Not having a job is the worst thing in the entire world. I may start going downtown and panhandle. If you work down there, I'll be the homeless person that showers everyday, has a house, and drives a 2004 Toyota Corolla.
It's not even about the money. We have enough money. It is about doing nothing all day long. You can only watch kids CBC for so long before Zaboo becomes really annoying. I shouldn't really say that I don't have anything to do, I actually have about 10 minutes worth of stuff to do, but I want to stretch it out a little. For example, when I mow the lawn, I only mow the front, so that I can mow the back the next day. I do a load of whites, but leave the colours the next day. I tidy up, but leave vacuuming for the next day.
All in all, I could probably do everything that needs to be done in about an hour and a half. Two hours tops. But I don't want to.
Tracie really resents the fact that I don't have a job and get to stay home all day. I really resent the fact that she constantly gets offered better and better jobs for more and more money. She quit her full time job last September to finish her degree and worked as much as she wanted to at that same unit at the hospital all through school. She did one of here practicums at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Peter Lougheed Hospital, and the manager there told her to fill out the forms to have a job on that unit, but didn't even know her name.
Tracie though that it might be nice to teach LPN's at the Bow Valley College, and they gave her a full time job doing it. She still picks up shifts at Unit 51 at the PLC. She thought that it might be better to teach at the University of Calgary, so she took a resume down. The HR secretary told her that they didn't accept resumes without a competition number, so Tracie took it right to the Faculty of Nursing. The secretary there gave her a blank stare, but someone happened to walk by and said, "As a matter of fact, we need two practicum teachers. I'll take your resume." The next day she had an interview and was hired on the condition that she find three people willing to say good things about her over the phone.
This morning after I dropped her off at the hospital, someone from the states (likely out east) called to offer her a job (she would probably double her salary, get free rent, they would pay her taxes, and give her a rental car for three months).
I can't even get an automated response to my emails. It's depressing. I'm thinking of dying my hair black, getting some black makeup maybe nail polish, eye gunk and lipstick.
I'm thinking of getting some construction job to pass the time or whatever, but I am afraid that I'll end up doing construction for the rest of my life. I'm afraid that it will get in the way of doing something else.
Meanwhile, Tracie wants to do her masters degree. Likely at the U of A, but Queens is looking good too. Queens has the added bonus of living out East.
Anyway, the bottom line is that, not being in Tracie's league sucks big time.
-Gary Milner
Friday, July 30, 2004
New Card
I had a new idea for a business card. I thought that scanning a pack of matches would be kind of cool.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Defying Hitler
I just finished reading "Defying Hitler" by Sebastian Haffner. It is quite a good book. Haffner tries to explain how the Nazi's were possible and why German citizens didn't do anything to stop them.
I recommend that you take the time to read it. There are a few eerie parallels to our own time. It really goes to show how a few simple changes to laws can have quite unexpected consequences for the population of a country.
-Gary Milner
I recommend that you take the time to read it. There are a few eerie parallels to our own time. It really goes to show how a few simple changes to laws can have quite unexpected consequences for the population of a country.
-Gary Milner
Balloon Popping
I've been getting a few hits because of the balloon thing I posted before. Here is a quote I found from a site about being a "Looner" (somebody who loves balloons).
"Because I am a straight male, all of my experience with balloons in relationships has to do with women. It can be terribly frustrating to have a girlfriend that doesn't like balloons or doesn't want to do any balloon stuff with you. I have always made it a point to introduce balloons into the relationship very early on to see if balloons were going to be a problem or not. I have had mostly success with introducing balloon stuff to girlfriends, but I did have a couple of noteworthy failures.
A good first step is to give her a balloon bouquet. You can generally tell whether or not she likes balloons from how she reacts to that. To see how she handles popping balloons, try giving her a "love letter" or some type of small gift that is inside an inflated balloon. This way you can observe how she handles popping. You should continue doing more and more things that involve balloons. Use your imagination. The general attitude I saw was that looning was a bit odd, but it is fun too. Don't feel bad if it doesn't work out introducing balloons to a girlfriend. Just find a new girlfriend."
-Gary Milner
What Makes A Country Rich
Several times in my life I have spoken to people that have expressed the opinion that a country that has lots of natural resources should be a rich country.
People in Argentina are perplexed by their 2nd world status when at the same time they percieve their country to be rich in resources.
People in various provinces say, "We have all these natural resouces, why are we a 'have not' province?"
In my geography of Africa class, everyone aknowledged that Africa has tons of natural resources but is stuck in poverty.
It seems to me that the idea that an abundance of natural resources is so, well, antiquated. It may have been true 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago.
The thing is, raw materials aren't actually worth any thing. Take lumber for example. Would you be willing to pay more for a pile of logs or a house? What could I possibly do with a pile of logs? Why one earth would I buy them, I don't need them, I wouldn't know what to do with them if I had them. 2x4's are a little more valuable, but still lumber isn't really that useful to people who aren't doing construction.
The point is, the further you go along the chain the more valuable your product or service is. Sure a tree is nice, but a chair made out of that tree is worth a lot more.
-Gary Milner
People in Argentina are perplexed by their 2nd world status when at the same time they percieve their country to be rich in resources.
People in various provinces say, "We have all these natural resouces, why are we a 'have not' province?"
In my geography of Africa class, everyone aknowledged that Africa has tons of natural resources but is stuck in poverty.
It seems to me that the idea that an abundance of natural resources is so, well, antiquated. It may have been true 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago.
