EuroRoss Update Central

True Love?

2009-03-22T14:16:00.001-06:00

Raychel Coudriet

2008-04-07T14:27:00.001-06:00

The pic you're looking for, Raychel Coudriet:

The End Is Coming... or Gone

2008-04-04T10:49:00.002-06:00

If this isn't the first sign then I don't know what is:

While the end of it all might be soon upon us it's time to get EuroRoss back on track :-)

Aside: NKOTB back?! Are you frikking kidding me!?!?

old end with pic

2008-01-02T19:11:00.002-07:00

This was taken somewhere on a hike near Huntsville, Ontario:

Good times...

As the sign indicates, things have been slow around EuroRoss over the past months, but soon they're going to pick back up. Tune back in Apr. 2008 :-)

Update:

Where in the world are you guys?? ;-)

-------------
2nd post

"All of us are in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars..."

- Oscar Wilde

Thank you to everyone who came along over the past 4 years for the EuroRoss ride. Unfortunatly time has come, we go our separate ways from here... safe travels everyone :-)

Update: Thanks to everyone who e-mailed, I cannot tell you how much it means... and yes, as promised I will post the photo slideshow from Australia below later this week as a final addition to the main page. In the meantime please feel free to browse the archives :-)

Cheeri-O

Update 2: Still working on it but within a week or so the vid will be up.

Update 3: Yeah, still no video, you know... busy ;-) For all you asking I finally caved and am on Facebook, use my Rossiroo [at] hotmail [dot] com address

Update 4: Just checking in. Why have my website traffic numbers increased since I stopped blogging?? I guess the public is trying to say something! ;-)

Update 10-2007: Camping pic in the middle of nowhere... which is somewhere for me :-)

Somewhere Out There

2007-11-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

That's All Folks

2007-05-20T07:30:00.000-06:00

"All of us are in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars..."

- Oscar Wilde

The Future Is Now

2007-05-19T22:16:00.000-06:00

Everyone who knows hockey knows that Junior hockey is the most exciting hockey on the planet, when you mix in 35 years of rival history then you've got a storyline for the ages. Russia-Canada summit series reunion, here's how it looked 35 years ago:

Down 2 goals in the final period, Canada pulls together and brings home the series. This time we were down 2 goals in the first period of the first game... but... never... looked... back:

In 2009 the World Junior Hockey Championships are in Ottawa... you're all invited :-)

Electric

2007-05-19T20:36:00.000-06:00

I'm starting to wonder about my decision to live in the tallest building in the city. About 10 minutes ago the sun was pleasantly going down, some rolling clouds were rolling in when... BAM!

A thunder clap hit so loud and hard you'd swear blood was coming out of our ears. Within 30 seconds the entire sky was black and the winds were threatening to bust in the windows. Moments thereafter there was a flash of light and suddenly all the alarms in the building went off.

We had just been hit by lightning, one floor up and two floors over is apparently where the brunt of the damage is. Sleep tight tonight everyone... I know I won't!! :-)

Too Days 2 Late to Early

2007-05-19T00:05:00.000-06:00

Juli plays my old MBA stomping grounds in Pforzheim this November two days after I leave nearby Stuttgart for Florida and then I leave the sunny beaches two days prior to my Senators rolling into town for a game against the Lightning :-( Too days 2 late to early...

Looks like Juli is mixing in some English collaborations of late:

F1 Rossiter

2007-05-18T17:18:00.000-06:00

Travelling in Europe with long trip times and limited access... or maybe I'm just test driving Formula 1 cars now ;-)

Life Begins Every Morning

2007-05-15T18:32:00.000-06:00

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin...

(Grandma gets it in today :-)

Schlossplatz

2007-05-14T18:18:00.000-06:00

They finally announced that Stuttgart will bust out the "fan fest" screens from when everyone watched the World Cup in each centre city so fans can watch VFB Stuttgart win the championship this Saturday. That's where we'll be, come join us for a beer and the celebrations :-)

T-dot Weekend Skies

2007-05-13T19:47:00.000-06:00

A great weekend in Toronto :-)

Back to the grindstone tomorrow morning...

The Championship Is Here

2007-05-13T17:05:00.000-06:00

After winning yesturday coupled with a Schalke and Bremen loss leaves VFB Stuttgart just one home win away from the Bundesliga Championship. The week after they have a chance to add a Pokal Cup Championship, it's going to be a great week in Schwabishlande!!! :-)

Petite Amie

2007-05-11T05:58:00.000-06:00

The Whitsunday's have some of the most beautiful islands and coral reefs in the world... and when you're finished a full day of diving and beach life the bars have some great "scenery" as well ;-)

I hate shopping, but when you're traveling with 3 girls sometimes you have to make exceptions. Besides, taking a break from the outdoor heat for the air conditioned stores wasn't a bad idea... I found other ways to amuse myself ;-)

Perhaps some company was in order, so I bought a bunch of these for my buddies back home :-)

Three more work days and I'm back on a plane, there's no rest for the wicked ;-) :-)

Business Quote o' Note

2007-05-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

Business quote of the day:

“Too often we measure everything and understand nothing. The three most important things you need to measure in a business are customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow. If you’re growing customer satisfaction, your global market share is sure to grow, too. Employee satisfaction gets you productivity, quality, pride, and creativity. And cash flow is the pulse—the key vital sign of a company.”

