Dinosaurs of the beach

Another day at the beach for me. This time it was a cold windy day at my favourite beach Jericho. This is something you don't expect to see on the beach. A giant excavator picking up huge rocks as if they were feathers. When you stop and watch them they begin to look like prehistoric creatures. Out of place and out of their environment. I am used to seeing these on constructions sites downtown or ripping up city streets. Not on the beach that I love. At first it destroyed the beauty of the beach but as I stood there and watched I began to see how graceful they can be. Something so big and powerful being so delicate and precise. Picking up rocks and arranging them in a specific order. I could picture in my mind dinosaurs with their long slender necks bringing them down to the water to drink. I began to realize that these noisy beasts weren't destroying what I love but instead making it better. They no longer felt out of place. Soon they will be done their work and will move on to their next job but I will always have this picture as proof that dinosaurs like the beach too.

FattyMcBeans

This is Dante, he was the original FattyMcBeans. I use the name in honour of him. I'm not one to get to attached to pets but Dante stoled my heart from the time I first saw him. He was special and the two of us had a bond. I got him as a birthday gift for my mom but he was always my cat. I remember picking him out at the pet store. He was the only kitten sleeping and the rest were running around and playing. He was an odd cat. He was a huge chicken shit. He didn't like going outside, he would run from birds and he was terrified of the dark. I don't know how that one works cats are suppose to the the dark, but not Dante. We kept his food on the basement steps and he wouldn't go eat unless you turned on the light and stood there with him. But for all his quirks he was a great cat. He loved to cuddle and would always climb into my lap as soon as I sat down. He knew when I was sick or just down and would always curl up beside me and purr to make me feel better. But don't let his cuteness fool you he had a temper and could be mean if he really wanted too. I have a few scars from him and every time I look at them I smile and think about him. He loved to terrorize my friends, he would always sneak up on and attack them. I miss him and it was hard to watch him wither away from cancer. I could see the pain in his eyes and he tried to be brave for me but it was just too much. Many cats have come and gone since him and all of them have had their place in my life but none of them will ever be as close to me as Dante. I miss you McBeans!

PAIN!

IT IS SHOOTING THROUGH MY BODY LIKE A BOLT OF LIGHTNING. IT'S UNBEARABLE. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. IT NEVER ENDS. I JUST WANT IT TO STOP!

Coca-Cola cooking

My Coca-cola cookbook. Yes I am a huge Coke fanatic and of course I have a Coke cookbook. I love to cook and I love Coke so why not put the two together. Everything goes better with a cook, even a recipe. So far it has gotten a lot of use. Today I am making a Beef Brisket for my sister who is recovering from surgery. She loves brisket and it is hard to find somewhere around here that makes a good one. So I am making her one to make her feel better. Comfort food is the best medicine.  Other recipes I recommend from this cookbook are the Chinese Pepper Steak, Japanese Pickled Cauliflower and my favourite the Fresh Banana Cake with Seafoam Frosting. Back to the kitchen my brisket needs basting.

Lord Stanley

So here we are again on the verge of another hockey season. The Canucks came so close last year and it was a heart break when they didn't win. After the cup run of '94 the team went through a stretch of bad years and a part of me worries that we are heading for that again. But I am trying to stay optimistic I know we still have a good core of players and our system is filled with good young talent. I am hoping that we have the same kind of season as last year with one big difference.... A Stanley Cup win! I dream that one day I get to watch the Canucks hoist the cup and that I get to be at the Stanley Cup parade. But until then I have this picture. That is me with the Stanley Cup. That was a dream come true getting to touch it and reading all the names of the players I grew up idolizing. Now the next dream is to read the names of my Vancouver Canucks on it.

Two more places to go

I found a couple new places I want to visit. First The Great Blue Hole in Belize. I stumbled across a picture of it and wanted to know more about it. It's an underwater sinkhole. I didn't even know there was such a thing until minutes ago but it looks beautiful and scary and intriguing. It's just a one of those things I want to see. Just fly over it in a helicopter so I can tell everyone that I did it and get some pictures of my own to add to my blog.

 Pamukkale in Turkey is the second place I discovered today. They are natural occurring hot springs and travertines in a city in southwestern Turkey. This picture just makes you want to lay in them all day and take in the breathtaking scenery that surrounds them. I know I live so close to Harrison Hot Springs and I have been there before, they are beautiful and amazing in there own way. But these would give you a totally different experience.

Two more places to add to my must see list. It is really starting to grow. I should probably get started on knocking them off.

Humpty Dumpty?

I don't know what the hell this is. I am guessing it is suppose to be Humpty Dumpty but who really knows. I don't know where my sister found this or why she brought it home, but she seems to really like it. It creeps the hell out of me. It looks like a deranged little psycho that will kill me in my sleep. Every time I am at my sisters I catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and I get a chill down my spine. He just stares at you with those big eyes and deranged smile. I think it's time for Humpty Dumpty to have a fall.

Sunset in New York

I love this photograph, it is one of my favourites. I am impressed that I took it. It is the best picture that I have ever taken. I think it captures the beauty and essence of the city. It is New York without all the busyness most people are accustomed too. Anyone who has been there can look at this picture and hear the sounds of New York. The crowds of people shuffling alone the streets. The cars passing by, sirens in the distance and the constant honking of horns. It is something I have grown to miss. I don't know how but the never ending noise of New York is soothing. They make you feel like you are in the middle of something important. I love the peacefulness of Burnaby where I live but sometimes the silence gets lonely. I look at this picture and it all comes rushing back to me. I am transported to this moment where time seemed to stand still as the world around me went rushing by,.

Maybach

Maybach's are such nice cars. They are quickly becoming one of my favourites. Part of the appeal is the rarity of them. Ferrari's, Maserati's, Bentley's and Lamborghini's are nice cars but they are a dime a dozen. I know that sounds absurd to say about cars that cost six figures but I see them driving around every day. Maybach's on the other hand are harder to find. I have only ever seen two and I had to go all the way to New York to set my eyes on this beauty. I stopped for a good fifteen minutes just to drool over him. My friend was getting upset at me because he doesn't get how magnificent this machine is. It is a work of art and it's fitting that I saw it after just leaving the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It easily could be a display in there. But then again what it has to offer would be lost on the majority of people. It has been nearly two years since my last sighting of one. I think it is time for me to go on a hunt for one.

Yankee Stadium

Watching the Yankees play on T.V. today made me think of my visit to Yankee Stadium. It had always been a dream of mine to go there and catch a ball game. I never made it in time to visit the old Yankee Stadium but I was lucky enough to see new Yankee Stadium in it's inaugural year less than a month after the Yankees won the World Series. I will never forget that day and how excited I was. Just walking through the gates I could feel a sense of nostalgia. You could just feel the history and tradition surrounding you. I know I asked a lot of questions and I am sure by the end our tour guide was happy to get rid of me, but what's the sense of going to see something if you're not going to absorb everything you can from it. It is hard to say that one part of the tour sticks out more than any other. Sitting in the dugout and getting the clay from the field on my Crocs made me feel for a brief second like I was in the show. Monument park was everything I had ever heard about it. Walking around and seeing the plaques of all the great players that I never had the fortune to see play in my time. But that doesn't take away from them being legends. But the one thing that I will always remember most is taking this picture. Babe Ruth's autographed baseball. I remember looking so hard to find it and when I did feeling proud of myself. Like so many other little kids growing up I always wanted to be Babe Ruth. He was and is still my favourite player of all time. And to see his autograph on that baseball, knowing that he once held it in his hands. He left his mark on it for every generation to see. For that split second I felt like he was standing there right in front of me.

"Heros get remembered, but legends never die."

Loser like me

Yes I am a gleek, I have admitted it before. Tonight was the season premiere of Glee. I have been waiting all summer for tonight. You have no idea how excited I have been. I was all set to watch. I had my favourite pajamas on my big comfy slippers and of course my big foam Glee hand. You have no idea how happy that thing makes me. Every time I walk into my room and see it, it makes me smile. I love watching it with my mom, it's our weekly time together. Tonight's show didn't disappoint. Season three is going to be good. I think I want to buy the first two seasons on DVD. Rachel used to be my favourite character but that is slowly changing. Both Brittany and Santana and beginning to grow on me. I have a couple of new songs to download from iTunes for my iPod. Oh and I really want to glitter bomb somebody, it just looks like so much fun.

Spirit Bear

The Kermode Bear, one of British Columbia's secret wonders. Next summer I am going to take my vacation and go see these bears. I have always loved bears and Polar Bears are my favourite but having mini Polar Bears in my own back yard makes it a shame that I haven't gone to see them yet. But it is on my list now and next summer I will trek through The Great Bear Rainforest on my quest to find this beautiful creature. I know I won't have to try and convince my sister to come on this trip with me. She will be just as excited for it as I am. So come sumer of 2012 I will be on a mission to encounter a Spirit Bear.

$

 They say money makes the world go round. Sure scientifically speaking we all know this isn't true but it's hard to think that it isn't somehow a little true. Maybe it doesn't make the world go around but it does make the people on the world run. It is the measure to which we all relate success. The more money you have the more power you have and the human race is driven by the need for power. So we all want money to bring us power. Most of us toil away at our jobs earning barely enough to make ends meet. Nothing comes for free in this life so we work ourselves day and night trying to get enough to have the life we always dreamed of. You have to ask yourself if you are willing to do anything for money?

Into the abyss

A flimsy old rope bride strung high up in the canopy of the forest. A bridge that as you look out across it you aren't fully able to see what's awaiting you on the other side. As you take your first step out onto the bridge you feel it sway under your foot and you begin to feel uncertain. The thought that maybe this isn't a good idea shoots through your head. Your heart begins to race as your hands become sweaty. You feel a knot in your stomach. You take one more step and the bridge begins to sway again. You feel like you are about to lose your balance but you quickly regain your composure. You take a glance over your shoulder back to the safety in which you just left. You think about turning back, but your curiosity gets the best of you. As you slowly inch your way forward you begin to feel the cool mist that surrounds you as it settles on your face. You begin to be engulfed by this new world as you slowly move forward. You catch yourself looking down unable to see the forest floor through the thick foliage and it brings an eerie sense of calm to you. The smell of last nights rain fall lingers in your nose and the sounds of birds in the distance ring through your ears. The rope scratches at your hands as you make your way along the bridge. With only a few steps to go you begin to feel at ease in your new surroundings. All your trepidations turn to excitement as your eyes gaze upon your destination.