. So in 1983 the Canadian minister of agriculture, Eugene Whelan, was showing around the Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and the USSR ambassador around Canada. At a farewell party for Gorbachev, Whelan was late and the ambassador and Gorbachev talked for three hours about the future of their country. The perestroika, or restructuring, that led to the end of the cold war and the breakup of the USSR was born.

Surreal Self Portraits: Very imaginative and excellent photography.

Statistics to track Murder: An incredibly cool article using statistics of crime in order to track it like an infectious disease. It made me think of the plot of Minority Report (book and film).

Happy 146th Birthday Canada

I just want to wish all Canadians, at home and abroad, a happy birthday.

You can see CBC coverage of today's events here.

Figs and Bouncing Insect Eggs

My wife was out in the back of the house watering our plants and vegetables under the fig tree when she heard an odd noise. It was coming from our patio table and sounded like the gnashing of mandibles. It took a while looking under and around the table but it wasn't until she looked on the table for a few seconds that it occurred to her what it was. Insect Eggs. They were bouncing around.

I did some research about this subject. Its called katatrepsis, where the embryo in the egg is shifting around. Its odd that its under our fig tree as its wasps that germinate them by climbing inside, laying eggs and dying. This is described in more detail here. Its interesting that every 100 grams of fig jam have about thirteen or more insect heads. Still yummy and now with more protein!

Postcard of the Interwebs - 26 June 2013

New Bacteria found in people's Belly Buttons: Who would have thought that gazing at our navels would discover something. Regardless of the snideness of the article, it shows how little we know of the human body and how easy it is to learn from it. Look at your hand. Seriously, look at it. See how it moves, bends, doesn't bend, picks things up. Isn't that marvelous engineering and development from several million years of R&D.

Clock Tower Home: No, not that kind of clock tower and no hunchback necessary. Just a great idea and excellent follow through.

Nanoparticles and Bee Venom kill HIV cells: This research is geared twords a preventative measure. I see it as an inroad to a way to kill the virus in HIV afflicted persons.

Storm Trooper Carbon Fiber Costumes: Expensive...yes. Cool...oh yeah!

Carpet Sales from Pakistan decline due to activist death: In 1995, a 12 year old died after fighting the carpet making industry for two years. He worked as child labor from age 4 to 10. Pakistan's carpet making industry alone employed half a million children at this time. Here is another article from CNN in 2010. Do a search on child labor. Its still going on. Statistics show that proper education for children improve a families income much more than selling them into child slavery. Its also the right thing to do but that takes time. Too many around the world and here look to the short term than the long run. Research before you buy anything and be a responsible consumer.

GIFs of classic fight game backdrops:For all those that didn't have time to admire the background of various fighting games. Be warned, there is a lot of them.

Two year old girl gets windpipe made from Stem cells: This is another example of what science can do for the world, make a young girl live a normal life than to have her get air and food from machines.

Postcards of the Interwebs - 18 June 2013

Comet could hit Mars in 2014: There is a comet that is heading for Mars and is expected to give a very close pass of it October of 2014. This NASA video also gives a great explanation of the comet (NASA).

If the comet does hit, it could destroy many of the Mars equipment currently on the red planet but would give good insight in what is beneath the surface (water, minerals?) and what a comet strike does. The impact from this comet will be about a third of the potency of the one that took out the dinosaurs. Even a close shave will have pieces of it decend into Mars's atmosphere and the reaction will better determine the chemical makeup of it.

Really nice pictures: Just an assortment of some really nice pictures.

Wireless, brain interface: Look out William Gibson, here comes reality. I can see great potential for this device. Not only in getting a better understanding on how the brain works but to allow those who cannot move under their own locomotion to have robotic help. Of course I can also see wide ranging military applications for this. Reminds me of a book series I read when I was a teenager, Warbots.

Cicada Wings Destroy Bacteria: No, this is not a new monster movie on the Syfy channel. Its the research that has discovered that the wing structure of a particular insect pulls bacteria apart to render it ineffectual. Now imagine this structure being used in hospital air circulation systems, first aid bandages, gas masks. Lots of potential is to be had from nature itself if we only look hard enough.

100,000 Stars: A very cool site that can have you zoom in and out of our solar system as well as move around on an axis to view the stars and their location around our solar system. It takes a little time to load but well worth it.

How to construct an Iron Man suit (out of foam): Way cool. An incredible project.

Cow Art: Art. On a cow.

Postcards of the Interwebs - 12 June 2013

Its been a while for some weblinks and they have been accumulating. I'll try to post them once a week for the next few.

NASA discovers youngest Black Hole: With black holes being the indiscriminate exterminators of the universe. With a better understanding of them it can let us know more about them and suernovas, as it is surmised that it was one that caused this 1,000 year old black hole. Disney's theory, although hopeful, is too fantastical.

Bees and Flowers communicate by electric fields: Very cool and very practical. If bees sense flowers by this field, then why not an anti-bee device for those people allergic? Or a booster for honey producers to tell the bees where to go?

Bees dying because of high fructose corn syrup: The science is coming in on human long term affects of high fructose corn syrup so why not bees. Bee Farmers had better switch to more natural products and get some hybridization with unaffected bees.

Pixar's 22 rules for storytelling: Whether you are a writer, gamemaster, parent or critic, these rules are consice and logical.

Water found in Moon Rocks: It might have taken over 40 years for them to discover it but the Apollo moon rocks are still giving up good science. The water is not from Earth either. That means if its there and on the moon of Europa around Jupiter, perhaps its more plentiful than we thought. Just bring your water filter!

Cute Cat picture: I know the internet is full of them but here is another one.

Quote from Voltaire: "To find out who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize."

Raccoons!