- Jack Welch

Business tech joke of the day:

"VISTA = Virus Inside, Switch To Apple"

Business Visual Funny of the day:

Stuttgart Visions

2007-05-10T06:32:00.000-06:00

Just a hop, skip and a jump before I arrive... :-)

PS3 vs. Xbox

2007-05-09T00:07:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about buying a new video game console to fill those non-existant "down-time" hours (yeah right), but which one? The PS3 or Xbox360 would both make fine choices, but perhaps a cost comparison is in order. For the same $599 plus taxes I can buy either the Xbox360 and beer pile #1 or the Sony PS3 and beer pile #2...

Ah, what the heck, I'll just buy a Nintendo Wii ;-)

TFC - The Beginning

2007-05-08T19:46:00.000-06:00

Last week to a sold out crowd of over 20,000, Toronto FC (TFC) started what will become the greatest soccer team in Canada/MLS :-) Having bought my supporter's section season tickets over a year ago it was finally time to break bread in the new stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Toronto FC!! :-)

The promo leading up to the big franchise opener, it's great to watch the game and see the C.N. Tower in the background:

Let the game begin!

The end stands are filled with all the supporter's clubs. Our club is know as the "Red Patch Boys" referrencing an old army division made up of Toronto locals from back in the day. Not only is our club name a tribute to those that died for our freedom, we have also affectionatly named the supporters stands as "the Bunker" :-)

The view from "the Bunker":

The crazy supporters that hold down the Bunker and lead the cheering for the rest of the stadium:

Wide angle shot of the sold out franchise opener:

Despite the 1-0 loss, the crowd was totally into the game and the team. Great times:

San Fran Freak

2007-05-08T18:01:00.000-06:00

If you're a geek you'll get this. If you're not a geek then move along, nothing to see here :-)

Future Society

2007-05-08T17:46:00.000-06:00

What future "nature" paintings will look like if the U.K. gets it's expanded surveillance bill approved:

Inspirational isn't it... :-(

Paris Love Lamp

2007-05-07T17:57:00.000-06:00

Finally lets end the day with some community creativity and love, coming in the form of a Paris traffic light that hopefully brings a few smiles throughout the day:

Radio Shame

2007-05-07T17:29:00.000-06:00

...and now back to evil, this time a radio show host crushes the heart of a cheating girlfriend:

Today is apparently good-bad swing day ;-)

Ice Rose

2007-05-07T12:08:00.000-06:00

Because EuroRoss likes to mix the crudety (like the last post) with the sensitive :-)

Low Brow

2007-05-07T12:07:00.000-06:00

Warning: this vid is a bit crude. Shows what guys are really thinking, and yes, even your perfect "my man would ever think that" guy is thinking this:

More Crazy Subway Fun

2007-05-06T08:49:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is about the mixture of copeus amounts of alcohol and subway trips, but it works. More "crazy" fun on the subway:

Lip Dubbing: Crazy from Jakob Lodwick

Rollers and Haters

2007-05-06T04:04:00.000-06:00

In life there are "rollers" and then there are "haters". Don't be a hater, live life and roll baby!! :-)

Schtuo-gard

2007-05-06T00:50:00.000-06:00

How do you get over the travel blues after returning back from Australia? You take another trip of course! I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've last been back, only 2 more weeks until we fix that sitch! :-)

What's Stuttgart like? Here's a view of some pics posted during the time when I was last there:

Downtown sunshine:

U-bahn traffic:

On my way up from Hauptbahnhof, a 2 minute walk away from the best watering hole in the city - CBP (Circle-Beer-Place) :-)

It also rained :-(

Warm up the Schwabish and their livers! I'm almost back! :-)

Worst Day Of My Life

2007-05-05T07:03:00.000-06:00

A future PETA member in the making:

Friday Fest

2007-05-04T18:05:00.000-06:00

It's Friday and time to party! Looks like some of us, namely David Hasselhof has beat us to the weekend!

Have a good weekend in the sun everyone!

