Gatwick Airport

Curses, I accidently erased everything, and there is not going back. Well I'm outta time, so here I am in Gatwick, woo hoo :)

More posts latter on the trip, hopefully with less being deleated by the computer.

Cheers

Italy are GOOOOOO!

Okay, that title is for Elite Beat Agent Fans, so excuse the grammar that is the Asian Video Game Translation Department's fault. All subsequent errors are mine, as usual.

Well this is short, as I'm behind the ball on last minutes. I am leaving shortly for Italy, its a long flight, with a comforting face on the other end of it. I am just about done with this working thing for the next two weeks, and those sections of my brain are shutting down.

I hope to bring you all comentary as we move, but I make no promises, until next time, Arrivederci!

I just don't get it

So I'm not a big oogler, never have been, and I'm not just saying that because my wife might read this, but because she has been forced in the past to insist I check out a girl on the street. Now It may be because I'm often lost in my head, or not particularly observant, I like to say I only have eye's for one gal, (and that I say, just in case she reads this :).

So the linked article from The Star is a meandering look at oogling, and I can't say it comes down any where in particular on the issue. Lets face it, some people dress seeking attention (guys and girls) while others shun any public attention. You would be surprised the looks of horror one can receive just by say "Good Morning" to a passing walker. So it's a difficult subject to navigate.

I for one am not xenophobic enough to reject observation, nor exhibitionist enough to demand the praise of my street peers. I think what is key is the decorum of the observer. A polite look, is probably fine, a hooting cat call not. If your caught, admit your defeat and look away, none of these squinty eyed full body appraisal leers. Finally non of those stereotypical hoots and hollers, those are just crude.

Different rules apply in a night club, but I think everyone appreciates that difference, not that I have a wealth of experiance to build that opinion on.

So lets recap, leering bad, private observation of the human form, acceptable.

Hopefully I haven't come accross as a kill joy, or a sexually repressed troglodyte, but I think we all just need to have some basic request for one another, and that is, as they say, that.

Wild Tigers In My Yard

I'm a freaking genious

So I totally missed this one last week, so I'm glad Trevor passed it on, because its great:

Hidden Post

Hey all, Its around 2:00 am, on June 23rd, and this is a post that you won't be reading for a couple months, if ever. Erin is currently in Italy, and there is a chance by the time I am done typing she may be at a computer, so I am going to type at least for a little while.

It is a bit of a shame that I've hidden (or am about to hide) this post into the archive for later retrieval, I think it will be good, but I don't really want to post it yet, in fact its non-posting is part of the post content.

So right now(as I'm writing this) I've just come back from a last minute night out. I was supposed to be at a David Usher concert, but it was cold out, and I wasn't into Illscarlet, and I ended up working a little late (on a Friday) and a pile of little reasons not to go out, but then I ended up out anyways for dinner and a movie with friends.

Trevor and Ellie are always good company, kind of a shame Erin couldn't be there, as we went out for Thai Fusion, and a silly movie, and the talk was interesting, but I think Erin being asleep on another continent was a fair excuse.

Quick sidebar, I taught Loki a fun game, I call it spring in the bath tube, as you can imagine, I took one of his springs, and started playing with him in the bathtub, now he is doing it all by himself, because as he pounces, it bounces, but it all stays in the tub. I hope this doesn't keep me up all night *gulp.*

Anyways, back to my story, I needed a pause to figure out how I wanted to tell it, maybe with what should be obvious, the reason I am not posting this at the time or writing is because it contains a secret, (cat patting pause, and we are back) now that secret (since this is being posted after the secret isn't a secret anymore) is that Erin an I have decided we would like to have a baby. Not like some day, not like in five years, but now (well okay now + 9 or so months.)

Now we aren't keeping this a secret out of malice, but we don't want everyone getting all excited until its actually happening, don't worry we aren't that good at keeping secrets, but we are doing pretty darn good so far.

So the story goes back a little bit further, all the way back to April, some of you may have noticed at the end of April Erin and I started to take a serious look at our lifestyle and health. The reason was that was when we decided to start planning for a baby, and having a child is a life time commitment, and part of that commitment is being around for that life time, and as our doctors were want to point out, we were doing a fair shot at shortening those lifespans. So when Erin disclosed to her Dr that she wanted to get ready to have a baby, such that medicines, and health could be discussed in that context, we started changing ourselves to get as healthy as we could before we started. So that is where this all began, back in April, we talked, and we planned, and we talked, and we thought, and we agreed, and suddenly it seemed right.

