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420 items (285 unread) in 11 feeds
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dreamrealm.gallery
(10 unread)
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Gallery:Events
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Gallery:Luc & Erin
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Photos from lucg71
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YouTube :: Videos by Sandman71 (13 unread)
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tumblr.Dreamrealm
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Public Notes from Luc G.
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Twitter / Sandman71 (133 unread)
Unread items (100)
del.icio.us/lucg71
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Oosah - My Media
Posted: September 6th, 2008, 2:51pm PDT by lucg71
1 terrabyte of free online storage
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: 6 days til NHL09, 1 week til Death Magnetic and 9 days til Rock Band 2. Woohoo! But my wallet won't be too happy :P
Posted: September 5th, 2008, 5:08pm PDT
Sandman71: 6 days til NHL09, 1 week til Death Magnetic and 9 days til Rock Band 2. Woohoo! But my wallet won't be too happy :P -
Sandman71: Metallica's Death Magnetic is pretty good. Their best album since the Black album.
Posted: September 4th, 2008, 1:35pm PDT
Sandman71: Metallica's Death Magnetic is pretty good. Their best album since the Black album. -
Sandman71: 1 week vacations go by way too quickly.
Posted: September 4th, 2008, 1:31pm PDT
Sandman71: 1 week vacations go by way too quickly. -
Sandman71: @twister65 YOu try NHL09 yet?
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 8:28pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 YOu try NHL09 yet? -
Sandman71: @twister65 If I HAD to pick right now, I'd take NHL09.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:26pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 If I HAD to pick right now, I'd take NHL09. -
Sandman71: @twister65 The graphics seem slightly a bit worse than 2K9 IMO. But the level of control is better. You can even lift sticks.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:21pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 The graphics seem slightly a bit worse than 2K9 IMO. But the level of control is better. You can even lift sticks. -
Sandman71: @twister65 NHL09 is fun. Gotta get used to the controls. I'm torn between that and 2K9 :P
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:18pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 NHL09 is fun. Gotta get used to the controls. I'm torn between that and 2K9 :P -
Sandman71: Supposedly Sept 14th for RB2
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 2:02pm PDT
Sandman71: Supposedly Sept 14th for RB2 -
Sandman71: @twister65 I was tempted at getting Spore, but between RB2, NHL2K9 or 09, and GHWT, I decided to pass it up.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 2:00pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 I was tempted at getting Spore, but between RB2, NHL2K9 or 09, and GHWT, I decided to pass it up. -
Sandman71: @twister65 EA NHL09 demo is supposedly out ofr the 360. Gonna go check it out now.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:53pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 EA NHL09 demo is supposedly out ofr the 360. Gonna go check it out now. -
Sandman71: @twister65 But saving 2-3 seconds on initial load time isn't a reason to drop my plugins. I suspect that Chrome will be as slow with plu ...
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:51pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 But saving 2-3 seconds on initial load time isn't a reason to drop my plugins. I suspect that Chrome will be as slow with plu ... -
Sandman71: @twister65 With FF it starts up in 3-4 seconds (unless there's plugins that need updating :P ). Chrome is near instantaneous.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:50pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 With FF it starts up in 3-4 seconds (unless there's plugins that need updating :P ). Chrome is near instantaneous. -
Sandman71: @gwenix Same here. Adblocker, Google&Facebook toolbar, del.icio.us, etc.. These plugins will need to exist for Chrome before I even thin ...
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:45pm PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix Same here. Adblocker, Google&Facebook toolbar, del.icio.us, etc.. These plugins will need to exist for Chrome before I even thin ... -
Sandman71: @twister65 I didn't find Chrome any faster than FF3 really. I also didn't like that it didn't ask me for the install location.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:44pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 I didn't find Chrome any faster than FF3 really. I also didn't like that it didn't ask me for the install location. -
Sandman71: Heck, Google didn't even bother making a google toolbar for it! Plus I don't see any significant improvements that would entice me to sw ...
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 11:57am PDT
Sandman71: Heck, Google didn't even bother making a google toolbar for it! Plus I don't see any significant improvements that would entice me to sw ... -
Sandman71: Google Chrome is OK but I don't see any reasons to switch from Firefox. Lack of plugins is one of the main reasons.
