Went to the Royal Canadian Mint this morning. It was ok. No photos allowed.
Across the street was the Notre Dame Basilica which was in the background in the previous spider photo. I was looking around on Trip Advisor and someone posted that the inside was really nice so I stopped by and it sure was.
Here's Jesus on a Saturday night at the baths:
Came back and had lunch. A tuna sandwich with fresh made raisin bread. I think the art of making bread has been lost, I think bread from a factory should be outlawed.
Anyway, a quick stop to buy shorts and then off to rent the bicycle. I don't know where I got the $5 from, it was $25 for 4 hours which was fine. I rode the 8 km to Hog's Back Falls which was cool with fast moving water, there's a video at the end of this post. It was hard to get a good photo vantage point though.
So I stopped off to read my book for half an hour. It was a great bike ride, by the Rideau Canal. I think I should do a new reoccurring thing which I've called "What I'm Reading". Right now it's "Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound With a Minor League Misfit" by Matt McCarthy.
"A Season on the Mound with Minor League Baseball's Most Unlikely Pitcher
Matt McCarthy never expected to get drafted by a Major League Baseball team. A molecular biophysics major at Yale, he was a decent left-handed starter for a dismal college team. But good southpaws are hard to find, and when the Anaheim Angels selected him in the twenty-first round of the 2002 draft, McCarthy jumped at the chance to live every boy's dream.
In Odd Man Out, McCarthy tells the captivating and hilarious story of his year with the Provo Angels, Anaheim's Class A minor league affiliate in the heart of Mormon country. He quickly discovers the dirty truths of the minors: the Americans and Dominicans don't speak to each other, the allure of steroids is ever present, and everyone puts his own stats ahead of the team's success. With a brilliant eye for baseball's character, McCarthy takes readers through the ups and downs of an antic, grueling season filled with cross-country road trips, bizarre rivalries, and players competing with cutthroat intensity for the ultimate prize—a call up to the majors.
In the spirit of Ball Four, McCarthy recounts inside-the-locker-room tales of teammates who would go on to stardom, including Bobby Jenks, Joe Saunders, and Ervin Santana. Odd Man Out is one of the great books about baseball life, capturing with rare perfection the gritty essence of our national pastime as it is played outside the spotlight."Anyway as I was riding back to the bike return place I noticed several signs saying "Rideau Falls: 11 km" as as I kept riding back the numbers kept getting smaller til I hit my turnoff and it was only 4 km away.
This was a bigger falls:
Then back to the hotel to recharge and and quick 5km round-trip walk over to Gatineau to see the new IMAX movie "Under the Sea". It was good, and I don't think I've said it before here but we need to do more to correct climate change. We have to atone, BIG TIME for the sins of the last generation. I am disappointed again with the Liberlas for flip flopping on the carbon tax. They need to add a carbon offset charge to new car purchases and instead of investing in old technology and failing car companies, invest in renewal resources.
I stayed for the second movie about the secrets of the Pharohs, but I had seen it before somewhere else. Maybe at the Science Centre in Boston? Who can keep track.
I stopped this woman on the inter-provincial bridge to take my photo in front of the Parliament with my new outfit.
Now there's a couple problems with this photo:
From her vantage point my head is almost completley covering the Parliament building and the woman obviously suffers from the palsy as it's really blurry and out of focus.
I was thinking of this as I walked home and remembered when I went to the home of the owner of Ringling Bros. Circus in Sarasota. I went with the fellow I was seeing and they had an area where kids could dress up. We put on animal hats and asked one of the dosents to take our photo. She was very humble and started saying how we wouldn't want her to take our photo as she had Cerebral Palsy and her hands shook a lot. I said nonsense, we'd be honoured, and she took it. We talked afterward and she told me how she was surprised they even hired her to be a dosent because of her disease and how greateful she was. Then she said something that has stayed with me since, she said "Well, one thing I learned is that we all have something." And she looked at me and said "Well, not you, you're so young..." lest she offend me and I thought of my constant runny nose and agreed, and said that yes, we all have something. No one is perfect. And sometimes when I feel bad or different, I remember her words. Her photo was perfectly clear and is now one of my favourites.
I'm on tangents tonight.
I don't think my camera has panoramic but I created one with cleaver cropping:
And I thought this photo was great:
Stopped off for dinner, spinach quiche and salad, and I was relecting on how I still hardly ever eat meat despite not being vegan any more. Next door was a chocolate shop and I bought some fudge with no price on it. I was a little surprised when she said it was $15. Oh well.
Coming back two cute street performers put on an amazing show. Look at the hoop in the photo and the beige shirt. Somehow the guy has no head in this photo:
I wanted to tip them $10 but I only had $20s so I gave about $5 in change. It's funny, as I get older I tip more. Handsome guys, good 30 minute show, funny, what else could you want? I've also found myself tipping handsome waiters more. I'm working up to paying for it.
My hotel room at the Novotel is quite nice and they give 500 Aeroplan miles per night. I may have enough left over for a trip to Atlanta or NYC after my Miami cruise. There's a TV in the room, 50 channels and nothing on. What's the point of these stupid things?
I decided at 10:30 to go out and take some night time shots of Parliament. This was the best one:
Not so super impressed with the night setting on the camera. I rested it on a pillar, why is it so blurry? The building wasn't moving that I noticed.
An eternal flame was for some reason parked right outside the building.
Sleep and spider solitaire. I'm addicted now. Tomorrow Rideau Hall which a friend recommended and a tour of Parliament providing I get up in time. Stupid alarm in my room is broken.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment