Monday, May 30, 2005

Vietnamese Bun reviews

#1 Mi Mi Restaurant (668 Gerrard Street E., east of Broadview)
Excellent. My favourite of those that I've tried. All ingredients are fresh and flavorful. Vermicelli are cooked less than anywhere else in the city. They are slightly "al dente", which means they have a bit more texture than elsewhere. Spring roll was good. Shrimp on sugar cane was sweet and incredibly juicy.

Friday, May 27, 2005

The Cremation of Sam McGee

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Bruce Trail fauna Posted by Hello

Thursday, May 26, 2005

One for Shawn

Chowhound's :: Gerrard Street

"Chow adventures on Gerrard Street between Broadview and Woodbine " by delaglio

Layout for Leukemia is this Saturday!

Ultimate, disc golf and beer on the islands...

It's all good! And it's for a good cause...

Feel free to sponsor me at the link above.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Bono on U2

U2's frontman sits down with Greg Kot to 'clear the air' about negative reviews, the band's direction and the role of rock 'n' roll

Who needs a car shuttle! Posted by Hello

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide

The TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide is a wallet-sized booklet with maps of all the subway and RT station platforms. Using the guide, passengers will know what car and what door on the train to be at in order to line up directly with the stairs, escalator, or elevator exit at their destination station.

People can download the guide for free from www.ttcrider.ca

IGDA - Articles - Why Crunch Mode Doesn't Work: 6 Lessons

IGDA - Articles - Why Crunch Mode Doesn't Work: 6 Lessons

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Anthony Lane on Star Wars

"Deepest mind in the galaxy, apparently, and you still express yourself like a day-tripper with a dog-eared phrase book, "I hope right you are."

Break me a fucking give.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Weekend Update

  • GT wins Toronto Ultimate Festival over Joystick.
  • Hamstrings loses to old age.

You win some, you lose some. See the link above for some video footage.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

NBA draft gets pranked

Sweet. That's Heroman's 15 seconds in the limelight.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Weekend Plans!

In the immortal words of Michael Buffer, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!"

Saturday: Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning in the afternoon. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming light in the morning. High 21.
Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Low 6. High 13.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Time Management for Anarchists: The Movie

One for PJS and me. Apparently CM is worried about our appearance at their wedding. When was that again?

Monday, May 09, 2005

Queen's student dies climbing Dupuis Hall

From the Kingston Whig-Standard
By Dawn Cuthbertson
Monday, May 02, 2005 - 07:00

Local News - Nicholas Beaulieu and Toby Stier couldn’t wait to finish their spring exams so they could spend the summer climbing mountains out West. The best friends and students at Queen’s University had their four-month adventure all planned. Mr. Beaulieu, 19, was scheduled to fly home to Okotoks, Alta., this week after moving into his new house on Aberdeen Street. Stier, 21, was going to try his luck hitchhiking.

The duo were regulars at the Boiler Room climbing gym in Kingston and took day trips to smaller climbing spots in the surrounding area to prepare themselves for a summer of working a little and climbing a lot, Stier told The Whig-Standard yesterday. “We loved climbing in Ontario but it always felt like a warm up to the mountains,” he said. “We had big plans to meet in Calgary.” Stier’s voice broke yesterday as he recalled a phone call last week that tragically changed his summer plans, and his life.

Kingston emergency crews found Nicholas Beaulieu without vital signs Wednesday afternoon after he fell almost three-storeys from a building on the Queen’s campus that he had been climbing. Witnesses told Kingston Police that the second-year life sciences student had almost reached the top of Dupuis Hall, near the corner of Division and Clergy streets, when he lost his footing and fell.

Bystanders watched in horror as the young man’s body landed on a truck and then the sidewalk. He was rushed to Kingston General Hospital and died Friday afternoon with his parents, Stephen and Donita, by his side. “It was just an accident,there’s no other way to explain it,” Stuart Koch, Nicholas’s uncle, said in an interview. A member of the Queen’s Climbing Club, Mr. Beaulieu was reportedly free soloing, or climbing without the aid of a rope, when he fell.

Koch and his wife, Jeanne, rushed to Kingston from their home in King City to support Stephen and Donita who, on Friday, made the agonizing decision to take their son off a respirator and arrange for his organs to be donated. Mr. Beaulieu aspired to be a doctor in a Third World country one day so his parents didn’t hesitate to donate his organs, Koch said. “Hopefully this will give someone else a chance to live,” he said. Focused on improving his climbing skills, the young man didn’t smoke and limited his alcohol intake to one or two drinks when out with friends. “Whoever gets the organs are going to be very fortunate people,” Koch said.