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 11:55am PDT
Sandman71: Google Chrome is OK but I don't see any reasons to switch from Firefox. Lack of plugins is one of the main reasons.
del.icio.us/lucg71
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Welcome to OpenVPN
Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 10:30am PDT by lucg71
Welcome to OpenVPN
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: New blog post: Lifestream.fm: the Friendfeed Killer? http://tinyurl.com/6rgs2f
Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 2:29am PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Lifestream.fm: the Friendfeed Killer? http://tinyurl.com/6rgs2f -
Sandman71: New blog post: Ottawa Humane Society Needs Your Help. http://tinyurl.com/5jrlk2
Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 2:28am PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Ottawa Humane Society Needs Your Help. http://tinyurl.com/5jrlk2
blog.dreamrealm
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Adventures In Unclogging A Vacuum Hose
Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 2:21am PDT by Sandman
I’ve recently had to deal with a clogged central vacuum hose. I didn’t peak under the bed before passing the vacuum and sucked up a facecloth. As soon as I had heard something big being sucked up I turned off the vacuum but it was too late. The cloth had jammed itself in real tight inside the hose and there was next to no suction making it all the way through. At least I had managed to vacuum most of the house before guests came over, with only our bedroom still showing the odd signs of cat hair.There’s a few things that I knew to try that would clear up a clogged central vac hose. The first thing I did was stick an unbent wire hanger at each end to see if the clog was close to one of the plugs. Unfortunately I couldn’t reach the blockage with the hanger so this meant the cloth was at least 3 feet into the tube. I slid in a screwdriver and the sound it made sliding inside the tube allowed me to discover that the clog was about 7 feet in. I shook the hose with the screwdriver still inside to see if I could dislodge the cloth. This had worked once in the past when the hose had gotten clogged with cat hair, but this time this trick wouldn’t work. After trying to dislodge it with the screwdriver for an hour, I had managed to move it by at most 6 inches. I couldn’t use a broom handle or anything that was solid as the clog was 7 feet in where the curved handle is. With a 40 foot hose, I had nothing at my disposal that was at least 35 feet long, so there was no way to attack the problem from the other end. My central vac isn’t equipped with a reverse switch, so that was not an option that I could try.
I made a quick trip to the local Home Depot and bought myself a 40 foot long fish tape. Fish tape is a metal wire that is normally used to fish wire through walls, ceilings and in between floors. I had to bend the end a little, fashioning it to something resembling a hook. I inserted the metal fish tape into the opening closest to the clog and stopped when I felt the cloth. It took a few jabs to move the wire past the blockage .Being careful, I then proceeded to pull the wire back, but it would not snag the cloth at first. It took quite a few tries to snag the cloth inside the hose. The trick was to pull the wire in quick, small pulls. This allowed me to pull the cloth without damaging the tube or the electrical wiring. After 45 minutes or so, I finally managed to pull out the cloth. The vacuum was then tested to insure that the tube had not been pierced or that the electrical wiring had not been damaged.
In brief, here are some things you can try in order to try and unclog a central vac hose.
- If your central vac unit has a reverse switch, try this first to see if you can dislodge the blocking.
- You can insert a screwdriver or a couple of golf balls, slide them to the blockage and then shake the tube to dislodge the item. Make sure that you don’t insert any object that you can’t slide back out.
- If the blockage is close to one of the ends, try using a broomstick (or something similar) if the shape of your hose allows you to do this.
- If you use a metal hanger, a fish tape or a plumber’s snake, make sure to be careful as to not damage or pierce the hose or the electrical wire inside the hose.
- Don’t try and loosen the object by using the vacuum. If you manage to dislodge the object inside the hose, you run the risk of blocking the pipes inside your walls or damaging the central vac unit itself.
Finally, the lesson learned here is to always look when vacuuming an area, and that includes looking under the beds to make sure that you don’t clog up your hose to begin with.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: New blog post: Central Vac Fun http://tinyurl.com/6e5tlj
Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 2:21am PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Central Vac Fun http://tinyurl.com/6e5tlj -
Sandman71: @twister65 I'm giving dreamhost another couple of weeks to fix the problem (or announce they'll fix it), if not I'm gone.
Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 1:33am PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 I'm giving dreamhost another couple of weeks to fix the problem (or announce they'll fix it), if not I'm gone.
del.icio.us/lucg71
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How to Clean Stuff
Posted: August 29th, 2008, 9:27am PDT by lucg71
How to Clean Stuff
blog.dreamrealm
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars Is A Huge Disappointment.
Posted: August 24th, 2008, 3:56pm PDT by Sandman
Last night my wife and I joined some friends for a showing of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As a huge Star Wars fanatic, I was looking forward to seeing this stylized animated flick. Regardless of the bad reviews, I took them with a grain of salt and hoped that it wasn’t as bad as most people made the movie to be. I wish I had heeded their warning and had not seen The Clone Wars. It was that bad.Our first clue should have been the amount of people in the theater. A 9pm Saturday night showing of the movie, in its 2nd week of release, and there were a whopping 5-6 other people in the theater with us. It was only 5 minutes into the movie before I looked at my watch to see how much more I would have to endure of this crapfest.
The story takes place between Episode II and Episode III of the prequels. The Republic is in the middle of an all out war with the Separatists. While fighting the Battle droid army, Anakin Skywalker is given a Padawan learner, the highly annoying Ahsoka. The main plot of the movie revolves around crime lord Jabba The Hutt’s kidnapped larva errr child Rotta aka Stinky. Both the Jedis and the Separatists attempt to save and bring back Rotta to Jabba, and whomever does will be given safe passage in the Hutt controlled Outer Rim shipping lanes.
