"I find myself incredibly fascinating and this blog bears witness to that simple fact. Friends, from far and wide, are often pestered to keep abreast of my life and opinions. I offer sincere greetings to guests who stumble here by accident too."
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- New Westminster,
- British Columbia, CANADA
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Saturday, May 01, 2004
Burr ... It Was Hot!
Fires that consumed and destroyed whole cities must have been fairly common in those days. In 1898, most of downtown New Westminster burnt to the ground.
One exception was the Burr Block. It's the central building in this photo. Nowadays, it's the Met Hotel and Bar. When on the balcony, I can look down onto the roof of that building (and hear drunken patrons yelling from their back patio). In addition, to the left-hand side of the picture, is the entrance for the Columbia Street SkyTrain station. It's now one of five stops in our city. These apartments provide direct access to that station.
One exception was the Burr Block. It's the central building in this photo. Nowadays, it's the Met Hotel and Bar. When on the balcony, I can look down onto the roof of that building (and hear drunken patrons yelling from their back patio). In addition, to the left-hand side of the picture, is the entrance for the Columbia Street SkyTrain station. It's now one of five stops in our city. These apartments provide direct access to that station.
Labels: New Westminster (Page 1), transit
Friday, April 30, 2004
Hot'nnuf4ya?
It's close but not yet May. Today the temperature is going to be 26C (78F).
The Term SUV was N/A
I re-read yesterday's entry and decided that in 1983 we really didn't call Trevor's GMC Suburban an SUV. In fact, I wondered whether the term had even been coined yet. It took a bit of a search but I found an answer.
I am pretty sure that in reference to that vehicle we used a localized Kuwaiti term for GMC, pronounced as, Jimce.
The Word Spy
The phrase sport utility vehicle (SUV) entered the language in the 1970s, although in its earliest incarnations it most often shows up as sports utility vehicle (as well as sports-utility vehicle and sports/utility vehicle):
"Four-wheel drive is increasingly popular. A decade ago, about the only U.S.-made '4 by 4's,' as the industry calls them, were Jeeps and International Harvester's Scouts. Today every truck manufacturer offers four-wheel drive not only on sports utility vehicles but also on pickups — where it is a more and more common option — and suburbans as well."
—Charles G. Burck, "Trucks Muscle in on the Car Market," Fortune, February 27, 1978
The abbreviation SUV didn't get a toe-hold in the lexicon until about 10 years later:
"Ford, meanwhile, is planning to freshen up or completely redesign all of its light-truck recreational vehicle products in the early 1990s, in part to take full advantage of expected demand in the SUV segment of the market."
—Al Wrigley, "Ford picks Budd to supply Bronco II components," Metalworking News, June 29, 1987
Labels: cars
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Wadi Rum
I feel a bit lazy today, so I thought I'd just look for a photo to include with a short explanation. On my hard disk, I found this scanned image of an actual policeman.
This picture was taken on a trip that I once mentioned in this blog. During a journey from Kuwait to Syria and Jordan by SUV, four of us drove into the desert here. This was taken at an entrance to Wadi Rum in southern Jordan. This is one of the filming locations for the movie, Lawrence of Arabia.
At the time of this photo, the epic movie would have been 21 years old, but now we'll have to add another 21 years to that!
This picture was taken on a trip that I once mentioned in this blog. During a journey from Kuwait to Syria and Jordan by SUV, four of us drove into the desert here. This was taken at an entrance to Wadi Rum in southern Jordan. This is one of the filming locations for the movie, Lawrence of Arabia.
At the time of this photo, the epic movie would have been 21 years old, but now we'll have to add another 21 years to that!
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Disc Mania
(Okay. As I've discussed this topic before, I generally receive a fair number of blog hits from people who google to learn about online, Canadian DVD rental companies. So, I'll write more for my 'fans' out there!)
I gave up on www.zip.ca during the trial period as it took too long to send and receive discs between Ottawa and New Westminster. BC. Then we joined www.dvdflix.ca and have been with them about 7 weeks. Here's a list of most of the DVDs they've sent here:
I think, however, I will switch over to www.vhqonline.ca which is a new name from the previous www.cinemaflow.com. They cost a bit more but their selection seems larger and their tie-up with a large video store chain will probably provide them more flexibility for future growth.
I gave up on www.zip.ca during the trial period as it took too long to send and receive discs between Ottawa and New Westminster. BC. Then we joined www.dvdflix.ca and have been with them about 7 weeks. Here's a list of most of the DVDs they've sent here:
A Streetcar Named Desire - Director's Cut (1951)That works out to be an average of 15 discs per month. I've no complaint with the speed of their service as it's a 'local' business. Once they neglected to input the receipt and subsequent shipping of several DVD's, yet a simple call to customer support promptly fixed it.