Canada Passtimes

2007-05-03T19:45:00.000-06:00

As much as I loved Oz, it's also good to come back home to Canada. I think I'll go play a round of golf ;-)

Manly Hood

2007-05-03T19:02:00.000-06:00

The dangerous side of Manly is like snow in the Sahara, you don't see it very often and if you do you're either dehydrated or drunk. Well we were drunk ;-)

Stamp scares from the club the previous night:

3:30 am crash and burn:

I lost a beer cap... honestly! :-)

Say No To DRM

2007-05-03T08:23:00.000-06:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

If you know what this means you're a geek ;-) Screw DRM.

No Worries

2007-05-03T06:43:00.000-06:00

It's only been a week since I left the surf beaches of Oz and I already miss it...

Only 11 more months before I get back :-)

Manly Wharf

2007-05-02T17:55:00.000-06:00

Only 5 days after getting back from Australia I already miss having a cold beer on the patio overlooking Manly bay. Sigh:

Here's a short video of the scene:

DaVinci Musak

2007-05-02T07:07:00.000-06:00

This is even better than the movie, a father and son team have discovered the code from the 13 symbols found at the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (the chapel highlighted at the end of the movie), this is what they found:

Sydney Snap

2007-05-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

Sydney has tons of things to do so one day I met my little buddy for lunch and then just walked around discovering some of the city. Here are some of the things I found:

Still one of the best sights in all of Australia. The ferry we take from Manly goes by here every single trip :-)

Getting culture-ized at the Sydney theatre house:

2 mins outside of downtown Sydney is the botanical gardens, which have a great line of sight at some points going back to the city:

This tree is old, really old (I can't remember how old but I did read it on the sign ;-)

Cool artifacts are littered around the gardens:

Leaving Sydney after a well-done night of partying. A little blurry but the ferry hit some wicked waves that night... and I guess my liver hit some wicked alcohol as well ;-)

Here's a quick video (at night shitty quality) of us leaving Sydney at the end of the night:

NBA Raptors Playoffs

2007-05-01T06:44:00.000-06:00

After being in Australia for the past 5+ weeks there are things that I'm really appreciating about Canada that I missed... especially the sport culture and playoffs! (hockey and basketball).

The Toronto Raptors had a great season but are falling behind arch enemy Carter of the New Jersey Nets :-( Come on lads, get it in gear!! :-)

Onward

2007-04-27T02:17:00.000-06:00

You don't even know, but I'm slowly walking towards you...

:-)

2007-04-26T14:35:00.000-06:00

Not dead, quite the opposite, living it up down under :-)

Mid-Week Funny

2007-04-17T19:56:00.000-06:00

The new Will Ferral video comedy site trailer, good shit:

Manly Union League

2007-04-17T14:06:00.000-06:00

Sunday afternoon last week and back from Taz. There's nothing better than hooking up with 20,000 Manly/Sydney-ites and one kiwi to check out the weekly Rugby game staring local first place team the Manly Sea Eagles. We certainly had our game faces/bellies on ;-)

The weather wasamazing and the stadium was jam packed. Because it was so busy and a televised game the line for tickets wrapped completly around the entire stadium. Figuring we wouldn't get in before half time we first had a few pints at the supporters club watching it on their big screen projection, then mozzied on over to the stadium at half to walk in and watch the rest for free. What a great day :-)

Tasmanian Times

2007-04-16T22:01:00.000-06:00

After a great time in Melbourne it was ti me to get to Australia's unloved stepson Tasmania for some serious outdoor adventure. The city of Hobart surprisingly had some non-outback gems to check out:

Being an island off the coast of Australia certainly lends itself to having a thriving fish industry. Some of the restaurants are built right into the boat and are amazingly popular after 7pm when the sun goes down:

You might not think Tasmanian's are very cultured and rather forgettable, you'd be wrong. In Hobart they even have a (small) university dedicated to the arts. Some great rookie art is free on display for everyone:

Taz might not have alot of people or modern comforts, but if you're into hiking this is definatly the place to be. Even outside their "biggest" city Hobart (125k people), you're only 5 minutes away from some stunning paths:

The view going up the mountain was absolutly stunning:

The sun goes down over the Tasmanian outback, what a great adventure away from everywhere else in the world...

Only In Canada

2007-04-16T17:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Al who got this in :-)

Great Ocean Road

2007-04-14T12:58:00.000-06:00

Needless to say last Saturday wasa total blowout, it was time to get some fresh air and light exercise into the system. Just south from Melbourne along the southern coast is the "Great Ocean Road". Considering that our ferry to Tasmania didn't leave until that night (we eventually missed it and flew) we decided to go hit the road.

Very windy-windy, stunning views, great little surf villages all along (the Bell's Beach Ripcurl tournament started there 2 days later) and the famous "12 appossels", a group of rock formations along a section of coast formed over millenia of tides:

Later that afternoon we moved inland and lone behold drove through the now famous in Canada "Colac", home of the 3 "Backpackers" on OLN (just read that they are starting a sequel). Well there's definatly not much there, but there was one interesting thing for this Canadian: :-)

Off to Taz...