Throughout the entire movie I felt like I was watching a 90 minute long videogame cutscene. The animation itself, especially the humanoid animation, was very bad. Characters looked like they were floating/gliding when walking, the speech movements were way off and the walking movement was awkward. However, the rendering was well done, the backgrounds were for the most part beautiful, and the chalk like textures were very well done for a computer animated flick.This being a Star Wars movie, I expected the dialogue to be cheesy, but Clone Wars takes it to a whole new dimension of cheesiness. The dialogue is infinitely worse than the Jake Lloyd/ Jar Jar scenes of the prequels. Heck, the prequels seem Shakespearean compared the the
CrapClone Wars. Suffering through Ahsoka and the Battle Droid dialogues I didn’t think things could get any worse. But oh god did they ever. Ziro the Hutt, Jabba’s gay queen uncle, has to be the absolute worse character in the Star Wars movies, far worse than Jar Jar and the young Anakin. Decked out in makeup and tattoos, the very effeminate speaking and acting slug was just jaw droppingly awful.
My friend had a theory regarding the prequels and Clone Wars. He theorizes that George Lucas is purposely out to destroy Star Wars so that no one will even want to touch that universe once he retires from filmmaking. After seeing Clone Wars that theory seems more and more probable. What was also frustrating is that parts of the movie showed tiny twinkles of potential, but every time that happened some very cheesy dialogue or plot point would rear its ugly head and totally annihilate it.While watching the prequels, as bad as one of them was, I could at least find some entertaining aspects to them and I could see what Lucas was trying to acheive. With Clone Wars there is absolutely no redeeming qualities and entertainment value. I don’t even think this could have succeeded as a Saturday morning cartoon. I feel like good ol’ uncle George has destroyed a part of my childhood. After seeing Clone Wars, I’m not sure that I can spend any of my hard earned cash on anything Star Wars related (and that includes the upcoming Force Unleashed videogame that I was looking forward to). When leaving the theater I felt like I needed a very hot shower to get the stink off of me, and a few shots of tequilla to take away the bad taste that the movie left in my mouth.
If you’re at all a Star Wars fan to any degree, do yourself a favour and don’t watch this movie. It will ruin everything Star Wars for you and there’s no way to ignore or erase this. I give Clone Wars a 1 out of 10 stars.
Photos from lucg71
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Posted: August 21st, 2008, 12:34am PDT
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Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: Touchdown roughriders!
Posted: August 21st, 2008, 9:26pm PDT
Sandman71: Touchdown roughriders!
blog.dreamrealm
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Whatever Happened to Workmanship?
Posted: August 21st, 2008, 4:29pm PDT by Sandman
Whatever happened to workmanship? Doing your job well and being proud of the work you do? For the most part, it seems like quality work by quality people is a rare find these days. Customer relations from trades people seem to fair no better.Over the last few months I’ve had a few incidents that I’ve had to deal with that are still unresolved. One of these incidents involved getting eavesdroughs installed on our house. It was a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. After waiting for a month and a half to have our eavesthroughs installed, the day finally came. The installation date kept on getting pushed back due to the insane amount of rain that we’ve had this summer, which was understandable. Regardless, my wife and I were almost ecstatic that we were finally getting them. It only took them about an hour to get the eavesthroughs installed. A little after lunch time I walk outside to see the progress of their work only to be surprised that they were already done. I was a little surprised that they never wrang the doorbell to let us know the work was completed. It only took a few seconds to figure out why. As pictured above, on my newly paved driveway, a 2-3 foot long string of paint stood out like a sore thumb. My first reaction was that it was mud, so I whipped out the hose and tried to spray it. Nothing happened. I took out my stiff broom and started to brush away at the stain. Still nothing happened. I bent down and finally noticed that it was some type of latex glue or paint. No matter how hard I scrubbed it wouldn’t come out. How hard would it have been to let us know that they had a small accident in our driveway? The installers fessing up to the mess instead of leaving me to discover it for myself would have gone a long way in customer relations. And instead of the installers reporting the stain, I had to call their service department to complain. One of their sales guys was over to assess the damage last night and states they’ll fix the problem over the next couple of days.
