Monday, June 26, 2006

World Cup is over for NL

Wow. Looks like Holland has paved the way for England. What an insane match Holland had against Portugal. I just finished watching it (3am) thanks to my inability to set up a VCR.


  • 16 yellow cards (9 for Portugal and 7 for the Netherlands - tying the World Cup record)
  • 4 red cards (World Cup record)
  • 12 players booked


Headbutting, nipple twisting, kicks to the groin, and lots of yelling and screaming. And that was just here in my basement in front of the big screen. Arg.

And in the England game, Beckham scores the only goal of the match and then later vomits on the pitch. Nice. I guess heat exhaustion will do that to you.

Hup England. I'm on the band wagon now.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Murphys Point Sunday

Saturday morning was spent watching my oldest play in a mini-soccer tournament. The team consisted of a bunch of kids hand picked by the coaches to play against the city select teams. Given none of the players really knew each other they played great and even tied the second game.

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Even though I always tell her "You don't want to play net." She somehow found herself taking a turn at keeper. Luckily, thanks to some coaching from the sidelines, no goals were scored.

Saturday night we packed up the van with camping/canoeing/picnicing stuff in order to help us make a quick getaway Sunday morning for Murphys Point Provincial Park. With canoe on top and family inside we headed off down the road around 8:20am. Not too bad.

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Spotted this doe and fawn on the way out of town.

The day was sunny and hot. A perfect day for some paddling, swimming, sailing, and snorkeling. There was also a fair bit of relaxing going on too.

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The day began with a nice paddle out into the Big Rideau. We later used the canoe sail but I forgot to snap a pic (sorry).

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Spent the better part of the morning just relaxing on the shoreline of this vacant paddle-in campsite.

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Here were sneaking into a bay to replace a geocache that had gone missing (GCGXNG).



Spotted this dragonfly nymph shell on the shoreline. I have yet to see an adult dragonfly rip out of the back of one of these ugly creatures however I imagine it would be just like a scene out of "Aliens".

Friday, June 23, 2006

Hup Holland!!



Originally uploaded by Tripper (bvt).
The Netherlands finish second in their group and make it to the round of 16. Was there really any doubt?

Their match against Portugal is on Sunday afternoon. Feel free to start cheering now.

HUP Holland, HUP Holland!!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Nike vs. Adidas



The Nike and Adidas football ads that run during the World Cup are great. I love them. Nike has dibs on the Brazilian stars but who needs them? I personally love the one from Adidas, "The Impossible Team" featuring the world’s best footballers from past and present. Anybody watching any of the World Cup knows this commercial by now (or at least snippets of). Just in case you don't speak Spanish here are José and Pedro’s teams:





José’s team:
Michael Ballack Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Franz Beckenbauer Germany
David Beckham England, Real Madrid CF
Du-Ri Cha Korea Republic, Eintracht Frankfurt
Damian Duff Ireland, Chelsea FC
Steven Gerrard England, Liverpool FC
Kaká Brazil, AC Milan
Oliver Kahn Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Juan Román Riquelme Argentina, Villarreal CF
Bastian Schweinsteiger Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Patrick Vieira France, Juventus Turin

Pedro’s team:
Djibril Cissé France, Liverpool FC
Jermain Defoe England, Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin Kuranyi Germany, FC Schalke
Frank Lampard England, Chelsea FC
Michel Platini France
Shunsuke Nakamura Japan, Celtic Glasgow
Alessandro Nesta Italy, AC Milan
Lukas Podolski Germany, FC Köln
Raúl Spain, Real Madrid CF
Arjen Robben The Netherlands, Chelsea FC
David Trézéguet France, Juventus
Zinédine Zidane France, Real Madrid CF

And here's the commercial thanks to youTube...

Video Clip: Adidas Football - “Equipo” 60’





“Partido” 60’:

“Partido” is the second commercial in the TV campaign. In “Partido” the teams of Pedro and José actually play each other. Pedro and José are in control of the game and their team: Kaká gets sent off and Jermain Defoe is chosen to go in the goal. I read somewhere that this one references the FIFA World Cup™ Final of ’66 in which England meets Germany, however this time with Frank Lampard in the role of English “goal scorer” and Oliver Kahn defending the German goal. Personally I don't recall that particular match.

