Some pics

Here are some pics from the begining of my trip.

A racecar George made.




A birdhouse and boat that George made



Reyne's pirate ship.



Reyne, the man behind the boat.

Musical list continued

Well, after another week, it ended up that my list looked almost the same. The only difference is that Thornley lost out to "What Buddy Was" by 54-40. I added some new songs that I might actually listen to, and dumped some that I skipped alot. Also, I reset the play count so maybe I'll be able to see what I do listen to this week.

One Sunday in February

I was out and about on Sunday. It was mid-winter in Victoria, so I had my sandals on without socks. It was really nice out, so I took some pictures. First, I was enroute to a haircut, and I thought Mt. Tolmie was looking pretty nice. So here it is. It must be kind of nice to have that kind of view.

The sun was in a nice spot to get a kind of nice view of Swans Hotel.


There was a building across the street from Swans that I always thought was a little neat and intriguing. It's a heritage building that has been vacant for years. Now it is up for sale. Apparently, it is owned by someone who lives in Oakbay, and they had been getting complaints from the city about the condition of the place.


Across the harbour you can see, the new Bayview building.


Victoria has a working harbour. It is a liitle further inland from the inner harbour where the Empress and Legislature buildings and tourists are.


There is on-going residential development just behind the more industrial side of the harbour. Here you can see some of the lovely loft homes, and part of their view.

For kicks, I thought I would post up the top played songs on my ipod. Basically, what I have been listening to at work for a little over a week. So, in order from most to least:

1. The Moebius by Morphadron
2. R U Ready by Morphadron
3. Rezidue by Morphadron
4. Mehter Marşı by Pentagram
5. Parabola by Tool
6. Sick of You by Gwar
7. Easy Comes by Thornley

Then there is about a twenty way tie for eighth, which includes Would? by Alice in Chains, a pair of songs from each KMFDM, Metallica, and The Crystal Method, and the theme from Halo. For your information, the first three are all songs from the video game "Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed". The Pentagram song, I believe, is a cover of a traditional or cultural Turkish song, which may or may not actually contain lyrics, of what language, I couldn't tell you.

Maybe I'll look again in a little while, after I add/subtract some songs.

Mid-January at Macaulay Point

It seems like every January, there is a couple of weeks of sunny clear weather in Victoria. It gets real nice during the day, and decently cold at night. It makes for some fine outdoors time, especially when Toronto is -10 and snowing. This year I ended up spending some time at a park I ride past every day on the bus on my way to work. It is called Macaulay Point Park. There is a breakwater that shelters a boat launch and dock, a large rock that is used for rock climbing, and some trails to walk around and get a good view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as the remains of an old gun emplacement. I took a stroll along the breakwater, and around some of the paths.

This is the big rock that is used for rock climbing, from along the path to the breakwater. There is a paved path at the bottom for folks wanting to get to the rest of the park, but there is a warning to "look out for rock climbers" painted on the path. There were a few folks there giving it a whirl, including some who had ropes and gear for some real serious climbing.



This is the view along the breakwater, which goes across the little bay from east to west. It is sizable enough to walk on with someone else and not get in their way.



Then there is the view of the Olympic mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and some of the green space and trails in the park.



After, I walked around a little, I was heading up a path back towards the parking area, when I came across this now abandoned gun emplacement. I don't know what era it is from, or how long ago it was retired. I also didn't try to find out. I just took a picture.



It was a nice little park, with some good views. I will probably go back when the weather is a little warmer and when I have more time.

Catch up Post. The view from my dinner table, sort of.

Living in Victoria, I have access to some fine waterfront. I also have access to many restaurants that have take out. I naturally combine the two. I end up with some pretty snazzy views from my dinner table.

This is the Ogden Point Breakwater. I didn't quite have this view, but the Ogden Point Cafe is right at the end of the breakwater, so you get pretty much the same view.



Of course, I have had a dinner or two on the Inner Harbour. Like this night.



And this night.



Both nights were in the same week. Both nights I had food from the Noodlebox. Really good stuff.

Sometimes, I would just go for the view and happen to get food along the way. That's what happened for this shot. I could have done without that pizza, but the view was nice. So was the wedding reception that was at the hotel directly behind the shot.



I actually took a little picnic from a grocery store to take in this view in Ross Bay, across from the cemetary.



Then, I didn't actually have dinner here this day. I only had a Mountain Dew, and a chocolate bar. I have actually eaten at Gonzalez Bay before. This day was a little grey and iffy, so a quick snack was on order.



These are just some of the views from my table.

Promptly finished, in a geological sense.

Yeah, so it took me over a year to finish up detailing my trip. But it is done now.