April 16, 2007


So THAT's where I live...

So, I was doing a little digging online for info on a condo I'm considering purchasing, and in the process, I came across an article detailing Frederick Rastrick, a major architect working in Hamilton during the 1850's. Turns out...he didn't design my building. But the article did have a (albeit short) blurb on The Castle. Built in the 1850's by a man named Reid for the Thompson family, it was once named 'Amisfield', I'm assuming after Amisfield Tower in Dumfries, Scotland. Quick quote from the article:

"From the late 1940s, when the annex known as the Castle Building was added on the north, to the present day that has seen it engulfed by mediocrity, "The Castle" has been a textbook example of indifference to architectural quality."

I couldn't agree more.

Amisfield House, as it once looked:
Amisfield House, 1800's
Amisfield House, three days ago:
Castle (Large)

March 27, 2007


This looks like fun...

While Arcade Fire was in Paris, they sang one of their songs in a freight elevator at the Olympia. Great song, great band...

Apparantly, the guy that filmed it does this a lot with various bands. My favorite band-i've-never-heard-of so far? Alamo Race Track. Too bad their album's only released in Holland and France.

March 21, 2007


My computer cheats.

So, with the stress of convention bearing down, I like to relax a little with some computer gaming. And what could be more relaxing than a little backgammon? OK, not my first thought either...but it was a free download. So, why not.
Now, if you don't know backgammon, this will be absolutely meaningless to you. But if you do...
My suspicions were aroused after getting creamed in the first game. And the second. And the third. But the fourth was mine. All mine.
I'm up 8-0, he's still got pieces stuck in my home.
Then it happens.
I stop scoring. Bad numbers. I shuffle my pieces around in the vain hope of scoring, but it just wasn't happening.
Meanwhile, here's how the PC's game goes:
Double.
Double.
Double.
Score.
Score.
Double(score x4)
Score.
Score.
Double(score x4)
...and so it goes, until I'm left with 8 pieces on the board, all in the 2/3 position, and rolling a 5/1...four times in a row. The PC? Three pieces in the one position.
I think to myself,"if the PC rolls a double one (which would win him the game), I'm uninstalling this game." The result?
The game is no longer on my computer.

March 15, 2007


Stupid DST.

Who would ever have thought that a change to Daylight Savings Time would create more hassle for an IT department than the Y2K change did??? No point in going into details...let's just say that bad programming = my giant headache.
So, life in the castle goes on; not much new here. Hey, the restaurant's (finally) open again...really good food too. Mmm...calamarie. Tasty!
Convention's shaping up to be as big a headache as ever. Which is odd, seeing as the word 'housing' alongside the word 'help' have yet to be uttered in my presence. But whoever's idea it was to reduce the PC to just seven members needs to be shot. Figuring out how we're getting the equipment to Ottawa should be a five minute conversation, not a two week ordeal. But that's what happens when the right people aren't allowed to talk to each other. All the same, it should be a good year. Assuming there's no more surprises.
Anyhow, that's about it for now. The search for a house continues, though I'm afraid I may be a little too picky. In theory, I could have bought a house six months ago, yet here I sit, in my castle, wasting money on rent. I need a swift kick in the ass, I do.

January 25, 2007


Re-entering the web design world...

At long last, I've put the finishing touches on the website I've been working at for a while. I'm pretty happy with the results, though it needs some more tweaking. I've yet to lock it down--I'm currently fighting with the hosting company over this, as properly securing it results in me not being able to modify it. At least, not until they make some changes at their end. Annoying.
www.stcphotoclub.com
The image gallery needs to be tweaked. I'm using Joomla (a CMS program), but I've yet to find an easy-to-use gallery for it. There's quite a few available, but most are far too complex. The colour scheme...not a huge fan, but the idea is to make the photographs 'pop'...it is a photography site, after all.
Anyhow, let me know what you think!

January 11, 2007


This is what happens...

...when you walk into concrete hydro poles.
Broken Glasses
They finally gave out this morning. Those glasses lasted longer than anything else I've ever owned. Well, almost. I've had my gold chain for longer. And I've had a pair of Airwalks for forever, but I think I tossed those out when I moved; at least, I can't find them anymore.
I'm now relegated to wearing contacts that a)were prescribed 10 years ago, b) have been sitting in solution for six months, and c) actually expired a year ago.
On the plus side--I'm getting new glasses. Appointment's not 'til Monday, but I've already picked out the frames. They're sessy. Just like me ;)

January 06, 2007


Seriously...

Who puts a concrete hydro pole in the middle of a sidewalk?
Seriously.

My family rocks.

So, I was reading a bunch of Christmas horror stories over on JU, and I gotta say...my family rocks. Drunken in-laws, decades-old animosity, grandparents playing favorites--my family has none of that. We all--including in-laws--get along great. This year, we had the privelege of having Stacy's parents up from Tennessee. They even got me a present! It wasn't anything extravegant--just a basic socket set. But the fact that they thought to get me anything blew my mind. I mean, I don't know them at all, technically there's no relation between us, and this is only the second time we've met (the first being four years ago when Al and Stacy got married). I'm ashamed to say, I didn't return the favor--I'd forgotten they were coming until they were there. Oops. They didn't seem to mind.
Sure, having them come down messed up our traditions a little--we opened presents Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve. But no-one cared, mostly because Christmas has pretty much stopped being about ourselves, and mostly about my nieces and nephews. Who also rock, by the way ;) Not saying that we adults didn't give and get presents to and from each other--of course we did. And of course we enjoy that. But seeing an adult open a box with a sweater isn't near as fun as watching a three-year-old (almost) open up a Princess outfit (and promptly stop caring about anything else--my brother chose well).

In other news, I'm an uncle...again! Or, still, I guess...Stacy and Al added another to their clan on Monday. Almost the first baby born in Toronto (she missed by 20 minutes). Jacob Allen, born 8lbs 4oz (I think). Stacy's doing fine, in fact, she was home the next day, playing with Sadie and John Michael while the rest of the family held onto her newborn.
Oh, hey...I finally bought a dinette set for my dining room (such as it is). We broke it in a few weeks ago. I've since realized that my dinnerware is...well, ugly. Strong, though--my parents got it as a wedding gift some 30+ years ago, and we still have pretty much everything for it. But it's next on the upgrade list.
Anyhow, time to go.