Video Clip: Adidas Football - “Partido” 60’







Now as you guessed it the latest to stir up controversy is the Nike ad with England's Wayne Rooney (see photo at the top of this blog). Kinda reminds me of the movie Carrie when Sissy Spacek had all that pig's blood dumped on her only Rooney looks happy about it. And why wouldn't he be? ("cha-ching")




Looking to kill some time? Try the Adidas +10 Soccer Challenge.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The Mohawk

Why is everybody so fascinated with the Mohawk haircut? Because it looks damn cool, that's why.

Recently my buddy Mikey put his head on the auction block to raise money for cancer. Not sure exactly how much was raised but I hope it was more then $5.

Before and after...

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Last year around this time we were visiting friends when out of the blue my buddy says, "Wanna shave my head?" Having shaved a few heads in my youth I quickly said, "Sure". I must say I did a bitchin' job.

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"Where's my Harley, man?"

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Sunday, June 18, 2006

A happy day on the "mad" river

Today was Father's Day. Our plan? Head up to Burnstown on the Madawaska River to spend the day on the water, have a couple of beers, eat and be merry. I can't imagine a better way to pass a hot humid 38°C day.

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The day started with me pulling over to save this painted turtle's life. No biggie. We named him Petey the painted turtle. The kids loved it when I threw him on the floor of the van to take with us to the Neills. Mom did not.

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Kids had a blast swimming, playing on the windsurf board, and paddling around in the kayaks. The water was very refreshing (it is June eh).

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Mikey telling another tall (but funny) tale.

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The kids also spent some time exploring and looking for butterflies.

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The day ended with Mikey jamming in his new Crocs followed by a BBQ and coffee, leftover cake, and ice cream for dessert.

A good time had by all. Cheers guys and thanks for hosting.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

A "mock" birthday

Well today was the "big" day. Emma's birthday has finally arrived. Her "mock" birthday that is. We decided to throw her a little birthday party early this year so that she could invite her friends from school before they all take off for summer vacation.

Put together 7 kids, 28 balloons, and a double helping of cake and ice cream and you've got a mild case of chaos on your hands.

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Balloon wars

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Craft time (sun visers and bookmarks)

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Hungry for cake.

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And of course the gifts.

All in all it went off without a hitch. And I didn't miss any of the US vs. Italy World Cup game either.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Diet coke and Mentos experiment

Somebody emailed me this video the other day. I can't imagine how or why a Mentos would make a 2L bottle of Diet Coke explode like this but hey, video doesn't lie, right?

Check it out... visit the site The Diet coke and Mentos experiment

Or just hit play below...


Thursday, June 15, 2006

New Blog design

Testing, testing, 1-2-3.

Leave comments and let me know what you think of the new blog layout.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Upper Canada Village

Today I volunteered to go on my daughter's class trip to Upper Canada Village.

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I drove the van down while my daughter rode the bus with her classmates and her teachers (and a couple of parents who apparently like listening to a bus load of screaming kids for 2 hours).

I arrived at the same time as 5 other school buses. None of which contained my daughter's class. Finally the bus arrived and we were all given our pass for the day and the parent volunteers were assigned some extra kids to look after. After getting my spare kid I quickly joined up with a couple of other parents and their kids. All together our group consisted of 3 parents and 5 kids. Not a bad ratio.

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First thing we checked out was the bin'o'wool. One small kid from another class took it upon himself to yell at all the other kids and tell them that the wool was just for touching not for taking. Thanks buddy.

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Asselstine's Woollen Factory
This guy explained how the wool from a sheep gets made into a blanket. The old machines were up and running and I must say they were impressive.

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Spotted this sign as we entered the old mill. I slipped them what I thought to be some useful information but I have yet to see my cut on the reward money.

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The breadmaker was a Dutchman. Hup Holland! I chatted him up for a minute or two while my group stared at me rather confused that I was speaking a foreign language other then French. I smiled and told them to get lost in Dutch. The baker and I laughed heartily.

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When the wagon arrived to pick up the fresh bread the kids quickly swarmed the horse like it was the UN bringing provisions to some third world village. Lucky the horse did not bite and the driver was unarmed.

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Next we hit the blacksmith. He pumped the bellows and hammered away at the hot iron making a hoe for the gardener. One of the mothers asked if he'd ever burned himself. Da?!? He quickly said of course and explained that if you do something like this enough you bound to get some bumps and burns from time to time. He then asked her if she'd ever burned herself cooking in the kitchen. After a lengthy pause I quickly shouted out that she obviously didn't spend enough time in the kitchen. The blacksmith and I laughed heartily. The moms did not.

