Sunday, February 26, 2006
3:51 am
3:51 am. That's the time that my alarm went off this morning. Normally I'm all for sleeping in on Sunday mornings but today would not be one of those days. Today was the last day for Body Worlds 2 in Toronto. I know we've had since September 30th, 2005 to get our act together and go but there's no time like the present.
Bleary eyed and coffee free, we survied a harrowing drive down the 404. I didn't want to be late, and the highway did not want to co-operate with me. In the end we made it with 5 minutes to spare for our 5 am time slot. Half asleep and in the dark I handed the woman working the parking gate a $5 bill for the $8 parking. She smiled and said that wouldn't be enough. It was like she'd seen this a lot in the last few hours.
Not knowing what to expect we took the escalator up to the exhibit. A see through Body Worlds adorned escalator no less. Now I know why my mom always made sure I had my shoe laces done up before I got on one before.
My jaw dropped. We were only 2 out of at least 200 people in line! At 5am on a Sunday morning! In a sea of procrastinators, I felt at home. I watched mouth agape as people from the 4:30 line up continued to wait to get in.
Once we got inside we spent about an hour touring the various items on display. I was hesitant to go right up until I stepped in the door. Dead people just aren't my thing. Thrust down a long skinny hallway full of people, we grew agitated as we tried to see the various display cases. Once we got to the rotunda, we had a little more room to move around. There were too many people to fully enjoy the exhibit. Another lesson learned in procrastination.
I found the "Plastinates" to be very interesting. Fake enough to not make me want to dry heave. Real enough to appriciate the 1500 hours needed to create each pose. Erin enjoyed the display cases more. Seeing the way that diseases really affect the body illustrated in front of her eyes what she's spent the last 2.5 years studying.
After the exhibtion we made a trip to one of our favourite breakfast places. Eggspectations. Turns out if you show up at 7am you get the place to yourself! (Laurie and Jeremy take note) Erin had her usual Breton Benedict. Eggs benedict made on crepes instead of english muffins. Mmmmm. Decadent to say the least. I chose the Eggstravaganza. My French Toast was among the best I've ever ordered in a resturant. A hearty breakfast was earned after our adventures thus far.
Speaking of food. I encourage everyone to read my favourite new blog. Thanks go to Dan for the suggestion.
This weekend was also the last week for the 2006 Canadian International Autoshow. Being in the market for a new car in the next little while I figured this would be an excellent opporunity to see many of the cars I was interested in at one time. Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Acura were all represented with a full complement of cars. The time flew by! I think I've narrowed it down to about 3 choices now. (I really don't want to drive a Honda Civic for another 10 years!) The Toyota Yaris, the Honda Fit, or the Mazda-3. Perhaps a Nissan Altima or Acura CSX if I feel extra spendy when the time comes. Now it'll come down to money, safety, fuel economy and all those fun things.
All in all it was a great day. Next time though, we'll plan ahead! It's been a while since I've been to St. Lawrence Market, the Distillery District or perhaps we'll even make a trip up the CN Tower *gasp*
till the next adventure.
Bleary eyed and coffee free, we survied a harrowing drive down the 404. I didn't want to be late, and the highway did not want to co-operate with me. In the end we made it with 5 minutes to spare for our 5 am time slot. Half asleep and in the dark I handed the woman working the parking gate a $5 bill for the $8 parking. She smiled and said that wouldn't be enough. It was like she'd seen this a lot in the last few hours.
Not knowing what to expect we took the escalator up to the exhibit. A see through Body Worlds adorned escalator no less. Now I know why my mom always made sure I had my shoe laces done up before I got on one before.
My jaw dropped. We were only 2 out of at least 200 people in line! At 5am on a Sunday morning! In a sea of procrastinators, I felt at home. I watched mouth agape as people from the 4:30 line up continued to wait to get in.
Once we got inside we spent about an hour touring the various items on display. I was hesitant to go right up until I stepped in the door. Dead people just aren't my thing. Thrust down a long skinny hallway full of people, we grew agitated as we tried to see the various display cases. Once we got to the rotunda, we had a little more room to move around. There were too many people to fully enjoy the exhibit. Another lesson learned in procrastination.
I found the "Plastinates" to be very interesting. Fake enough to not make me want to dry heave. Real enough to appriciate the 1500 hours needed to create each pose. Erin enjoyed the display cases more. Seeing the way that diseases really affect the body illustrated in front of her eyes what she's spent the last 2.5 years studying.