At the beginning of the summer we purchased a central air conditioner for the house. The installers had a heck of a time running the inside piping due to the basement family room being finished. What should have been a 4 hours job turned into a 10 hour job. However, even though this was a challenging job for them to do, there’s no excuse for what they did to my siding (pictured left). I would have been happy if they let me know of the damage and that they’d take care of sending out someone to fix it. But yet again, I had to discover the damage for myself, call their customer service and inform them of the damage that was caused. After a couple of months of playing phonetag with their customer service, we finally had someone come over to inspect the damage. The siding should be replaced in the next couple of weeks.Finally, my last tale revolves around whatever company my builder hired to plant trees. I’m not sure if its a builder policy or a city bylaw, but every new house on our block received a tree in our front yard. I find this great as it adds a bit of character to the neighbourhood. My problem again is with the workmanship of whatever company planted the trees. They used a backhoe to dig a square hole in my front yard that was about 3 feet by 3 feet. 6 days after the hole was dug, they finally planted the tree. Round peg, square hole. The roots of the tree were maybe a foot and a half in diameter. They filled the hole back up but that was it. They never put sod down to replace the one they dug up. None of my neighbours had this issue as they had their sod installed at the same time as they planted my tree and our sod was put down last October when we purchased the house. It would have been very easy for them to take some sod from the back of their flatbed truck and replace mine. Heck, I would have been happy with cut sod scraps from my neighbours’ installation. But no, they did jack. I had to go out to a store, buy my own soil and grass seeds and try to plant grass seeds where big chunks of dirty laid.
I won’t name the company names just yet. I first want to see how well they handle the damages and how well they do the repairs.
I don’t understand how people can’t take pride in the work they do and the quality of their work. I worked construction for about a year and nothing like this ever happened. The company and the employees took pride in leaving the place as clean or cleaner than when we arrived, letting the customer know if there was any accidental damage that was caused, and reported the damage to the office so the customer didn’t have to initiate having something repaired. I believe that this is a standard that all companies should adopt, whether you’re a one man team or have thousands of employees on the payroll.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: New blog post: Whatever Happened to Workmanship? http://tinyurl.com/5seohu
Posted: August 21st, 2008, 4:29pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Whatever Happened to Workmanship? http://tinyurl.com/5seohu
Picasa: Sandman's Photo Gallery
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Goofing around with the camera
Posted: August 21st, 2008, 3:00am PDT
Goofing around with the camera
Location: Orleans, Ontario
Date: Aug 21, 2008
Number of Photos in Album: 8
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: @gwenix Maybe I'll just break down and write about Canada's lack of medals at the Olympics. Like every other canadian blogger out there :P
Posted: August 19th, 2008, 6:10pm PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix Maybe I'll just break down and write about Canada's lack of medals at the Olympics. Like every other canadian blogger out there :P -
Sandman71: @gwenix I do that too, but I'm finding nothing worth writting about, or that everyone else is writting about.
Posted: August 19th, 2008, 6:09pm PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix I do that too, but I'm finding nothing worth writting about, or that everyone else is writting about. -
Sandman71: @gwenix that reminds me. I havent updated my blog in over a week. I have writer's block. I need ideas.
Posted: August 19th, 2008, 6:00pm PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix that reminds me. I havent updated my blog in over a week. I have writer's block. I need ideas.
del.icio.us/lucg71
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iPod with Video Skins | GelaSkins
Posted: August 18th, 2008, 7:48pm PDT by lucg71
iPod with Video Skins | GelaSkins
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: @twister65 no can do. Natural gas BBQ, 10 foot gas line.
Posted: August 18th, 2008, 5:34pm PDT
Sandman71: @twister65 no can do. Natural gas BBQ, 10 foot gas line. -
Sandman71: Finally! Canada has not only finally won a medal after a week of nothingness, we've won 3!
Posted: August 16th, 2008, 9:13am PDT
Sandman71: Finally! Canada has not only finally won a medal after a week of nothingness, we've won 3!
del.icio.us/lucg71
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Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene
Posted: August 14th, 2008, 12:21am PDT by lucg71
Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene -
Welcome to QUAKELIVE
Posted: August 13th, 2008, 10:44pm PDT by lucg71
Welcome to QUAKELIVE -
Finally, A Windows Mobile Facebook App! - ReadWriteWeb
Posted: August 13th, 2008, 3:47pm PDT by lucg71
Finally, A Windows Mobile Facebook App! - ReadWriteWeb
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: @gwenix For Windows there's Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle Studio
Posted: August 12th, 2008, 11:14am PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix For Windows there's Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle Studio -
Sandman71: @gwenix unfortunately FInal Cut Pro is Mac only. I wish there was a windows version.
Posted: August 12th, 2008, 11:03am PDT
Sandman71: @gwenix unfortunately FInal Cut Pro is Mac only. I wish there was a windows version. -
Sandman71: New blog post: Dark Knight Marches On http://tinyurl.com/6dnanr
Posted: August 11th, 2008, 6:58pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Dark Knight Marches On http://tinyurl.com/6dnanr
blog.dreamrealm
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Dark Knight Marches On
Posted: August 11th, 2008, 6:58pm PDT by Sandman
The Dark Knight continues to smash its competition and records in its 4th weekend in theaters. Over the past weekend, TDK remained in the #1 spot for a 4th weekend, a feat that was last accomplished by Lord of the Rings back in 2003. What’s even more impressive is that TDK is able to do this smack in the middle of summer blockbuster releases. LotR did it in the fall/winter, when few blockbusters are released.The second Batman installment by Nolan took in over $26 million this past weekend, pushing it past Shrek 2 into the 3rd spot of all time boxoffice grosses, with a total of $441.6 million. It is only a little over $19 million short of overtaking the #2 spot long held by the original Star Wars. Experts predict that it should overtake Star Wars sometime before next weekend is over.
