It Ain't a Self-Portrait

A pig rests at the summer, petting zoo in New Westminster, BC in 2007.

There are so many things I could be doing. There are even some things I should be doing. Yet, I'm not. I seem to be putting off everything but I don't have a problem with that.

Lazy Days of Summer

It took a while til we turned lazy. We started out all right. Soon after breakfast, we took a trip up to Queen's Park. This weekend marks the summer start of the petting zoo. Pigs couldn't be found probably due to the flu scare. The rabbit and goats were cute enough though. There was one baby hefer which looked a bit lean. The park was busy with folks preparing for picnics. There is a little carnival in town. An arts and crafts show was in Centennial Lodge and an antique show in Arenex. Just the flowers and green meant it it was a pleasure to see.


After going to the vegetable shop, we came back here to the apartment. Lunch happened and now I'm looking around at people napping. I just got up myself. The balcony doors are wide open. We don't have mosquitos here. Ah, I love summer!

Trip to Italy - Day 05

Thursday: The Slow Train to Florence.  We got up a few minutes earlier than the alarm clock.  This must surely be proof that we've now on this time zone.  We went back to the main building of the hostel, ate breakfast, and checked out by 8:30.

Our Italian Rail passes allow unlimited daily travel for eight days.  We are using the first allowance this morning.  The train was at the station when we arrived and after a few minutes it was ready for boarding.

The trip lasted from 9:12 to 12:51.  It seemed as if a quarter of the trip was through tunnels.  They must have some of the most qualified tunnelling engineers in the world!  We passed some hill towns along the way. 

By 1:20 pm we were all checked into a nice little hotel close to the train station.  Twenty minutes later, we were eating kabab plates at a Lebanese restaurant.

We then walked along the tourist filled streets.  Heading to the Duomo was easy as one could easily peek at it between the narrow streets.  We headed towards it and leisurely around it.  Next, we stood in line for a few minutes in order for tickets to climb it.  There were 436 steps and a closer view of hell inside the dome.  The outside view of the whole valley was fine!



A planned nap at nearly 5 o'clock turned into a three-hour sleep.  We got up after that and went out to the well-lit streets.  We patted the bronze pig statue in the market and found the building where David is.  We passed so many hotels; it's clearly a city set up for tourists.

We picked up a few calzone for a dinner / snack.  We went back to bed at 11:00.

I'm Wary of Mash-Ups

The theory is excellent. If one could reuse and combine Internet data from various sources in one place, the results could be efficient and effective. Yet, I must've lived too long to be so trusting. What if a repository site went out of business? Just because it works at the moment, doesn't mean it'll last. Unfortunately, I take perverse enjoyment in the idea that data contained in this blog will be available down the road. It is clearly the archivist in me that keeps me adding an entry a day.

Net things surely come and go. The original form of GeoCities wasn't as permanent as initial users might have expected. Flickr has supplanted Webshots as my place for storing images. For heaven's sakes, I once had an @home.net email address. So although web velocity has slowed, I have a hard time thinking of anything as very permanent. A mash-up is no good if a part ends up falling by the wayside.

This may be why I've been slow to get all giddy about YouTube. If I want to spend my time watching videos, I'd prefer it be created professionally. I really can't imagine getting all excited over someone's dog doing something stupid. I doubt anyone could create two minutes of anything that I'd kill for. Most importantly, until today, for the reason above, I've avoided mashing up their vids here.

I generally 30-second-skip past television commercials because of the PRV. Yet, somehow, particular TV ads become such favourites that I may want to showcase one. For example, I loved the Stella Artois pig commercial so much, I copied it and tried to tie it to my eJournal and images. That was a lot of work and took a lot of space. More recently, I saw a PBS promo advertisement that I thought was very cool. Of course, it is on YouTube, so here goes something new:

I might love this as there are two goldfish on the desk near my monitor. I would certainly support the darlings if they decided to jump out the balcony door and into a puddle on the Columbia Street SkyTrain station. Then, if they somehow crossed over the roof of the Army Navy Department Store and rail tracks, they'd happily dive into the Fraser River. I can almost picture them fighting the rapids in a fish ladder at Hell's Gate. Go babies, go!

I Gotta See the Piglets!

The sun set last night at 8:23 pm. Yikes, that means we're sliding out of summer. I do have to admit, out here on the coast, we have had a great one. Moreover, it seems as if the current high pressure system is going to hang around for at least ten days. I still love the fact, at this time of year, it can be 27C (80F) during the day but bottoms out at about 12C (53F) at night. That is damned close to perfection!

There's another way I know we're approaching the end of August. The Pacific National Exhibition, known as the PNE and pronounced as pea-knee, starts this weekend. It's a typical North American country fair type experience that has morphed from agricultural roots to more technological and urban events. It's had a lot of time to adjust during the past nine and a half decades.

For a while, during the time we've been here, the Exhibition's future was in question. In 2004, the province abandoned its sponsorship. During the period surrounding the transition, there were constant rumours involving a change of location. Now, however, the city of Vancouver has ensured the continuation of the PNE at the historic park location.

It's been a few years since we've been. Thankfully, Jay now works a normal Monday to Friday schedule. I think we'll visit this weekend. I want to visit for the Superdogs show as well as the mini doughnuts.

A Test of Loyalty

Occasionally, I find a TV commercial worth saving. Maybe I have something for ads with animals in them. The Stella Artois guy and his pig come to mind. In this case, I like a newly-aired, 30-second spot for WestJet Airlines. A family ships an unaccompanied dog. Upon arrival, it is hesitant to return to them because it was so well treated by the WestJet staff.

Perfection Has Its Price

I normally skip through TV commercials on the PVR. For some reason, in the middle of CSI, I caught a glimpse of something that made me re-wind. I thought this was striking enough to merit saving for my eJournal and images. I don't think it's breaking copyright to 'rebroadcast' an advertisement. The folks at Stella Artois would probably be grateful that someone took the time and effort.

A War over a Pig?

There's a lot of history everywhere!

We all tend to focus on history that is approachable. This often means that we find it easier to study local historical events rather than the broad tide of human experience. We may think we learn history so that we won't repeat the mistakes of the past. Yet if we were a bit more objective, we'd note that we generally use history as a type of socialization. Studying history helps us feel part of an inclusive group.

There's a lot of history that we ignore everywhere!

The last time U.S. and British forces were opposed was during the American Revolution, right? Yikes, I guess we could move nearly nine decades beyond that point and find a more recent conflict. In order to really understand the history of the area were I now live, one would have to understand the historical currents that led to ...

... the Pig War.

The immense forces of the westward expansion, the ideals of a manifest destiny, and the interest in gold combined to create a conflict more about territorial integrity than anything to do with a single pig.

Why didn't I know about this until recently? Perhaps the US Civil War stole the limelight. Or maybe I wasn't ready to understand the Pig War's importance. Live and learn!

(The image is courtesy of www.san-juan-island.net.)