Conspiracy - 1, Insanity - 0

So, it turns out that there was an alarm clock in the apartment below mine. When the super said he had checked with them, it turns out he actually called the apartment four floors below mine. So, it looks like it's gonna be all straightened away now. Hurrah!

Crank It To 11... Then Rip Off The Knob

Or... maybe just lose 11 straight games.

More Award Winning Commercials

I went to see the winners of the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival at the Princess Cinema last night, as I have for the past few years. There weren't any Canadian ones this year, that I noticed, but I did recognize a few from either US television or from the internet. Anyway, here are a few (the rise of YouTube certainly made this easier this year):

Coca-Cola - "What Goes Around"
Axe - "Coinage"
Amora Hot Ketchup - "Marian", "Spider"
Combos Pretzels - "Grace"
Nike - "R10 Crossbar"
Honda - "Choir"
Canal+ - "March Of The Emperor"

Conspiracy or Insanity

So, there's either a conspiracy against me or I'm going completely insane. Since I've gotten back to Waterloo after my vacation, there's been an alarm going off in someone's apartment near mine every night from midnight until 2am. It's a pretty faint noise, but at that time when all is quiet and I'm trying to fall asleep, it's quite noticeable. At first, I thought it was coming from the apartment above me, since ususally, sound travels down in apartments. So, I brought it to the attention of my super, and he said that the guy above me works midnights, so it's a good possibility that he's not home when it goes off. Turns out, however, that it's not coming from his apartment....

So, the night before last I do some more investigating, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. It's very hard to tell exactly which direction it's coming from in my apartment, because it's coming through the walls and therefore seems to be coming from everywhere. So, I head out into the hallways and discover I can't hear it outside my apartment. Same thing about the floor above me. However, I can hear it when I stand outside the apartment below me. So, this leads me to think that it's the apartment below me that the offending alarm resides. I notify the super with the new information....

This morning (after the alarm still persisting last night), I get a call from my super saying the people below me say it's not coming from their apartment.

This noise has to be coming from somewhere, and I guarantee it's not coming from my apartment (and by guarantee, I mean pretty sure). And why am I the only one who hears it? Wouldn't someone else hear it too? Of course, most people are older in my building and therefore are asleep at midnight. But wouldn't the people living in the apartment where it's coming from hear it at some point? So, either there are some who are conspiring against me to keep the alarm on or... I've gone completely insane. Probably from lack of sleep from hearing this alarm.

So Close... Yet No.

Well, it's official. The losing streak has reached double digits. Ten in a row. But this one last night was especially painful to lost. We started off the game by stealing point in the first three ends to lead 3-0. Then we gave up four points... but still, it was only 4-3. We then took one point and then stole one to get back the lead 5-4. Then we gave up another four-point end to lose the game 8-5. So close, so very very close.

Forget 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, & 42... The Only Number That Matters Is 24

I don't really mean that... I love Lost. But that's not what this is about. A brand new kick ass season of 24 starts tomorrow night! 2 hours tomorrow and 2 hours Monday to start things off. It's as action packed and suspenseful as any movie that is out right now... except it lasts for 24 hours! Actually, it's more like 17 1/2 hours after commercials are taken into account, but still, that's a freakin' long movie. I've been trying to catch up with the earlier seasons that I missed, on DVD, so right now I'm trying to burn through Season 2 this weekend before Season 6 starts, because I don't want to be following 2 stories at once. I'm running out of time!

Trying To Extend Our Win Streak To 1 Game

Thursday night... curling night.

Seven games (eight if you count the first week exhibition) into this season, and our team has yet to win a game. It's really quite bad. I think part of the problem this year is that all of us on our team only curl one night a week, whereas most of the players on the other teams play on different nights, so they're much more practiced. And really each game of ours follows the same pattern: we give up points in the first couple ends and then have to come from behind the rest of the game. Really, the rest of the game isn't usually that bad, but we've never been able to quite make the complete comeback, and we've lost some pretty close games this year so far. Last week was the first game we had played after six weeks off, and it showed. Anyway, back at it tonight.

On another note, has anyone (who has a blog) switched to the "new" blogger (which used to be Blogger Beta)? Any problems? Do you like it? I assume my template won't work anymore and I'd have to customise a new one, so that's why I'm hesitant.

Just Sit Right Back And You'll Hear A Tale...

Warning: Long post ahead... Stick with it, there's a prize at the end!