The thing is, raw materials aren't actually worth any thing. Take lumber for example. Would you be willing to pay more for a pile of logs or a house? What could I possibly do with a pile of logs? Why one earth would I buy them, I don't need them, I wouldn't know what to do with them if I had them. 2x4's are a little more valuable, but still lumber isn't really that useful to people who aren't doing construction.
The point is, the further you go along the chain the more valuable your product or service is. Sure a tree is nice, but a chair made out of that tree is worth a lot more.
-Gary Milner
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Auction
I went to a hotel auction on Bow Trail today. It was a pretty fun way to spend an hour and a pretty crappy way to spend 5 hours.
I guess that the hotel was built sometime in the late 60's- early 70'2, and so a lot of the stuff was crap. People did get good deals on dishes, and things of that nature. The best deal I saw was for a pair of commercial dryers that went for $200.00 each. I paid that much for my second-hand home dryer. I found myself wishing that I had a lot more stuff to dry. I get the feeling that they could be re-sold for a much bigger amount.
Not all of the stuff at the hotel was from the hotel, there was some new furniture as well. There was a set of brand new leather couches that I actually bid on. I offered $1200.00 for a couch, love seat and chair. It would have been a steal of a deal. Even though I knew I would be outbid, I was a little nervous putting myself out there for $1200 without talking to Tracie. The winning bid was $1600, but there was a 15% buyers premium and GST on top of that, so really, the person probably didn't get that good of a deal, at least not if you are willing to shop around the furniture stores and look for a bargain at Sears or The Bay or whatever.
In any case, after standing there for the whole afternoon, I feel like I have been through the ringer. It was probably about 10 or 15 degrees warmer in the hotel than it was outside. I can't even imagine how the auctioneers feel. Even though they were taking turns, the must have been about ready to pass out the entire time.
-Gary Milner, $2, $2, do I hear $3?
I guess that the hotel was built sometime in the late 60's- early 70'2, and so a lot of the stuff was crap. People did get good deals on dishes, and things of that nature. The best deal I saw was for a pair of commercial dryers that went for $200.00 each. I paid that much for my second-hand home dryer. I found myself wishing that I had a lot more stuff to dry. I get the feeling that they could be re-sold for a much bigger amount.
Not all of the stuff at the hotel was from the hotel, there was some new furniture as well. There was a set of brand new leather couches that I actually bid on. I offered $1200.00 for a couch, love seat and chair. It would have been a steal of a deal. Even though I knew I would be outbid, I was a little nervous putting myself out there for $1200 without talking to Tracie. The winning bid was $1600, but there was a 15% buyers premium and GST on top of that, so really, the person probably didn't get that good of a deal, at least not if you are willing to shop around the furniture stores and look for a bargain at Sears or The Bay or whatever.
In any case, after standing there for the whole afternoon, I feel like I have been through the ringer. It was probably about 10 or 15 degrees warmer in the hotel than it was outside. I can't even imagine how the auctioneers feel. Even though they were taking turns, the must have been about ready to pass out the entire time.
-Gary Milner, $2, $2, do I hear $3?
Monday, July 26, 2004
Grading the Movies
A fellow I know runs a website called www.gradingthemovies.com. He also writes a column that reviews movies as well as describes the content of the movies. It helps people decide if they would like to see the movie or not, or whether they should let their kids see it or not. The column runs in over 50 papers in North America. He and his wife also appear on CFCN and discuss current movies. (I'm not sure when, but it appears to be a regular part of an daytime news program.)
Anyway, the other day, I read a portion of a discussion on Plastic.com discussing ratings creep. In other words, how movies on the high end of "PG-13" now would have probably been considered on the low end of "R" 10 years ago.
They discussed violence and sex in movies and their amazement on how those two things affect the ratings system.
Generally, the people in this particular discussion felt that the grading system was biased against sex while being permissive of violence. While I'm not really going to discuss that per se, there was one comment in particular that I would like to address.
Sex in general is considered by many people to be a private act between consenting adults. When you do it, do it where you won't be interrupted or seen by non-participants.
Violence, however, is something that is purposely made public. If someone is stabbed downtown, it is a matter of public safety that it be made know to as many people as possible. If someone is murdered in Forest Lawn, all the local TV channels publish as many details of the case as possible, pictures of both the victim and the assailant are shown.
On a international level, intelligent people insist on being informed about the wars we are waging and the casualties that are inflicted upon all sides. Hours and hours of documentaries are created about each important battle in major wars. I have seen the same man falling on the beach at Normandy hundreds of times, as have most of you.
*tangent* There is only one clip of the invasion of Normandy because the man carrying the film back to Britian during the battle dropped his satchel into the water and lost everything he was carrying. The lesson is don't keep all your exposed film together. /tangent
This was an argument that made a lot of sense, to me anyway.
Saturday, I was involved in a discussion about the rating system in Canada. In Canada, theatrical releases are rated by various provincial government agencies. The same movie can have different ratings in different provinces. This is a link to a chart describing Canadian Movie Ratings in different provinces.
Film ratings in Alberta are:
Anyway, the other day, I read a portion of a discussion on Plastic.com discussing ratings creep. In other words, how movies on the high end of "PG-13" now would have probably been considered on the low end of "R" 10 years ago.
They discussed violence and sex in movies and their amazement on how those two things affect the ratings system.
Generally, the people in this particular discussion felt that the grading system was biased against sex while being permissive of violence. While I'm not really going to discuss that per se, there was one comment in particular that I would like to address.
Sex in general is considered by many people to be a private act between consenting adults. When you do it, do it where you won't be interrupted or seen by non-participants.
