What happened on Thursday November 30th?

Youngest was born 8 years ago today. Every day has been a joy. Her fire and will drive us to distraction, but the love she gives is overwhelming. She is a Diva who is always on stage, always preforming...even when she does not have a audience.

Happy birthday little girl.

We have bought the kids concert tickets as a enticement to excel at school. Youngest and Middle have a chance to go to Avirl Lavigne in April, and Eldest might get to see The Foo Fighters in march.

Remember to go buy CD's or pay for your downloads.

Enjoy The Stranglers "European Female". Download the MP3

What happened on Thursday November 22nd?

Navona Square Rome, Fountain of the Rivers by Bernini

Food Meme
From Electronic Cerebrectomy who got it from Byzantium's Shores,

1. How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled with Mozzarella Cheese and Sopressata

2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
Coffee half spoon sugar and small amount of 1% milk (enough to make it a burnt carmel colour), Tea should only be drunk straight, hot and strong. (not a strong as my mother likes it, after one of her cups of tea it feels like you scraped a layer of enamel off you teeth.

3. Favorite breakfast food?
Peanut Butter and Jam on fresh bread toasted, but normally I have yogurt and granola.

4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy?
For me smooth in the morning and crunchy at night. (addendum 11/23/07 4:30 PM --I have been asked to explain this one. I will only eat smooth peanut butter in the morning with my breakfast, and in the evening I like to have crunchy peanut butter with banana as a evening snack - or at least I used to before I started to watch my weight)

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar

6. Coke or Pepsi?
Neither, I have not had a pop in over 10 years.

7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make?
Scarmbled eggs.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Pepperoni and cheese from the local pizzeria .. but they also make the best baked panzarotto, and then I put homemade tomato sauce on it.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Roast beef, baked potatoes, beets and broccoli

10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Panzarotti's (we used to eat them all the time in college watching hockey games and drinking beer), scotish short bread cookies (my grandmothers house at Christmas time), and

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Cabbage, Brussel sprouts or shrimp .. don't stand within five feet of me. Yech!

12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Dim Sum .. a girlfriend that I didn't want to lose.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Squid.

14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Christmas Pudding or Christmas/Fruit Cake .. I still love them .. or even Grilled Cheese sandwiches with ketchup.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
Mushrooms and Liver, As a kid I would not eat mushrooms if my life depended on it. years ago my future mother-in-law fried wild mushrooms up with garlic cloves, I have loved mushrooms ever since. (I still can't eat cream of mushroom soup though). As for liver, my mother would cook it until it was dead. One night out dinner with Wife, I felt like having something different and ordered Liver and Onions. It was awesome. I never knew liver could taste that good.

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?No

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Fruit: Pink Lady Apples, Vegetables: Boiled Beets

18. Favorite junk food:
Toasted Corn

19. Favorite between meal snack:
I really try to avoid this snacks and have fruit .. but I really like to have crackers and cheese.

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
I will only eat one thing off my plate at a time.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Fruit (I'm trying write this and eat a grapefruit right now!)

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
BBQ Ribs

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
North American really hot .. but not Thai hot.

24. Can I get you a drink?
Water. If I'm not driving, maybe a beer.

25. Red wine or white?
Red.

26. Favorite dessert?
Apple Brown Betty .

What happened on Firday November 9th?

Damn I am going to see this movie.

This is just about to much to watch .. watch it.

http://view.break.com/211329 - Watch more free videos

What happened on Wednesday October 31st?

Happy Halloween everyone. Enjoy the screaming goblins and ghosts. Try not to leer at and underaged vampiras. We had a lot of fun tonight, Middle disappeard, Eldest realized Halloween is just for kids and youngest had a great time with her mom. Would you believe people were taking pictures of my pumpkins, weird.

Three doors down (not the band) the had a haunted house, late teens/early twenty males scaring the life out of any teenage girl, was funny to watch these girls running down the street screaming.

Last night wife and I stayed up getting everything ready for All Hallow's Eve .. Wife doing youngests costume. She is going out as a Dark Fairy .. Wife did a incredible job on the costume, just her frustraion level maxed out with all of us. Middle is going out with her girl friends, she's 13 don't ya know and wants nothing to do with her old man, Eldest says he is going up to his cousins to go Trick or Treating .. I'm supposed to drive him (I don't know, don't you think 15 is to old to be going out?)

I've done up four pumpkins .. a dragon, a spider, a upside down bat and a traditional Jack O'Lantern .. carving pumpkins is my Halloween, this is what gets me excited about the day. I love to see the kids eyes when they see the pumpkins.