Manly Fight Night?

2007-04-13T12:37:00.000-06:00

I guess Manly isn't quite as posh as I thought it was. While me and a colleague sipped wine and beer over a candlelit diner at a trendy local restaurant, the following was occuring right under our noses:

Police are appealing for witnesses after a young English tourist had part of his lip bitten off during a pub fight in Manly overnight.
"The 23-year-old became in involved in an altercation with a group of men at a hotel on The Corso about 12.50am.

Security were able to pull the fighters apart but the tourist required hospitalisation after part of his lower lip was bitten off.

He was taken to Manly Hospital but is expected to be transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital today for further treatment.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Manly detectives on 9977 9499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."

Well Manly just won't stand for that! It certainly must be a result of all the Sydney riff-raff coming over on the jetcat, back to the ferry days I say!! ;-)

Melbourne Days, Melbourne Nights

2007-04-12T12:53:00.000-06:00

After a great start to Melbourne with the opening season AFL game it was time to get up and experience the city. Before that however we caught up with Oz and bines and their new diggs. Here Aussie shows off his sweet new ride... I'm talking about the bike ;-) No way was I going to miss out on hitting the road on that beast! (again, talking about the bike! ;-)

Aussie's new dog. Best... dog... ever!
Update: Just got an e-mail that our little friend Brandy has left us suddenly. We all miss you buddy and I'm glad I got a chance to meet you.

The afternoon couldn't have been better, some kite surfers enjoying the afternoon:

Melbourne harbour. Great view, and the last picture before the hard core boozing started :-)

The view above the patio at the bar we baked at all afternoon. Considering that this is the only web-friendly picture from the entire afternoon should give some indication of how hammed we already were before going out Sat night :-)

More from Sat night and the MASSIVE sunday morning hangover tomorrow, time to hit the beach :-)

Mystery Photos

2007-04-12T11:11:00.000-06:00

The mystery photos from last Thursday night (when we missed our flight) are just now starting to emerge. The guilty: Aussie, Ross and 2-minute Chad :-)

Stuttgart Time-Killer

2007-04-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

Slowly approaching 1k views of "Killing Time On The Stuttgart S-Bahn". That's got to be some kind of milestone ;-)

Off To Melbourne... Maybe

2007-04-11T15:34:00.000-06:00

After a crazy night out in Sydney catching up with old friends and having good times we had to catch an obscenely early 6:15am flight to Melbourne for the weekend. Yeah that didn't happen. At 5:45 we awake to start a mad dash for the airport. Ninty minutes and $400 later we are finally in the air on our way to Melbourne:

Oz took it like a trooper and headed straight to work upon arrival, while some of us took the opportunity to sleep off the in-flight beers (no joke):

The whole reason for the rush to Melbourne in just my 3rd day in Australia was to catch the opening season AFL game at MCG stadium. Of course this was my first AFL game live in stadium and it totally lived up to expectations:

Exciting game, even if Melbourne did eventually check out and get blown up by St. Kilda :-(

Friday night in Melbourne starts with a bang, and it was just an indication of what was to come Saturday night...

Congrats My Lady

2007-04-11T13:11:00.000-06:00

Congradulations are in order for Canada's national Women's Hockey team as they took home the 8th (of a total 9) world hockey championship today. Quite simply they are the best:

The Land Down Under

2007-04-10T12:05:00.000-06:00

As the sun comes up I realize I'm on the other side of the globe, just about to arrive in Sydney:

Although Australian culture is very close to Canadian there are definatly subtle differences. Notice the little blue symbol on the sign? That's used to denote surfing, not skiing. As if! That's a skier if I ever saw one, of course the weather doesn't really lend itself to snow bunnies eh ;-)

Driving through Sydney on route to the suburb of Manly: (click for video)

That's Sydney in the background, if I could take a decent night pic with my crappy camera you'd see the amazing lights from downtown. What a view! This is home base for my travels around Oz over the next 5 weeks:

The beach in Manly (Sydney), click pic below for a video:

Time to hit the beach, my surf nickname is "Goggle-Google-Boy" relating to my geek and swimmer background, just great. They couldn't have just called me "Spikey" or something?!? ;-)

Alcatraz

2007-04-10T10:33:00.000-06:00

The day before leaving San Francisco I did one of the most touristy things imaginable and went to Alcatraz for a tour. It was totally worth the time/money. Some pics below, one actual day (and two calendar days) later I would be hitting the waves off the coast of Oz.