Violence, however, is something that is purposely made public. If someone is stabbed downtown, it is a matter of public safety that it be made know to as many people as possible. If someone is murdered in Forest Lawn, all the local TV channels publish as many details of the case as possible, pictures of both the victim and the assailant are shown.
On a international level, intelligent people insist on being informed about the wars we are waging and the casualties that are inflicted upon all sides. Hours and hours of documentaries are created about each important battle in major wars. I have seen the same man falling on the beach at Normandy hundreds of times, as have most of you.
*tangent* There is only one clip of the invasion of Normandy because the man carrying the film back to Britian during the battle dropped his satchel into the water and lost everything he was carrying. The lesson is don't keep all your exposed film together. /tangent
This was an argument that made a lot of sense, to me anyway.
Saturday, I was involved in a discussion about the rating system in Canada. In Canada, theatrical releases are rated by various provincial government agencies. The same movie can have different ratings in different provinces. This is a link to a chart describing Canadian Movie Ratings in different provinces.
Film ratings in Alberta are:
General (G) General viewing. Suitable for viewing by all ages.
Parental Guidance (PG) Parental guidance is advised. Theme or content may not be suitable for all children.
(14A) Suitable for viewing by persons 14 years of age and older. Persons under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. May contain: violence, coarse language and/or sexually suggestive scenes.
(18A) Suitable for viewing by persons 18 years of age and older. Persons under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. May contain: explicit violence, frequent coarse language, sexual activity and/or horror.
Restricted (R) Admittance restricted to persons 18 years of age and over. Content not suitable for minors. Contains frequent use of sexual activity, brutal/graphic violence, intense horror and/or other disturbing content.
Adult (A) Admittance restricted to persons 18 years and older. Content not suitable for minors. Contains predominantly sexually explicit activity.
Here is the Alberta government website discussing movie ratings
Here is a generalized comparison between movie ratings in Canada and the USA.-Gary Milner
Friday, July 23, 2004
New house
Mom and I bought a revenue house a couple of days ago. It's over in the same neighborhood as the others. I made an offer for the house 400o dollars less than they were asking and it was nice that they accepted the offer. So I made four thousand dollars just for asking. I feel guilty though because I liked the couple that were selling the house. I'm pretty sure they could have used the four thousand too.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
I Am Really Handsome
I was playing with my scanner today. I was going to scan my butt, but I didn't want to break the scanner, so I scanned my hand. I made this picture with photoshop. I thought that it was interesting enough to warrant posting.
Risk Update
Tracie and I have now played two games of Risk. She won the first game and I won the second game. I really enjoy playing Risk, but it's not like a lot of other games. Take Sorry!, for example, it is a game based purely on luck. There isn't a lot that you can to to influence the outcome of the game. Scrabble is a game base entirely on skill, but no matter how one player plays, it doesn't really affect the other person. It isn't an attack on them. Even chess, a game that isn't really influence by luck (most of the time) and you are attacking the other player doesn't seem to have the effect of Risk.
People get really worked up, about it sometimes. Mainly about the luck based portions of the game. No one cares if you like to get Australia or South America first. Successfully defend using one army against eight, and boy do people get ticked off pretty fast. I've had some amazingly good streaks with the dice that had Jeff enraged. To add insult to injury, it seemed as if the madder he got, the better my dice got, and the funnier it was to me.
Untill the shoe is on the other foot.
Anyway, Jeff linked to a Risk Probability Calculator back in May, and I'm passing it on to you.
Risk Update
Tracie and I have now played two games of Risk. She won the first game and I won the second game. I really enjoy playing Risk, but it's not like a lot of other games. Take Sorry!, for example, it is a game based purely on luck. There isn't a lot that you can to to influence the outcome of the game. Scrabble is a game base entirely on skill, but no matter how one player plays, it doesn't really affect the other person. It isn't an attack on them. Even chess, a game that isn't really influence by luck (most of the time) and you are attacking the other player doesn't seem to have the effect of Risk.
People get really worked up, about it sometimes. Mainly about the luck based portions of the game. No one cares if you like to get Australia or South America first. Successfully defend using one army against eight, and boy do people get ticked off pretty fast. I've had some amazingly good streaks with the dice that had Jeff enraged. To add insult to injury, it seemed as if the madder he got, the better my dice got, and the funnier it was to me.
Untill the shoe is on the other foot.
Anyway, Jeff linked to a Risk Probability Calculator back in May, and I'm passing it on to you.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
This Land is Your Land
I was watching money sense today, and they showed an internet short film about George Bush and John Kerry. See it at http://www.jibjab.com/.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Garage Sales 2.0
Today on our way home from church, I wanted to stop by a garage sale that we went to yesterday to see if they still had their risk game. I really was starting to regret not getting it the first time. As luck would have it, their garage sale was open for business today. My streak of luck continued as I found that not only did they still have their risk game, but that they were giving it away for free. I would have paid $2.00 for it, but I got it for free!
On my way back to the car, we noticed that they were giving away a desk too. We went home for lunch but, upon thinking it over, we decided that the only thing we needed to make our lives complete was to have a free desk, strip it and revarnish it. So we walked back over there and brought the desk home.
How's that for a deal?
-Gary Milner
On my way back to the car, we noticed that they were giving away a desk too. We went home for lunch but, upon thinking it over, we decided that the only thing we needed to make our lives complete was to have a free desk, strip it and revarnish it. So we walked back over there and brought the desk home.
How's that for a deal?
-Gary Milner
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Garage sales
Gary and I went "garage sailing" today. In five years of marriage we have never been before, so it was very exciting for us. We weren't too sure what we were looking for, but I guess you're just supposed to know when you see it. That happened to us today.