Any way, I've joined a group over at Facebook, 1,000,000 Strong For Rick Mercer, which made me think of Rick's outing with the Toronto Rock. Low and behold, someone has posted it on Facebook.
Enjoy!, this is classic Mercer.

What happened on Monday October 29th?

Hallow-meme from Samurai Frog

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?
Not a big fan of horror (I’m just a big wuss, I get scared very easily) but I think the best I’ve ever read was Stephen King’s It

2. Who is your favorite monster?
The “Alien” from Ridely Scotts Alien series. I don’t think I have ever been able to watch one of these movies right through.

3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
The Thing From Another World. Yes I am 44, but I have never watched this movie all the way through. I remember sitting in the family room on a Saturday afternoon watching this movie with my sisters. I hid behind the couch.

4. Freddy versus Jason?
Never seen them, never will. Well I did watch some of a Jason movie. Back before we we had even thought of getting married (23 years ago) we were at wifes girlfriends house watching a movie. I had turned around to talk to (future) Wife, turned back just as a fist went through a car movie. I did a one eighty and ened up with my head in wifes lap. I did not live that one down for a long time.

5. Ghosts or goblins?
Goblins, Ghosts I can handle they are insubstantial so they can do anything to you.

6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
Saw the black hearse being drawn by 8 black horses racing through the sky. (great grandmother told me that it meant someone had died.) I think I was drunk, so does it really count?

7. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, but how can they hurt you.

8. Favorite Halloween costume?
I guess I was about eight or so, I was a pirate. Mom did the charcoal beard, eye patch, and crape paper around the top of my rubber boots to make them look like pirate boots. I had just seen Captain Blood for the first time.

9. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?
One of the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica

10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?
I was ten, the first year we moved to Barrie. I went out a Columbo. People in the neighbourhood asked me why I was out for Halloween, “was I not to old?

11. What's your favorite Halloween candy?
Sponge Toffee .. one of my teachers in public school lived up the street from us. She gave this out ever year.

12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I remember having a flying dream once where I suddenly lost the power to fly and fell out of the sky.

13. What is your supernatural fear?
Have always had problems with werewolves, not sure why but I still get creeped out walking in the bush late at night.

14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?
None .. okay maybe I have problems with seeing a mass of cockroaches .. but they just ugly.

15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?
Yes, or what I always thought of a haunted house. My Great Grandmother had a bedroom that was always locked, I used to image that one of my mothers relatives was locked away in there, and would try and get out to kill us at night. This was a big old house that only my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother lived in. I found it dark and kind of smelly.

16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
I do both, tell me what you think?

17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Wife likes to go nuts, so we have spider webs, spiders, bats, Halloween lights.. etc. Me I would be happy with just the pumpkins. I bought four today.

18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days? Do you miss classic Halloween costumes or traditions from your childhood?
Way to commercial, as a kid Halloween would always come about as kind of a surprise, you’d have a few days to get your costume together and that was it. Youngest has been talking about Halloween for a month now. I'm dating myself here but I can still remember getting homemade candy apples, fudge and sponge toffee. We've spent about $60 on candies (we bought the chocolates early on sale). We should be seeing about 150 kids tonight.

What happened on Sunday October 14th?

Rome at night, yes that bus is really that small.

Arrrgh!!!! I am so sick.

I had a great time at Gogol Bordello. Awesome concert. I got there early, a bit to early 8pm. Got a great spot, right up to the front, only about 2 deep from the stage ... the opening act, Dub Trio, didn't come on til 9pm. Dub Trio is a pretty cool band, Bass Guitar Drums doing Art Rock/Metal/Punk/Dub .. really interesting but LOUD. You could feel the bass cords inside your body.

By the time Gogol Bordello came on I was soaked with sweat. My hair, shirt and pants were wet with sweat. I have not be crowded by people since I don't know when. The music was great, LOUD again (next time I will bring ear plugs) Then the mosh pit began right behind me. Started getting slamed from all sides, claustraphobia clicked in and I had to get out. Finally after wading through the pit, I got to the outside and was able to watch the concert in some peace. Occasionally getting you foot steped on, slammed by someone falling out of the pit. But hey I had a great time. Can't remember the songs, in fact the guy I was with said afterword that it was the best concert that he had ever been at where he could not understand a word being sung.

Anyway Gogol Bordello was great, but it made me so sick. I still haven't gotten over the cold. Had to take a day off of work on Thursday. Then I spent most of today in bed.

Enjoy a couple of cover versions:

Willie William-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Clash-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Who-Baba O'Riley (Download)
Waco- Baba O'Riley (Download)

What happened on Friday October 5th?