As approaching the island:

A prisoners "living" space:

The keys to freedom are held tantalizingly out of reach:

From the small outdoor grounds (prisoners allowed to go outside for one hour a day with good behaviour) you can just see over the wall to the city across the bay:

Touristy? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

Evil Jokes

2007-04-10T06:10:00.000-06:00

Evil joke of the day:

THE SITUATION - You are in Florida, Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you’re caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.

You’re trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

THE TEST - Suddenly you see a woman in the water. She is fighting for her life, trying not to be taken down with the debris.

You move closer. Somehow the woman looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is. It’s Hillary Clinton! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take her under forever.

You have two options: You can save the life of Hillary Clinton or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world’s most powerful women (in her mind, at least).

THE QUESTION - Here’s the question, and please give an honest answer….

Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

VfB Stuttgart ist unser Leben, ist unser Ziel

2007-04-09T11:31:00.000-06:00

Another week, another VFB Stuttgart victory. Can't wait to get to the Pokal finals in Berlin this May :-)

San Fran Character

2007-04-08T18:56:00.000-06:00

There are lots of interesting people in San Francisco

Peace brother:

Animal Crackers

2007-04-06T06:49:00.000-06:00

Animal crackers in my soup,
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop.
Gosh oh gee but I have fun,
Swallowing animals one by one.

When their inside me, where its dark,
I walk around like Noahs Arc.
I stuff my tummy like a goop,
With animal crackers in my soup.

Actually it's animal bread :-)

San Fran

2007-03-29T14:59:00.000-06:00

The travelling tour is going crazy fast, already a week gone by! I figured I better get up some pics from San Francisco considering the fact that I'm already skipping out on most of my plans here in Sydney to hit 5:30am waves, no joke.

So here's a quick photosnapshot of how great San Fran was (more to cum):

Want a workout? Try trekking through San Fran all day. The hills are killer on the knees!

Of course I checked out the local tourist hot spots, including the warf. Ok that's enough of that...

There's also lots of hidden treasures around the various parks and plaza's around the city:

Another great hide away, and fantastic spot for a pint I might add:

There's nothing like a lazy afternoon nap :-)

Love the sea lions. I sat here having lunch and could have let them entertain me all day:

The Art Museum, very cool:

Five hours after leaving the downtown core I finally arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. Way more impressive in movies and TV than in real life. Well cross that one off the list:

Looks like rain, the view of the city from the GG Bridge:

The rain threatened to move in but the surfers were happier than ever as the waves started rolling in really nice like:

The Other Side Of San Francisco

2007-03-29T13:57:00.000-06:00

Come and climb to the other side of San Francisco:

Things You Should Know

2007-03-28T16:53:00.000-06:00

Here's a list of 16 things you should know by the time you're 50. My favorite? Definatly number 3:

"You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment."

Amen brother. Amen.

Esslingen IS Ugly

2007-03-27T20:51:00.000-06:00

Everyone in Stuttgart says (knows) Esslingen (small suburb of Stuttgart) is ugly, well they're right... Coyote Ugly that is! Yes that is the actual name of the bar:

Arrived

2007-03-26T10:39:00.000-06:00

On The Other Side

2007-03-23T22:57:00.000-06:00

That's it, I'm off. The next time I post something, it'll be from the other side. And when I say from the other side, I really mean, from the other side! Get ready Australia, you've never experienced EuroRoss before! ;-) :-)

Barenaked Diddy

2007-03-22T18:41:00.000-06:00

The Barenaked Ladies (famous Canadian band) absolutely rock! Take a gander at this jingle they posted up on YouTube. Watch closely as Steve joins the song... frigging priceless!

Can you tell I'm happy? One more report and one more day to go before the big trip... :-)

First Century Tech Support

2007-03-21T18:25:00.000-06:00

Had one of these moments today when I helped out someone at the office:

Who's On First?

2007-03-20T18:18:00.000-06:00

Some more Bush humour, this time Domi (Paris native) gets it in. But I do have one question, who was on first?? ;-)

Duck Thief

2007-03-19T06:01:00.000-06:00

Today I checked out my blog stats as I haven't really looked in a long time and I noticed that quietly I've passed the 100,000 visitors mark. That's right, over 100,000 people have come by the blog since it's inception. That's insane.

Welcome to Monday, don't let the fuzzy ducklings distract you ;-)

Travel Death

2007-03-18T16:42:00.000-06:00

Only 4 days until I start my next big journey, crazy. While gone however I'll try to avoid dying by one of these top ten ways tourists die, epecially number 5: falling coconuts

Am I ever afraid of falling coconuts!! ;-)

Slow M... o... t... i... o... n...

