Monday, October 16, 2006
Best new show on TV
There's nothing worse than telling people to check out a great new show after one episode only to find out that it was the only good episode. So after watching 4 episodes, I'm ready to tell everyone to check out Heroes - Monday's at 9PM (eastern) 8PM (central) on NBC. Luckily, if you haven't seen the show yet, you can watch the episodes you've missed here. And trust me, this is one of those shows that you have to know what's happened to understand anything. So go... watch it.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Vacation: July 26th
Our day was spent on the lovely Isle of Skye. I think this was my favorite day of the tour.
We started off by learning about a tale where a woman who had a disfiguring accident had her beauty restored by putting her head in this stream. If you look closely behind the girl in the black sweater, you will notice that there are a couple of people from our tour group who decided to test out the tale themselves.
And this pretty little waterfall was just a quick stop to fill our water bottles. Once again, it was like herding cats to get us all back on the bus.
I just looked in my travel book & discovered this is The Storr. And the point at the right is known as the Old Man of Storr.
Along the coast of Skye.
A view of Kilt Rock. Named because the shape of the rocks are like the pleats of a kilt.
Maybe one of the reasons I enjoyed this day so much was I decided to take it easy. So I sat here & enjoyed this view...
And this view...
While Trina & most of the group hiked this thing. If you look midway up at the right, you'll notice some white dots. That's actually the group hiking.
On Skye they allow all the animals to roam free. While we were waiting for the group, we found ourselves in the midst of shepherds herding their sheep. Here's one of them with his dog. We even heard one of them say "that'll do"... just like in Babe.
And here are a few of the many sheep they were herding. Very cute.
And the top reason this was my favorite day of the tour. This was the day,we finally got to see the hairy coos!!! Isn't it adorable? All the girls on the bus were begging Ped to pull off to the side of the road so that we could see them. One of the guys asked what they were used for... dairy, meat? Ped's answer was "tourist". Apparently they don't make good milk or meat.
And once he did, we all jumped off & went traipsing through the pasture. It's a baby coo too!
Here's Trina & one of the baby coos. Because of this trip into the pasture... as well as the lack of fences on the entire island, we got to through the special line at customs to have our shoes sanitized. It was so worth it.
And then we visited the faerie pools. In Scottish lore faeries aren't cute little Tinkerbell creatures. They are fallen angels. You know... like Satan. But still the pools were beautiful.
More of the pools.
And more.
And even more. I don't know exactly how anyone ever find this place. We were in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember seeing any signs and it's not in my book. So sorry, I can't help you if you take your own trip & want to see the pools for yourself.
We started off by learning about a tale where a woman who had a disfiguring accident had her beauty restored by putting her head in this stream. If you look closely behind the girl in the black sweater, you will notice that there are a couple of people from our tour group who decided to test out the tale themselves.
And this pretty little waterfall was just a quick stop to fill our water bottles. Once again, it was like herding cats to get us all back on the bus.
I just looked in my travel book & discovered this is The Storr. And the point at the right is known as the Old Man of Storr.
Along the coast of Skye.
A view of Kilt Rock. Named because the shape of the rocks are like the pleats of a kilt.
Maybe one of the reasons I enjoyed this day so much was I decided to take it easy. So I sat here & enjoyed this view...
And this view...
While Trina & most of the group hiked this thing. If you look midway up at the right, you'll notice some white dots. That's actually the group hiking.
On Skye they allow all the animals to roam free. While we were waiting for the group, we found ourselves in the midst of shepherds herding their sheep. Here's one of them with his dog. We even heard one of them say "that'll do"... just like in Babe.
And here are a few of the many sheep they were herding. Very cute.
And the top reason this was my favorite day of the tour. This was the day,we finally got to see the hairy coos!!! Isn't it adorable? All the girls on the bus were begging Ped to pull off to the side of the road so that we could see them. One of the guys asked what they were used for... dairy, meat? Ped's answer was "tourist". Apparently they don't make good milk or meat.
And once he did, we all jumped off & went traipsing through the pasture. It's a baby coo too!
Here's Trina & one of the baby coos. Because of this trip into the pasture... as well as the lack of fences on the entire island, we got to through the special line at customs to have our shoes sanitized. It was so worth it.
And then we visited the faerie pools. In Scottish lore faeries aren't cute little Tinkerbell creatures. They are fallen angels. You know... like Satan. But still the pools were beautiful.
More of the pools.
And more.