We started out just driving around our neighborhood, hoping to happen upon a garage sale, and amazingly enough, we actually found quite a few. Most were pretty crappy...old clothes, shoes and a lot of nick-nacks. By the time we were done, we ended up buying an electric griddle for $2.00 and Pictionary for $2.50. We wished we would have bought more games actually, since they're so expensive normally. We contemplated buying a kitchen table with 6 chairs for 10 or 15 dollars, but the legs were the screw in kind, and Gary thought it would be too wobbly.
We didn't wake up until almost 10:00 am this morning. We never sleep in late...8:30 at the latest, so 10:00 was crazy for us. It was just so dark under the living room though that you have no sense of time. I know I woke up a few times and thought that it must be morning, but because it was pitch black I just went back to sleep. Anyway, I hear that you have to go to garage sales right when they start if you want to get the good stuff. We think we might start going more often.
-Tracie, garage sale expert
We started out just driving around our neighborhood, hoping to happen upon a garage sale, and amazingly enough, we actually found quite a few. Most were pretty crappy...old clothes, shoes and a lot of nick-nacks. By the time we were done, we ended up buying an electric griddle for $2.00 and Pictionary for $2.50. We wished we would have bought more games actually, since they're so expensive normally. We contemplated buying a kitchen table with 6 chairs for 10 or 15 dollars, but the legs were the screw in kind, and Gary thought it would be too wobbly.
We didn't wake up until almost 10:00 am this morning. We never sleep in late...8:30 at the latest, so 10:00 was crazy for us. It was just so dark under the living room though that you have no sense of time. I know I woke up a few times and thought that it must be morning, but because it was pitch black I just went back to sleep. Anyway, I hear that you have to go to garage sales right when they start if you want to get the good stuff. We think we might start going more often.
-Tracie, garage sale expert
Weather
This week is Calgary's one hot week of the year. We've been in the high 20's and low 30's for the last couple of days. It makes me glad to know that our car has AC.
One of the best things about summer is going into a 7/11 on a day when the weather is in the 30's. The blast of cold air as you go through the door and the smell of all the candy and hotdogs is definitely one of the best summer things. Nothing beats a Dr. Pepper Big Gulp or a Grape Slurpee, two of nature's perfect flavours.
In any case, few people in Calgary have air conditioned houses, because the really hot weather only lasts a week or two. Tracie and I are among the people who don't have it. Last night it was too hot for us in our upstairs bed room, so we took the mattress from our spare bed into the crawlspace under our living room. It's the coolest place in our house. Sleeping in the bat cave is really fun, too. It's pitch black under there except for the flashing LEDs on my adsl modem, and even that only gives enough light to see the dim reflection off the heating ducts and shine on the plastic that covers the insulation. We'll be staying there again tonight. It's a good thing that we won't be having overnight company until August.
-Gary Milner, Sleeps in the Batcave
One of the best things about summer is going into a 7/11 on a day when the weather is in the 30's. The blast of cold air as you go through the door and the smell of all the candy and hotdogs is definitely one of the best summer things. Nothing beats a Dr. Pepper Big Gulp or a Grape Slurpee, two of nature's perfect flavours.
In any case, few people in Calgary have air conditioned houses, because the really hot weather only lasts a week or two. Tracie and I are among the people who don't have it. Last night it was too hot for us in our upstairs bed room, so we took the mattress from our spare bed into the crawlspace under our living room. It's the coolest place in our house. Sleeping in the bat cave is really fun, too. It's pitch black under there except for the flashing LEDs on my adsl modem, and even that only gives enough light to see the dim reflection off the heating ducts and shine on the plastic that covers the insulation. We'll be staying there again tonight. It's a good thing that we won't be having overnight company until August.
-Gary Milner, Sleeps in the Batcave
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Gary 3 Cops 0
I was back downtown fighting my photo radar ticket today. They only printed my name on the ticket, and both Tracie and I are registered owners. He knocked it down to $40.00 from $85.00.
I initially asked him to throw it out, but he said he couldn't. I assume that only a judge could do that. The prosecutor said that it wasn't a good reason to get rid of the ticket because it would be a loop hole for corporations with entire fleets of vehicles. I thought that excuse for not letting me off was pretty lame, because although corporations do have hundreds, even thousands of owners, the corporation is treated as only one entity. I wish I would have thought of that at the time.
In any case, he said he was already taking more than half off my ticket. Thanks for the $2.50 by the way.
After getting three tickets reduced, I'm beginning to think that they lower anybodies ticket just for asking. Even if you weren't wrongfully accused like I was.
Pancake Breakfast
I attended my first Calgary pancake breakfast today. It was across the street from my legal wrangling. Talk about a crappy pancake breakfast. They were cooking the pancakes out of the back of several chuck wagons. After an eternity of waiting I got my food, but they didn't have plates, there was no syrup, and no juice. I have to admit that it was a little bit of a let down.
Pancake Breakfast 2
I attended my second Calgary pancake breakfast today. After being completly let down at the breakfast downtown in Olympic Plaza, I went to the one at the Northland Mall. The lines were a lot longer there, but they were giving out juice boxes, 2 pancakes each and a patty style sausage. It gave me the knowledge that not all pancake breakfasts were so shafty. I would have gone back for more, but the lines were so long that it wouldn't have been worth it.