Well, I suppose a post is long overdue detailing my Christmas vacation. As my last post indicated, I went cruising this year over Christmas with the Fam. We left on Saturday, December 23rd from Fort Lauderdale, FL on the ms Zuiderdam of Holland-America Line. First let me get a summary of the entire post out of the way...

Cruising is all kinds of awesome.

Anyway, from Ft. Lauderdale we sailed (without technically sailing) to the privately owned (by the cruise line) island of Half Moon Cay (pronounced "Key") in the Bahamas. Being a private island, every service there was provided by the cruise ship. There were a couple bars and shops, but mainly there was the beach. And it was the best beach I saw all trip (ergo, the best beach I've ever seen). I should mention that at all ports of call, there were "shore excursions" that one can sign up for (for a fee, of course). At this particular location, I did no such shore excursion and spent my time sitting on the beach and wandering through the island, and it was the best way to start the week, I think.

The next day was Christmas, and we spent the entire day at sea (hence, I had time to make my previous post). They had a good amount (ie. not too many) of Christmas decorations on board. They also had a couple special Christmas shows that they performed on Christmas Eve. The shows stood out in my mind a little bit, and I'll tell you why. Every night there is a live show, whether it be a musical show or a comedian or magician, etc. There were three musical shows put on by their cast, and they're probably the same shows the put on week after week, all rehearsed to a T. But the Christmas Eve show was one that they'll only put on once, and yet it was just as good as the other shows. Of course, they were singing Christmas songs, so it's not like they really had to learn the music. But still, it stuck in my head. Also, since it was a Christmas cruise, there was a healthy mix of ages on board (not just old people as is the cruising reputation, earned or not), including children... So, the ship had Santa pay a visit on Christmas morning. Hurray!

Onward we go to Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here I did a shore excursion with the whole family, which was a historical/sightseeing tour. We saw the island from Paradise Point, we went to Drake's Seat, and then to Blackbeard's Castle. It was a bit busy there, but not terribly so... after all, it was the day after Christmas, so everyone might have been out doing their shopping. Anyhoo...

On to the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Tortola is a much more laid back island (but then again, I think it's a bit poorer too) and the scenery is simply gorgeous. Having said that, all the islands in the Caribbean are beautiful, really. While in the BVI, Kier, Kyler and me took a shore excursion to The Baths on Virgin Gorda to do some snorkeling and swimming. The defining characteristic of The Baths are huge boulders on shore and in the water where there are coral. I have never snorkeled in a tropical setting before, so I loved it. I saw (and heard) fish, crabs on the rock, and I even saw a turtle and an octopus! It was also during this time that it rained for the only time (that I noticed) on the trip, which lasted for all of 15 minutes, while I was in the water.

After leaving Tortola, we had another day at sea. It was during the times on board that we could participate in the many activities on board. The ship had two pools, one outside and one underneath a retractable roof (designed by the same people who did Skydome, apparently). There was also two theatres, three dining rooms, a nightclub, numerous bars and lounges, a library, an internet cafe, a souvenier shop, a duty free shop, a jewelery shop, a casino, and various sport facilities. And it the sports where we did most of our activities. You see they had an incentive program which give you "dam dollars" every time you participated in a designated event. The events included volleyball games, basketball games, miniature golf and chipping, etc. At the end of the cruise, we could trade in the dam dollars for swag. So basically, we were being paid to play games. At the end of the cruise, I came away with a hat and a t-shirt. Sweet.

We then arrived in Nassau, The Bahamas. Here I didn't do a shore excursion and instead wandered the town with Kyler and Kier (for a bit, before she went to swim with the dolphins). We went to the straw market, which was the congregation of all the merchants of souvenir-type goods. It was crowded and it smelled. The thing that struck me the most about Nassau was the aggressiveness of the merchants, especially the ones on the street. Not to mention the sheer insanity of the drivers. All in all, Nassau the town was unimpressive. However, I didn't go across the bay to Paradise Island, where all the big resorts are. I've heard it's nice there.

The next day were were back in Fort Lauderdale and as we had about 11 hours to kill before our flight left, we decided to take one last shore excursion... this time to take an airboat ride through the Florida Everglades at the Sawgrass Recreation Park. That was pretty cool. We saw a couple of alligators in the Everglades and then a few more in the habitats they had set up. Also, there was a baby tiger, lynx, and panther. That was a good way to wind up the trip.

So, in closing, I had a fabulous week. I'd recommend cruising to anyone. You can do as much or as little as you want, and the service was top notch. Thanks Mom and Dad! Now for the prize I promised at the start. It's a photo album of selected photos that I put together. Click below to see!

2006 Cruise