And even more. I don't know exactly how anyone ever find this place. We were in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember seeing any signs and it's not in my book. So sorry, I can't help you if you take your own trip & want to see the pools for yourself.
NOOOOO!!!!!
They're closing my favorite store in the entire city. How can they do this to me? How will I discover interesting new music? (I know... there's the internet but I like to hear entire songs before I buy them.) See what happens when I force myself on a budget & cut out buying music. An entire business goes bankrupt. Let's hope the space is replaced with something like a Virgin Megastore & not another bookstore that sells music on the side (not that I dislike bookstores, I just need employees that are passionate about music when I'm searching for new music).
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Vacation: July 25th
And now here's where my memory gets a bit fuzzy. I have all kinds of photos of pretty bens (mountains) & lochs (lakes). And I know that our wonderful tour guide Ped told us the names of all of them. Unfortunately, I don't remember which names goes with which photos. 
So maybe this is Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland.
Then again, maybe this is Ben Nevis.
Or maybe even this is Ben Nevis. You get the idea.
Day 2 of the tour, had us taking our longest "wee walk" of the tour. We were told that we would take about an hour round trip to see Steall Waterfall at the foot of Ben Nevis (I admit, my travel book had a photo of the waterfall otherwise I would've just said "a cool waterfall"). Well in what seemed to be a trend for us, once we were off the bus it was like herding cats to get us all back on the bus. I think the trek ended up being more in the 2 hour range (although if I'm wrong I'm sure Trina will correct me).
So here's some photos of our little hike.
That's Trina a bit ahead. And way in the distance is the Waterfall.
Another shot of the waterfall. Ped told us that it was in one of the Harry Potter films. If anyone can remember which movie & what scene, let me know. I'm drawing a blank.
I learned a very important lesson on this walk... always carry a bottle of water. I wasn't expecting this long walk so I didn't have anything with me. Luckily Trina had a bottle & we shared. We even did something I never would think of doing here... we refilled the bottle in this stream. Very good mountain water, I must say. Either that or I was so desperate for water that anything would've tasted wonderful.
And our Harry Potter experience wasn't over yet. Here's the train bridge that they used in the flying car scene in the 2nd movie. And just for good measure, see the construction stuff in the lower left of the photo.
This is how far we actually were from the bridge. I know, great zoom, huh?
And here's what you see looking the opposite direction from the bridge. And I believe it was the real reason for the stop. The tower is a monument for Bonnie Prince Charlie. According to the travel book, it's called the Glenfinnan Monument & commemorates where he formed his "army" in the Jacobite rebellion. Also, according to the book, this loch is Loch Shiel.
And here's Trina taking photos. She's to the right of the girl sitting on the ground.
Here are a few more pretty pictures. 
Somewhere between Ben Nevis & the Isle of Skye.
So maybe this is Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland.
Then again, maybe this is Ben Nevis.
Or maybe even this is Ben Nevis. You get the idea.
Day 2 of the tour, had us taking our longest "wee walk" of the tour. We were told that we would take about an hour round trip to see Steall Waterfall at the foot of Ben Nevis (I admit, my travel book had a photo of the waterfall otherwise I would've just said "a cool waterfall"). Well in what seemed to be a trend for us, once we were off the bus it was like herding cats to get us all back on the bus. I think the trek ended up being more in the 2 hour range (although if I'm wrong I'm sure Trina will correct me).
So here's some photos of our little hike.
That's Trina a bit ahead. And way in the distance is the Waterfall.
Another shot of the waterfall. Ped told us that it was in one of the Harry Potter films. If anyone can remember which movie & what scene, let me know. I'm drawing a blank.
I learned a very important lesson on this walk... always carry a bottle of water. I wasn't expecting this long walk so I didn't have anything with me. Luckily Trina had a bottle & we shared. We even did something I never would think of doing here... we refilled the bottle in this stream. Very good mountain water, I must say. Either that or I was so desperate for water that anything would've tasted wonderful.
And our Harry Potter experience wasn't over yet. Here's the train bridge that they used in the flying car scene in the 2nd movie. And just for good measure, see the construction stuff in the lower left of the photo.
This is how far we actually were from the bridge. I know, great zoom, huh?
And here's what you see looking the opposite direction from the bridge. And I believe it was the real reason for the stop. The tower is a monument for Bonnie Prince Charlie. According to the travel book, it's called the Glenfinnan Monument & commemorates where he formed his "army" in the Jacobite rebellion. Also, according to the book, this loch is Loch Shiel.
And here's Trina taking photos. She's to the right of the girl sitting on the ground.
Here are a few more pretty pictures. 