-Gary Milner
I initially asked him to throw it out, but he said he couldn't. I assume that only a judge could do that. The prosecutor said that it wasn't a good reason to get rid of the ticket because it would be a loop hole for corporations with entire fleets of vehicles. I thought that excuse for not letting me off was pretty lame, because although corporations do have hundreds, even thousands of owners, the corporation is treated as only one entity. I wish I would have thought of that at the time.
In any case, he said he was already taking more than half off my ticket. Thanks for the $2.50 by the way.
After getting three tickets reduced, I'm beginning to think that they lower anybodies ticket just for asking. Even if you weren't wrongfully accused like I was.
Pancake Breakfast
I attended my first Calgary pancake breakfast today. It was across the street from my legal wrangling. Talk about a crappy pancake breakfast. They were cooking the pancakes out of the back of several chuck wagons. After an eternity of waiting I got my food, but they didn't have plates, there was no syrup, and no juice. I have to admit that it was a little bit of a let down.
Pancake Breakfast 2
I attended my second Calgary pancake breakfast today. After being completly let down at the breakfast downtown in Olympic Plaza, I went to the one at the Northland Mall. The lines were a lot longer there, but they were giving out juice boxes, 2 pancakes each and a patty style sausage. It gave me the knowledge that not all pancake breakfasts were so shafty. I would have gone back for more, but the lines were so long that it wouldn't have been worth it.
-Gary Milner
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Balloon Popping
I have been interested in doing some high speed photography. Taking pictures of balloons popping like the one below, for example.
I actually went so far as to email an inquiry to a person who sells kits to make sound activated flash triggers. Basically it would set off a camera flash when the balloon makes the popping noise.
Time passes, several years actually. I did a search for "Balloon Popping Photos". The results were quite interesting. The second result was the The BalloonGirls
Video Catalog. Here is an ad for one of the videos. Please ignore the fact that they misspell inflatable twice.
"Ashley's Balloons"
This is Ashley's first "Big Balloon" video. She starts the party with some of her own mouse ear balloons, inflating them, and gradually moving on to some big rounds, zeps and even a worker or two... she uses a hand pump on the workers. She surrounds herself with the balloons, her costume changes, she does some gum bubbles, and some surprise popping of unlucky balloons. She then sits in her inflatible chair and blows up some big rounds by mouth... then teases us with some popping. Ashley gets a 4 foot Asian balloon attached to her hand pump, then goes to town on pumping it up, she wants to see just how big she can make this balloon go, and she is amazed when it gets nearly as big as her... but she keeps pumping away until the big boom... She also does some sit popping, riding on a big worker, and stomping, and gives us some close up bubbles from her inflatible seat. She ends the video by popping all the surviving balloons with her high heels. Ashley is very sexy, and this video will be an enjoyable addition to anyone's collection.... enjoy!
I like peanut butter, I like chocolate, and I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I like popping balloons, I like girls, I even like videos, but videos of girls popping balloons? In an effort to be more open minded, I'm just going to go to bed and giggle to myself quietly.
-Gary Milner,
Ps. I'm going to get Tracie to pop some balloons for me tomorrow. Never judge a person till you walk a mile in their shoes, I always say.
I actually went so far as to email an inquiry to a person who sells kits to make sound activated flash triggers. Basically it would set off a camera flash when the balloon makes the popping noise.
Time passes, several years actually. I did a search for "Balloon Popping Photos". The results were quite interesting. The second result was the The BalloonGirls
Video Catalog. Here is an ad for one of the videos. Please ignore the fact that they misspell inflatable twice.
"Ashley's Balloons"
This is Ashley's first "Big Balloon" video. She starts the party with some of her own mouse ear balloons, inflating them, and gradually moving on to some big rounds, zeps and even a worker or two... she uses a hand pump on the workers. She surrounds herself with the balloons, her costume changes, she does some gum bubbles, and some surprise popping of unlucky balloons. She then sits in her inflatible chair and blows up some big rounds by mouth... then teases us with some popping. Ashley gets a 4 foot Asian balloon attached to her hand pump, then goes to town on pumping it up, she wants to see just how big she can make this balloon go, and she is amazed when it gets nearly as big as her... but she keeps pumping away until the big boom... She also does some sit popping, riding on a big worker, and stomping, and gives us some close up bubbles from her inflatible seat. She ends the video by popping all the surviving balloons with her high heels. Ashley is very sexy, and this video will be an enjoyable addition to anyone's collection.... enjoy!
I like peanut butter, I like chocolate, and I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I like popping balloons, I like girls, I even like videos, but videos of girls popping balloons? In an effort to be more open minded, I'm just going to go to bed and giggle to myself quietly.
-Gary Milner,
Ps. I'm going to get Tracie to pop some balloons for me tomorrow. Never judge a person till you walk a mile in their shoes, I always say.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Bit Torrent
I have noticed that a lot of people are coming here looking for various bit torrent downloads. I'm sure many of you are leaving disappointed, so just to help you out a little, check the bit torrent links on the left hand side of the page. The link on the left labeled "Bit Torrent" goes to suprnova.org and "Bit Torrent 2" is a link to filelist.org.
In my opinion filelist.org is the better of the two. The only allow English movies. Suprnova.org is a more multi-cultural site which allows torrents in many different languages. Spanish and German seem to be big there. I for one, have been shafted by Spanish dubbed movies more than once. The only drawback to filelist.org is the fact that you must register as a member. If you have a throw away email account that is fine.
In any case, those are the two bit torrent hosts that I use.
On another topic, only one person had any comments about my card. I'm posting it again in hopes of attracting comments. The one edit I'm thinking of making is to get rid of the title and make it a personal card instead of a business card.
Getting rid of the "photographer" title would also leave a little more white space on the front of the card. This would leave the face of the card cleaner and leave room to write notes, when I am contacting people at various events.
Anyway, leave a comment about the card even if you don't know me. You don't have to enter your email address on the form for it to work. You don't even have to use your real name. It's not like I'm going to try to contact you or anything. What do you have to hide anyway?
-Gary Milner
In my opinion filelist.org is the better of the two. The only allow English movies. Suprnova.org is a more multi-cultural site which allows torrents in many different languages. Spanish and German seem to be big there. I for one, have been shafted by Spanish dubbed movies more than once. The only drawback to filelist.org is the fact that you must register as a member. If you have a throw away email account that is fine.
In any case, those are the two bit torrent hosts that I use.
On another topic, only one person had any comments about my card. I'm posting it again in hopes of attracting comments. The one edit I'm thinking of making is to get rid of the title and make it a personal card instead of a business card.
Getting rid of the "photographer" title would also leave a little more white space on the front of the card. This would leave the face of the card cleaner and leave room to write notes, when I am contacting people at various events.
Anyway, leave a comment about the card even if you don't know me. You don't have to enter your email address on the form for it to work. You don't even have to use your real name. It's not like I'm going to try to contact you or anything. What do you have to hide anyway?
-Gary Milner
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Free Stuff
Gary and I rented a video tonight. We bought that $20 summer coupon pack from Blockbuster, the one where you get coupons for free videos or 2 for 1 videos. It's pretty good. There are also 4 coupons for free popcorn. Apparently tommorow is the last day they're selling them. We're debating whether or not to buy another one. We probably won't.
We rented "Who is Cletis Tout?". Don't rent it. It's not good. But it was free. I'm not sure that makes it worth it, but at least we didn't spend our own money. Unless you consider that the coupon cost us money in the first place.
We got home with the movie, only to realise we couldn't get it out of the case. They forgot to take the anti-theft plastic thing off. Gary tried to open it with pliers, but only broke off part of the plastic. When we took it back to the store, they appologized and gave us some credit towards another video rental.
I love free stuff.
We rented "Who is Cletis Tout?". Don't rent it. It's not good. But it was free. I'm not sure that makes it worth it, but at least we didn't spend our own money. Unless you consider that the coupon cost us money in the first place.
We got home with the movie, only to realise we couldn't get it out of the case. They forgot to take the anti-theft plastic thing off. Gary tried to open it with pliers, but only broke off part of the plastic. When we took it back to the store, they appologized and gave us some credit towards another video rental.
I love free stuff.
Stampede Parade
Tracie and I didn't go to the Calgary Stampede Parade Friday morning. I figured that it was going to rain. It didn't rain, and I regret not going to see the parade. I wish that we would have.
We want to go to the stampede grounds, but those blood sucking cowboys want $11.00 to get in.
I watched parts of it on TV, but it just isn't the same as a real, live, parade. We didn't get to go to the parade in Raymond on the first either. It looks like I won't be seeing any parades at all this year.
So after three years in Calgary, I have yet to attend the stampede. It's like I'm not doing my civic duty as a Calgaryian. I probably won't even wear jeans throughout the entire stampede week, unless it gets cold.
In other news, I'm pitching a movie starring Kevin Costner and Brad Pitt. It's called "Dances With Vampires". Costner Plays a drunken civil war soldier who gets sent out west to man an army outpost. Brad Pitt plays a gentleman rancher from Europe who, by night, is a vampire who attacks small Indian villages to feed on his victims. The natives retaliate against the white men. Costner must kill the vampire before the government sends in the army to exterminate the local tribe. Canadian Actor, Graham Greene, plays the tragic native. Greene will either sacrifice himself to kill the vampire or sacrifice himself saving Costner from the vampire. The script isn't really set in stone. In any case Greene will be killed somehow during the movie.
-Gary Milner, Movie Producer
Ps. Tracie convinced my to shave my head.
We want to go to the stampede grounds, but those blood sucking cowboys want $11.00 to get in.
I watched parts of it on TV, but it just isn't the same as a real, live, parade. We didn't get to go to the parade in Raymond on the first either. It looks like I won't be seeing any parades at all this year.
So after three years in Calgary, I have yet to attend the stampede. It's like I'm not doing my civic duty as a Calgaryian. I probably won't even wear jeans throughout the entire stampede week, unless it gets cold.
In other news, I'm pitching a movie starring Kevin Costner and Brad Pitt. It's called "Dances With Vampires". Costner Plays a drunken civil war soldier who gets sent out west to man an army outpost. Brad Pitt plays a gentleman rancher from Europe who, by night, is a vampire who attacks small Indian villages to feed on his victims. The natives retaliate against the white men. Costner must kill the vampire before the government sends in the army to exterminate the local tribe. Canadian Actor, Graham Greene, plays the tragic native. Greene will either sacrifice himself to kill the vampire or sacrifice himself saving Costner from the vampire. The script isn't really set in stone. In any case Greene will be killed somehow during the movie.
-Gary Milner, Movie Producer
Ps. Tracie convinced my to shave my head.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
A Business Card
I've been thinking of printing a business card. I don't really have a lot of ideas, but I have made a sample to try to get some feedback.
I'm looking for more of a personal card than a 'business' card, but I'm going to be mainly using it to get photo jobs.
I like the simplicity of this card. Anyone with an opinion, feedback, or ideas, please feel free to post a comment.
I'm looking for more of a personal card than a 'business' card, but I'm going to be mainly using it to get photo jobs.