We had two racoons visit over the weekend. We live near a river basin so over the years that we have lived here we have seen the traces of raccoons in the area and even encountered one when leaving my house once. This time they came right up to the back  doors and looked expectantly in. My cats didn't know what they were but one of our cats wanted to make friends. We didn't let them.

They were very traumatized by the experience they slept for most of the next day together. A rare occurrence. Sleeping near each other that is.

PRISM and Democracy

Democracy is defined as a government where all eligible citizens decide on the governing of their society and laws.

PRISM is a United States National Security agency (NSA) program to take advantage of the fact most of the world's internet traffic moves through the USA. Under this program emails, phone, skype, voice over IP, video, pictures, files and all things known and unknown are copied, stored and sifted through by the NSA.

Now if this was a black box kind of item, i would have no objection. By black box, I mean if law officials have a concern about a specific individual or organization, they ask a court of law to gather information on this person or organization. They ask the black box for data on this specific person and organization. If nothing is found they stop. If "bad guy stuff" is found or more persons are implicated in "bad guy stuff" then another court order is obtained for the next link...and so on.

But that is not happening. They used it for over 1400 filed reports in 2012.

Has my country of Canada been complicit in this? Have they given permission for another country to store my private, personal information that I transmit to another person (thereby giving that person and that person only permission to look at it). Is that close to being legal? Was a court order obtained, in Canada, to store my data in another country.

How about your country?

What if someone working in the NSA used this information to blackmail someone? To gain insider information to make money? To make other people money? Some companies like Facebook sell data and metadata to companies for them to market products. The USA is in debt and getting worse. Are corporations asking the NSA for occasional peeks at their data?

Your data. Paid for by United States taxpayers dollars.

Ultimately you must decide if having someone standing over your shoulder, making you fearful and feeling guilty makes us a safer people. Like the Puritan colonists of the United States.

I for one feel that there is no place for the state in the bedroom's of the nation, if we are to be treated as not guilty before proven innocent. This Keifer Sutherland's 24 mentality of ticking bomb scenarios has to stop. This fear has to stop. I did not give my government permission to spy on me.

I say no to PRISM. I say no for Canada to let another country do this to one of its citizens. I live in a democracy.

Biking on the Galloping Goose Trail

The Galloping Goose trail is built on an old rail line. Because of this the incline is not more than three degrees and is great for walkers, joggers or bicyclists.

 My journey started here, at an ongoing spur of the trail, in Esquimalt near the back gate of CFB Naden and VSL shipyards.

 Its quite a busy intersection and the spur intends to expand on the other side of the street...eventually. After biking down the trail in the first picture, I had to head down some streets and go through Banfield park.

 This is the exit of Banfield park onto the Galloping Goose, at the South end of the Selkirk Trestle.

 This is the view of the trail heading downtown Victoria. But I wasn't going there today.

 This is the view going across the trestle. Its good that they kept the foundations and feel of the old wooden railway bridge.

 There is some very nice art along the beginning parts of the trail. This was done under a bridge.

 There are a few learning or rest areas along the trail. This one is not bike assessable but that's perfectly fine.

 This is where it splits off. The left trail goes to Sooke and beyond to Leechtown (a ghost town). The right one goes to Sydney and the ferry terminal to Vancouver. I went right.

 This is a wooden walkway over a small lake. After this I stopped taking pictures but the path is very nice this time of year with overhanging branches and open fields.

France Overview and the Near Future

Well, that was our trip to France. It only took two months to post about our three week trip. Now I can concentrate on the little chores around the house and making/painting models.

Highlights of the trip, in order of occurrence, were:

-Rue Montorgueil
-Walking around Paris
-Snowing in Paris
-The Louvre
-The Paris restaurant La Cordionnerie
-The Amboise restaurant at Auberge de Launay
-Chateau Chenonceau
-The walled city of Dinan
-The WW2 Normandy experience
-The restaurant at Chateau d'Adrieu

I'm also going to unlock the requirement for having to have a google+ account to post comments on my entire blog. Just to see what happens and if its manageable. I'll be moderating so keep it clean.

Next for models are terrain, Cygnar Tempest Blazers, Cygnar Warcaster Constance Blaze, Warjack Gallant, another unit and UA of Precursor Knights, an entire Warmachine Mercenary Rhulic army, more Infinity (Combined Army and Haqqislam), more Malifaux (Guild and Neverborn), and more Firestorm Armada.

Stay tuned to this space.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - La Billybaude

 We wandered around at the end of a long day walking and decided to give this establishment, La Billybaude, a try. We were very satisfied with the result.

 My appetizer was marinated mackerel and this bowl was brought out for me!

 When the plate came out and I asked the waiter about the huge bowl, he explained that people served themselves what they wanted. Generally one or two fillets. I chose one of the larger ones. It was marinated in olive oil and very very good. Underneath was potatoes in a light broth.

 My wife had fois gras with a balsamic reduction and a bit of berry jelly.

 This is the wine we had.

 We both had the duck with a side of mashed potatoes.

 My wife had the berry cake.

I had the chocolate volcano type dessert.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - Streets of Paris

 We soaked up the ambiance of Paris on this, our last full day in France.

 On each side of the doors leading into Le Bon Marche are these wonderful tiled panels. Le Bon Marche has the title of being one of the world's first department stores, from 1850.

 Gustave Eiffel was consulted for parts of its structure.

 The clock tower of the Hotel de Ville has the commonly seen phrases on French public buildings, seen on the bottom of the picture, Liberte Egalite Fraternite (Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood).

 It was too bad that one of our favorite Jazz bands, Pink Martini, was playing after we left. They are from Portland Oregon in the USA and are a treat to watch perform.

A photo of the outside of our hotel room.