American Splendor (2002)
Beyond Borders (2003)
Big Fish (2003)
Boat Trip (Unrated / Widescreen) (2002)
Cold Creek Manor (2003)
Donna Summer: VH-1 Presents Donna Summer Live & More...Encore! (1999)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Special Edition (2001)
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
Freaky Friday (2003)
Gladiator (1992)
House Of Sand And Fog (2003)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (Special Edition)
Le Placard (2001)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Party Monster (1998)
Prince: The Hits Collection (1993)
Ripley's Game (2003)
Seabiscuit (Widescreen)
Simone (2002)
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (Widescreen)
The Legend of Suriyothai (2003)
Thirteen (2003)
Trois (2000)
Under The Tuscan Sun (2003)
Veronica Guerin (2003)
Whale Rider (Special Edition)
I think, however, I will switch over to www.vhqonline.ca which is a new name from the previous www.cinemaflow.com. They cost a bit more but their selection seems larger and their tie-up with a large video store chain will probably provide them more flexibility for future growth.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Little Boy Blue ...
Yesterday was time for the truck to have a major health appointment. I had my local Canadian Tire do a complete tune-up, radiator flush, and oil and grease. Imagine eight, shiny, new sparkplugs for those four, tiny cylinders!
Although some of last week's trip occurred in the desert, here you can
see this pass on the North Cascades Highway had a bit of snow left.
(Elevation: 5477ft / 1669M)
Oh, and my horn hadn't been working for the last half year. You never know how much you need one, until it doesn't work. So, I asked for them to fix that too. It took them a long time to troubleshoot the problem. My bill included labour charges and a $40 electrical relay that they had to procure from the Ford dealer. I've now invested a hundred dollars in order to honk. I feel as though I must use it so if you get in front of me on the highway, you're definitely going to hear me coming.
Although some of last week's trip occurred in the desert, here you can
see this pass on the North Cascades Highway had a bit of snow left.
(Elevation: 5477ft / 1669M)
Oh, and my horn hadn't been working for the last half year. You never know how much you need one, until it doesn't work. So, I asked for them to fix that too. It took them a long time to troubleshoot the problem. My bill included labour charges and a $40 electrical relay that they had to procure from the Ford dealer. I've now invested a hundred dollars in order to honk. I feel as though I must use it so if you get in front of me on the highway, you're definitely going to hear me coming.
Labels: maintenance, Ranger
Monday, April 26, 2004
Neither Snow, nor Sleet, nor ... Poodles?
I'm proud of friend, Bret Wirta, for downloading new software and creating an email attachment from his video clip. Here's the tiny video of the family dog going absolutely postal after a mail delivery.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Streetcar
It's a beautiful sunny afternoon. The balcony door's open and the trees are now full with dark-green leaves.
I put on a copy of A Streetcar Named Desire. There is something extremely seductive about a clear black and white print. One had to pay a lot of attention to dialog; whereas, in many current flicks, the action takes a front seat.
Vivien Leigh was extraordinary; Blanche DuBois is an dream role. I had only really known big Marlon Brando as in the Godfather trilogy but in 1951 he was quite a hunk.
The film was shot eight years before my birth. It's a gift that I can view it at home in 2004. I find it absolutely amazing that celluloid (transferred to mpeg files on a shiny disc) can still arouse such emotion after more than a half century. I felt as though I had crawled right into a place and era long gone.
How stunning!
I put on a copy of A Streetcar Named Desire. There is something extremely seductive about a clear black and white print. One had to pay a lot of attention to dialog; whereas, in many current flicks, the action takes a front seat.
Vivien Leigh was extraordinary; Blanche DuBois is an dream role. I had only really known big Marlon Brando as in the Godfather trilogy but in 1951 he was quite a hunk.
The film was shot eight years before my birth. It's a gift that I can view it at home in 2004. I find it absolutely amazing that celluloid (transferred to mpeg files on a shiny disc) can still arouse such emotion after more than a half century. I felt as though I had crawled right into a place and era long gone.
How stunning!
Labels: movies
Dammit!
You'd think I was talking about the Columbia River. Last week, my entries included photos from Grand Coulee Dam.
.
Okay here's the real stretch in logic. I
searched my musical database and came up
with this gem, Dammit, Janet, from the
Rocky Horror Picture Show. I recently got
that DVD and found it most definitely ...
before its time.
.Okay here's the real stretch in logic. I
searched my musical database and came up
with this gem, Dammit, Janet, from the
Rocky Horror Picture Show. I recently got
that DVD and found it most definitely ...
before its time.
Labels: Mediaplayer, movies
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