I like the simplicity of this card. Anyone with an opinion, feedback, or ideas, please feel free to post a comment.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Get Out of the Way
A year or two ago, I was in the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart when I heard a guy tell his two sons to get out of the man's way. I figured if the two boys were in the way, that I probably was too so I looked behind myself to see which way I should move to get out of the way. It turns out that I was the man, and the kids were in my way.
Yesterday, I was at the A&W by the ketchup pumps when two boys raced over to get the ketchup before their mom had even ordered. Their mom snapped at them and told them to get out of the Lady's way. It turns out that the Lady was my little sister, Jackie. I wanted to tell the mom, "She's no lady." But since Jackie and her husband (mostly Jackie) are having a baby in about two months I figured she deserved to have bratty kids get out of her way at least once in the next 18 years.
Visiting Jackie made me wish that I could go to Medicine Hat with her. She has a lot to talk about and is pretty fun.
-Gary Milner
Yesterday, I was at the A&W by the ketchup pumps when two boys raced over to get the ketchup before their mom had even ordered. Their mom snapped at them and told them to get out of the Lady's way. It turns out that the Lady was my little sister, Jackie. I wanted to tell the mom, "She's no lady." But since Jackie and her husband (mostly Jackie) are having a baby in about two months I figured she deserved to have bratty kids get out of her way at least once in the next 18 years.
Visiting Jackie made me wish that I could go to Medicine Hat with her. She has a lot to talk about and is pretty fun.
-Gary Milner
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Pancake Breakfasts in Calgary
The Calgary Stampede is upon us once again. With that comes an avalanche of free pancake breakfasts. This is the CFCN.ca list of stameped breakfasts. The one to watch is Premier Klein's breakfast at the McDougall Centre, 455 6 St. S.W., from 7 - 9:30 a.m. Last year the Premier got a pie in the face.
While many of you probably voted for him (if you voted), it's always funny to see a politician get a pie in the face, especially if the pier follows through with his fist. Like the guy last year.
I don't get to eat nearly enough pancakes, so I'll be going to most of the breakfasts in the NW.
-Gary Milner
While many of you probably voted for him (if you voted), it's always funny to see a politician get a pie in the face, especially if the pier follows through with his fist. Like the guy last year.
I don't get to eat nearly enough pancakes, so I'll be going to most of the breakfasts in the NW.
| Thursday, July 8
Deer Valley Co-op 95 1221 Canyon Meadows Dr. S.E. 7:30 - 11:30 a.m. Crowfoot Co-op 35 Crowfoot Way N.W. 8 - 10 a.m. WalMart 3835 Memorial Dr. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Cost: $1 Proceeds to the Children's Miracle Network. | Friday, July 9
Macleod Trail Co-op 8818 Macleod Tr. S. 8 - 10 a.m. |
| Saturday, July 10
Oakridge Co-op 2580 Southland Dr. S.W. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan Marlborough Mall Memorial Drive and 36th Street 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Points West Shopping Centre # 200- 5th Ave West Cochrane 9 - 11 a.m. Chinook Centre 6455 Macleod Trail South 7 - 11 a.m. | Sunday, July 11
Beddington Co-op 8220 Centre St. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan ENMAX Family Fun Day Breakfast Calgary Stampede Grandstand 7 - 10 a.m. Admission to Stampede Park is free until 9 a.m. |
| Monday, July 12
Village Square Co-op 2520 52 St. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Taradale Co-op 6520 Falconridge Blvd. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Premier Klein's breakfast McDougall Centre 455 6 St. S.W. 7 - 9:30 a.m. Stampede Caravan Dalhousie Shopping Centre 5505 Shaganappi Tr. NW 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan North Hill Shopping Centre 14 Street and 16 Avenue NW 9 - 11 a.m. | Tuesday, July 13
North Hill Centre Co-op 540 16 Ave. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Hamptons Co-op 400 1000 Hamptons Dr. N.W. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan Beddington Town Centre 8120 Beddington Blvd N.W. 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Westhills Town Centre Sarcee Tr and Richmond Rd 9 - 11 a.m. |
| Wednesday, July 14
Brentwood Co-op 4122 Brentwood Rd. N.W. 8 - 10 a.m. Monterey Co-op 700 2220 68 St. N.E. 8 - 10 a.m. All Calgary Sobey's and IGA locations Stampede lunch 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Stampede Caravan Market Mall Shopping Centre 32 Ave and Shaganappi Tr NW 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Southcentre 100 Anderson Rd SW 9 - 11 a.m. Market Mall 3625 Shaganappi Tr. N.W. 9 - 11 a.m. | Thursday, July 15
Dalhousie Co-op 5505 Shaganappi Tr. N.W. 8 - 10 a.m. South Trail Crossing Co-op 50 4307 130 Ave. S.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan Southland Leisure Centre 2000 Southland Dr SW 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Northland Village Mall 5111 Northland Dr NW 9 - 11 a.m. |
| Friday, July 16
Richmond Road Co-op 4940 Richmond Rd. S.W. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan Britannia Shopping Plaza 49 Ave SW, at Elbow Dr 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Sunridge Mall 2525 - 36 St. N.E. 9 - 11 a.m. | Saturday, July 17
Forest Lawn Co-op 3330 17 Ave. S.E. 8 - 10 a.m. Stampede Caravan Crowfoot Crossing 91 Crowfoot Terrace N.W. 9 - 11 a.m. Stampede Caravan Lakeview Shopping Plaza 6449 Crowchild Trail S.W. 9 - 11 a.m. |
| Sunday, July 18
Shawnessy Co-op 250 Shawville Blvd. S.W. 8 - 10 a.m. |
-Gary Milner
Monday, July 05, 2004
Back on the Bandwagon
I'm back on the Calgary Flames bandwagon. On my way home from Medicine Hat, I found one of those car flags on the road. I haven't put it onto my car yet, but I probably will this afternoon.