However, TDK is not expected to retain its #1 spot at the box office next weekend, with the release of the much anticipated comedy Tropic Thunder and the Star Wars Clone Wars animated flick.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: *roughriders
Posted: August 10th, 2008, 10:38pm PDT
Sandman71: *roughriders -
Sandman71: no roughrides game til the Aug 21st. Blah. I guess I'll have to keep entertained by watching the olympics.
Posted: August 10th, 2008, 10:37pm PDT
Sandman71: no roughrides game til the Aug 21st. Blah. I guess I'll have to keep entertained by watching the olympics. -
Sandman71: New blog post: Dark Knight Still #1 http://tinyurl.com/6d42kd
Posted: August 5th, 2008, 6:24pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Dark Knight Still #1 http://tinyurl.com/6d42kd
blog.dreamrealm
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Dark Knight Still #1
Posted: August 5th, 2008, 6:24pm PDT by Sandman
The Dark Knight continued to dominate at the box office this weekend, holding on to the #1 spot for the 3rd weekend in a row. Batman and the Joker managed to fend off the second Mummy sequel by raking in almost $44.5 million. Unfortunately it did not surpass the previous record holder, Spiderman 3, which had accumulated $45 million during its third weekend. As of Sunday night, this placed The Dark Knight at #8 in the all-time box office gross with $393 million.On Monday it also surpassed the $400 million mark, making it the fastest movie to reach that milestone. The record was previously held by Shrek 2, which took over 43 days to reach that mark. This means that The Dark Knight, having reached the $400 million mark in just 18 days of release, did it 60% faster.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: New blog post: Carnivale Lune Bleue http://tinyurl.com/5ugek5
Posted: August 4th, 2008, 8:01pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Carnivale Lune Bleue http://tinyurl.com/5ugek5
blog.dreamrealm
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Carnivale Lune Bleue
Posted: August 4th, 2008, 8:01pm PDT by Sandman
My wife and I attended the opening of Carnivale Lune Bleue on Friday night in Kars, Ontario. Lune Bleue is a trip back in time to an authentic 1930s carnival, complete with a freakshow, a circus performance, a ferris wheel and games of chance.We arrived around 6:15pm in the heart of Kars, where we lined up before entering the grounds. We had to wait for a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for 6:30, but that was running a little behind schedule due to a tardy mayor. As we waited, we were entertained by the grounds Master of Ceremony who was completely dressed from head to toe in 1930s garb, which included an old fashion cone bullhorn.
The ribbon cutting ceremony finally concluded around 6:40pm, after which we were whisked onto the carnival grounds. It was a little disappointed to find that a number of attractions weren’t ready yet. The Thrills and Skills tent which was supposed to house a 1930’s carny arcade was completely barren. There was no games of chance; no knocking down of milk bottles, no ring tosses, no shooting gallery.
The first attraction that we visited was the Ten-In-One tent where I eagerly awaited the start of the authentic freakshow Carnival Diablo. This sideshow has been in existence for the last 14 years, entertaining crowds across Canada. We were first introduced by the master of ceremony who called himself Nikolai Diablo. The first trick was a skit that derived from the russian roulette game. Diablo invited a member of the audience to hide a 9 inch long spike under one of 4 paper bags. Diablo, seemingly not knowing which bag had the spike,proceeded to smash 3 of the bags with his hand, always picking an empty bag.We were also entertained by the strongman Mighty Leviticus who bent an iron bar between his teeth, served as a human dart board and suffered at the hands of Diablo in an electric chair. Also on the stage was Istvan Betyar, a world renowned sword swallower. The crowd gasped and clapped as he swallowed a 24″ french corkscrew sword, and simultaneously swallowing 2 broadswords. Diablo himself also entertained the crowd by seemingly swallowing razor blades, performing a fire eating act and piercing his tongue with a shark hook and then proceeding to lift a basket of rocks with his tongue.
45 minutes after the show began we were escorted into another tent, The Big Top, which is the original tent used in the first ever world performance by the Cirque du Soleil. We beared witness to a human circus, the Cirque Maroc. The acrobats in Cirque Maroc are all alumni from the Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Brothers. We were amazed by watching these acrobats performing breathtaking feats which included high wire acts, a couple of trapeze performances, a contortionist performance, a hoop show, all wrapped around a story filled with dances and a lot of comedic moments. These performances were flawless in their execution and left the crowd amazed and wanting more.