2007-03-18T14:23:00.000-06:00

Wow, totally hung today, everything seems to be going in slllloooowwwwww motion:

Fat St. Pat

2007-03-17T06:59:00.000-06:00

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!! :-)

On The Trail

2007-03-16T18:23:00.000-06:00

I'm off on the trail one week today... I'll let you know where exactly in a couple days :-)

(Thomas Hawk)

Sidewalk Parking

2007-03-15T20:28:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows people in North America don't have a clue how to parallel park. There's just no need, with ample parking lots and huge streetside spots people just don't learn how. Even your driving test only requires a parallel park behind one car, not in between 2.

Europe on the other hand trains and develops master parallel park'ers. My friends in Paris could fit a buick into a spot the size of a matchbox... like a glove!

This is how they try to parallel park in Hamilton, ending up on the sidewalk, on top of a poll:

That was the scene when I came back from work today. Thank god tomorrow is Friday.

Four Burgers, Three Fries, Some Backbacon...

2007-03-15T18:51:00.000-06:00

Hockey rocks, if you don't know who these players then for god's sake get yourself to Canada to watch some NHL playoff games!! Great commercial:

Total Eclipse Of... Memory?

2007-03-14T18:33:00.000-06:00

There was a total lunar eclipse last week. Here's what it looked like from Stuttgart:

300

2007-03-14T12:31:00.000-06:00

Yes we went to see it Sunday. "300" has a very simple story (300 Spartans defending their homeland vs. the entire Persian empire), very little plot and ton of fighting scenes. Excellent for a hangover Sunday afternoon :-)

To the Iranian government: yes it is cultural warfare (in a way) but not because of the reasons you propose. Hollywood has been spreading American culture throughout the world for decades by introducing billions across the globe to their stories and values through films. 300 is no more warfare than everyone's old fav "90210"... which was a #1 TV show in Iran by the way!

(300, 90210, 23,... what's with all the numbers today?? ;-)

Buggy Stuff

2007-03-13T07:33:00.000-06:00

What bugs look like after being crushed on your car windshield:

Euro 2008

2007-03-12T11:55:00.000-06:00

Well in the shadows of an amazing World Cup 2006 in Germany there's already preparations for Euro 2008 to be held in Switzerland and Austria (co-hosts). Sign-up for the first round of tickets is already underway (March 1 - March 31) and will be a lottery system (I didn't even get a sniff in all three World Cup ticket rounds last time and had to get my tickets... elsewhere ;-)

Even if you're totally not interested SIGN UP NOW! I'll give you 100% markup if you snag Germany or England tix, seriously. Can't wait for next summer!!! :-)

Rottnest Island

2007-03-12T07:32:00.000-06:00

The countdown is on, less than 2 weeks away from Australia. Something to wet the appetite, cycling around Rottnest Island:

Where In The World Is Carmon Sandiego?

2007-03-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Where in the world is Carmon Sandiego? Probably chilling with EuroRoss somewhere ;-) Even Google maps can't find us, but when they do their fly-overs for maps sometimes they do find things they probably arn't supposed to... like this missle in flight!!

I'll be back on the map come Monday morning, see you all then :-)

Link-O-Rama

2007-03-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Six reasons why travel makes you more attractive, the last being key to your very survival. ;-)

This is cool, pick which photos you like better and after a while the computer analyses your picks and trys to tell you something about yourself.

Boom baby, Boom!

Passing out drunk? Watch out.

EuroRoss gets on "Wheel of Fortune"!

10 diet tips.

This is how you should not drive:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Karaoke Reid

2007-03-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tara Reid use to be hot. Case in point:

Now not so much...

...and a bit loaded tonight:

Best quote is right at the beginning "karaoke is fun, it's not about American Idol". You're so right Tara, you're so right.

Take-out Links

2007-03-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

These are the links you take with you on the road when you can't sit down and eat a full internet meal:

Sometimes public TV is frigging hilarious, this guy just keeps taking it... and taking it... and taking it... jeebus does he ever take it! :-)

It's frigging cold in places like Canada and Russia. Don't believe me? Even vodka freezes here, did you even think that was possible?!

Probably my fav commercial ever, double click the vid screen to go to youtube and see the other ones in the VW "un-pimped" series:

I leave you with this, if you don't get it congrats, you've successfully passed politness school, if you do get it... shame shame! ;-)

Sydney Is Electric!

2007-03-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

There was an amazing electrical storm in Sydney over the weekend and my pal Al was there (Manly, across the bay) to take first hand photo's of the commotion. Three weeks and I'm there, three weeks and I'm there, three weeks...

The lightning was all over the place, which incidentally gives a great view of the bridge and city:

Powerful:

Ka-BOOM!!!

Very cool, but hopefully it'll be a bit more sunny and calm for our 2 week VW ride up the beaches along the coast. Here's my fingers crossed!

Just Another Toronto Night Out

2007-03-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Damn, I've really gotta stop doing this. Calling up my friends in Toronto to hook up for "one beer" while watching the hockey game and then... 6am crawling home. What am I talking about?! What a great night!! :-)

It all started with a $50 Nike scarf, bought in Moskow and made somewhere in China. What style!