The trip to Medicine Hat was pretty fun, but four days is just too long to be away from home and in Medicine Hat.
The trip to Medicine Hat was pretty fun, but four days is just too long to be away from home and in Medicine Hat.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Building a Garage
Tracie and I came to Medicine Hat to help her Dad build the garage package that he got from Totem. All her Dad's brothers came to town to help him as well as a few nephews and their wives, and their kids.
We framed, sheeted, and put the roof on in one day. This morning we shigled and put the windows in. Shingling went very fast we did the whole roof in about three hours.
I was very impressed with how the whole project turned out. Wolfgang directed the building, and they didn't even look at the directions. When Ralph told him that the kit came with an instructional video about builing the garage, Wolf told him to throw it in the garbage. What makes it even more impressive is that the kit people send exactly enough wood to build the garage and not one toothpick more.
Tracie's uncle Wolfgang is a framer and brought his nailguns, and I learned how to operate them. After shooting only three nails, I could see that it would be worth it to buy a nailgun, even if you had to buy a new one for every single project that you did.
In any case my hammer arm is really sore from shingling, because we didn't have an nailgun for roofing nails, and even if we had, nailguns are fast, but really heavy.
-Gary Milner, expert garage builder.
We framed, sheeted, and put the roof on in one day. This morning we shigled and put the windows in. Shingling went very fast we did the whole roof in about three hours.
I was very impressed with how the whole project turned out. Wolfgang directed the building, and they didn't even look at the directions. When Ralph told him that the kit came with an instructional video about builing the garage, Wolf told him to throw it in the garbage. What makes it even more impressive is that the kit people send exactly enough wood to build the garage and not one toothpick more.
Tracie's uncle Wolfgang is a framer and brought his nailguns, and I learned how to operate them. After shooting only three nails, I could see that it would be worth it to buy a nailgun, even if you had to buy a new one for every single project that you did.
In any case my hammer arm is really sore from shingling, because we didn't have an nailgun for roofing nails, and even if we had, nailguns are fast, but really heavy.
-Gary Milner, expert garage builder.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Spyware
I have become increasingly paranoid about people accessing my computer or personal information without my permission. I installed adaware on my computer a few months ago in order to get rid of programs that companies are using to spy on me and otherwise track my movements on the interweb. I removed a bunch of programs that I did not install on my computer and that were tracking me.
A little while later at Easter, I was at my inlaws house, and I noticed links on my blog, that I didn't put there, and my blog was giving them pop-up ads. Their copy of IE had been hijacked and was providing links in the pages that they happened to surf. Upon completing a search in google, the results would be return by some other web search tool. Anyway, I installed adaware on their computer and removed over 100 files that Adaware considers to be an intrusion of privacy or outright computer hijacking.
About three days ago, I read an article about spyware on Wired that said that to be sure that you have gotten rid of all the spyware on your computer you have to use more than one scanner to get rid of it. The two best are Adaware and Spybot S&D. I installed Spybot in addition to Adaware and Spybot deleted six more things on my computer.
Over the last month or so I notice that my internet connection seemed a lot more active that it should have been especially at times when I was not using the computer. During that time I read several articles that said that 95% of spam emails come from people's home computers that have been hacked. I suspected that this may have been happening to me, and so I installed a program called zonealarm which is a firewall, a piece of software that controls your connection to the internet, which of the software on your computer can access it, and who on the outside of your computer can access it. I installed it, and with in the first 30 minutes max, there were over 200 attempts from the internet to access my computer.
Today, I'm back at my inlaws house, and I noticed that their browser had been hijacked again, google giving popups and the search results coming back from another search engine, so I reinstalled adaware. It deleted 122 files. Spybot found an additional 67 files.
I don't know how they (spyware companies) can dare do that to people's computers. It makes surfing the internet unbearable.
-Gary Milner
A little while later at Easter, I was at my inlaws house, and I noticed links on my blog, that I didn't put there, and my blog was giving them pop-up ads. Their copy of IE had been hijacked and was providing links in the pages that they happened to surf. Upon completing a search in google, the results would be return by some other web search tool. Anyway, I installed adaware on their computer and removed over 100 files that Adaware considers to be an intrusion of privacy or outright computer hijacking.
About three days ago, I read an article about spyware on Wired that said that to be sure that you have gotten rid of all the spyware on your computer you have to use more than one scanner to get rid of it. The two best are Adaware and Spybot S&D. I installed Spybot in addition to Adaware and Spybot deleted six more things on my computer.
Over the last month or so I notice that my internet connection seemed a lot more active that it should have been especially at times when I was not using the computer. During that time I read several articles that said that 95% of spam emails come from people's home computers that have been hacked. I suspected that this may have been happening to me, and so I installed a program called zonealarm which is a firewall, a piece of software that controls your connection to the internet, which of the software on your computer can access it, and who on the outside of your computer can access it. I installed it, and with in the first 30 minutes max, there were over 200 attempts from the internet to access my computer.
Today, I'm back at my inlaws house, and I noticed that their browser had been hijacked again, google giving popups and the search results coming back from another search engine, so I reinstalled adaware. It deleted 122 files. Spybot found an additional 67 files.
I don't know how they (spyware companies) can dare do that to people's computers. It makes surfing the internet unbearable.
-Gary Milner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)