Now between then and now we have had to bite our tongues a little as Erin's Mom started buying all sorts of materials for baby quilts and receiving blankets, with complete ignorance of our scheming, and I don't mean to be mean, but Janet one might have construed such purchases to be laying the pressure on just a little thick, but we were already ahead of you. I just hope you have enough time left to finish all those projects :)

So from April to now, secret safely tucked away, and you have to give Erin and I credit, we have been tight lipped, especially Erin, who does like to say everything ;) She at least had an out, she has been consulting with her doctor, so she could tell someone. I on the other hand have no confessional, so I am writing this post, and not publishing it for that very reason, so I can tell someone, without actually telling anyone.

Getting back to this very evening, the reason why this secret was bugging me in particular, well its been a funny week, first off I apparently uncovered a secret out of hearsay that Colin and Chris were considering working on #2, and then of course we just found out that Elizabeth Emigh (Erin's cousin) is due in October, so the dinner conversation skewed, perhaps because of my own preoccupation, to the subject of babies, and we talked about Colin, and Chris, and Elizabeth, and we even talked about Ellie and how supportive her company is of women actually being women, and contrasted that to the bank, where Women were expected to give up their femininity to get ahead, but that is a rant for another day.

So we talked naturally about the subject and I kept my cards close to my chest, but the final straw was the movie we saw... Knocked Up. It was a funny movie, and focuses on a young career women who made a mistake, and it changed her life, but being a movie, it all worked out. It was, actually, really funny, but it made me glad to have a great lady first, and then a baby, not going the other direction.

So I'm stuffed full of thoughts about the future tonight, and the immediacy of things makes me want to blurt it all out, but I will be content to wait until things take there natural course, and I hope that by Erin's Birthday that we will have some great news to share with the family. Until then, my lips, and this post are sealed.


And again, sorry for any deception, but while it seems like Emigh's have no issue with pregnancy, we wanted to save all the excitement for when there was something tangible to be excited about. Until then, this post shall languish unread.

Night all.

*edit* it is Nov 19th, and I'm releasing this post to the public

Cycling topography

I really need a altimeter, or something to show the topography of my route before I head out. Last night I decided to go for a nice long ride, and willingly rode into the wind, because I seriously prefer it in the face on the way out, so it's at the back on your way home. Yet, I think I may have made an egregious error in my route. I went North, then North some more, and then finally a little bit North.

I ended up at 4th Line and 10th Side Road, what I failed to realize, is this is also up, and then up, and then up some more. By the time I was at the height of my ride I was pooped. Now as one must obay gravity (it being the law and all) I had the fortune to find both gravity and wind to be very supportive of my ride home. All and all a great ride, and my legs are tired :) I also stopped and said Hi to Erin's Auth Kath, while I was out that far.

All and all I really like it North of the highway, its so much nicer than South of my house, to many drivers out to kill cyclists that way. Anyways wheeling off the pounds as much as I can to make room for Italy. Erin has informed Italy is as delicious as they say, but not to lick the cobblestone (okay she didn't say anything about the cobblestone.)

I'm rambling, so ciao!

Geoff

20 Years of Public Embarrassment

Carolyn Parrish sh butted heads with Hazel this week, and I think she came off looking as bad as ever. Parish is clearly gunning for the top job in Mississauga, and it would be a shame and an embarrassment if she got it. Parrish is a self serving shit disturber, her career as a MP was rather unremarkable, until she started making some reprehensible remarks. Regardless of the sentiment, parliamentarians should be held to some reasonable level of civil discourse when referring to our international trading partners.

She has clearly shown she will do and say whatever she likes to raise her flag higher, and now she is at it again. As a life long Mississaugian in exile to Milton, I'm still very much passionate about my old town, it sickens me to watch the municipal council be dragged down to the childishness of the national assembly, and I worry more that the elections could disintegrate down to the same hate fueled politics.

When Hazel steps down, and I honestly believe that resignation will come quite literally from her cold dead hands, I can only hope that the city finds itself in the stewardship of someone who understands how and why it was so successful. That reason is because Hazel isn't the defacto mayor out of voter resignation, but because she is the hardest working Octogenarian on the planet, and perhaps harder working then most anyone.

The city of Mississauga, is a run like a business, a rather successful one at that. Its mayor spearheads trade missions, regional boards and councils, fiscal virtues, and civic duty. Parrish spearheads Carolyn Parrish, and that self serving naked ambition is poisonous. So her 20 years of national politics, isn't a resume to be proud of, and my hope is her taint doesn't leave tarnish on Mississauga.

Yes yes, of course!

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Autism and Vacines

Here is a great article about mass hystaria, and pseudo science. I think the author really covered the issue well, including the "in spite of the evidence people will delude themselves" part.

I wonder, as the author didn't touch on it, if a socialized health care system might not be a balm to this sort of issue. If people didn't have to face the staggering financial cost of *insert disease here* alone, then they might be better able to address the staggering life change. No the Skeptic tends to cater to the Libertarians, so I doubt they would want draw that conclusion, but here in Canada I at least feel (this may be a belief based in ignorance) that such blame histrionics are less prevalent.

