Tuesday, June 27, 2006
All those racing lessons saved my ass today.
I was in the Miata driving to a meeting in Kanata, I exited March road onto Herzberg in the pouring rain. At this point the road rises and falls suddenly. The rise unweighted the car and I was accelerating from the corner. Combined with the wet roads, the car starts to fishtail and I realize that I was going too fast to let it run its course. Countersteer and correct, only to feel the car go the other way too fast...correct again...all the while thinking "look where you want to go" rather than at the oncoming traffic. No brakes, all steering input...eventually the wheels catch and I'm rolling straight ahead. Heart racing at the possible repercussions of the accident avoided. No way I could have pulled that off without feeling the same thing in the open wheel race car.


Monday, June 26, 2006
The result of a months work...a great deal of it during prime blackfly season.




This one is for Dave...




Friday, June 23, 2006
I've been working in a clients office in Gatineau for the last few months. In that time I've become a little familiar with the surroundings and some of the culture that is uniquely Gatineau's. What boggles my mind is the preponderence of Harley's and their like. It seems that this part of the country has co-opted the Hells Angels asthetic. I just watched as a really huge Harley went by with a sidecar attached with child, followed by another equally large Harley driven by a woman with a small girl on the back. I'm assuming their related and that this is some form of nuclear family out for a cruise. That was about 80K worth of motorcycles going by...it could be that they are quite well off, but unlikely given this area. Additionally, given the outrageous hurdles in Quebec to get a bike license, I just can't fathom the crazy fanaticism for this cruiser/chopper bike culture.


Wednesday, June 14, 2006
How slow is the news day when the CBC leads with the story of one street urchin stabbing another to death.


Teaching a non designer Photoshop is a very painful experience. I was doing it to be polite, but it became pretty clear that the powerful features in the tool were about to be used for evil rather than good. So if you see a preponderance of drop shadows and gradient fills in marketing collateral in the coming weeks, you'll know who to blame.


Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Enough said.




Friday, June 02, 2006
One of the phenomena that drives me nuts in the house is the what I call "bodycon"..short for body concentration. On occasion I'll find that all the residence of 51 Ivy will be concentrated in one small confined area..often the bathroom these days. I don't include the obvious family moments as we gather on the couch to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" (that Nigel is such a bitch). Given the ample space in the house and the relatively spread out function of the rooms, I find this phenomena a little overwhelming at times...often resulting in me declaring the offence and madly running from the room to get a little space.


Thursday, June 01, 2006
In case you were wondering how the manhut is progressing.