Well that about does it for photos that are tastfully able to be posted, I guess you'll have to use your imagination for the rest. To aid in your cause, imagine what it's like for a bunch of guys to drink this much beer:

...and requiring to pay the cab driver $5 to stop the taxi just so you can get out and pee... on some random house downtown T-dot! And that wasn't even half way through the night!

Oh what shame, what shame! Can't wait until next weekend ;-)

Update: The end of the video seems to be cut off, in answer to the statement "you just paid the cabbi 5 bucks to pee!" Stevie responds with "I paid him 20". Hilarious.

Update 2: Rumour has it that I was dancing to "I'm too sexy" on top of the bar at Jack Astors. The rumours are true, I even rubbed some guys bald head :-)

JetBlue Appologizes

2007-03-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

How a great company appologizes to their customers (after a JetBlue flight was sitting on the tarmack with a full load of passengers for 5+ hours):

Wouldn't it be great if all companies owned up like this?

Weekend Relaxation

2007-03-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

Friday night is almost here, time to relax!

We Are VFB Stuttgart, And We Are Going To Berlin!

2007-03-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

Que sera sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see,
Que sera sera...

If I Was Handcuffed To You

2007-03-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

"I don't have the key."

U.S. Knows Best

2007-03-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Another edition of "the U.S. knows best":

The best line in the whole bunch comes with 3:29 left in the video: "which one is throwing the rocks"... blows my mind, absolutely blows my mind.

Update: Just when you think it couldn't possibly get worse... er, funnier, I turn on the TV tonight and see this new show hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy: "Are you smarter then a fifth grader"

After 3 questions on a 10 question test the guy (27 and with a college degree) had already used 2 "cheats" copying off the paper of the other 5 grader contestants. No joke. I... am... shaking... my... head... right... now.

Des Rails

2007-02-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

Je suis partie bien à l’ heure,
J’ai pris le train,
En direction du cœur,
Pas vu le train,
Qui mène à grande vitesse,
Tu me délaisses,
Une fille de seconde classe,
A pris ma place...

Chaque fois mon train qui déraille,
Je ne suis pas de taille,
Chaque fois mon cœur qui déraille,
Et ma tête, alouette, ma vie n’a ni queue ni tête,
Chaque fois mon train qui déraille,
S’engouffre dans la faille,
Chaque fois mon cœur qui déraille,
Et la tête, alouette, ma vie n’a ni queue ni tête.

Et qu’est-ce qu’on fait?
On prendra le prochain?
Sur l’autre quai?
Nos corps ces grands voyageurs,
Roulent oui mais,
Oui mais les sautes d’humeurs,
C’est sans arrêt.

Et chaque fois nos trains qui déraillent,
Nous ne sommes pas de taille,
Chaque fois nos cœurs qui déraillent,
Et nos têtes, alouette, la vie n’a ni queue ni tête,

Chaque fois nos trains qui déraillent,
S’engouffrent dans la faille,
Chaque fois nos cœurs qui déraillent,
Et la tête, alouette, la vie n’a ni queue ni tête.

Chaque fois les hommes déraillent,
Et se livrent bataille,
Chaque fois les hommes déraillent,
Et se livrent bataille.

Et pourquoi...?
Oui pourquoi...?
Et ça cogne, et ça saigne,
Et ça sent la fin de règne.

Oh mais pourquoi les hommes déraillent?
Et se livrent bataille?
Dis pourquoi les hommes déraillent?
C’est un fait, alouette, la vie n’a ni queue ni tête,
C’est pourquoi le monde déraille?
Et est mort à la bataille.

Mais pourquoi le monde déraille?
Et ça cogne, et ça saigne,
Et ça sent la fin de règne,
C’est un fait, alouette, la vie n’a ni queue ni tête!

- Zazie

Micro Home

2007-02-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Small energy and space efficient homes seem to be the future rage for space challenged nations. Not too bad an idea if you don't mind a frat house style environment, of course anything can be made to seem picturesque including this shack called a micro compact home:

I seriously need to get away! ;-)

New York New York

2007-02-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Can you guess where we were this weekend? You guessed it, New York city! Time Square for your pleasure:

According to people in the know (Jose), the place to be to catch a soccer game in New York is "Nevada Smiths". Thankfully they not only had the VFB Stuttgart game on Friday but also a few Stuttgart fans from Germany!

Saturday night Stuttgart Stephan and I hit the town in style starting off with a bite at a German style restaurant (hefe on draft!) and then hitting an interesting show club. New York is great, everywhere you go, everywhere you look, there's a monument or famous place to see. Here's the famous cafe from the "When Harry Met Sally" movie, it just happened to be on the way to the bar.