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I think this guy was supposed to be some kind of pioneer day bum looking for lose change. Unfortunately all my change was from the year 2000 and up and would not be considered legal tender in this town.

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Group photo op at the church (after all this is a Catholic class).
The Christ Church was built in 1837. Like many of the other buildings in this village, the church was moved from it's original location before they flooded the St. Lawrence River.

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These guys demonstrated to the kids how the two horses walking round and round would drive a set of gears that operated a large saw that would in turn cut the logs. Neat but what happens when the horses get dizzy?





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The Cabinetmaker. At this point one of the kids in my group asked if she could eat the butternut shavings. Being a fan of the "learn by doing" rule I said sure, but the cabinetmaker guy said no. Too bad, I think it could have been somewhat entertaining.

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This was the inside of the Common School house. Complete with a grumpy teacher and a long list of rules. I would have more details to share but I was immediately asked to leave because I was wearing a ball cap.

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We hit a number of other hot spots in the village but that wraps up this guy's virtual tour. The rest will just have to be a surprise when you readers actually get off your butts and away from your computers and make the visit yourself.

Click here for a village map.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Four leaf clover

The other day my youngest daughter found a four leaf clover.



Somehow she knew that it was a symbol of good luck and decided to make a wish. In an attempt to help her choose what that wish should be her sister started shouting out some ideas. She seemed to be concerned about shouting these ideas before her little sister wasted it on something like a bowl of Count Chocula or a stuffed animal so in an excited voice she quickly shouted out the first things to come to mind...

"you could wish for fairy godparents" or
"a newt" or
"you could wish that all your wishes come true... and your sister's too"

God bless them. I too made a wish but I can't tell what it was or it won't come true.



UPDATE: A couple of days later my oldest daughter found her own four leaf clover. What the heck are they fertilizing these school grounds with nowadays? I've only found one four leaf clover in my life... mind you I stopped looking back in '76 after my wish for fairy godparents didn't come true.

Friday, June 09, 2006

World Cup 2006 !!!

The game is afoot.

For those of you at work who can't watch the games but have Internet, try this live blog site: http://www.worldcupblog.org/

I followed it for the Germany v Costa Rica game and it worked quite well. The updates were faster than the Sportsnet/TSN live scoreboard. Not a bad site for the World Cup news/updates though.

Oh, one last thing... HUP HOLLAND!!



Oh, and remember, you just can't beat the Dutch fans...

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Chip'n'Dale

Yesterday morning the kids headed out to the garage to grab their bikes while mom and I headed to the backyard to do some gardening/yard maintenance. We'd just stepped out back when we heard the kids calling us out front to the garage. The ruckus was about one dead chipmunk laying under the bikes in the garage not far from what appeared to be a recently sprung mousetrap. Not sure what happened to him but after a thorough once over from the kids and I we bagged him and tagged and got on with our day. (note: no pics on that one as mom vetoed the camera on us.)

Later that same afternoon I stepped outside to start cleaning out the garage when I spotted another chipmunk chattering away outside the entrance. As his head bobbed from me to the garage entrance and back again I realized that he wanted to high tail it but something inside was distracting him. Finally I hear yet another chipmunk squealing and as I step down off the front porch I spot the little guy barrelling out like he was up to no good. Relieved, the chipmunk on lookout and his guilty partner take off together. Except one of the little bozos decides to take cover in our plastic eavestrough. Not the brightest idea. (He was likely related to the recently deceased nut gatherer that we had found earlier.)

Stupid or not, this made for a great photo opportunity...

"Aw crap!! Deadend!"

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"Look out buddy, I'm coming through!"

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(click on pics to enlarge)

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Friday, June 02, 2006

Cow rustlers

The morning before we left the farm after the long weekend we decided to join Ome Jason and check on the cows.

"Don't you dare touch the salty bucket."
"You tell him gurl. We got yer back."

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"Hay man, did ya bring one of dem fly swatter thingies?"

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Whudder yooou lookin' at?

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"Oh yeah baby, that feels soooo good." "A little to the left."

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"Did you fall down mister?"

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Wobbly bridge to the isle of muck.

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Group photo (less the camera guy).

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