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Batchin' It
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| Saturday, December 30, 2006 |
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Well, as the best man in Mark’s (Mel’s brother’s) wedding, it came to me to organize the bachelor party. So what does one do in New Brunswick for a fun (and clean) guys’ night out, I wondered. Being across the ocean in London at the time, I turned to Google to get some ideas. I collected a rock solid set of suggestions from the search results and sent them across to the invitees: 1) rent a mechanical bull and have a rodeo, 2) hire a stage hypnotist, 3) rent a set of inflatable moon bounces, 4) go cow-tipping, 5) play outdoor paintball, 6) go to a hockey game.
I was a little bewildered as one-by-one, all my awesome ideas got shot down, except for one…
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A Birthday to Celebrate
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| Monday, December 25, 2006 |
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As you well know, today is my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honour and this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time of year there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in all parts of the world everyone is talking about my birthday.
It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration.
I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honour...
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Kristkindlmarkt, Munchen
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| Tuesday, December 12, 2006 |
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This past weekend we did a day-trip to see a German Christmas market. We visited Kristkindlemarkt (“Christ Child Market”) in Munich, which is the second biggest Christmas market in Germany after Nuremburg. The market is located right outside Marienplatz, the main square and centre of Munich since 1158.
We caught the two hour flight Friday after work and took the train into central Munich to find our hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were informed that it was fully occupied, but with great apology they gave us the executive suite! It was a huge suite with a bedroom, two bathrooms, living area with couches, dining table and a work space. About three times as big as our flat in London. So far we liked Germany!
Our hotel was one stop on the metro from Marienplatz, so we decided to stay dry and skip the walk (it rained and snowed all day during our stay). We had a brief run-in with the automated ticket dispenser ...
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The Arrival of Father Christmas
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| Saturday, November 25, 2006 |
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Today was the long-awaited arrival of Father Christmas at Canary Wharf. Every child living in Docklands has likely been looking forward to this day for weeks. They’ve seen the sleigh display in the mall, and the only thing missing has been Father Christmas himself. The reason we were there was to see the fake snow, and I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one fascinated by how snow is produced at +10C.
The reindeer sleigh was due to arrive at 12:00 sharp. The scene was packed. All the little elves were there handing out chocolate and other goodies. There was face painting, there were balloon-tied animals, it was quite the show. At just before the hour, the excitement was building, and then it happened. Right on cue at 12:00 – the heavens opened...
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Small World Moment
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| Thursday, November 23, 2006 |
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Had an extremely weird “small world” moment this week. Our friend Mike from Bermondsey is in India to attend a wedding and do some trekking in the Himalayas. At the same time, Rachel (Vance) from Ontario is also in India doing some mission work. I got an email from Mike this week saying that he was in a remote village in northern India, and that he had met “your friend Stephen’s” sister Rachel! Is that weird or what?? In a country of a billion people and who knows how many thousands of churches and assemblies, and in some remote little village you bump into a friend of a friend!
I don’t know how many times I’ve met someone in another part of the world, and they’ve said, “Oh, Toronto! I know someone from Toronto! Do you know so-and-so?” You walk away thinking how silly it is that they’d even ask, and that they likely think Toronto is some small hick town. Well, I promise I won’t roll my eyes next time.
So, have you ever had a “small world” moment? Please share!
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Doodle 4 Google – My Britain
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| Tuesday, November 14, 2006 |
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You may have noticed that at certain times of the year, Google’s logo on their homepage gets “doodled” to reflect different people, events or special dates around the world. Until now, all of these have been designed by Google’s original doodler, 28-year-old Dennis Hwang.
'Doodle 4 Google - My Britain' was a recent nationwide design competition which was open to the UK's 10 million school children. Young people were invited to design a Google doodle representing what it means to them to be British today. The public voted on which doodles were the best in each age group, and Dennis chose the final winner. The winning doodle was displayed on the Google UK homepage for a day, being seen by around 18 million people. Check out the winning doodles! The winner will also be flown to Google’s “Googleplex” HQ in California to help Dennis design a doodle.
What is most interesting, though, is how the thousands of submitted doodles give insight into what kids today think of Britain. A full analysis was done of the doodles to look at the emerging themes, as well as to see how different regions, age groups and sexes view Britain.
Most people would think that kids today are obsessed with brand and image, but not one doodle featured Posh and Becks (they’ll be glad to know). Instead, “kids focussed on Britain’s rich history and heritage, ...
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Always Remember...
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| Saturday, November 11, 2006 |
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Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
-John 15:13
It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt
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City of a Thousand Spires
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| Monday, October 16, 2006 |
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The locals call her Maticka Praha, or Little Mother Prague, one of Europe’s most beautiful and fascinating cities. This was our first time to the Czech Republic, of which Prague is the capital and also considered the centre of culture and music. And yes there are lots and lots of spires.
Something that struck us was how different the language was. Usually you can recognize words in other languages and get the gist of street signs. Czech is quite different though, and reading a map was lots of fun. “How do you get to the museum?” “Oh, real close. Take metro two stops to Staromestske Namesti station, turn left down Havelska Ulice for two blocks, go right at Politickych Venzu until Kraodvorska Truhlarska, then it’s right there on corner of Spanelska. Only 15 minutes.” “Uh, thanks…”
But that’s just the wonderful thing about being in a foreign city, isn’t it? You feel like you’re 6 years old again. The sights are new, the sounds and smells are new, you can’t read...
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More British Than Tea
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| Monday, October 02, 2006 |
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Truly British. There is nothing more British than tea. Even though it was discovered in China, grown in India and defiled in Boston. In the UK we get through 163 millions cups every day and even more at weekends. But tea drinking etiquette is complex. To dunk or not to dunk? Cup or mug? If the inside of the teapot is so brown, what do your insides look like? And, of course the age-old question: milk first or last? Scientists have spent tens of thousands of taxpayers pounds solving the debate which starts wars and breaks up families, and the verdict is to always put milk in first. Why? Because adding later leads to the “denaturation” of milk proteins, which, although utterly incomprehensibubble, is a bad BAD thing.
-Tube ad for Harrod’s.
Truly Canadian. There is nothing more Canadian than … Doughnuts??
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Bomb Threat(s)
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| Wednesday, September 13, 2006 |
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For the second day in a row now our building has been evacuated due to a bomb threat. For most people this would mean half a day off work. Not for us, though. Unfortunately we’re too busy to take any time off, so our team took some cabs to another office. PwC works on the basis of “hot desking”, which means you don’t have an assigned seat. Rather, you bring your laptop into your building each morning, sign in at a console and reserve the nearest free desk.
Due to the evacuations to different offices, we’ve received quite the grand tour of PwC London. Today was spent at the head office, a huge building by the Thames, close to the London Eye. To make sure we could all get seats together, we reserved a board room and all sat around a big table. Needless to say it was getting a bit stuffy by the end of the day.
Of course I had to bring my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard with me, only to find there was no room to use it at the crammed boardroom table. If I’d had any sense I would’ve realized that the embarrassment of taking the tube home in rush hour with a big keyboard tucked under your arm, is not worth saving yourself the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. Five points for spotting the IT geek!! All I needed was a propeller hat to complete the picture.
After such humiliation I hope they catch whoever is making the bomb threats… although I do have my suspicions about a group of rather bored looking interns.
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