Damn, it's been a while since I was last partying downtown NY and I certainly left it too long. Good times, good times had by all :-)

The Oscar's

2007-02-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

While we were in New York they had authentic Oscars on display for the public to promote the show Sunday night:

The Academy always gives away a bunch of their Oscars the night before so as to limit the amount of bordom for the Sunday night televised show (they still failed again), of course some of these unsung heros never get recognized, like for instance... ;-)

More photo's from the New York trip tomorrow when I wake up from a semi-coma state (I'm talking about being tired from the trip, although it would equaly apply to the Oscars as it's boring as...!).

New York, or...?

2007-02-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

We took an extended weekend to jaunt down to New York... but first we stopped off in everyone's favorite "Office" town Scranton!

The centre hall and monument in the city:

Scranton is for sure the party-party capital of the world but it was time to get on with getting on to New York! Nice touch with the wreaths, gotta love Scranton ;-)

Overloaded

2007-02-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tons of stuff to post, New York rocks! Unfortunatly I'm a bit busy with stuff to do but I should be back on track by the end of the weekend when I leave the big apple. You might just say that I'm a little too overloaded...

Off to downtown Manhattan, tomorrow going to see the Islanders-Canadians game and then hooking up with some German transplants I met today at the pub for another night out. Sunday, well Sunday is a day of rest ;-)

Barenaked Ladies... Seriously!

2007-02-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight we all went to the Barenaked Ladies concert. The BNL's for those of you who don't know are a famous Canadian band... great, great band! Their most famous song is "If I Had A Million Dollars" and they have dozens of household tunes to jam pack their concert. Funnily enough the last time I saw them live was also here in Ottawa during Winterlude 3 years ago... weird ;-)

Anyways two nights in a row at ~~Corel Centre~~ Scotia Bank Place ("the SCANK") as we also hit the sens game last night (4-3 overtime win baby!! :-)

The SCANK as it started to fill up:

The Ladies rocking and rolling:

It's hard to see in the pic below but during the line "I just made you say underwear" (Pinch Me) someone threw their underwear on stage and Steve put it on his guitar... hopefully there wasn't a brown landing strip ;-)

The Ladies like to mix in banter, dance and rap into their sets, here they toast Winterlude to the tude of "Wonderful Christmas Time":

The band goes to New York to play Letterman tomorrow, and so do I (go to NY that is!). 6AM leaving time, uh... rough. Next from the "big apple"!! :-)

Update: Holy cow! After writting this post I started checking out some BNL clips on YouTube, I can't believe some of the old vids of the Ladies from when they first hit it big! Haven't they, and us all, grown up so much since then... wow, take a look at one of my personal favs from the first album "Lovers In A Dangerous Time":

Update 2: The song that broke them mainstream (in Canada), "If I Had A Million Dollars":

Update 3: A montage of song clips from the current concert tour, check out the coreography making fun of boy bands starting at 7:20, hilarious!

Update 4: Another song from the greatest hits "Brian Wilson". Drove downtown in the rain...

Update 5: Another great some, another one of my favorites "Old Appartment":

Losing Jersey Bets

2007-02-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently our buddy Jersey Jim hangs out with some pretty... intense people ;-) Taken from his Flickr stream, there's not much to say that the picture, and he himself, doesn't show already! Certainly one hell of a great party night!

How do you even label this kind of photo? I think I'll just go with: Santa X-mas Balls ;-)

Sunset Colours

2007-02-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

(Copacabana sunset)

Winterlude 2007

2007-02-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up early to go into Ottawa and hit the canal and last day of Winterlude festivities (the Winter canival here in Ottawa). The sun was shinning, it was a manageble -12 degrees and the rink was in great shape. As you can see, the Ottawa canal (which is coverted into a skating rink in the winter) is just over 7km long and as the sign says just so happens to be the largest rink in the world! :-)

Here's a taste of what the canal was like today:

There's lots of events during Winterlude inluding kite-boarding/skating. Very cool, the line was too big today so I'll hit it tomorrow during a work day to avoid the crowds:

Some people enjoy the atmosphere with a free ride ;-) Heh-ya little buddy!

After working up a sweat there's nothing better than a hot chocolate and an old fashioned BeaverTail :-) The crowd agrees:

My tummy has never been happier:

On the way home it was time to indulge in another Ottawa favorite, picking up some fries from Carling St. S&G for lunch. The sign says it all: "Best In Town!" :-)

Can't wait to go back tomorrow for a regular day of skating. Winterlude is finished for another year but the rink will be going strong for weeks to come... :-)

Extras

2007-02-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

"Extras", a followup series on the BBC from the original UK version of "The Office" is depressingly hilarious. Check it out from your favorite legal download service and discover its brilliance. A clip with a guess appearance by Bowie.