Somewhere between Ben Nevis & the Isle of Skye.
A New Captain
I know all sports have team captains. There's just something about hockey that makes being the captain a bit more meaningful. I don't know if it's the C on the sweater (that's a jersey for you non-hockey fans) or what. Any way, today the Predator's named their new team captain... Kimmo Timonen! And new assistant captains Paul Kariya & Steve Sullivan. I think they made a great choice... although either of the assistants would've been good too.
And just 2 days until opening night. I'll be there in my Timonen sweater. I'm so ready for them to drop the puck!
And just 2 days until opening night. I'll be there in my Timonen sweater. I'm so ready for them to drop the puck!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Darfur
I thought about writing a big long rant about the inefficiency of the UN when it comes to dealing with genocide... but I'll keep that under wraps for now as long as everyone goes & checks out this site Save Darfur.
Education... Compassion... Action.
Education... Compassion... Action.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Vacation: July 24th
I'm not sure how we did it but we were checked out of the hotel room at at the Haggis Adventures office by 8:00AM. And then we were off on our 6 day Compass Buster tour. I knew we were in for a fun time when our tour guide & bus driver Ped told us we were going to start the tour by learning & singing the national anthem of Scotland. Little did I know that "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimer's is the national anthem (you know... "I would walk 500 miles & I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles.."). And did you know that you could have a light show on a bus... Anyway, these are some things I saw on the 1st day. 
The William Wallace monument.
The Wallace monument is HUGE. And it's on top of a hill overlooking Stirling Bridge where Wallace (& his men) defeated the English in 1297. (Ok I don't actually remember all those facts... it's called a travel book)
A view of the monument from the bottom of the hill.
Trina taking her photos of the monument.
Stirling Bridge is down there somewhere.
A statue of Robert the Bruce. Bruce took over after Wallace was executed in a very nasty manner (& lets just say, Braveheart sanitized the execution scene). This was also where we discovered that one of the girls on the tour lived in... Knoxville. How random & small world is that?
"Run away, run away". If I have to say anything else, you are not a Monty Python fan.... and you wouldn't understand any ways.
One of the billion lakes (I mean lochs & I may be exaggerating on the number) in Scotland. Unfortunately by the end of the trip I had all these wonderful photos of lochs & just can't remember which is which.
This was in the middle of a wilderness area. I can't remember the name but we were told the Royal Army does some of their elite unit training (you know survive on the land with nothing but a pocket knife & duck tape... oh wait that was MacGeyver).
The beautiful & sad Glencoe. The beauty is obvious. The sadness is hidden.
So what's the sad story, you ask?
Well in 1692 the leader of the Glencoe MacDonald clan was 5 days late in getting his oath to follow William III. So William decided to make an example of the MacDonalds.
He sent the Campbells in to kill them. How they went about doing it was especially brutal.
They took advantage of the unwritten rule of hospitality between the clans. They were entertained by the MacDonalds for 10 days. Then, on the 13th of February, 1692, the Campbells killed the MacDonalds. And you can imagine, the ones that were able to escape & hide didn't fare too well in these mountains.
Like I said, beautiful & sad.
The William Wallace monument.
The Wallace monument is HUGE. And it's on top of a hill overlooking Stirling Bridge where Wallace (& his men) defeated the English in 1297. (Ok I don't actually remember all those facts... it's called a travel book)
A view of the monument from the bottom of the hill.
Trina taking her photos of the monument.
Stirling Bridge is down there somewhere.
A statue of Robert the Bruce. Bruce took over after Wallace was executed in a very nasty manner (& lets just say, Braveheart sanitized the execution scene). This was also where we discovered that one of the girls on the tour lived in... Knoxville. How random & small world is that? 
"Run away, run away". If I have to say anything else, you are not a Monty Python fan.... and you wouldn't understand any ways.
One of the billion lakes (I mean lochs & I may be exaggerating on the number) in Scotland. Unfortunately by the end of the trip I had all these wonderful photos of lochs & just can't remember which is which.
This was in the middle of a wilderness area. I can't remember the name but we were told the Royal Army does some of their elite unit training (you know survive on the land with nothing but a pocket knife & duck tape... oh wait that was MacGeyver).
The beautiful & sad Glencoe. The beauty is obvious. The sadness is hidden.
So what's the sad story, you ask?
Well in 1692 the leader of the Glencoe MacDonald clan was 5 days late in getting his oath to follow William III. So William decided to make an example of the MacDonalds.
He sent the Campbells in to kill them. How they went about doing it was especially brutal.