After the exhibtion we made a trip to one of our favourite breakfast places. Eggspectations. Turns out if you show up at 7am you get the place to yourself! (Laurie and Jeremy take note) Erin had her usual Breton Benedict. Eggs benedict made on crepes instead of english muffins. Mmmmm. Decadent to say the least. I chose the Eggstravaganza. My French Toast was among the best I've ever ordered in a resturant. A hearty breakfast was earned after our adventures thus far.
Speaking of food. I encourage everyone to read my favourite new blog. Thanks go to Dan for the suggestion.
This weekend was also the last week for the 2006 Canadian International Autoshow. Being in the market for a new car in the next little while I figured this would be an excellent opporunity to see many of the cars I was interested in at one time. Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Acura were all represented with a full complement of cars. The time flew by! I think I've narrowed it down to about 3 choices now. (I really don't want to drive a Honda Civic for another 10 years!) The Toyota Yaris, the Honda Fit, or the Mazda-3. Perhaps a Nissan Altima or Acura CSX if I feel extra spendy when the time comes. Now it'll come down to money, safety, fuel economy and all those fun things.
All in all it was a great day. Next time though, we'll plan ahead! It's been a while since I've been to St. Lawrence Market, the Distillery District or perhaps we'll even make a trip up the CN Tower *gasp*
till the next adventure.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Faux
Finally, the weekend.It began mourning the loss of Arrested Development on Saturday morning. Was it really that bad Fox that you had to air the last 4 episodes on a Friday night when no one would see them? Another victim of the Friday Night Death Slot. And they wonder why people download television shows. There's a prize at the end of this post if you can tell me which other cult favourite TV show was prematurely cancelled after 3 seasons.
It's hard to explain the appeal of Arrested Development. I've been watching it since day one and enjoyed nearly every episode. Rare is there a comedic show that requires you to think before you laught. I look foward to watching it again on DVD.
What do we have to look foward to in the place of Arrested Development on Monday nights now? That's right! Skating with Celebrities! What's worse!? Viewership is up 183% in that time slot!
Rupert Murdoch here is my suggestion. Instead of just one FOX channel, you should grow that FOX empire into 5 distinct FOX channels.
FOX Sports. Sick of late NFL Football games running into your Sunday night programming? I am. Sick of Baseball games meaning the Simpsons' Hallowe'en special airs NOVEMBER? I am. I know the NFL is big money for you but put it on a channel where only people who care about sports can watch it.
FOX American Idol Channel. 30 million viewers an episode? You should be able to sucker at least a few million of them into tuning in 24/7 to watch their Idol hopefuls. Need some filler? I'm sure CTV would be more than happy to sell a few hundred hours of Canadian Idol footage to you Rupert.
FOX Shows that have gone on too long the Channel. Simpsons anyone? Does anyone even watch anymore? I have a few friends who can quote possibily every line from every episode that has ever aired. But all good things must come to an end. Do they really think anyone is going to buy 17 seasons of it on DVD!? King of the Hill was funny the FIRST season. SEVEN seasons later it's still going! Don't get me wrong. Mike Judge has his moments, at the same time there are a few other shows I think could have gone on it's place. That 70's Show almost bowed out at the perfect time, but going an extra season after the two main stars walked away puts it on this list too.
My personal favourite? A channel full of FOX shows that never should have been cancelled. Firefly, Tru Calling, Family Guy, Futurama, Wonderfalls, Undeclared, Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, the list goes on. Sure they brought back Family Guy, but only after a few million people plunked out $80 for the first two seasons on DVD. Ok I never really watched Firefly, but I can sympathize with it's viewers since I know all to well the tricks FOX plays. See also, putting the last 4 episodes of Arrested Development on Friday night and not telling anyone.
Finally FOX can dedicate channel to the things it does right. 24, Family Guy (I'll ignore the joke that went on 5 minutes too long two weeks ago for a second), Hell's Kitchen (who won again?! But thank you FOX for exposing the USA to Gordon Ramsay), House, and The War at Home (though I think we'll soon find that this on the list of shows cancelled before their time.)
What's the lesson to be learned in all of this? Watch your favourite FOX show, but don't expect to be around tomorrow.
And if you read carefully you'd know it was the original kerT ratS that was cancelled after 3 seasons
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)