White people like Vespas

StuffWhitePeopleLike.com recently did a post about Vespas. Per usual it is hilarious and carries a bit of truth to it.

Here is a little excerpt which many people have tried on me.

"see how many of the following justifications a white person will use (for buying a Vespa) during the ensuing rant: environment, parking, urban lifestyles, union labor(what?), writers, fuel efficiency, Roman Holiday, study abroad, and being into Vespas before other people."

I do get the urban stuff and the parking, even the Europe stuff but what about the union labor? What is that all about? And writers? Are writers supposed to ride Vespas? Maybe he is trying to describe the liberal elite. I don't know.

My own reasons are a little more on the practical side. (oh here he goes again - this is exactly what was predicted)

But seriously, there is no equivelant scooter on the market right now. Honda is releasing one next year but it will be more expensive than the Vespa albeit with newer technology. All the other scooters are made by cheap asian manufacturers and the quality is just not there. I am not a real engine/mechanic guy so I really didn't want to end up fixing it all the time.

The vespa is the only full metal chasis scooter in Canada. It is incredibly sturdy and durable for a small bike. And the engine is legendary for being reliable.

The other thing that attracted me to it was that there is reams of info on how to tweak and fix vespas online. Since it is basically the most popular scooter/motorcycle in the world there are a lot of people with a lot of answers.

Finally, why didn't I just buy a motorcycle with twice the engine, manual transmission, and for half the price? Well the last few things I said also apply here but really the main reason is the practicality of a scooter. People try to make their motorcycles practicle for commuting and quick

jaunts to the grocery store but they can never match a scooter for that. They are too big and too serious.

I was never really that into motorcycles but the idea of a scooter instantly appealed to me once I started to think about it.

Plus the Vespa is insanely fun to ride. And that is something I never really counted on.

The Front Yard: Why?

So I just came in from cutting the lawn. I got eaten alive by mosquitos and nearly ran over the cord 3 times.
I still don't understand how I got myself into this predicament of owning a front yard. Is there any other situation where so much work and effort goes into maintaining a space that is so unused and pointless?
The whole concept of front yard seems so narcissistic to me. Are we just doing it to impress other people with front yards?
There must be a few people out there that actually enjoy their front yard. But the majority of people on our street evidently don't seem to care. Maybe all the people who like front yards should get together and live on the same street.
Our front yard is clearly one of the best on the street (thanks to my father-in-law who devotes a lot of time to it) but I can't help asking myself 'why?'. What is the point?

Huge Bat on the Loose in my Office

I totally missed this because I choose to work during the day but my co-worker Chris was working at his computer with headphones on. He apparently noticed some "wind" every once in a while but he finally took the headphones off when he heard a crash in the automatic blinds on the skylights!
He finally noticed and ran up to the loft and took this video.

Eventually he caught it with his shirt and took it outside.
Here are some pics of this huge bat! Does anybody know what kind it is? I have never seen such a huge bat in the wild.




Chris, you are insanely brave. I would have been afraid of getting rabies.

Kitchen Faucets: Decision Time

So if you read Irene's blog you probably know that we are redoing our kitchen.

The latest decision we have to make is on the kitchen faucet and it has come down to these two choices.

The American Standard Arch:

It's cheaper and has a nice detail on the arch. Irene prefers this one (for those reasons). The side sprayer is made of plastic but it is a fairly decent fixture.

I prefer the Grohe Eurostyle:

I really like the minimalist style and the amazing engineering. There is no plastic on the outside of this fixture. It is a little more expensive though and that is the only thing holding me back.

What do you think?

Free Aerial Photography

A couple months ago Microsoft launched another attempt to take back from Google. Personally it is too little too late. At this point it is obvious that Google will be the most cutting edge company on the internet for the forseeable future.

However, one of their attempts is pretty cool. Bing tries to provide all the same services that Google provides but under Microsoft control. So of course they had to copy Google Maps but they did one better and added aerial photography to the mix. Yes, Google has Streetview which is cooler but it's only certain cities and not in Canada yet.

So firstly I had to check out what my house looks like. Hmmmm that's an old picture from before we did the patio and the garden and the cedar hedge. Yup, this is pretty much right after we bought the place.
How about my office. Hey I'm not at work yet. Looks like Simon and Brian are there though.
And Parliament Hill.
How about the ROM addition in Toronto.
And I really wanted to see how it works with a tall building so why not check out the CN Tower.
That was interestingly hard to find because of the size and when you rotate it is totally not in view anymore. Cool stuff.

Start exploring for yourself here.

Sheeple

I love xkcd!

This is a comic that everyone can relate to I think. But maybe I'm wrong.

Spring Concerts #4: Great Lake Swimmers w/ Timber Timbre

This last of the spring concerts (of which I can remember) was just two weeks ago. We went with a couple friends to see the Great Lake Swimmers perform at the First Baptist Church downtown. We arrived quite early and ended up being the first in line so we spent the time chatting on the steps of the church as the line grew behind us. The show was sold out and people kept asking us for tickets. We also chatted with a guy waiting in line with us and it turned out that he had been at many of the same concerts I had been at in the last year (including Radiohead in Montreal).
The opening band was called Timber Timbre and were more experimental than I had expected. They do have a song on rotation on Radio3 but they were definitely more intense than I had expected after listening to their songs online. The first song consisted of looping all kinds of sounds which ended up sounding like a marsh of crickets and other wildlife. Very interesting and it sounded quite cool.
When Tony Dekker came out it was just like the last time we saw him. He is so great in his timid/shy delivery. You do not expect his voice to be so powerful and dynamic. And as expected the church atmosphere just added to that.
We saw them about two years ago on our first year anniversary on a snowy March evening in Wakefield. This show was just as good. Not quite as intimate but great sound and a bigger band more than made up for it.
One of those new additions is Julie Fader who played a fantastic flute piece and provided amazing backup vocals. When we saw them last time Basia Bulat did some of those backup parts as she was opening for them.
We had a chance to chat it up with Tony Dekker after the show and ask him about Dunnville/Wainfleet since that is where he is from. He is such a nice and down to earth guy and quickly obliged our request to sign his set list that we had stolen from on stage after the show.
Definitely a highlight from all the concerts I have been to. But really there are so many fantastic artists out there. How can you chose between them. You just have to see them all. I want to go see Justin Rutledge again this Saturday but alas I may be getting 'redirected' to family time. Too bad, I hope I can at least catch him today since he should be playing somewhere downtown on Canada Day.