They took advantage of the unwritten rule of hospitality between the clans. They were entertained by the MacDonalds for 10 days. Then, on the 13th of February, 1692, the Campbells killed the MacDonalds. And you can imagine, the ones that were able to escape & hide didn't fare too well in these mountains.
Like I said, beautiful & sad.
Hockey
After one preseason game , the pretty tickets are going away. Michelle & I sat in our seats for one period. Between Michelle feeling very squished (& me too a bit) & missing all of our friends we decided to go "visit" our old section for the rest of the game. Today Michelle called to ask if I'd like to just upgrade for the entire season. She didn't have to twist my arm at all. Sometimes, being with friends is more important than a little extra money. So at the next preseason game this Saturday, we have to take & trade in our cute little books for regular boring tickets. Oh well...
By the way, the game was great. Erat, Sully, Kariya & the new guys Arnott & Dumont looked great. And then the rookie Radulov... wow. Too bad he'll probably begin the season in the minors.
By the way, the game was great. Erat, Sully, Kariya & the new guys Arnott & Dumont looked great. And then the rookie Radulov... wow. Too bad he'll probably begin the season in the minors.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Vacation: July 23rd
After checking out of our hotel, we walked a few blocks to Kings Cross station... you know the one where Harry gets on the Hogwarts Express. Only we were heading to Edinburgh instead of Hogwarts. The trip was pretty uneventful. I thought we'd see a lot of pretty scenery along the way but the trip was pretty boring. So if you are ever traveling between London & Edinburgh & the prices are equal... just fly. You won't be missing anything. After a nice little hike, we finally made it to our hotel, The Royal Terrace Hotel (which surprise, surprise was undergoing renovation... & somehow AAA got me a very good discount). It wasn't long until we were on the move. We walked over to what is called the Old Town & in particular a street called the Royal Mile.
It's called such because the street begins here at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the Queen's residence when she's in the city) and ends about a mile away at Edinburgh Castle. Or maybe it begins at the Castle & ends at the Palace... who knows. Any way, the Palace is where we began.
Moving up the street, we saw Canongate Tolbooth.
And wouldn't you know it, there was construction happening on the street.
And just like Nashville did the catfish & guitars around town, Edinburgh had cows sitting around town. This one's dressed like the very famous William Wallace. Very funny.
We finally made it up to Edinburgh Castle. And actually it's not construction in the photo. In this case, they were setting up the bleachers for the Military Tattoo which takes place every August. Wish we could've seen it (I adore bagpipes).
Since it was almost closing time, we didn't actually go into the castle. Here's another photo of the castle showing a bit of the extinct volcano it's built on top of. Now how they know it's completely extinct & not just in a very very deep coma or something, I don't know. :)
We then headed back towards the hotel. When we were crossing the North Bridge I noticed all these cool monuments on top of that hill.
So I zoomed in & took some more photos. I later learned this is called Calton Hill. 
And here's Arthur's Seat. And no, we didn't even consider climbing it. The weather in Edinburgh was heavenly... probably in the mid 70s. Then we were sitting in the hotel room & suddenly realize that it was around 10pm & just dusk. I could really get used to spending summers in Scotland!
It's called such because the street begins here at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the Queen's residence when she's in the city) and ends about a mile away at Edinburgh Castle. Or maybe it begins at the Castle & ends at the Palace... who knows. Any way, the Palace is where we began.
Moving up the street, we saw Canongate Tolbooth.
And wouldn't you know it, there was construction happening on the street.
And just like Nashville did the catfish & guitars around town, Edinburgh had cows sitting around town. This one's dressed like the very famous William Wallace. Very funny.
We finally made it up to Edinburgh Castle. And actually it's not construction in the photo. In this case, they were setting up the bleachers for the Military Tattoo which takes place every August. Wish we could've seen it (I adore bagpipes).
Since it was almost closing time, we didn't actually go into the castle. Here's another photo of the castle showing a bit of the extinct volcano it's built on top of. Now how they know it's completely extinct & not just in a very very deep coma or something, I don't know. :)
We then headed back towards the hotel. When we were crossing the North Bridge I noticed all these cool monuments on top of that hill.
So I zoomed in & took some more photos. I later learned this is called Calton Hill. 
And here's Arthur's Seat. And no, we didn't even consider climbing it. The weather in Edinburgh was heavenly... probably in the mid 70s. Then we were sitting in the hotel room & suddenly realize that it was around 10pm & just dusk. I could really get used to spending summers in Scotland!
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