Tonight's adventure took a friend's basement where we chose a "board game" to play. I say board game like that because this one was sort of a dungeons and dragons style of "board". (The type of things you build as you play.) So the game brought up a principal I've long thought about on game nights; the idea that friendship and the need to kill seem to have a direct causal link.
It would see that from Monopoly to UNO there is a connection between how much you like a person and how much you want to see them fail miserably at their act. Of course this doesn't work in teams...but in a mono-a-mono battle the effect is present. If someone is a real close friend, the second the game starts, the gloves are off and it's straight for the arteries with the attacks.

I just thought I'd share this bit of trivia with you so you might casually observe the effect on your next friendly game-night.
It's difficult to contest as I've never had an enemy-based game night, nor am I planning to any time soon. I'm not sure what I'll call the effect yet, but I'm to suggestions.

-D-

A friend called me up today, setting up a new computer. She was having some problems with plugging in her peripherals to the tower.

"So it's the one that looks like a duck?"

"You mean the USB port?"

"The flat one... it looks like a rectangle duck..."

Now I knew what she meant (having done tech-support over the phone for Apple and for an American phone line, I've heard them say it all). She just needed to plug in the USB mouse and keyboard. So close to a working computer and yet linguistically...so far!

So I thought I'd post this chart. It's not the newest chart online, but it does cover the most common of all ports you'll ever run in to. Click on the chart for a larger view and remember, a little effort will keep you from being mocked before all the geeks when you hang up that phone :)

Cheers to the divide between geeks and the rest. It's about time that computer lingo becomes common knowledge, I think.
-D-

So I was walking through the park the other week and I found something peculiar... there is an astonishingly large number of trees in this park that have wires. Thinking nothing of it I noticed the wires led to lights which, for the most part made sense. For a romantic whimsical look the park's commission set lights to shine onto the trees and illuminate the foliage in the spring and summer. This is a great idea, I thought, until I came across this...
They have lit the light that lights the trees? Really? Am I seeing this right. Certainly one of those lights must be broken or inactive. Maybe it's just too high to remove so they left it up there... I returned a few hours later to investigate:

Both the lights worked. They both lit the tree and seemed to light themselves lighting the tree... Now I know that this is the site not far from where Nicholas Tesla and Thomas Edison battled it out. They fought between AC and DC powers and practically invented modern electricity but aren't we taking this a little far? Isn't lighting our redundant lights a little bit much? 
Maybe I'm just nuts, but if someone would like to explain this to me... that'd be great.

-D-

There are a lot of people in this world who always seem to be on a mission. You've undoubtedly seen these folks hustling through their daily tasks. They make lists; they check lists off. They set goals; they accomplish those goals...

They aren't necessarily bad people and the world is grateful that they exist. It would seem though that not enough people stop to look around anymore. It almost seems as if people have lost their ability to stop, even just for a second, to check out the wonders of the world around them. 

Even on vacation people seem to either chose to run off to some secluded place and to drink and sleep and rest and nap. They take in nothing and just chill. Other's go on panic-driven adventures where, even on vacation, they follow itineraries and set schedules and freak out.

Today I got took a friend on a trip. We had no idea where we were going, nor did we really care where we ended up. We took a strange little tour of Thorold and St.Catharines and I showed her some of the hidden gems around town.

The next album is a collection of photos taken inside the old Merritt barn on Beaverdam Rd. (I don't condone breaking and entering and you should ask permission before entering private properties and buildings...)

Just remember that the world is absolutely full of wonders. All it takes is a little curiosity and the effort involved in taking a minute to explore. There's a whole world of possible adventures out there...go take a peak.

-D-

So I got the chance to hang out at Port Dalhousie today and took advantage of the nice evening to snap a few shots of some birds. Figured I might as well make an album of them and post is here... this is that:

Hope you like birds...
-D-

Sometimes it feels like you just don't fit in...but somehow you know that there's a place for you somewhere. You've just got to find where it is that they've been missing you all along and don't even know it yet. Let's just hope that this isn't a "sign" of things to come. There's just no place for -D- in a mediocre job ;)
No offence to the many McMorons out there...we love you still. I just hope to never join your ranks.

-D-

So I made a great cocktail on St.Patty's day this year. I figured I would share some of the green with everyone, despite this being way to late to indulge in the emerald-inebriation! St.Patty's is for green beer anyways, so save this drink for summer:

We haven't named this drink yet, but it's delicious and worth sharing.
Cheers,
-D- 

The world is thawing out... I just thought everyone should know that. I was walking with a friend and found this wonderful piece of a city. For weeks it's been under snow and we were pretty sure it was lost for good... turns out that it just needed a little sunshine and it's ready for another long season of being under-appreciated by thousands of world travelers.

I just thought maybe you would want to take a look at it while it was still fresh. 
Oh and for anyone wondering, it's at full-res, so feel free to steal it for your background.

-D- 

I've often said that one-day I will tour Niagara Falls and create an album of all the burnt-out lights. They're not hard to spot; I would argue that at least one in three signs is missing at least one letter. This particular one made me laugh as I blurted out "I'm a heater" and confused my wandering mate. It's always more fun when the burnt out signs spell things.

There was an entire winter where the IMAX THEATER read "IMA THEATER" which was fun because it sort of work regardless of the lack of original intent. Tonight however, wish the temperatures just above freezing, I wondered if "I'm a heater" was any less appealing than the original sign...

It's still a lot better than the MYS ERY MAZE, or the restaurant that was serving BLACK AN US BEEF...

-D-

This is something that I noticed while wandering aimlessly through Niagara Falls, Canada, on another caffeine high. Wandering the town is something we do often, but lately I've found myself to have a strangely cynical outlook on modern "culture," which is to say the "culture" that surrounds the tourist-oriented lanes of Niagara Falls. Let me clarify a bit by explaining this particular discovery. 

Vinny's is an Italian-American Eatery; the issue isn't with this strange stereotype existing in Canada, making it an Italian-American Canadian eatery, nor is it with the restaurant itself. I'm sure it's a great restaurant. I have never been myself, but it seems successful and I've never heard any complaints, so I'm sure it's at very least an adequate eatery for the tourist population that comes through the falls. No, all of this is just fine; The issue I take with this is indeed the pretentious neon-exclamation to be read above the name: "World Famous Vinny's".

I mean, let me get this straight; You're world famous, as a restaurant, so everyone knows about you. That's awesome; way to go... somehow though, I just don't buy it. I'm not saying that there can't be a world-famous restaurant called Vinny's that's famous and such, not at all. What I am saying is that you've sorta blown your cover.

If "Vinny's" is indeed world famous, I don't see the point in a neon sign indicating just that. I mean, Charley Sheen...he's world famous, without question, but he doesn't wear a name-tag that says "world famous" (even though I bet he'd absolutely love it!)
No, Sheen's fame comes from being known by so many, which is, by definition fame. The main characteristic of fame is the ability to be recognized without having to go around telling people you're famous... otherwise you're clearly barely known and require and introduction.

Where does that leave our "Vinny's" then? If the restaurant is genuinely "world-famous" then the sign is a redundant waste of money and of our time reading it. If however, the sign isn't a waste, then it's a lie, because by virtue of necessity it becomes redundant.

So I'm not entirely sure "Vinny's" is world famous at all, I think it's a ruse... furthermore, I've never eaten at a "Vinny's" and just learned tonight that it exists... 

-D-