I'm Ready To Administer Justice in Australia

The saga of my sprained ankle hasn't improved much.  I've been going to physiotherapy for the past 2 weeks, but my progress has been slow.  So with the recommendation of my therapist, I now have fancy new footwear.

If I don't look down, I can imagine myself looking like this when walking around:

So much rest is prescribed for my recovery.  Which I promptly threw out the window tonight by deciding it would be ok to try a nice and easy bike ride.  The first push of the pedal showed me the error of my ways and probably set back the healing process by at least a week... or at least that's what the "pop" I felt tells me.

This will not be the Summer of Matt.

Photos From Christmas Cruisetacular '13

Christmas Cruise 2013 on the Noordam, a set on Flickr.

A Few Cruise Photos

For those that are interested, here are some photos I took while on the cruise last week.



It was a great trip, once again. Warm weather... not hot though. The only hitch was that we weren't able to tender into Grand Cayman due to sea conditions on one day.

Post From A Nerd With Too Much Disposable Income

I bought a new computer today! I've been meaning to get a good gaming rig for a while, and the recent release of Civilization V has finally pushed me over the edge. I trust that this one will be able to handle any game out on the market and last for quite a few years.

I'm excited, because I've got a few games over the last couple years which I've been able to run on my work laptop, but not to the optimal performance. Now I have a personal PC that I can keep my own stuff separate and save my laptop from the extra work.

For those that are interested, specs:
Intel Core i7 870
1.5 TB HD
12 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1 GB)
DVD Writer/Blu Ray Drive
and so on.

As a side note, as the sun was setting tonight, I saw a full on double rainbow all the way across the sky.



What does it mean?

Tornado Photos

As promised, here are some of the photos I took walking around the morning after the tornado in Leamington, as uploaded to Flickr. Obviously, the police kept everyone away from where most of the damage occurred, but I still got a couple shots in.

Camping in Algonquin

This past weekend I was up in Algonquin Park on a canoe/camping trip. This time we entered in through the east side of the park and stayed on St Andrews Lake. Here are some pictures.

Fun With Shutter Speeds

Here are a couple pictures I've taken over the last couple days, playing with the shutter speed on my camera. The first is of Parliament Hill, taken at night.

The next is taken during tonight's thunder storm. I would have gotten much better shots if I had started 5 minutes earlier, as the storm was passing. I still have to figure out the optimal settings to get the right light when I have the shutter open for 15 seconds.

Taking these photos has served to underscore my need for a tripod. You can't always get a great shot when relying on benches and tables.

I Call It: Midnight At Matt's

Here's the view of Westmount and Erb from my balcony at 11:51pm. I think it turned out pretty good.

How About A Picture To Pass The Time?

I decided that after it rained yesterday, it was a good opprotunity to take a nice panoramic shot off my balcony. Here are the results.

That's a Wrap!

Well, my presents are bought, wrapped, and ready to go! Christmas vacation begins in a few hours for me. I couldn't be looking more forward to the time off than I am this year. I'ma gonna savour the time of not working. It's been a long time coming. Merry Christmas everyone! 

Meet Max and Molly

So, my parents got a couple of new kittens this past week. Without further ado, here they are...

This shorter haired one is Max...

And the smaller, longer haired one is Molly. Max is more of your typical kitten, gettin' in trouble and stuff, while Molly is more of the "I'll sleep in whatever position you put me" variety. 

Mystery 2 Solved!

Mystery photo 2 is, of course, the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam! Every bottle of Heineken bears my last name (with an i and j tacked onto the end). So, for being the closest guess, Dan, er I mean, Jooje wins this round! That's one smart cat, er I mean, smartass cat. Ok, I'm done with mystery photos for now. 

Mystery Photo 2!

Just because I can't think of anything else to write... Here's the second mystery photo in a series of one. Can you guess what and where this is? It's got the word Brouwer in it... it's got to be good! 

Mystery Solved!

The answer, of course, is that the mystery picture was a close up of Paul Tracy's Champ Car that he raced at the Australian Lexmark Indy 300 that clinched him the championship in 2003. I'm pleased to see that everyone was on the right track with the Indy references (like Molson Indy and Lexmark Indy, not the bad Indy). But why would I put up a picture of that, beside being a big Champ Car freak? Well, this race was right after the new anti-tobacco advertising law came into effect in Canada, so Player's couldn't put thier logo on the car for the last two races of the season... so as a way of saying thanks to thier fans, Player's put the name of thier fans (ones who signed up on thier website) on the car instead of thier now-illegal logo. Look closely at the mystery photo... three rows beneath the fat lady... you'll see a familiar name. That's right... my name was on Paul Tracy's championship winning Champ Car. Quite a thrill for someone like me. 

Guess the Mystery Photo!

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? 

Matt Wins the Stanley Cup!

Why not? Nobody else will win it this year.



Well, I suppose I didn't win it... But I did stand beside it on my trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame with Dan. Yep, Dan and I went to the happiest place on earth while the ladies wasted their time shopping. Good deal. Here are some other pictures.





The only drawback was that I didn't get to destroy the "lucky loonie". I hate that coin! Seriously, it was a good idea the first time, but now there's a lucky loonie for everything Canada is involved with. It's ridiculous! The mystique has been totally destroyed by everyone wanting to copy a good idea.

Going to the Zoo....

Yesterday, Nory, Robin and I went on a tour of the Toronto Zoo with Zoo Expert/Teacher, Jen. This is a picture of Stripes the Giraffe. Notice the lack of stripes on Stripes. It was a really great way to spend the afternoon, made even better thanks to Jen's knowledge of practically everything there.