I do have sympathy for those who discover that little Billy isn't going to grow up to be the star quarterback. It must be tough having your expectations, and dreams for a child changed by a diagnosis, especially of a condition that isn't necessarily evident at birth. That sympathy, and for those who may one day become a parent fear, can only go so far, I can't forgive those who would willingly withhold or deny vaccination.

Not only does that pose a risk to other children, is tantamount to child abuse if your child were to die because you refused.

Musings of a mad man

So I'm on a mission, so to speak, to get a whole pile of stuff I need done, and a whole pile of stuff I want done, and then thinking up new manner of things that just to do.

So last night I began enacting this plan with a really nice bike ride, during that ride I got a weird bug bite, and had a race with some 'punk teens', I'm pretty sure I won the race, but in any accounting it wasn't really fair as they hadn't already biked twenty or so kilometers that I had.

After my ride I got my craig's list post up to advertise my old warhammer mini's that are for sale, here is the photo's from the weekend:


I did a bunch of other random stuff, that is too boring to note, and headed to bed.

I had this genius idea of biking in the morning to free up my evening, I even packed a lunch, and got breakfast sort of ready. Then around 3 am, when I fielded a 411 from Palermo (Erin forgot a phone number she needed :) I had a sober second thought, and decided that 5 AM was too far off.

So I reset to a normal 6 AM, slept in, but thanks to pre-made lunch, and semi-ready breakfast I still made my train. As I get down to a busy day, I can happily report our traveler has arrived in Palermo, and after some confusion moved on to Erice successfully. She is not to her disappointment staying in the castle.

So thats the report for the day.

Cheers

GMT Update

Bumped into Erin online this morning, she was making herself comforatable in Gatwick, she said the flight over was good. Really not much to report beyond that. She said they had funny keyboards, thats something to say right? Okay, really no more news then that, so morning all.

Signing off

Girl on the go

Here she is ready to depart, this was taken at good old YYZ

Trip Journal

Morning all, today is the official kick off of Erin and Geoff's whirlwind tour of Italy, and its supporting trip blog. I of course am not leaving today, but Erin is.

We have just resolved the last critical issue, is the green journal going to be the travel journal, or the orange one (the other is going to be the course notes. We have elected green, because it is green, really as good a reason as any I suppose. So as Erin is gathering her things into her carry on, and the cats are strangely less bothersome, unlike yesterday where Loki 'helped' roll Erin's poster.

So today, I will drop Erin off at the airport between three and four, and she will be winging her way to Europe. So what travel excitement does Erin have in store for her you might ask? Well Erin will be flying to Jolly Olde England today, arriving tomorrow morning. Upon arrival she will be greeted by the wondrous Gatwick Airport, oooo ahhhh, where she will play such games as, find the electrical socket, and browse the magazine rack. This will not be a highlight of the trip, but a necessary evil.

After an exciting day in Gatwick, Erin will disembark for Palermo, where a short shuttle ride away she will find her first Italian dinner, and a comfortable bed.
I will be hearing from her around that time, which should be tomorrow afternoon our time. So I will let you all know, my own trip doesn't begin for two weeks, my journal here will be of the usual tripe that I publish, but once I leave, internet terminals willing, I will publish all manner of bizarre travel memoirs.

Cheers

A note would be internet hooligans, just because I'm going doesn't mean my house is open for looting, I will have a full time house sitter so :P and that is pronouced PTTTBBBBBBBBBDDDDDD according to Garfield.

The Tubes are full!

Curses, I mocked the third tube failure would be the intertubes, and curses they have failed. I now speak to you from the an auxillary internet connection. Shall I say my neighbor was a might be confused when I showed up with a measuring cup and asked for a cup of internet.

I have no blessed clue what is wrong, only that the modem can't get and stay connected. I suspect the modem is cooked, but I don't know for sure. So three broken tubes, hopefully three is satisfied and nothing else breaks.


Cheers

More tubes

So it turns out my TV is suffering from a burnt out fuse. Which ironically is a tube shaped fuse.

I need to find the correctly rated replacement, 6.3 amp, 125 volts, and yes I tried The Source by Circuit City, or as I will ALWAYS refer to it as, Radio Shack!

Anyways, working

Ciao

TUBES!

Be wary all, I'm having ill luck with tubes, and may bring down the whole intertube system by just posting.

So two days ago the boobtube broke, yesterday I lost a bike intertube, so be warned, then end of the tubes is NIGH!

Seriously though, I'm having a bad luck week.