After the 1 hour long show, we briefly walked the carnival grounds. We skipped the Tropical Terrors tent which was holding the Great Snakes of the World Show as my wife has a big fear of snakes. I admired the ferris wheel, which is an authentic 1917 Eli Bridge ferris wheel. I only admired it from afar as the lineup for the ride was long and we were both a little tired.On our way back to the car we also passed the carousel, another authentic piece of a 1930’s carnival. The vintage carousel dates back to 1938. Near the gate exits also sat a 1930s bus, the Clairvoyant Caravan, where you can have your fortunes read by either a Tarot reading or a palm reading.
The carnival also includes the Congress of Wonder, a tent filled with authentic early 1900 carnival artifacts, an outdoor restaurant entitled the Cookhouse, a High Striker and a Coin Toss.
As much as we enjoyed ourselves, I’m not sure the 60$ a ticket price is fully worth it. At 120$ for a couple, I find that price a little steep for what you get. This is not a cheap outing for a family of 4! I think it would have been more sensible if the price was in the 30$ to 40$ range. I’m sure at that price range the carnival would attract more people. We can’t really complain though, as my wife was given the tickets for free at her workplace.
All in all, I enjoyed our night out at Carnivale Lune Bleue. If you enjoy carnivals/fairs, and you can afford the high ticket prices, this is one that you shouldn’t pass up. Just don’t do like we did and forget the bug spray!
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: Went to see Carnivale Lune Bleue, it was pretty neat :) Revival of a real 1930's Carnival. http://snurl.com/3970b
Posted: August 1st, 2008, 10:03pm PDT
Sandman71: Went to see Carnivale Lune Bleue, it was pretty neat :) Revival of a real 1930's Carnival. http://snurl.com/3970b -
Sandman71: Ahhh, nice 4 day weekend. I think I'll start it by seeing the X-Files movie tomorrow afternoon.
Posted: July 31st, 2008, 1:39am PDT
Sandman71: Ahhh, nice 4 day weekend. I think I'll start it by seeing the X-Files movie tomorrow afternoon.
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Drop.io: Simple Private File Sharing/Storage
Posted: July 30th, 2008, 6:46am PDT by lucg71
Drop.io: Simple Private File Sharing/Storage
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: (ctd) shut down access to North American players. Now their overbloated POS is offline til mid August. Talk about a PR nightmare.
Posted: July 29th, 2008, 8:09pm PDT
Sandman71: (ctd) shut down access to North American players. Now their overbloated POS is offline til mid August. Talk about a PR nightmare. -
Sandman71: Hasbro sucks the big one. First they create a bloated, unplayable version of Scrabble on Facebook. Then they force Scrabulous to shut down
Posted: July 29th, 2008, 8:08pm PDT
Sandman71: Hasbro sucks the big one. First they create a bloated, unplayable version of Scrabble on Facebook. Then they force Scrabulous to shut down -
Sandman71: New blog post: The Dark Knight Still Breaking Records http://tinyurl.com/5trfxu
Posted: July 28th, 2008, 11:09pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: The Dark Knight Still Breaking Records http://tinyurl.com/5trfxu
blog.dreamrealm
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The Dark Knight Still Breaking Records
Posted: July 28th, 2008, 11:09pm PDT by Sandman
The Dark Knight is still breaking records in its second week of release. It has grossed more in 10 days than any other Batman movies’ entire silver screen run. At this rate,TDK will come close to wrestling the title of most financially successful movie of all time from Titanic.TDK has become the fastest movie to reach $300 million in an amazingly short 10 days. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean 2 which took a full 16 days to reach that mark. It also broke the record for highest grossing 2nd weekend, pulling in $75,166,466, surpassing the previous record holder Shrek 2, which had $72 million.
So far, The Dark Knight has raked in $313,781,677 domestically and over $355.5 million in international releases. This last number is sure to grow as the movie has not been released everywhere internationally.
Experts are forecasting that this Batman sequel will reach the $400 million mark at 18 days of release. The previous record being Shrek 2, which took a full 43 days to get to that number.
For a list of other records that The Dark Knight has broken, see my previous article The Dark Knight Smashing Records.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: New blog post: Pets on OC Tranpo Busses http://tinyurl.com/6x3v4u
Posted: July 27th, 2008, 4:24pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: Pets on OC Tranpo Busses http://tinyurl.com/6x3v4u
blog.dreamrealm
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Pets on OC Transpo Busses
Posted: July 27th, 2008, 4:24pm PDT by Sandman
OC Transpo, the public transportation company that operates in Ottawa, is attempting to launch a trial project that would allow pet owners to carry their pets on buses in pet carriers. I’ve had pets all of my life and currently have 4 cats. I am also very much against this new project.The main issue I have with this project is room. I live in the suburbs and very often I have to look at 4 or 5 95 buses pass me by without stopping. They don’t stop due to the fact that there’s no room in the bus. On the route home from Place d’Orleans, the major hub of that suburb, the only local bus that ends up taking me close to home is often full because it only runs every 30 minutes (when it shows up). Allowing pet owners to carry their pets in bulky pet carriers would only make things worse. We’re already squished in like sardines as it is. Supporters of this pet project claim that a handful of other cities in the country have allowed pets on buses for years. I’m sure if these supporters would look at these other public transportation systems, they would see that they don’t suffer the overcrowding that we have. With rising gas prices, ridership has also increased, making the problem even worse than it was.