Nicholas Beaulieu was just five years old when his father, Stephen, took him climbing for the first time, Koch said. Father and son often travelled seven kilometres west out of Okotoks to climb Big Rock, a glacial formation. The mammoth boulder appeared outside the small town of 14,000 people after the last ice age. Okotoks is about 18 kilometres south of Calgary. Koch said his nephew was a strong, experienced and respected climber. Mr. Beaulieu found solace in climbing around Christmas when he was having problems with a former girlfriend, Koch said. “His marks were suffering and that’s when he got back into [climbing]. It brought back his personality and got him out of a depression.” “He was such a free spirit who just loved life and gave so much to others,” he said. “He was a perfect kind of individual.”

Mr. Beaulieu made dozens of friends while working as as a YMCA counsellor and lifeguard in Okotoks, his uncle said. He also enjoyed skiing, snowboarding, playing guitar and piano. Leaving Alberta to attend university in Ontario wasn’t an easy decision for him, but he chose Queen’s because he thought it had the best medical school, Koch said. “He had the feeling that it was time to flex his wings and get away from home.” Mr. Beaulieu’s siblings, Annalise, 18, and Alexander, 9, were looking forward to having their brother home for the summer, Koch said. “His dad had even fixed up an old car for him to use.” Alexander will especially feel the loss because his “whole world” revolved around his older brother, Koch said. “It will be very, very hard for him to deal with the fact that [his brother] is not coming home.”
Greg Stewart, 19, said he became close friends with Mr. Beaulieu last year when the two lived together in residence. “He could put a smile on anyone’s face,” he said. The roommates found common ground in music, kicking around a hacky sack and, eventually, climbing. Stewart said he was hoping to join Mr. Beaulieu and Toby Stier during the summer and had arranged for them to visit his parent’s home in California. Stewart said he spoke to Mr. Beaulieu moments before he left their Wellington Street house to climb Dupuis Hall. “He was a little bit nervous but excited to get out there to do what he loved.”
More than 200 school and climbing friends visited Mr. Beaulieu’s bedside while he was in hospital, Koch said. Donita Beaulieu gave them a blank book and encouraged them to write down their favourite memories of him for her to share with his siblings, Koch said. “They were all very passionate and there was a lot of tears,” he said. Some of the comments were written by friends who climbed with Mr. Beaulieu in Kentucky over spring break. Queen’s principal Karen Hitchcock and Bob Crawford, dean of student affairs, visited the hospital Friday to offer their condolences to family and friends. “It was heartbreaking to see the grief of those who knew and loved this young man,” Crawford said in a statement. “He had clearly touched many lives.”

A memorial service will be held for Mr. Beaulieu in September when classes resume, Queen’s chaplain Brian Yealland said. “This is just a terrible, terrible tragedy to lose a young man so talented,” he said. Stephen and Donita Beaulieu will return for the service, Yealland said. Kingston’s climbing community is devastated by the loss of one of their own, said Martin Honig, co-owner of the Boiler Room. “We feel terrible for his family and friends and the community at large,” he said. Toby Stier said he’ll remember Mr. Beaulieu for his quirky fashion sense, which included oversized sunglasses and regular trips to Value Village. “I remember one shopping trip that led us all over town searching for the perfect pair of neon spandex pants for a climbing competition,” Stier said. “He was awarded the title of ‘best dressed’ even though the category didn’t even exist before he showed up.” A funeral will be held in Calgary later this week, Koch said. “They are expecting a massive turnout.”

Beaten by a goat


Ow. Apparently a winter of un-training did not adequately prepare me to run like crazy for two weekends in a row against the best guys in the city. I'm unbelievably sore. Posted by Hello

Friday, May 06, 2005

Inkless Wells gets snarky

"Special unique never-before never-again side deals for Ontario and New Brunswick would bring to five the number of provinces that have benefited from special super-one-time-only super-asymmetrical side deals. Three of four Atlantic provinces; Ontario; Saskatchewan. Oddly enough, those happen to be the provinces where Liberals expect to win, oh, I don't know, 85% of their seats in the next election. Shame on you if you think that's significant."

CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival

Just an FYI of places, times and locations for this year's Contact Festival.

Monday, May 02, 2005


It's an up- and down- kind of hike.  Posted by Hello

In honour of a co-worker's weekend camping trip, a picture from the Bruce Peninsula National Park.  Posted by Hello