Black Tube

Well the TV decided not to turn on last night, no whine, no pop, no smoke, just no picture (or sound.) I figure its 50/50 power supply or circuit board. Hopefully the former, as it is probably the most replaceable, the later is probably most expensive. Its not like the tube is particularly well like, its just present and damn heavy to lift. I'll just have to wait until Erin's Dad buys a new tv :) and hope Erin's mom doesn't read this and then kill me :P (which she probably will (read this that is) and probably not kill me, probably, I hope, maybe :)

Geoffrey Peart Dot Com?

Hey all, nothing to see here really, just www.geoffreypeart.com

Ciao

Did anything get anounced at WWDC ?

Well I've been chewing on the WWDC keynote from yesterday (for those non-apple aficionado's that is the Apple World Wide Developer Conference) and I've been trying to figure out what was said that was important or new.

The thanks to Intel, was an acknowledgment of success, the Leopard features, well those were the dame as last year, iPhone, Apple TV, yup all old news. Which was really all a dénouement. Even the announcement that developers can create websites for the iPhone was self evident, and kind of depression.

Now don't get me wrong none of these things were a disappointment, but they weren't new, and thats what we expect from Steve Jobs these days, something new and awesome. I think I would have settled for an announcement of iLife and iWork, but no, none of that either.

So I'm wondering what was announced, anything? Then it came to me, and it was ever so simple and ever so subtle. That announcement is that Mac's star is rising. Mac is becoming more and more prominent in the Zeitgeist, and that has brought to light a very clear market with a very clear deficiency. Games, until now there has only been one company building games (for simultaneous release) for the Mac, and that's Blizzard. So the big announcement is not that ID, and EA are coming out with games for the Mac, but that ID and EA recognize the Mac as a growing market share among there target audience (which is not office PC users.)

So by a not so subtle endorsement, that for EA can only be built on a reasonable business case, Mac is on the rise, and that was Steve Jobs big announcement. It was not made with bravado or chest thumping, it was made by simple economics.

With that brings honest competition with consoles, and windows, and that is great for consumers.

Map: Science’s Family Tree

[blockquote]The bigger a node is, the more papers it contains. Heavily cited papers appear in more than one node. Black lines connect any nodes that contain the same papers; the darker a link is, the more papers the connected nodes have in common. These links create the structure of the map and tend to pull similar scientific disciplines closer to one another.[/blockquote]Saw this on the intrawebosphere this morning, and thought it was kind of cool, while Erin busily works to make her own mark on the scientific discipline, I will have to remain with the likes of Penn Jillette, and Michael Godeau, who are self described science cheerleaders.So Hooray Science (and hooray beer :)Main PageDirect link to the graph.



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For the rest of you...

Hey all, for those who don't know, I've pierced my eyebrow, I've been trying to show people in person, as its more amusing for me, but I suppose the surprise is pretty much gone, so I thought I would just get to posting it and be done.



So Ta Da, if your wondering why I did it, well there are couple reasons, none of them good enough for my mother :) but that's okay. The big one, I think, is that with all the weightless and healthiness that Erin and I have been enjoying of late, I was feeling quite good about myself, and decided to do something for myself I liked (don't worry folks I didn't do it without at least getting Erin's consent. But if you ask Erin I believe the story goes "SO Geoff asked if I thought an eyebrow piercing would be look good, and I said, it might, so he pulled out a staple gun and did it on the spot." Or at least the story might sound like that by the time you hear it, it gets better and more shocking each time.

In reality I went to a Tattoo and piercing parlor in Oakville called Way Cool Tattoos. I picked them for two reasons, they had the least scary website / store front, making it more approachable instead of the normal biker haunt, and then once I went in, the staff were really knowledgeable about health and saftey, and really went over all the details, because lets face it a piercing isn't worth getting aids, or Hep over... It's just not that "cool."

Anyways, I got it done, its healing really well, and I think it looks good, and Erin has given it a nod. I've got mixed reactions, but mostly positive, but like I said, I did it for me, which is maybe more vain then I usually am, but its probably the only time I will be vain this decade, so don't worry. :)

G

Becel Heart&Stroke Ride for Heart

Morning all, Erin and I got up at the crack of stupid and boogied out here to get down town. Upon arrival I drove in circles looking for parking, but managed to work it out. We queued in our starting gate for a while and just chilled, realizing how great a bathroom would have been right there. This was a strong motivating factor for the first 1/4 of the race. The course itself joins with the Gardiner at the West end of the Ex, goes up and over the city, to the DVP, and then up the Don Valley. In spite of the smog the view was nice, and the weather great. We made good time and even rode along side Brad and Jodi for a while. The first rest stop was well timed, and then it was back on the road. We did the whole thing in between 1-2 hours, which is what we wanted, but we don't really have a good idea of when we started, so I can't be more actuate then that.

The great news is we raised over $400 dollars for the Heart and Stoke Foundation, and that is something everyone can feel good about.

Cheers
G