Wow, I've got the greatest Wife in the world. Tuesday nights are swamped for us, we have swimming lessons for Youngest, then piano and drum lessons for her and Eldest (Eldest does the drum lesson). So from 6 pm to 8pm on that night we are on the go. Well, Wife is okay with me going out to see Gogol Bordello next Tuesday. I am so pumped, this is a great band that is hard to pigeon hole. They are from New York, play eastern European gypsy punk rock? Anyway I'm off to see them next Tuesday at the Kool Haus all because I have the sexist, hottest, coolest Wife alive.

I've got to say, Happy Birthday Dad (he's 75 today.)

We had some really interesting adventures while in Europe, we would head off as a group and do our own thing. When we in Monaco, one of the books Wife head said that we should see Menton, France. So off on the train we went to Menton. It was a very pretty city, but not really worth the time we lost in Monte Carlo. Any way, while walking and trying to find these very old churches that the guide book said we need to see we came across the most incredible set of stairs. (all we seemed to do on this cruise was stairs, would you believe I lost weight on a cruise!)

You start at this pretty little plaza, water fountain built into a wall, cafe to one side, pastry shop beside it and touristy stores beside them .. You begin climbing this set of stairs.

You take a jog to the left, then a turn to the right, another turn to the right, a left turn (these steps are really getting steep!)
You go through this very steep, dark, damp tunnel and come out in a sun lit church plaza


Another adventure from our Western Mediterranean cruise on the MSC Cruise Line.






Have fun listening to Gogol Bordello:
Marinella (download the mp3)
Supertheory of Supereverything (download the mp3)
Bordello Kind of Guy (download the mp3)

Remember go out and support a band, see the concert, buy the CD, get yourself a T-Shirt. They aren't doing it for free.

I'm being watched. No really not just by the kittens. Mgmt is watching everything we do on the computers at work so we have to be careful.

I will try to post from home but we shall see.

What happened on Tuesday September 25th?

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that to many talented people are dying latley. The Canadian art world has just lost Ken Danby. He passed away on sunday while on a canoe trip in Algonquin Park.

Danby was what is called a realist. He painted the world as he saw it, as you would capture it with a camera. His work included nature, animals and iconic Canadian scenes.

Danby was a artist known during his lifetime, he was able to make a living doing what he loved. I hope that he passed with as little pain as possible, doing something he has always enjoyed.

Portofino Harbour, Italy

Portofino Harbour, Italy, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

When we were in Genoa, we went to the world famous Aquarium they have there. We did not take the excursion from the cruise line, because we wanted to walk around Genoa for a while, then went to the aquarium. Wow, it was worth it, I was happy.

Afterwards, Wife wanted to see Portofino, because she had heard so much about it. It's about a half hour from Genoa. I didn't thing we would be able to make it ( the cruise line only allowed one excursion a day), but Wife and the Father/Daughter team that we were with talked me into it. So we got on the train (4 euros each-return trip) and went to Santa Margherita Ligure where we caught a bus (1 euro each way) to Portofino. We spent about two hours walking around Portofino and then reversed the trip to Genoa and the ship. Made it back 15 minutes before it left the port.

What a great day, I would say one of the best of the trip. I definatly want to spend more time in Santa Margherita Ligure, what a beautiful town.

Map reading in Mdina, Malta

Map reading in Mdina, Malta, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Wife looking at a map in Mdina, Malta. This is a walled city going back to the early history of Malta. Its a very pretty town/fortress/city, worth the visit.

Oh yea, for you plumbers out there .. see the pipe on the wall to the right. That is the waste pipe for the building. They couldn't but it inside the solid stone wall.

By the way, any photos you see of wife are a series I call "photos postérieur", she just kept on moving and I could only get the shots from behind.

back alleyway in Menton France (4)

back alleyway in Menton France (4), originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

This is a back alleyway in Menton France. Menton is a small city to the east of Monaco, it has a beautiful stone beach, orange trees lining the roads and has the claim to the grave of the man who invented rugby.

Shopping in Monaco

Shopping in Monte Carlo, Monaco, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Wife shopping on the "Rock" in Monte Carlo. Very touristy things, nothing special.

The buses in Rabbat Malta

Bus in Rabbat Malta (20), originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Beautiful country, Malta, I would go back in a minute! If you want sun, water, history .. go to Malta.

Deep in the heart of the Souk, Tunis

Souk in Tunis, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

The Souk was a roofed over shoping district in Tunis. The men (all the sales people were men) stood at their shop doors and tried their best to get you in their doors. Some went as far to chase you down the walk way. A very big tourist trap. Not your kind of shopping Nic!