Before looking into allowing pets on buses, OC Transpo should address the lack of buses, their maps/runs and their schedules. I’ve moved into a new part of Orleans that has grown by 6-8 thousand people in the last 2 years but the schedule and number of buses that run have not changed to reflect this growing area, Also, there’s a ‘major’ stop about 1 km from where I live, the Trim bus station, yet I have no local buses that go to that station. I must take a bus to Place d’Orleans, a trip that takes 30 minutes, so that I can catch a 95. Instead, OC Transpo should have a local bus that goes to Trim station, which would cut a good 20 to 25 minutes off travel time each way.
Some folks have written in the local paper saying pets should be allowed except during peak hours. This would be a logistical nightmare. How do you kick off poor little Ms. Smith and her pet poodle off a bus she got on during off peak hours (let’s say 3:20pm) who’s long ride ends up going into peak hours? Do you just kick her off at a random stop and wish her luck at getting home? This makes no sense.
There’s also some people who have severe allergic reactions to pet dander. Should they have to suffer because someone can’t afford to take a cab to their vet appointment? Now some supporters of this proposition state that people with pet allergies already ride the bus with people covered in pet hair. This statement is absolutely ludicrous. Newsflash! Those who have pet allergies aren’t allergic to pet hair, but pet dander. A person having a few stray pet hairs on their clothes will not cause someone with allergies to have a reaction, save for an extremely small minority who have an acute allergy to pet dander. Those people probably already avoid taking public transportation. Now carry a pet on a bus, there’s a lot more dander flying around, which would cause even those with mild allergies to react.
Then there’s the issue of noise. I know a lot of pets (3 of my cats included) that meow or bark constantly when in public or a moving vehicle. I’m sure there’s nothing else one would rather look forward to after a long hard day at work than to get on an overcrowded bus with dogs barking and cats meowing. Ah, such a wonderful symphony of headache inducing noise.
OC Transpo should also conduct studies to see how many more new riders this project would bring in. A dozen new riders a month? A hundred? I somehow suspect that the number would be quite low, as those who would benefit from such a new policy probably already take public transportation. How many people would stop taking the bus because of this policy?
That being said, I am not against all pets on public buses. There are some people who suffer from a physical disability that require a pet, such as the vision impaired. At my old place of residence, I often took a bus with a very nice gentleman who used a seeing eye dog on the bus. These pets are highly trained, will not bark or bite and are there to aid someone who really needs the help. I have absolutely no issues with those types of pets being on buses. I do however have issues with someone getting on a bus with a ferret due to emotional reasons (see the article Ferret barred from Ottawa buses).
As a responsible pet owner, I knew the financial responsibilities that were attached with owning a pet. If one doesn’t have a car and can’t afford to take a cab ride to their vet appointment, then perhaps you shouldn’t own a pet to begin with. Else, when you’re taking Spot to his next yearly appointment, make sure you factor in the cost of a cab into the vet bill. I also suspect that most people who would end up taking their pets on a bus is not solely to go to vet appointments, but to bring their pet with them as they go visit friends or family.
OC Transpo has a lot bigger issues than looking at allowing pets on buses. These issues should be investigated and addressed before allowing pets that would take up much needed room on overcrowded buses. And if this proposition does go through, I do hope that riders who bring their pets onto a bus have to pay a fare for their pets. After all, the pet carrier takes as much or more room than a person, so it would only be fair that they have to pay a fare for it. I know there’s no chance in hell of that ever happening, but one can only hope.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: slightly overdid it at the gym last night, but not as bad as last week. At least I can move my arms...
Posted: July 26th, 2008, 10:30am PDT
Sandman71: slightly overdid it at the gym last night, but not as bad as last week. At least I can move my arms... -
Sandman71: New blog post: The Dark Knight Smashing Records http://tinyurl.com/5u382q
Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 8:33pm PDT
Sandman71: New blog post: The Dark Knight Smashing Records http://tinyurl.com/5u382q
blog.dreamrealm
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The Dark Knight Smashing Records
Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 8:33pm PDT by Sandman
The Dark Knight is kicking ass and taking names. Since its midnight showing debut, the movie has been shattering previous records and for good reason. It is nothing short of a masterpiece and unlike the crapfest that was Spiderman 3, its well deserving of the records it is breaking. It has so far broken 10 all-time records in its first 5 days of release. One has to wonder that if The Dark Knight can break so many records in 5 days, how many records will it break before bowing out of movie theaters? Its also impressive considering the movie’s non kid friendly PG rating. Realistically I doubt that it will break Titanic’s record for the #1 box office movie of all time, but it should find itself in the top 5, alongside Star Wars/Star Wars Episode 1, Shrek 2 and E.T.Records broken:
- Largest number of opening theaters with 4366. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s end with 4362.
- Biggest midnight preview opening gross with $18,489,000. Star Wars Episode 3 held the previous record with $16.5 million.
- Biggest IMAX midnight preview opening gross with $640,000.
- Biggest one day gross of $67,165,092 (includes midnight showings), shattering Spiderman’s 3 previous record of $59,841,919.
- Biggest opening weekend gross of $158,411,483, overshadowing the previous record of $151,116,516 held by Spiderman 3.
- Biggest opening weekend gross for an IMAX release of $6,214,061. Again breaking Spiderman’s 3 previous record of $4,700,000.
- Biggest Sunday single day gross of $43,596,151. Another Spiderman 3 record broken ($39,937,865).
- Fastest movie to surpass the $200,000,000 domestically at 5 days. The previous record was 8 days, shared between 3 movies: Spiderman 2, Star Wars Episode 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
- Biggest Monday single gross with $24 million.
- Biggest Tuesday single gross with $20.9 million, ahead of the $15.7 million earned by Pirates of the Caribbean 2
The movie is currently voted as the #1 movie of all time on IMDB, surpassing The Godfather (1 & 2) and the Shawshank Redemption. The next ‘recently’ released movie that appears in the list is Lord of the Rings: Return of the King at #14. The Dark Knight is expected to hold the #1 position this coming weekend, even with the release of the much anticipated X-Files movie. X-Files is expected to take in between $20-30 million on its opening weekend. The Dark Knight is expected to take in between $75 million and $85 million on its second weekend of release.Update (July 28th): To view more records broken by The Dark Knight, please see the updated The Dark Knight Still Breaking Records article.
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: Insomnia sucks.
Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 11:54pm PDT
Sandman71: Insomnia sucks. -
Sandman71: Spent the day doing yardwork and at the beach.
Posted: July 19th, 2008, 5:11pm PDT
Sandman71: Spent the day doing yardwork and at the beach.
del.icio.us/lucg71
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COVERITLIVE.COM - My Account
Posted: July 19th, 2008, 1:30pm PDT by lucg71
COVERITLIVE.COM - My Account
Twitter / Sandman71
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Sandman71: Reading: "The Dark Knight Returns" (http://tinyurl.com/6dfse6)
Posted: July 18th, 2008, 1:12am PDT
Sandman71: Reading: "The Dark Knight Returns" (http://tinyurl.com/6dfse6) -
Sandman71: Gonna go see The Dark Knight again on Sunday (on IMAX), this time with the wife in tow :)
Posted: July 18th, 2008, 1:11am PDT
Sandman71: Gonna go see The Dark Knight again on Sunday (on IMAX), this time with the wife in tow :)
blog.dreamrealm
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The Dark Knight Returns
Posted: July 18th, 2008, 10:20pm PDT by Sandman
Batman. A comic book creation that has excited fans for 69 years. As a character, he has endured through the death of his parents and one sidekick. He survived through Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and the creation of the Comics Code Authority. The campiness of the 60’s television show, a broken back at the hands of Bane and the near destruction of Gotham. All things that in one capacity or another that this fictional character has survived. Every one of these pale in comparison to the maniacal villain that he must face in Nolan’s sequel to the popular Batman Begins.For those who don’t know me, here is a a bit of background which might help show that what I’m about to say is not said lightly. I am a huge movie buff. My DVD collection creeps close to 500. I’m also an avid comic book reader, with my collection exceeding over 10,000 comics and graphic novels. Out of any character that I’ve read over the last few decades, Batman always has and remains my favorite character. There are many reasons for this which I won’t get into right now. Trust me when I say that The Dark Knight is not only the best comic book based movie that I’ve ever seen, but its probably the best movie that I’ve seen of any genre.
The Dark Knight takes place a year after Batman Begins. For those who have seen the first film, you might remember that the last scene of the movie involves Gordon and Batman on the rooftop of the GCPD, with Gordon showing Batman the Joker’s calling card. This sequel starts off with a bank robbery sequence in which we’re introduced to the chaos that is the Joker. From the gutters of Gotham rises the psychopathic criminal known for his evil grin, maniacal laugh and utter disrespect for everything and everyone.We’re also introduced to Harvey Dent, the District Attorney who, together with Jim Gordon and Batman, is taking the good fight to the city’s mob bosses. The appearance of the Joker slams a stake deep into our heroes’ plan to rid the city of mobsters. It also forces Bruce Wayne/Batman to struggle and confront everything he believes in. Unlike other criminals, the Joker isn’t seeking money or fame. His only goal is to unleash pure unalduterated chaos unto the citizens of Gotham.